Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 26 - Part 3

00:01 We’re here in chapter 26, in the middle of the chapter. The Alter Rebbe brings the Arizal’s interpretation of this verse: “Because you did not serve Hashem your G-d with joy and gladness of heart, more than all.” We explained in the previous class what the Arizal’s interpretation is. The Arizal does not read it as Rashi does—that you did not serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu at a time when you had joy and gladness of heart because of your great abundance. Rashi is speaking about the time. Rather, the Arizal is speaking about a person who did serve Hashem—yes, he served Him, but not with joy. The punishment comes for the very fact that joy was lacking in his service of Hashem. We said that the Rambam also understands the plain meaning this way. At the end of Hilchos Lulav, the Rambam also quotes the verse with the same explanation. One explanation for why the Alter Rebbe specifically cites the Arizal and not the Rambam—though the Alter Rebbe is not obligated to cite anyone, and could certainly cite the Arizal in the first place—is that the Arizal also explains the rest of the verse. The Arizal explains: “Because you did not serve Hashem your G-d with joy and gladness of heart, more than all.” What does “more than all” mean? The Arizal explains that it means more than anything in the world. He says explicitly: imagine that you received all the wealth in the world, or something else tremendous—anything you can imagine in this world that would bring you joy. Certainly, if a person received all the good things he dreams of having, he would be happy. So the verse is telling us that when a Jew reflects on the great privilege of being able to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu, he should feel

02:10 joy and gladness of heart greater than all of that—greater joy than he could get from any pleasure or anything else in the world. The Rambam does not say this; the Arizal does. That is why the Alter Rebbe cites the Arizal: he adds this point, which tells us even more about how great the joy in serving Hashem should be. Chassidus also discusses this interpretation of the verse. There is something very interesting in Likkutei Torah. There is a well-known maamar of the Alter Rebbe that begins with “Sos Tasis,” one of the Sheva Brachos, in Likkutei Torah, Parshas Tazria. The maamar begins, “Sos Tasis Vesagel Ha’akarah”—“The barren one shall rejoice and exult.” There, too, the Alter Rebbe discusses serving Hashem with joy: “The barren one shall rejoice and exult as her children are gathered into her with joy.” He explains the tremendous value of joy, and adds another very beautiful and interesting point about how to apply the verse in our service of Hashem. The verse says: “Because you did not serve Hashem your G-d with joy and gladness of heart, more than all, you shall serve your enemies.” The Alter Rebbe asks: Such a punishment? Just because joy was lacking, a person deserves a punishment like that? “Because you did not serve with joy and gladness of heart, more than all”—therefore “you shall serve your enemies”? What is going on here? The Alter Rebbe says that it is not a punishment, but a consequence. A person needs to know that when we start making calculations, calculations are made Above as well. When a person is in a state of sadness or bitterness and begins weighing things up, he causes them to do the same Above. And when the accounts are examined, the conclusion will be that he really does not deserve it. But if a person is joyful, joy breaks through barriers. There are no calculations. So when a person

04:34 becomes joyful, the power of joy is tremendous. As we say about things down here, joy breaks through barriers. When a person is happy, there are no limitations. He sees everything in a good light, and he is willing to let things go. That is the nature of joy: it breaks through all barriers, all restrictions and limits. So when a person is joyful, he brings about joy Above as well. And when there is joy Above, all restrictions and limits fall away. Then Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgives you, pardons you and bestows every good thing upon you, even if you do not deserve it. But when a person lacks joy—“you did not serve with joy”—when joyful service is missing, restriction and judgment begin. And when there is judgment, the result is “you shall serve your enemies.” A person becomes enslaved to this world, because then, in truth, he does not deserve to receive that abundance. Who are you to receive it? This is an explanation the Rebbe adds to the verse, “Because you did not serve with joy ... you shall serve your enemies.” This explanation appears in Likkutei Torah, Parshas Tazria. The Rebbe says that many people stumble over this, feeling that they are not succeeding in their service of Hashem. But the Rebbe says that this is a mistake: they think they need to be on a certain spiritual level, and so on. On the contrary, a person should serve Hashem with joy. Then all restrictions and limits fall away, and abundance is bestowed upon him from Above even if he does not deserve it. He explains several other points there along these lines. This is a very, very fundamental teaching in Chassidus about this verse. There is another explanation of the verse, “Because you did not serve Hashem your G-d with joy and gladness of heart, more than all.” But that relates to the continuation of the chapter, so we’ll return to it when we study the end of chapter 26. There is also an interesting explanation in the maamarim on “Hachodesh Hazeh Lachem.”

