Tanya Igeres Hateshuvah - Chapter 4 - Summary

00:00 Speaker 1 …

00:03 Speaker 2 Okay. In chapter 4 of Igeres Hateshuvah, the Alter Rebbe begins to explain teshuvah on the basis of its deeper principles. When we look at Igeres Hateshuvah, we see that the Rebbe goes on to explain teshuvah according to the mystical dimension. He begins with the Zohar, which says that teshuvah means “returning the hei.” But there are two heis: the lower hei and the upper hei. The lower hei is lower teshuvah, and the upper hei is higher teshuvah. He begins to explain this whole subject from chapter 4 through chapter 10. That is really the heart of Igeres Hateshuvah: explaining these two levels of teshuvah, lower teshuvah and higher teshuvah. Now we need to explain the whole matter in depth. But when we look inside the Tanya, we see something interesting. The Alter Rebbe’s wording is: “However, all the above is only for the completion of atonement and the cleansing of the soul after teshuvah, as stated above in the passage from the first chapter of Zevachim.” In other words, he is returning to what we discussed. He again summarizes what he discussed in the last three chapters: the fasts, charity, and all those things. He says that they are for atonement. So the Alter Rebbe returns to the subject of teshuvah according to the revealed dimension of Torah. We already heard in chapter 1—and discussed in the previous class—that there is a Torah mitzvah of teshuvah, and that “the beginning and essence of the mitzvah of teshuvah” is to return to Hashem sincerely and wholeheartedly. That is the very foundation of teshuvah, not atonement: returning to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. As we said before, this means accepting the sovereignty of Heaven. A person must decide that he will no longer rebel against the King. That is the main point of teshuvah: to accept the sovereignty of Heaven upon himself anew. About this—

04:55 Speaker 2 He then says [unclear], teshuvah as it is. What is the connection? How does this follow? If the Alter Rebbe now wants to explain what inner teshuvah is, he should have said, “Everything we have discussed until now was one thing; now we are going to learn the mystical dimension.” Then explain teshuvah according to that dimension. These are fundamental principles. [unclear] There is lower teshuvah and higher teshuvah. But the Alter Rebbe does not say, “Until now we discussed the revealed dimension; now we will learn the mystical dimension.” Rather, the Alter Rebbe says that returning to Hashem with all one’s heart is the meaning of the Torah mitzvah of teshuvah. There is something remarkable here. Chassidus is not simply coming to explain more elevated aspects of teshuvah—a deeper, more inward, more stirring teshuvah. It is explaining teshuvah itself. Returning to Hashem is relevant to fulfilling the mitzvah of teshuvah according to the revealed dimension of Torah; it is “the beginning and essence of the mitzvah of teshuvah.” So the question arises: Aren’t lower teshuvah and, especially, higher teshuvah elevated levels of teshuvah? Higher teshuvah is a very high level indeed. What does that have to do with the beginning and essence of the mitzvah of teshuvah? What does it have to do with kabbolas ol, with the start of teshuvah? A simple person comes to a rabbi’s home. He wants to do teshuvah now, to begin with simple teshuvah. What does it mean to tell him that this is the beginning of the mitzvah of teshuvah? If we think about it on its own, what connection is there? How does higher teshuvah enter the picture? This is what the sicha you are learning now addresses. I understand it is a wonderful sicha, in which the Rebbe—

07:00 Speaker 2 Explains and sheds light on the whole subject of teshuvah. This is the sicha in which the Rebbe explains the four tremendous benefits. What is the central point? Based on Kabbalah and on all the principles we understand, the entire concept of teshuvah is connected to the fact that we are Jews and have a soul, because the soul is a part of Hashem’s Name. Teshuvah means returning Hashem’s Name to its place. That is the foundation here: a Jew is a child of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Hashem’s Name has four letters: yud, hei, vav, hei. These are not four different things. They are one thing. Hashem is one. Everyone understands that when we speak of four letters in Hashem’s Name, we do not mean four different things, G-d forbid. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is one, singular and unique. The four letters, too, form one name. Why are they one name? Because they are four stages. There is the yud; the yud then expands into the hei; the hei extends into the vav; and the vav extends into the final hei. So with the four letters of Hashem’s Name, even if you do not know all the explanations, you understand that they are four details of a single whole, a single point, a single form. You cannot separate them. You cannot separate one letter from Hashem’s Name; it is all one name. And there is an order to it: the yud is the point, which then expands into the hei. From the hei it descends to the vav, and from the vav it descends to the lower hei. But it is all one form, one complete whole. The soul is a part of Hashem’s Name. In other words, as Jews, we have a soul, so we are a part of Hashem’s Name—

