Likkutei Amarim Tanya, Chapter 27 - Part 6

00:01 Speaker 1 We are up to Tanya, chapter 27, on page 31b, in the lines after the period, beginning “And not only that.” Until now, the Alter Rebbe has been speaking about the battle with the yetzer hara, about sinful thoughts and wrongful desires. In simple terms, he was speaking about forbidden things. And the Alter Rebbe says that one should be joyful about this. A person should know that there should be joy in observing a prohibition, just as there is in fulfilling a positive commandment. The joy comes from the fact that this is iskafya Above—from the great virtue of it, which the Alter Rebbe explained in several ways, and from the great virtue of the avodah of iskafya: what it accomplishes Above, what it accomplishes in the soul, and everything else it accomplishes. That is why a person should feel great joy that he can serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu through iskafya. And even if this is how he spends his entire day, perhaps that is precisely why it is explained that Hakadosh Boruch Hu derives pleasure from the avodah of iskafya. But the iskafya we have discussed until now has mainly involved forbidden things. As he said, thoughts of sin and wrongful desires—things the animal soul is naturally drawn to, but which one must guard against. Here the Alter Rebbe begins discussing a new kind of iskafya. Having emphasized the great virtue of the avodah of iskafya—the great pleasure it brings Above, the revelation of G-dliness it brings about, and so on—the Alter Rebbe also wants, at the end of the chapter, to speak about iskafya as an avodah in its own right. It is not only iskafya with regard to forbidden things, but also iskafya with regard to permitted things. So let’s read it inside. The Alter Rebbe says: “And not only that, but even with things that are entirely permissible.” Even things that are completely permitted. What is the significance of “things that are entirely permissible”? In other words,

02:09 Speaker 1 the Alter Rebbe means things that are necessary. There are three levels. There are forbidden things, which we discussed—sinful thoughts and wrongful desires. Then there are things that are permitted but unnecessary. As the Shelah says, these are not things that are both permitted and necessary; they are permitted but not necessary. Desires—desires for permissible things. A desire for permissible things can also, in a certain sense, sometimes involve a bit of prohibition. After all, it is called a desire. Soon the Alter Rebbe will also bring in the idea of “You shall be holy” in connection with this. But here we are focusing on the wording “things that are entirely permissible.” The Alter Rebbe is alluding not only to things that are permitted but unnecessary, but even to things that are permitted and necessary. There are things a person needs for his body, for his health, for life itself—permitted things that he needs to sustain his body. That is why the Alter Rebbe is precise in saying “entirely permissible.” In other words, this is not a case of indulging a desire, eating just for the pleasure of it. He eats to sustain his body, so it is entirely permissible according to the Torah. There is no element of prohibition in it at all. But even here there is an avodah of iskafya. That is the new point. “Whenever a person sacrifices his inclination”—whenever a person takes some action to subdue his yetzer, even for a short time, even when it concerns something necessary. The Alter Rebbe is not, G-d forbid, demanding self-mortification. That is contrary to Chassidus, contrary to the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. These are necessary things; he needs them. But for a short time, you can hold back for a few minutes, for a little while. You will eat it, and you need to eat it, and we must look after the health of the body. But you can

04:05 Speaker 1 wait a little longer. Instead of eating now, eat a little later. That is what we are talking about here. The Alter Rebbe is saying that this, too, counts as iskafya. “Even with things that are entirely permissible, whenever a person sacrifices his inclination, even for a short time, and intends to subdue the sitra achra in the left chamber.” Why does he do this? Because he wants to subdue the sitra achra, not to give in to the yetzer hara. True, I need to eat, and this is food I need to eat, and I will eat it. But wait another minute, another few minutes. That act of not giving in immediately also breaks the hold of the sitra achra, the kelipah, the yetzer hara, the animal soul. It weakens the force of its desire. “For example,” the Alter Rebbe says, giving examples: “when he wants to eat.” As we said, this is about eating what is necessary to sustain the body. But what does he do? He “delays his meal for an hour or less.” He says: I’ll eat, but not now. I’ll eat in an hour, or even less than an hour, “and studies Torah during that time.” The Alter Rebbe adds that during that time he does not occupy himself with other bodily needs; he studies Torah. What is the Alter Rebbe emphasizing here? Why add, “and studies Torah during that time”? What if he does not study Torah? What is the point of specifying “and studies Torah during that time”? More generally, we see that the Alter Rebbe emphasizes that with iskafya concerning things that are entirely permissible—which, as we said, are necessary to sustain the body—there is an element of iskafya, but on condition that he intends to subdue the sitra achra, and that during that time he studies Torah. Why exactly? Why is that necessary? Why isn’t the very fact that he eats an hour later enough, even if he does not... No, because

