Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 25 - Part 5

00:00 We’re at the end of chapter 25 of Tanya. Before we learn the final passage, there’s one more point connected to what we learned earlier. I want to share a thought from Reb Levik, the Rebbe’s father. The Alter Rebbe explains here the verse, “For this thing is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” In this chapter, the Alter Rebbe explains the conclusion of the whole discussion: how, by contemplating mesirus nefesh, a person can serve Hashem “in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it”—in thought, speech, and action, in turning away from evil and doing good. Reb Levik notes that when the Alter Rebbe discusses turning away from evil, he gives only one example. He doesn’t go into detail. Right? He mentions only a minor prohibition of the Sages, and that’s all. He gives no specific examples. He just says, in general, that a person can be careful to avoid everything, even a minor prohibition of the Sages, by contemplating that refraining from an action is always easier than the suffering of death. By contrast, when it comes to doing good, the Alter Rebbe gives three examples. When it comes to doing good, the Alter Rebbe gives three examples: Torah, prayer, and acts of kindness. He gives three examples. So what is the reason for that? Reb Levik offers a beautiful thought. With Reb Levik, everything is grounded in Kabbalah, but we can understand this through Chassidus too. He says that the service of turning away from evil is connected—in Chassidus it’s explained that turning away from evil is connected with accepting the yoke of Heaven. It’s connected with the sefirah of malchus. That’s the whole idea. Malchus is turning away from evil, accepting the yoke. And so, in service that comes from malchus, we sense

02:22 that everything is one single point. There are no separate details. There’s one point; all the mitzvos are one point. So when he speaks about turning away from evil, he gives just one point that covers everything. It’s all included in the single point of casting off the yoke or accepting the yoke. What does he say? Just a minor prohibition of the Sages. When a person acts out of kabbolas ol, everything is the same to him, even a minor prohibition of the Sages. He adds another allusion: the wording “a minor prohibition of the Sages”—specifically the Alter Rebbe’s word “minor”—is also connected with the sefirah of malchus. In Kabbalah, malchus is the feminine aspect, the nukva. Right? The feminine aspect is associated with the expression “women’s understanding is light.” So “minor prohibition” echoes that idea of “light” understanding. Even with a minor prohibition, then, he is careful because of mesirus nefesh. That’s the precise wording. But the main point here concerns turning away from evil as a whole. Since we’re speaking about malchus, everything there is one point. Doing good, though, is connected with Ze’eir Anpin, with the middos. In Chassidus, turning away from evil is malchus; doing good is connected with Ze’eir Anpin, with the middos. The middos have three lines: the right line, the left line, and the middle line. Corresponding to those three lines are Torah, avodah, and acts of kindness. Acts of kindness are the right line, prayer is the left line, and Torah is the middle line. So when the Alter Rebbe speaks about doing good, he brings three lines. He also gives an example involving Torah, which is connected with doing good, where there are three lines. Reb Levik adds that regarding Torah, he says, “like an ox to the yoke and a donkey to its burden.” Torah is the middle line. The middle line

04:15 includes both chessed and gevurah. That’s why he mentions both an ox and a donkey. In Chassidus, the ox and the donkey represent chessed and gevurah. The donkey is cold—that’s chessed of kelipah; the ox is hot—that’s gevurah of kelipah. There are an ox and a donkey in holiness too; they exist both in kelipah and in holiness. In holiness, they represent chessed and gevurah. So that is tiferes, which includes them both. That’s the middle line, Torah. Prayer is the line of gevurah, the left, the service that rises from below upward; and acts of kindness are the right line, from above downward. Anyway, that’s a thought from Reb Levik—a beautiful thought on this point. Let’s continue. At the end of chapter 25, we’re now learning this passage, which is very, very important and relevant to the time we’re in right now. Let’s first read it inside. The Alter Rebbe says at the end of the chapter, on page 32, one line from the bottom: “And with this it will be understood.” Based on everything we’ve explained until now, all of a Jew’s service rests on a foundation of mesirus nefesh. When a Jew thinks about mesirus nefesh, it gives him the strength to overcome the yetzer, both in turning away from evil and in doing good. So on that basis he says: “And with this it will be understood why Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, commanded the generation entering the Land, in Mishneh Torah, the Book of Devarim, to recite Shema twice every day.” So the question is, seemingly, why did Moshe Rabbeinu specifically command the generation entering the Land, in Mishneh Torah, to recite Shema twice every day? What is the purpose of Shema? To accept the yoke of Heaven with mesirus nefesh? What is the Alter Rebbe’s question? What is Shema? In simple terms, as the Gemara says, Shema is accepting the yoke of Heaven and mesirus nefesh. Those are two ideas, and the Alter Rebbe joins them together. On the one hand, Shema is about