09:12 Speaker 2 That is our essence: Hashem’s Name. Since that is our essence, the same is true within us. These are not four separate things but one essence. A Jew’s connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu is a connection built on four letters—yud, hei, vav, hei. So just as the four letters of Hashem’s Name, though they are four levels, form one entity, one G-dly unity, the same applies when I want to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu: the connection must encompass all four letters of Hashem’s Name as one essence. Suppose a person grasps only the lower hei. He says, “I want to be connected with the lower hei. Why isn’t that enough?” What is the lower hei? Malchus—holy kingship. Hashem is my King and I am His servant. I will accept the sovereignty of Heaven, be a servant of Hashem, and live with kabbolas ol. From now on I will no longer rebel against the King. Then I will have rectified the hei and will be a good Jew. But that is where I remain: only at the level of the sovereignty of Heaven. Is there a problem with that? Of course there is, because you have come down to just one letter. You have taken the hei, not the entirety of Hashem’s Name. Hashem’s Name is not just hei; it is yud, hei, vav, hei—a single unity. Therefore, the work of teshuvah cannot stop at one level. The work of teshuvah must go all the way. You need to reach the yud of Hashem’s Name. The four letters are one essence, one point. That applies to the very idea of doing teshuvah. Even when you are only just beginning, and for now need to work on—

11:27 Speaker 2 Kabbolas ol, rectifying your casting off of the yoke of Heaven at the level of Malchus, you still need to know that there is also higher teshuvah. There is a connection that can be built with Hakadosh Boruch Hu—an even deeper connection through Torah study, which is teshuvah in its most elevated form—and you need to aspire to reach it. This matters not merely because there are additional levels, as though it were simply not enough to remain at one level and a person ought to aspire to higher ones. No, it matters to the very beginning of teshuvah. For the beginning of teshuvah to be as it should, it must already contain a connection to higher teshuvah, to the yud of Hashem’s Name, an aspiration to reach the highest place. Because in essence it is all one point. That is the point of the sicha the Rebbe explains here, and it gives us an overall understanding of the entire process. Now we can understand what the Rebbe says. This resolves what the Rebbe says here. This is what the Rebbe means by “fourteen.” There is atonement, which has its particular conditions, but there is also teshuvah itself. The beginning of the mitzvah of teshuvah is to draw close, to return to Hashem sincerely and without falsehood. Do you know what it means to return to Hashem? You need to know that there is sin, lower teshuvah, and higher teshuvah. It is precisely when you know that this is all one process—beginning with lower teshuvah and ending with higher teshuvah—that you understand it. In general, these are two levels, but in detail there are four levels corresponding to the four letters of Hashem’s Name. Then you go all the way and return to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. You do not reach only one letter, one level; you truly connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is called teshuvah. That is what teshuvah means: the soul connecting with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And all four letters

13:15 Speaker 2 It is one essence, and everything that follows is one whole. That is the foundation. Do you understand? Good. Now the Rebbe goes into the details. What are the four elements? The Rebbe explains that the work of teshuvah includes “turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” These are four elements in the work of teshuvah: turn away from evil, do good, seek peace, and pursue it. They correspond to the four letters of Hashem’s Name. Here in chapter 4 of Tanya, the Rebbe explains what those four letters represent. The yud is chochmah; the first hei is binah; the vav is the middos; and the final hei is malchus. Likewise, these four elements exist in a person’s soul. So how are they understood in our work? The Rebbe explains it beautifully. First, the work of teshuvah associated with the final hei, malchus, is turning away from evil. Malchus means accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven—kabbolas ol malchus Shamayim. That awakens a sense of awe in a person: he does not want to rebel against the King. This is chapter 24 of Tanya: the natural awe hidden in the heart of every Jew, not to rebel against the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Once you awaken that sense of malchus within yourself—Hakadosh Boruch Hu is King, and I am His servant—you do not want to rebel against the King. A Jew has a natural awe, a natural fear: he does not want to be separated from Hakadosh Boruch Hu; he does not want to rebel against the King. That is why he turns away from evil. “Turn away from evil” does not mean only refraining from prohibitions. It means not doing anything contrary to G-d’s will. This is the basic teshuvah of kabbolas ol. It includes both positive and negative mitzvos. But what is the emphasis here? Turning away from evil: not doing