06:02 Speaker 1 the Alter Rebbe means that we are talking about things a person needs to sustain his body. These are necessities. So if, for example, you eat an hour later but spend the meantime doing business, or doing other permitted things that the animal soul enjoys, then you have not accomplished iskafya of the sitra achra. When we are talking about forbidden things, or about things that are permitted but unnecessary—things you do not need—then the very fact that you restrain yourself is what matters. Whatever else you do at the time, the restraint itself is already the point, because you are holding back from eating something you do not need. In that itself, you are already serving Hashem. So even if, for example, you want to eat something you do not need to sustain your body and you say, “I won’t eat it now; I’ll eat it in an hour,” and in the meantime you do other physical things, you have, in practice, exercised iskafya. But with things you need to sustain your body, you say, “I won’t eat now; I’ll eat in an hour”—but what are you doing in the meantime? Other physical things. So what has that accomplished? You are doing what the animal soul wants. You have not exercised iskafya over the sitra achra. When you say, “I’ll eat in an hour, and during that hour I’ll do something holy, I’ll engage in serving Hashem,” then it counts as doing it in order to subdue the sitra achra, to break the animal soul’s attachment to material things. That is why the Alter Rebbe emphasizes that he studies Torah during that time. He does something holy, and afterward he will eat,

07:54 Speaker 1 But in the meantime, he puts off eating for another hour, and during that hour he does something holy. So he really is subduing and weakening the power of the sitra achra. Interestingly, in his notes on the Tanya, the Rebbe writes here: “This requires some examination.” In the new book of notes the Rebbe wrote on the Tanya, published after Gimmel Tammuz, the Rebbe writes about the words “and engages in Torah study during that hour”: “This requires some examination.” It isn’t clear exactly what requires examination. But it’s interesting that in Kuntres Eitz Hachayim—I think it’s Kuntres Eitz Hachayim—there’s a place where the Rebbe Rashab, n”e, discusses the avodah of iskafya. In Kuntres Eitz Hachayim, the Rebbe Rashab, n”e, says that even if he doesn’t study, it still counts; there’s wording to that effect there. But he may be speaking there about permissible things. It’s not clear; we need to check. He cites the Tanya here. But it’s interesting that the Rebbe Rashab, n”e, doesn’t say that he specifically has to study Torah. Even if he doesn’t study, if his intention is to subdue the sitra achra, that too is significant. Here the Alter Rebbe says he has to study and engage in Torah, and the plain meaning is as we explained. The reason he needs to study and engage in Torah is that then he really weakens the sitra achra. He does something holy. But perhaps the Rebbe’s question is: Who says he has to study? Maybe even if he does something else, if he does it with the aim of breaking the sitra achra, that should also be enough, at least. But we need to clarify what the Rebbe means. Let’s continue. The Alter Rebbe cites a source for this from the Gemara: “As it says in the Gemara.” The Gemara in Tractate Shabbos says that Torah scholars had a practice: “The fourth hour is the mealtime of ordinary people.” The Gemara there discusses the hours of the day. It says that ordinary people

09:47 Speaker 1 eat in the fourth hour of the day. That was when they ate their morning meal. “The sixth hour is the mealtime of Torah scholars.” Torah scholars ate two hours later, going hungry for two hours. So the Alter Rebbe asks: Why did Torah scholars eat later? The plain reading of the Gemara is that they simply wanted to make use of the time; they were so absorbed in study. So was it because of their diligence? They ate later to study a little more. But the Alter Rebbe says: No, that isn’t the explanation. “And they let themselves go hungry for two hours for this purpose.” The whole reason they ate later was this intention: to subdue the sitra achra, not for any other purpose. “Even though after the meal they would also study all day.” If they hadn’t returned to their studies after eating, then this would not have counted as subduing the sitra achra. That would be something else: they simply wanted to study and didn’t want to stop. But that isn’t the case here. They studied beforehand and studied afterward too. So it made no difference when they ate. They could have eaten an hour earlier, since they would have returned to their studies anyway. So why didn’t they eat when everyone else ate? The Alter Rebbe explains: for iskafya. That was the entire purpose. They delayed their meal by two hours solely to practice subduing the sitra achra, “even though after the meal they would also study all day.” So that’s an example of iskafya with things that are entirely permissible. That’s the example the Alter Rebbe gives. “And likewise, if he restrains his mouth from speaking about worldly matters that his heart very much desires to speak about.” The first was an example involving action. Now the Alter Rebbe wants to give an example involving speech, so he gives

11:28 Speaker 1 an example involving speech as well: someone who wants to speak about worldly matters that his heart very much desires to discuss. Again, we’re not talking here about idle chatter. Idle chatter is something one is not supposed to engage in. We’re not talking about things he is forbidden to say. We’re talking about worldly matters he does need to discuss. Say someone needs to talk about business, buying and selling, matters connected with the home, material things—the affairs of life that he needs to discuss. But he wants to talk about them; they’re material matters, and he wants to discuss them. So he says: “You know what? I’ll talk about it in a little while.” Again, as with eating, it isn’t that he won’t discuss these things afterward. But he wants to discuss them now, and he practices iskafya over that impulse: he’ll discuss them later, or discuss them briefly.