06:37 It is a wonderful explanation, discussed at length in the Rebbe’s maamarim as well: “more than all” refers to Gan Eden. Gan Eden is called “all,” as we say in bentching, “bakol, mikol, kol.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave three people a taste of the World to Come—Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov—as indicated by the words “bakol, mikol, kol.” “Bakol” is written about Avraham, “mikol” about Yitzchak, and “kol” about Yaakov. So the World to Come is called “all.” The teachings also explain why: “All” is the phrase “For all is in heaven and on earth,” referring to the sefirah of Yesod, which is the source of pleasures. From there come all the pleasures of Gan Eden, and so on. According to this, what does “Because you did not serve Hashem your G-d with joy and gladness of heart, more than all” mean? A Jew should have more joy in serving Hashem and fulfilling mitzvos than in even all the pleasures of Gan Eden. That is the explanation. Although there is tremendous pleasure in Gan Eden, where souls delight in the Divine Presence, and there are many levels in Gan Eden, each higher than the last, the joy of serving Hashem and fulfilling a mitzvah is greater than “all”—than every level of Gan Eden. Why? As explained in Tanya, all of Gan Eden and all its revelations are the supernal light. Torah and mitzvos, by contrast, connect us with the Divine Essence. So the joy of fulfilling a mitzvah should be greater than “all.” In any case, this is the first part of chapter 26. The Alter Rebbe explains a major principle in serving Hashem: the way to overcome the yetzer hara is specifically to serve with alacrity. To have alacrity, you need joy, and you need to cleanse your heart of every trace of worry, sadness and grief. A person must not have any worry or sadness. Then the true joy of the soul and of Hakadosh Boruch Hu can awaken, and then you can, through

08:35 With joy, a person can serve Hashem with energy, overcome the yetzer, and deal with everything else. That is the point the Alter Rebbe is coming to explain. Now the Alter Rebbe continues: “And here is the counsel for cleansing one’s heart of all sadness and even the slightest worry over worldly matters.” Since the Alter Rebbe says that to serve Hashem with energy, a person needs to put aside all his worries, he is now going to explain, in this chapter and the next two chapters, the different kinds of worries a person may have—things that interfere with joy. And the Alter Rebbe will give us advice on how to remove all the disturbances that can interfere with serving Hashem joyfully. The Alter Rebbe says: “And here is the counsel for cleansing one’s heart of all sadness and even the slightest worry over worldly matters, even concerning children, life, and livelihood.” The Alter Rebbe is making a new point: not just worries about permissible matters, peripheral matters, but even about essential things. There are matters of children, life, and livelihood, and even though these are things a person needs, part of what sustains a person—every normal, healthy person needs children, life, and livelihood—when something is lacking in these areas, it naturally causes a person worry. How do we get rid of worries about all these things? The Alter Rebbe says: “Everyone knows the teaching of our Sages: ‘Just as one recites a blessing for the good, etc.’” So we need to contemplate what the Gemara says: that a person needs to bless Hakadosh Boruch Hu for everything. The Gemara’s teaching is well known: “Just as one recites a blessing for the good, etc.” What does the Gemara go on to say? So too one recites a blessing for things that are not good. Just as a person needs to bless Hakadosh Boruch Hu for good things—the passage there gives the wording of the blessing to say—so too, one needs to bless Him for things that are not good. And the meaning is, as the Gemara explains—