15:28 Speaker 2 evil, not rebelling against the King. Rebellion against the King is evil. “Turn away from evil” means not rebelling against the King. After that, though, there is a deeper teshuvah: “do good.” Doing good does not mean only performing mitzvos. It means serving out of love—not only observing mitzvos out of awe, but serving out of love. That is called doing good. When you love someone, you want to do good for them. A Jew not only does not want to be separated from Hakadosh Boruch Hu; he wants to do good. He wants to draw G-dliness into the world, to bring about a revelation of G-dliness in the world, so that G-dliness will be present in the world today. This is love and deveikus, and it is connected with the vav of Hashem’s Name. Love is a middah, and the principal middah here is chessed, the attribute of love. That is why this aspect of the work, arising from contemplation, corresponds to the vav of Hashem’s Name. This is teshuvah as connected with the Arizal’s teaching, teshuvah expressed in “do good.” That is the second stage. The Rebbe wants teshuvah on a higher level. Then a person’s service will be performed with greater care and beauty. If someone serves only so as not to be separated, he will do what he has to do. But will he go beyond that with hiddurim? [unclear] Why would he? If you also have love and deveikus, though, you will do that too. That is the vav of Hashem’s Name. All this is a matter of avodah. There is the avodah of turning away from evil, and there is the avodah of doing good. In avodah, you remain a distinct being: there is the one who serves and the One he serves; there is the servant and there is the Master. You can serve Him out of awe, and you can serve Him out of love. Serving Him out of awe corresponds to the final hei; serving Him out of love corresponds to the vav. Turn away from evil; do good. But

17:35 Speaker 2 there is still a servant here, a distinct being. That is the whole idea of lower teshuvah. Lower teshuvah means that there is still a person who serves Hashem. Higher teshuvah, by contrast, is Torah—that is, the avodah of Torah. The Rebbe goes on in chapter 9 to explain that the whole idea of higher teshuvah lies in Torah study, when a person studies Torah with deveikus to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is an aspect of holiness, and it is the highest teshuvah. Why? With Torah, it is not like a servant serving his master. In Torah, a person becomes completely nullified. [unclear] The Rebbe says here: when you study Torah, you become one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “I am the Mishnah speaking through your mouth.” You become connected. This is not the servant; it is the King Himself. That is deveikus. There is the grasp of a deep idea in Torah study, and therefore this is a much higher teshuvah. Here teshuvah is already on a far higher level. We said that teshuvah means connecting with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. There is a connection on the first two levels, through turning away from evil and doing good. True, there is a connection, but the person remains a distinct being. There is someone who loves and someone who fears. He is a being who serves Hashem, and there is still no true bittul. But in Torah there is already true bittul. So in higher teshuvah, the connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu is one of deveikus: he becomes completely one with Him. The Rebbe then adds in the sicha that there is an even higher level, the bittul associated with the yud. The upper hei is Torah. Regarding the yud, the Rebbe brings in this sicha a level of bittul—[unclear]—that is even higher than the bittul of Torah. That is beyond the middos, beyond the deveikus of

19:41 Speaker 2 a Jew with Hakadosh Boruch Hu as associated with the vav of Hashem’s Name. So what is the main point of the sicha? It is what we said earlier. I just want to mention the four levels again, four distinct levels of avodah: turning away from evil, doing good, Torah study, and holiness itself. These are four levels of avodah, and each level brings greater bittul and greater deveikus. This is the new insight here in Tanya, based on the beginning of chapter 4. The Baal Shem Tov wanted to say that all four elements are really one point, one essence. That means that even when you are at the beginning of avodah, even when you are at the stage of kabbolas ol, you need to know that your kabbolas ol is only the beginning of reaching the encompassing level of the yud of Hashem’s Name. In other words, everything rests on this point of bittul. [unclear] This shines in the yud of Hashem’s Name, where chochmah shines—koach mah, the power of “what?”—the bittul that illuminates the truth that I am not separate. That truth, that I am not separate, is in the yud of Hashem’s Name. It then becomes clothed in the first hei, the vav, and the final hei, descending through them. But on every level there is... These are not separate levels. We feel that point in every aspect. So even when you are at the start of avodah, at the stage of kabbolas ol, you feel that your kabbolas ol is not an external acceptance of the yoke. External kabbolas ol belongs to a person who has only kabbolas ol and nothing more. No—this kabbolas ol rests on the fact that, in essence, I am the yud. In essence, I have the chochmah within my soul; I have a root and am a part of G-d above. My connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu is an essential connection, associated with the yud of Hashem’s Name, with bittul and truth. It is just that, in practice, I do not yet shine at that level. So