06:17 accepting the yoke of Heaven. The Mishnah in Berachos asks: Why does “Shema” come before “Vehayah im shamoa”? So that one should first accept the yoke of Heaven. So the service of Shema is a service of kabbolas ol. But it isn’t just kabbolas ol: in Shema, accepting the yoke is bound up with mesirus nefesh. As the Gemara also says in Berachos, “with all your soul”—even if He takes your soul. And that is also the intention described in the sefarim. In the name of the Arizal and the Shelah, it is often brought that when a Jew says Shema, he should think that he is ready to accept the yoke of Heaven upon himself, even to the point of actual mesirus nefesh. So what does it mean, then, that Moshe Rabbeinu told them in Shema to accept the yoke of Heaven to the point of mesirus nefesh? “With all your soul and with all your might.” What is the problem? The Alter Rebbe asks: But didn’t He promise them, “Hashem will place dread and fear of you upon them”? Seemingly, Moshe Rabbeinu explicitly told that very generation entering the Land that they had nothing to fear. “Dread and fear of you.” In other words, what is the Alter Rebbe’s question? What, in simple terms, is the question? The question is this: when we learn about mesirus nefesh without Chassidus, mesirus nefesh means that someone comes and wants to kill you, G-d forbid, and then you need mesirus nefesh. When there is—what is mesirus nefesh? Usually, mesirus nefesh is when a person comes, an enemy of the Jews, a non-Jew, and wants to do that, G-d forbid. Then you need mesirus nefesh to—to—to overcome it, to stand firm in sanctifying Hashem’s name. So that is the Alter Rebbe’s question: seemingly, that particular generation entering the Land had nothing to fear. They had a promise that “Hashem will place dread and fear of you upon them”; all

08:15 The non-Jews would be afraid of them. So why was there a need for... That is the question in simple terms. But on a deeper level, what is the question? What is the precise point? Why does the Alter Rebbe specifically say “the generation that entered the Land”? Saying Shema is a mitzvah for all generations. What does “the generation that entered the Land” mean? Who says it applies specifically to that generation? The mitzvah of saying Shema, of accepting upon oneself... In other words, he is emphasizing that this mitzvah has a special connection to entering Eretz Yisroel. And that raises the question. It is a twofold question, as the Rebbe explains in a very interesting reading. First, this is in Mishneh Torah, the part of the Torah that Moshe Rabbeinu said in his own words. And whom is he addressing? The generation that entered the Land. He emphasizes to them that this mitzvah is connected specifically with entering the Land. Yet that generation, of all generations, did not need mesirus nefesh. If mesirus nefesh was needed, you could argue it was for one of two other groups: not the first generation, but later generations, when trials would come, when the Jewish people would sin and the non-Jews would gain power over them. Then the second generation, the third generation, and later generations would need it. Or the opposite, the Rebbe says: the generation of the desert. If there were concerns about trials, perhaps the generation of the desert needed mesirus nefesh even more than the generation that entered the Land. They had not yet received the promise, “Hashem will place dread and fear of you upon them.” Perhaps in the desert they needed to be ready in case an Amalekite or another non-Jew came against them. Good. So that is the precise question: What is Moshe Rabbeinu saying?