10:37 The Gemara there asks: What does “just as one recites a blessing” mean? It isn’t the same blessing. What does it mean to say that just as one blesses for the good, so one blesses for the bad? It is a different blessing. There is the blessing of Shehecheyanu, and there is another blessing; they are different blessings. The Gemara explains: to accept it with joy. The meaning of “just as one blesses for the good and for the bad” is not about the wording of the blessing. It is about how a person says it and how he receives what has happened. Just as a person becomes happy over something good and accepts it joyfully, so too, with things that are the opposite of good, a person must accept them joyfully, with the same joy as he feels over good that is visible and revealed. Visible and revealed. He needs to accept these things with joy, exactly as he accepts things whose goodness is plain to see. How? How? How can you actually accomplish that? How? What? How is such a thing possible? How can a person accept it joyfully when, G-d forbid, he has problems concerning children, life, or livelihood? How can he? How can he accept that joyfully? So the first thing the Alter Rebbe says is simply: “For this, too, is for the good.” A Jew needs to start from the understanding that even things that outwardly seem not good are also for the good. In essence, they too are good things. “It is only that their goodness is not visible or revealed to eyes of flesh.” Yes, it is not visible to eyes of flesh, but in essence these things too are good; this, too, is for the good. We all know that “this, too, is for the good” comes from the Gemara’s story about Nachum Ish Gamzu. He was on his way to the king with jewelry, precious stones, and pearls, and along the way everything was stolen from him and replaced with dirt. He said, “This, too, is for the good.” Then it turned out that this very dirt saved him—saved, saved him, and annulled the decree.

12:26 Because it was discovered that this dirt could be used in war, and so on—the whole miracle that happened with the dirt. If he had brought the king precious stones and pearls, the king had no need for precious stones; he had plenty. It was precisely the king’s amazement at this that led him to annul the decree. Precisely because it was such an extraordinary thing, it had an effect on the king and annulled the decree. So that is the idea of “this, too, is for the good”: the bad itself turns into good. That is what a Jew needs to understand from this story. A Jew needs to. It is not merely a story that happened to Nachum Ish Gamzu; it is the Divine truth. It is the real truth, the Divine truth, the real truth. It tells us how a Jew needs to look at every situation in the world, including things that outwardly seem to be the opposite of good. He needs to know that this is only how they appear outwardly. In truth, this, too, is for the good. But what is the distinction? There are two kinds of good. There is good that is visible and revealed, and there is good that is not revealed—it is concealed good. But being concealed does not make it any less good. On the contrary, as the Alter Rebbe is about to explain, concealed good comes from an even higher place. Outwardly, it is experienced in this way, but in truth it is an exceptionally lofty good. Therefore, one should accept it with joy, just as one rejoices in good. Incidentally, there is an interesting point of precision here. The wording of our Sages is, “Just as one recites a blessing for the good, so one recites a blessing for the bad.” We find that in Likkutei Sichos, in two places, the Rebbe addresses the word “just as.” In one place, the Rebbe writes that the point is “just as”—it is not exactly the same thing. In one place in Likkutei Sichos, the Rebbe explains that ultimately it is only “just as,” a comparison. After all, outwardly it is something that is the opposite of good. One cannot experience exactly the same joy—

14:22 in the literal sense. Yes, when something is openly, visibly good, a person feels it. When it is something you do not feel as good, it affects you and it hurts. It affects you; it hurts. A person is not a fool; he feels pain. When it hurts, it hurts. Rather, he needs to work on himself to grasp the matter through emunah. Then it does not interfere with his joy. But it is not quite on the same level. The Rebbe explains this. We will speak more about it, with Hashem’s help, in later classes, because there are several ways the Tanya explains the acceptance of suffering. There is chapter 26. There is something beyond that in Igeres Hakodesh, where the Alter Rebbe explains it differently. There are three or four places in Tanya. We spoke about this once before as well, when we studied Igeres Hakodesh 11. If you remember, we discussed how there are several levels in accepting suffering. So the word “just as” is sometimes explained this way. Elsewhere in Likkutei Sichos, the Rebbe emphasizes the opposite: “just as” means, on the contrary, with full force—that it really is the same. There may be a hint to this here too, in the Alter Rebbe’s writing “etc.” As we know, in Tanya the Alter Rebbe sometimes writes one form of “etc.” and sometimes another. What is the difference? The usual explanation is that when he writes the form with the connecting “and,” the continuation is also relevant. When he writes it without the “and,” it is because the main point lies in the first part. The continuation is relevant too—that is why he wrote “etc.”—but without the “and,” because the Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize that he is referring primarily to the first part. Yet here, surely, the Alter Rebbe means the second part. He is speaking about “reciting a blessing for the bad.” The Alter Rebbe quotes only half of our Sages’ teaching here: “Just as one recites a blessing for the good.” But he also means—