21:39 Speaker 2 in lower teshuvah, I follow the order of avodah. I have to begin with [unclear]. Right now I am at other levels, but that essence is really higher teshuvah; it is all one continuum. It is all one essence. So even at the start of teshuvah, you are already connected to its ultimate goal. This is the foundation of the explanation in Igeres Hateshuvah. Why is higher teshuvah relevant even when a person is still, so to speak, at the beginning of the avodah of teshuvah? The Rebbe was precise about this in [unclear]. [Unclear] says that the wording of Tanna Devei Eliyahu, “[unclear],” alludes here to the four letters of Hashem’s Name. Yes, “[unclear].” So there is a correspondence here to all the levels of teshuvah, not just higher teshuvah. It does not allude to the yud, because the yud needs no allusion: it is the true reality. Those are already matters of Chabad. But the explanation in Tanya gives a person a fuller understanding as he does teshuvah. He needs to know that higher teshuvah and lower teshuvah are not two different things. They are really one essence. In practice, the order requires him to begin with lower teshuvah, but lower teshuvah must be connected with higher teshuvah. This also explains, of course, what he brings here from the Zohar concerning the blemish of the covenant. The Zohar says that teshuvah cannot be done for a blemish of the covenant. So the Rebbe asks: How can that be? After all, nothing stands in the way of teshuvah. How can you say teshuvah is not possible? The answer is that higher teshuvah is needed—not lower teshuvah, but higher teshuvah. And the Rebbe asks: But it says, “Nothing stands in the way of teshuvah.” It says simply “teshuvah”; it does not specify which kind of teshuvah. To this the Rebbe

23:51 Speaker 2 He says, “No, that’s teshuvah ila’ah.” But it just says “teshuvah.” How does that fit? Based on this explanation, though, it makes sense. From what we’re learning here in Tanya, teshuvah tata’ah and teshuvah ila’ah aren’t really two separate things. Right at the beginning of teshuvah, in teshuvah tata’ah, its ultimate purpose has to be present: to reach teshuvah ila’ah. They are all part of the same essence of the Name Havayah. So if, in your teshuvah tata’ah, you recognize its connection to teshuvah ila’ah, that means you’re in a process of teshuvah aimed at attaining awareness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Then even simple teshuvah tata’ah includes a focus on the yud of the Name Havayah. Consequently, it also repairs the blemish of the bris. What an extraordinary insight! So when the Gemara says that nothing stands in the way of teshuvah, it’s speaking even about the blemish of the bris. And it simply says “teshuvah,” which includes teshuvah tata’ah. That doesn’t contradict the Zohar, which says that ordinary teshuvah doesn’t help and teshuvah ila’ah is needed. Teshuvah tata’ah is actually part of the essence of teshuvah ila’ah. When teshuvah is approached this way, even simple teshuvah repairs the blemish of the bris, because it too is connected to the yud of the Name Havayah. Do you understand the point? It gives us an understanding. There’s also another sicha in which the Rebbe hints at this. The Rebbe notes that the Alter Rebbe brings four verses in chapter 1 of Tanya. Those four verses also allude to the four levels of teshuvah we discussed. Why did the Alter Rebbe bring four verses there? They’re in that same order. First, let’s grasp that. And the order of the verses

25:56 Speaker 2 there doesn’t follow their order in Tanach. So the Rebbe says something wonderful: when you look at the verses, you’ll see that the order of the four verses corresponds to the four aspects we discussed here. Turning away from evil comes first. All four of these aspects are here. That’s the beginning of the level of turning away from evil, so it’s the first verse he brings. After that comes the verse in Tanach. Then he brings a verse from the Chumash. What’s the verse in the Chumash? “And you shall return to Hashem your G-d with all your heart.” But that’s the order: the level of turning away from evil comes first, so he brings it first. “And you shall return to Hashem your G-d with all your heart”—“your heart” already refers to the middos, to what’s in your heart. That’s the idea behind the order. After that, “Bring us back.” “Bring us back”—no, “Return, Israel.” “Return, Israel”: Israel is connected with the Name Havayah; this is the apprehension of the Name Havayah. Israel is joined with the head. [unclear] After that, “Bring us back” says

27:08 Speaker 3 and from them, so that you will remember.

27:09 Speaker 2 That is the essential self-nullification of the yechidah, of the yud. So the four verses also correspond to the four foundations. The Alter Rebbe hints at this right at the beginning: teshuvah has to be such that each level brings you to the next. Teshuvah is really one essence, extending from kabbolas ol all the way to true self-nullification. Already in kabbolas ol, we should sense that it comes from the self-nullification of the yechidah within each person.