12:27 Speaker 2 Until he...

12:28 Speaker 1 Huh? Here the Alter Rebbe doesn’t say. Here the Alter Rebbe doesn’t say what he does in the meantime.

12:34 Speaker 2 He doesn’t say that he does something else. It sounds like he wants something.

12:38 Speaker 1 Exactly. That’s why—why—why that’s what I meant. What I said earlier: perhaps this is the point of the Rebbe’s question. Even if he does something else, the fact is that he wants to eat now or wants to speak now, but he puts it off. Even if he doesn’t study Torah, that too is a form of iskafya. Why does the Alter Rebbe emphasize specifically engaging in Torah study? Perhaps that’s the point of the Rebbe’s question. In practice, I wanted to speak just now, and although it’s something necessary, I practice iskafya and say, “I’ll talk about it in a little while. Wait a bit.” The Frierdiker Rebbe relates in his sichos that there was a chossid of the Alter Rebbe called the Yishuvnik. That’s what they called him, the Yishuvnik. Literally, a yishuvnik was someone who lived in a settlement. People who lived in villages were called yishuvniks. He relates that there was this Yishuvnik, and whenever he needed to say something, he would first say, “M’darf zich meyashev zayn”—one needs to think it over. Yishuvnik also suggests yishuv hadaas, a settled mind, as it were. “M’darf zich meyashev zayn.” As if to say, you need to think about whether to say it or not. So every time, before he answered or said anything, he would first say, “M’darf zich meyashev zayn.” It was a kind of... you can wait. You don’t have to say it immediately. Wait. Think. That act, that approach of waiting another few minutes. What does he go on to say? That was about speech. “And likewise with thoughts.” The Alter Rebbe doesn’t elaborate, but it’s understood that the same applies to thoughts. Presumably, he means thoughts about permissible and relevant matters, business and the like. There too, he puts off the thought. Yes, “even to a very small extent.” Even when we’re talking about the smallest act of iskafya, a very small extent. Small

14:29 Speaker 1 in quantity and slight in quality. We’re talking about something very small. Again, it’s something permissible, something necessary, something he’ll do anyway. But the very act of not letting himself satisfy his desire, even regarding necessary things—he says, “In a little while, in a moment”—that act is called subduing the sitra achra. The Alter Rebbe says: “When the sitra achra is subdued below,” it breaks the sitra achra within the soul down here, “the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu and His holiness rise far above.” It brings about the... revelation. “Rise”—yes, we said that “rise” means the revelation, the expansion of the greatness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu and of holiness far above. Very, very far. In the Rebbe’s notes on the Tanya, the Rebbe points out that the Alter Rebbe is hinting here that this is even greater than iskafya with something forbidden. Earlier, when the Alter Rebbe spoke about iskafya with forbidden things, he didn’t use this wording. He said: “The glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu rises above all.” “The glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu rises above all.” What does “glory” mean? It’s the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu rises very high. Here the Alter Rebbe adds new words. He says: “The glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu and His holiness.” Not only does the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu rise; the holiness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu rises. “Far above.” Much further. In Chassidus, after all, there’s a difference between the words “glory” and “holiness.” They’re two entirely different words, two different levels. When we speak of glory, glory generally refers to Malchus. Among the sefiros, glory is Malchus. Glory is Malchus; glory is a lower level. Holiness, by contrast, is the Holy of Holies, sovev kol almin.

16:33 Speaker 1 Kodesh is a much higher level. Kedushah, holiness, has to do with lofty levels above. “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” His very holiness. Here, regarding forbidden things, it says [unclear]. The Alter Rebbe says, “The glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu rises.” But regarding permitted things, the Alter Rebbe says not only the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, but even His holiness. Because holiness—holiness is something we work to achieve. Holiness is something that, from the outset, is above... “Holy, holy, holy.” Even in His holiness, there is an elevation, so to speak, through the avodah of the Jewish people. There is an elevation, an exaltation. A Jew brings this about even in the holiness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu through iskafya specifically in permitted things. The Rebbe brings this in the name of Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl, in Me’or Einayim. It’s the well-known teaching the Rebbe brings in the maamarim on Kedoshim; he quotes it and expands on it. He explains it in the maamar on Kedoshim in the Melukat, where he quotes the teaching: “You shall be holy, for I am holy”; “My holiness is above your holiness”; “Could you be like Me?” There is a teaching that says something along these lines in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, though I’m not sure. There is a teaching that this isn’t a question. The Midrash you quoted says, “You shall be holy—could you be like Me?” You think you can be as holy as Hakadosh Boruch Hu? No, because His holiness is above yours. “I am holy”—on a higher level. That is the straightforward reading of the Midrash. But according to this interpretation of the Midrash, it isn’t... it isn’t a question. “Could you be like Me?” A Jew can rise to the holiness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “like Me.” Why? Rabbi Nachum says: “For My holiness is above your holiness.” All the holiness above depends on the holiness below. And that is what the Rebbe writes here as well. When a Jew practices iskafya in permitted things, he thereby draws G-dliness upon himself. He also brings about exaltation. He brings about an elevation,