12:43 Specifically to those entering the Land. “This is the commandment that Hashem commanded you to do in the Land.” That is why the Alter Rebbe phrases the question at length: it makes the difficulty much deeper. Precisely the generation entering the Land, who received the promise, “Hashem will place dread and fear of you upon them”—to them Moshe Rabbeinu says: when you enter the Land, “this is the commandment...” Once you enter the Land, what must you do? Say Shema twice every day. What for? Why do they need it? This generation, in particular, had less need for mesirus nefesh. That is the question. There is another explanation, but I will explain it shortly. This is a more straightforward reading. The Rebbe says: “Rather, it is because the observance of the Torah and its mitzvos depends on always remembering the idea of giving up one’s life for Hashem, for His oneness.” What does it mean that Torah and mitzvos depend on mesirus nefesh? It means that a person must always remember the idea of giving up his life for Hashem, for His oneness, “so that it remains firmly fixed in his heart at all times, day and night, and never leaves his memory.” This is what we explained earlier: to serve Hashem, a person needs to remember mesirus nefesh. Remembering that he has the potential for mesirus nefesh gives him the strength to overcome the yetzer hara and serve Hashem, “for through this he will be able to stand against his yetzer hara and overcome it always, at every moment and every hour,” as explained above. In every situation and at every time, he will be able to stand against the yetzer hara. What is the Alter Rebbe saying here? Good—what is the answer? The answer is that we are not talking here about mesirus nefesh when a non-Jew comes to interfere with you. That is not the mesirus nefesh we are discussing, the mesirus nefesh of sanctifying Hashem’s name. Rather, when a Jew says

14:34 Shema and is ready to give up his life for Hakadosh Boruch Hu—“with all your heart and with all your soul,” even if He takes your soul, “and with all your might”—then thinking about and remembering that he has the potential for mesirus nefesh gives him the strength to overcome the yetzer hara. That is what we have been discussing throughout this chapter. And as a result, he can serve Hashem in thought, speech, and action in everyday life. This is what Moshe Rabbeinu is telling the Jewish people: You are now entering Eretz Yisroel. A new era is beginning. In terms of place, it will not be a place where G-dliness is as openly revealed as it was in the desert. There is a change of place. You are going to a place where G-dliness will be more concealed within the trappings of nature, as explained in the maamarim about the spies. Why did the spies not want to enter Eretz Yisroel? In the desert there was a more open revelation of G-dliness: there was manna, G-dliness was tangibly apparent, and there was no concealment within the trappings of nature. Now they were moving to a place where there would be the trappings of nature. So in terms of place, there would be more concealment. And also in terms of time—not just place, but time. There would be very great trials, all kinds of trials at different times, involving the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites. And because, as it says, they mingled with them, they faced all kinds of trials at different times. This is the precise meaning the Alter Rebbe draws from the words “always, at every moment and every hour.” “Always” can refer to place, and “every hour” refers to time. In other words, one can stand against the yetzer hara in every place and at every time. And this is what Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Jewish people: when a Jew remembers that he has a neshamah, and that because of his neshamah he is ready

16:36 to give up his life for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, even, rachmana litzlan, to suffer the pain of death rather than be separated from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, then how much more so can he do so in life. You may face a trial like Yeshayahu[?], and you may face a trial arising from the concealment of G-dliness within the trappings of nature. Nevertheless, you will be able to stand firm by remembering your capacity for mesirus nefesh. That is the point here. Now, this is really the foundation of the entire Tanya. The Rebbe spoke about these lines many times. They are the very essence, the inner point, of “For it is very close to you” on the title page of Tanya. On the title page, the Alter Rebbe says that Tanya comes “to explain clearly how it is very close, by a long and short way.” The Alter Rebbe comes to explain how a Jew has the ability to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu: “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” That is what the entire Tanya is about. And there is a long way and a short way. The long way is the way of understanding, which the Alter Rebbe discussed in chapter 17: through contemplating His greatness, love and awe are awakened within a person, and through love and awe he has the strength to turn away from evil and do good. He discussed this in chapters 16 and 17. But here, from chapter 18 through chapter 25, the Alter Rebbe speaks about the short way. What does “the short way” mean? It means revealing the neshamah. That is why it is called the short way: you do not need to contemplate new ideas. You only need to reveal what you already are. Reveal the Jew within you. Reveal your essence. Once you reflect on the fact that you are a Jew and have the capacity for mesirus nefesh—that, because of this, you are ready to give up your life—