16:21 the second part. On the contrary, that is what he wants to say: that one should rejoice over things that are not good just as over good things. Nevertheless, the Alter Rebbe does not quote the second part of our Sages’ teaching; he only writes “etc.” in the form without the connecting “and.” That means the Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize that the main lesson comes specifically from the first part, from the words “just as.” That is what the Alter Rebbe sees here: “with the same joy as one feels over good that is visible and revealed.” From our Sages’ words, “Just as one recites a blessing for the good”—specifically from the first half of their teaching—the Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize that accepting suffering as it happens, accepting suffering with joy, must be with the same force, the same intensity, the same vitality: “just as.” Why? Because when you come to recognize that everything is good from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, it is all good. It is just concealed good. But on the contrary, concealed good comes from a higher place. As he says, that gives a person the strength for “just as”—to accept suffering with joy with the same force. That is precisely the point here, in the Alter Rebbe’s writing “etc.” without the connecting “and.” So what is the explanation? The Alter Rebbe explains what it means that this, too, is for the good, except that its goodness is not visible and revealed. Why is some good visible and revealed while other good is not? The Alter Rebbe explains that “it is from the hidden world, which is higher than the revealed world.” This good that is not revealed comes from a particular place. The fact that it is not visibly and openly good is not some incidental, external matter. On the contrary, it is because it comes from a higher world. The flow of Hashem’s kindness can come from two places: from the revealed world and from the hidden world. When the flow of kindness comes from the revealed world, the kindness is visibly and openly good. When the kindness comes from the hidden world, the kindness is in a form of

18:18 The concealed world. Now, everyone understands that the concealed world is a higher world, and there Hashem’s light is more exalted. Certainly. And that is why one must accept it with joy. We’ll see that shortly. The revealed world corresponds to the vav and hei of the name Havayah, while the concealed world corresponds to the yud and hei. One of the differences between the revealed world and the concealed world is the difference between yud-hei and vav-hei. What is the difference between yud-hei and vav-hei? We say it every day in davening: “For the sake of the union of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah, to unite yud-hei with vav-hei.” What does it mean to unite yud-hei with vav-hei? What are yud-hei and vav-hei? The difference is as the verse says: “The hidden things belong to Hashem our G-d, and the revealed things belong to us and our children.” Yud-hei represents the hidden things, meaning Chochmah and Binah. Chochmah and Binah are hidden because they are above the worlds. As we also say in the bar mitzvah maamar, yud-hei—Chochmah and Binah, the intellect—is above the world. It is like this in the human soul: intellect does not reveal a connection to another person. Intellect is for oneself. An emotion, by contrast, relates to someone else. Malchus relates to someone else even more. So yud-hei is the concealed world. There, so to speak, it is Hashem as He is unto Himself. Vav-hei, by contrast, represents the drawing down of G-dliness: how Hashem reveals Himself within the worlds. That is the revealed world. Now, yud-hei. Everyone understands that the letters yud-hei represent a far higher level than the letters vav-hei. Yud-hei is the upper part of the name Havayah. There, Hashem is present in a much more revealed, deeper, higher, and more exalted way. Vav-hei, by contrast, involves contraction. Vav—

20:09 is contraction; it is a drawing down. It is Hashem descending to connect with the worlds. So there is already a descent there. It already involves contraction and descent, and is therefore a lower level. So yud-hei is above vav-hei. The same applies to the worlds: the concealed world is far higher than the revealed world. In the concealed world, the G-dly light shines on a more exalted level, and that itself is why it is concealed—because of the greatness of the revelation, the greatness of the light. In Chassidus, we already know from the maamarim that every morning we say, “Who forms light and creates darkness.” Chassidus brings that when saying “Who forms light,” one should kiss the arm tefillin, and when saying “Who creates darkness,” one should touch the head tefillin. Now, “forms” refers to the world of Yetzirah, which is lower. The arm tefillin are lower. What does the verse say about it? “Who forms light.” Yet דווקא “creates,” referring to the higher world of Beriah, is described as “darkness.” How can that be? The world of Beriah is a greater world. The head tefillin—and darkness? Rather, this is the difference between the revealed world and the concealed world. The arm tefillin represent the revealed world. So what does “light” mean? Light means that we can see it. From the recipient’s perspective, we can benefit from it; for us, it is light. The world of Beriah is the concealed world. There is a far more exalted light there, but the recipient cannot benefit from it. For him, it is darkness—darkness down below, not in itself. Because of the light’s greatness and intensity, it is like a light so strong that he cannot see it or benefit from it. But in itself, that light is far, far greater. The light about which it says “Who creates darkness” is a much higher light. The same applies here. Down here, we see a situation of lack, of evil, suffering, undesirable things, and material concerns. That is—