18:26 Speaker 1 so to speak, even in the holiness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which rises to a higher place, a higher level. “And from this holiness, a supernal holiness is drawn down upon the person below, to give him great and powerful assistance in his service.” Now the Alter Rebbe adds that what we accomplish through iskafya is not only above: we bring about exaltation and elevation above. Rather, from the holiness drawn forth above, there is also an arousal from above in response to the arousal from below; something comes down from above as well. Once there is an arousal above, it certainly has an effect below too, like a face reflected in water, raising a Jew to a level of holiness much higher than he could reach on his own. In other words, it begins from below to above. It starts, first of all, with my iskafya. Through my iskafya, through a person rising and sanctifying himself, he brings about an elevation in the holiness above, in the holiness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “When the sitra achra is subdued below, the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu rises above all.” And this also affects the person’s soul down here, bringing about great holiness within him. The Alter Rebbe says, “To give him great and powerful assistance in his service of Him, blessed be He.” How is the drawing down of holiness from Hakadosh Boruch Hu to a person below expressed? It is expressed in that great and powerful assistance in his service of Him, blessed be He. It gives a person extraordinary strength. When a person practices iskafya, that iskafya rises above and causes an elevation in the higher worlds, in the supernal holiness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But afterward, extraordinary strength is drawn down from there: he receives enthusiasm and vitality to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It gives him great assistance in his avodah and helps him become even holier, as the Rebbe goes on to explain later in this chapter. There’s a story people tell here. When the Rebbe says [unclear] to delay meals—

20:51 Speaker 1 I was a yeshivah student, and they told a story. Just an interesting thing that happened to me—not that it has anything to do with what I’m discussing here. We were students in the yeshivah in Montreal. On Friday night we were in yeshivah, and there was a long study session, because in Montreal in the winter Shabbos begins very early. By five o’clock it’s already nightfall. But the boys would wait until seven for Kiddush, sometimes until eight. Not during the sixth hour—the seventh hour. Anyway, I don’t remember now. In Argentina that doesn’t happen anymore. Boruch Hashem, here we never have that problem. How does it work, from six to seven? No, what are the hours when you shouldn’t make Kiddush? Six to seven? No. At any rate, the study session continued until then, and it was a very difficult one. It was a three-hour Friday-night study session. The boys were tired from Friday night, with mivtzoim. It was very hard, but that was the schedule. They would daven Kabbalas Shabbos at seven, and only then go eat the meal. I remember one time we were sitting there, eating our Shabbos meal. It was already late, and a Jew came in. His name was Reb Naftali Yunik. Naftali Yunik was one of the elder chassidim. He was already an elderly man then, close to ninety. He was the father of the Yuniks—Berel Yunik and the others, the Yunik family. He was also related to Zalman Morozov through his mother-in-law; Zalman Morozov’s wife was a Yunik. At any rate, he arrived and suddenly walked into [unclear]. The boys were sitting in the yeshivah dining room, and in he came. That was not at all a usual thing there. It was that cold Montreal winter, and the boys immediately had a little l’chaim, and it turned into a farbrengen. He shared one teaching, just one teaching, and I remember it to this day. He said that when they were boys

22:51 Speaker 1 in the yeshivah where he learned—in Poland, Russia, I don’t know exactly where; I don’t remember—something happened. He told us that in their shtetl there was a shochet who slaughtered the meat. One Friday night, in the winter, the householders made Kiddush early and started their meals. The shochet noticed there had been a mistake with the meat. There was some meat left over. In short, there had been a mix-up between kosher meat and meat that wasn’t quite kosher. It had gotten mixed together, and he had sold that meat by mistake. So he started running from house to house in the shtetl, telling people not to eat it. But what had happened? Most of the householders had already eaten their Shabbos meal. The only ones who hadn’t were the yeshivah boys. The boys stayed to learn and ate late. So because they ate late, they were spared from eating non-kosher meat. Naftali Yunik was a shochet himself, so he... what was it? He had heard these kinds of stories. In any case, he told us that story, and that was the whole farbrengen: you should always eat later. You never know what might come of it. That was his teaching. Of course, it has nothing to do with the Tanya here, but when I read this passage, I remembered that story. Well, it sounds like a story. Microphones, ah, all right. We’ll leave the last part for the next class.