18:28 it gives you the strength to fight the yetzer hara and serve Hashem as your heart is obligated to do. Now, the Rebbe has a maamar from around this period, a maamar on Parshas Chukas, “Zos Chukas HaTorah,” 5729, published in Sefer Hamaamarim Melukat. It is a wonderful maamar, and there he comes to Moshe. That is what it discusses. The Rebbe speaks about why the red heifer is associated with Moshe—the red heifer that Moshe prepared. At the beginning of the maamar, in that section, the Rebbe discusses how we receive mesirus nefesh from Moshe Rabbeinu. There the Rebbe also cites Tanya. Why does the Alter Rebbe say that Moshe Rabbeinu commanded the generation that entered the Land? Why use such a lengthy phrase? The Alter Rebbe could have said it briefly. So there the Rebbe explains that wording in connection with this idea. The Rebbe says: by nature, we experience ourselves as independent beings. We have the capacity for mesirus nefesh, but it is concealed. It is present in the essence of the soul, in its yechidah, but the yechidah does not shine openly. What is openly apparent is the intellect, the emotions, my sense of self, my own existence. A person wants to live. That is natural. A person does not want to die. He does not want to run away from life. He wants to live, to understand things, to feel things, to be an individual. By nature, we experience ourselves as independent beings. Our self-nullification is not part of our apparent nature. It belongs to the yechidah of the soul, but the yechidah is not revealed. With Moshe Rabbeinu, mesirus nefesh was revealed in his very essence. Moshe in every generation is the Rebbe; with the Rebbe, the quality of mesirus nefesh shines openly. In particular, the Rebbe says there in the maamar, in connection with [unclear], that for him life itself was mesirus nefesh. In any case, the point is that with the Rebbe, with the nasi—what are we saying? With Moshe Rabbeinu—the movement of mesirus nefesh shines in every detail, and through his influence he instills it in others. That is why specifically

20:26 Moshe Rabbeinu—that is the precise point. Moshe Rabbeinu in Mishneh Torah. It makes sense that Moshe Rabbeinu, who acted with mesirus nefesh, would be the one to teach this in Mishneh Torah, where he speaks in his own voice. Through Moshe Rabbeinu, then, mesirus nefesh was revealed to every Jew in his personal life. That is the strength we received from Moshe Rabbeinu: actual mesirus nefesh. And we see this plainly when we speak about the Rebbe. These are the fundamental things the Rebbe taught our generation. We study the Rebbe’s Torah, his sichos, and we see what the Rebbe demanded of the chassidim and the strength he gave us: that our service of Hashem should be in this spirit of yechidus, of mesirus nefesh, because it cannot be any other way. The Rebbe spoke about this constantly. Mesirus nefesh was not only in Russia, when there were actual trials and Jews stood firm with mesirus nefesh. The Rebbe spoke about it all the time. There is mesirus nefesh in the Rebbe’s time. There is the mesirus nefesh that belongs to our generation: the test of prosperity. We are in America, out in the world, in a world where, on the one hand, we do not face the physical trials of the previous generation. On the contrary, there is comfort and so on. Nevertheless, mesirus nefesh means that he wants G-dliness. That is the avodah even when there is no outward challenge. That is the whole avodah there. The Raya Mehemna, Moshe Rabbeinu, instills faith in a Jew so deeply, so essentially, that even when there is already a revelation of G-dliness and there is material and spiritual comfort, he still remains in a state of being crushed. His bond with G-dliness is one of mesirus nefesh. That is the mesirus nefesh connected with our generation. And this is the avodah Moshe Rabbeinu commanded in Mishneh Torah. We receive mesirus nefesh from Moshe Rabbeinu. This is a very powerful avodah. There is another sicha of the Rebbe in which the Rebbe asks a question about this: Why did Moshe Rabbeinu command the generation entering the Land? After all, the recitation of