22:15 because of the way the light is clothed and the vessel that receives it. The vessel is such that it cannot receive the light. But what lies within this situation? The G-dly influence present in it comes from a far higher, far more exalted place. That itself is why the influence appears in this way, as darkness. So the G-dly light present within suffering comes from a much higher place. The G-dly light there is much stronger. That is why yud-hei is mentioned in connection with suffering, as the verse says, “Fortunate is the man whom You chastise, Yud-Hei,” and so on. That is why yud-hei appears in connection with suffering: “Fortunate is the man whom You chastise, Yud-Hei.” What is the verse telling us? “Fortunate is the man.” What makes him fortunate? That “You chastise him, Yud-Hei.” When he contemplates that suffering in particular contains a higher light from Hashem, a more exalted G-dly influence, then fortunate is the man who, through suffering, connects with Hashem, in a certain sense, on the level of the concealed world—specifically yud-hei, a higher level of G-dliness. And so on. At a farbrengen once, the Rebbe spoke about this. It was on Shabbos Vayakhel-Pekudei 5748. The Rebbe spoke about what is written in the Zohar, in Zohar Vayakhel and Zohar Pekudei, in connection with the parsha. The verse says, “Fortunate is he whose help is the G-d of Yaakov.” How does it continue? “Whose hope is in Hashem his G-d.” And the Targum Yerushalmi—“Fortunate is he whose help is the G-d of Yaakov, whose hope is in Hashem his G-d.” What does “shivro” mean? That he believes, waits, looks forward, hopes. “Shivro” means hope. But it is not the usual word, so the Zohar asks: Why use the word “shivro”? Why not use a more common word? The Zohar says: Don’t read it as “shivro,” his hope, but as “shibro,” his brokenness. “Fortunate is he whose help is the G-d of Yaakov”—his brokenness is with—

24:28 Hashem his G-d. His brokenness: even in states of brokenness, he gives himself over to Hashem. In situations of concealment, situations where something is lacking, where the body is broken, where there is a breaking of the—then too, his brokenness is with Hashem his G-d. He knows that Hashem is present in it. Fortunate is a person who— The Rebbe related this after 22 Shvat in 5748. It was at the first farbrengen the Rebbe held after 22 Shvat, on Shabbos Mevarchim Nissan, Shabbos Hachodesh. The Rebbe spoke about this idea, “his brokenness is with Hashem his G-d.” So here in Tanya, the Alter Rebbe demands of the beinoni that this be the way he rises above material worries. It is not simple at all. The Alter Rebbe demands this as part of the beinoni’s avodah; the Alter Rebbe explains how a Jew can overcome worries. The Alter Rebbe demands that one serve Hashem with joy. It is a fundamental principle: to overcome the yetzer hara, one needs joy without any worries. When you have worries about material matters, you need to work on yourself to reach this understanding of “this too is for the good.” You need to rise above it and contemplate that the influence within this suffering comes from a higher place. It comes from the concealed world, where the G-dly light shines on a far more exalted level, even though outwardly we cannot see it. This elevates a person, lifting him to a place where those worries and that suffering no longer occupy his mind. More than that, they do not interfere with his joy. On the contrary, the joy is much more exalted, as the Alter Rebbe is about to explain regarding being “joyful in suffering.” When you sense that a G-dly light from a far more exalted place is present here, that through suffering you draw closer to Hashem—and closer to a more exalted level—

26:23 of G-dliness—this brings a person great joy and dispels his worries about those material troubles and sufferings.