22:29 Shema existed before then too. True, it is written in the Chumash in Parshas Vaeschanan, but the mitzvah of reciting Shema already existed earlier. After all, the Jews put on tefillin. So was the passage of Shema in the tefillin or not? Did they put on tefillin without, without the passage of Shema? There was a mezuzah. Look at Parshas Korach. Yes. Korach said, “Does a house full of sefarim require a mezuzah?” Yes. So there was a mezuzah in Korach’s time. How did they know about the mitzvah of mezuzah? The mitzvah of mezuzah is written in the Shema, and the mezuzah contains the passage of Shema. So if Korach, who was there in the first year, asked whether it required a mezuzah, then the passage of Shema already existed. The Rebbe points out that this is why the Alter Rebbe says, “Why did Moshe Rabbeinu command the generation entering the Land in Mishneh Torah?” That is why he uses this longer wording. The Alter Rebbe does not write, “Why were they commanded?” because they had been commanded earlier too. The question is, as we said before, why did he command them? Why did Moshe Rabbeinu make a point of saying it specifically now, to the generation entering the Land, in Mishneh Torah: this is the mitzvah? As though there were a particular addition here—he repeats it now, specifically to this generation, because it pertains to this generation. But it is not that it did not exist before; it did. The mitzvah existed earlier too. That is why the Alter Rebbe uses the longer wording, to answer this question. Here too, in the Rebbe’s approach to the Tanya, we see that every word is precise. Now, someone here asks: If so, what is the difference between what is written here and what is written in chapter 41? It is interesting. In chapter 41, the Alter Rebbe also writes something similar, but there is a very big difference. At the beginning of chapter 41, the Alter Rebbe speaks about kabbolas ol, and he writes about standing before the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And the Alter Rebbe says...

24:38 What is the Alter Rebbe’s wording? “The natural fear hidden in the heart of every Jew,” to stand before the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So the Alter Rebbe speaks there too about natural fear. Yes, kabbolas ol is this natural fear. In other words, we are speaking about the same fear discussed here in this chapter: a Jew does not want to be separated from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It is hidden in the heart of every Jew. But the difference, apparently, is that in chapter 41 the Alter Rebbe emphasizes it more as fear, as kabbolas ol. Here, the emphasis is more on mesirus nefesh. So there is some difference. This needs... Apparently, that is the difference between chapter 25 and chapter 41. In chapter 25, everything continues the discussion of mesirus nefesh; it is essentially a continuation of love. Love includes fear too, but the emphasis is on love. The soul’s love is that it wants to be absorbed in its Creator and does not want to be separated, even to the point of mesirus nefesh. Consequently, he does not want to commit any sin. So that is a spirit of mesirus nefesh. In chapter 41, the Alter Rebbe takes—apparently, he draws out just the kabbolas ol in more practical terms, in actual practice, without all the feeling, the mesirus nefesh behind it. Later in the chapter, though, when we study chapter 41, in its second half, we do see the Alter Rebbe speaking about love. The Alter Rebbe says that just as there must be fear, there must also be love. One wing is not enough; you need two wings. And when he comes to love, the Alter Rebbe does again mention mesirus nefesh: that a Jew wants Hakadosh Boruch Hu, specifically, with all his heart and soul, to the point of actual mesirus nefesh. And then the Alter Rebbe adds there that observing Torah and mitzvos also depends on this,

26:56 which is also a matter of mesirus nefesh. So if you look there, at the end of chapter 41, on the one hand it resembles what the Alter Rebbe says here in chapter 25. Yes, he speaks about mesirus nefesh and says that all Torah and mitzvos are mesirus nefesh. But at the same time there is a very big difference. Here in chapter 25, he speaks about mesirus nefesh as a preparation for Torah and mitzvos. It is the strength to fight the yetzer. In chapter 41, he speaks about it as the very essence of Torah and mitzvos, not as a preparation. The point of Torah and mitzvos is mesirus nefesh: you do what Hashem wants, not what you want. That itself is mesirus nefesh. So this is very interesting. These are two points, and we need to think about how to reconcile the explanation in chapter 25 with the explanation at the end of chapter 41. Apparently, they are two explanations. I will just give you some references. This is something that needs further study, but as references, if I remember correctly, there is the maamar beginning “Padah Veshalom” from 10 Kislev 5741, published in Melukat. There the Rebbe discusses it and cites the Tanya.

28:16 I recall that he speaks about this point. In general, in “Padah Veshalom” he cites the Tanya. In “Padah Veshalom” of 10 Kislev 5741, he cites Tanya chapter 41 and comes to mesirus nefesh; and on 10 Kislev 5722, in another “Padah Veshalom” that appears in Melukat, the Rebbe cites Tanya chapter 25. It would be very interesting to examine the difference between the two maamarim. Those are just references, and anyone who wants to can look into it for themselves.