Likkutei Amarim Tanya, Chapter 28 - Part 1

00:00 Today we’re going to begin chapter 28 of Tanya. In chapter 28, the Alter Rebbe continues discussing the worries a person has, which interfere with his joy and, as a result, keep him from acting with energy. That leaves him in the hands of the yetzer hara, the animal soul. So in chapter 26, the Alter Rebbe set out to explain how a person can keep from being troubled by worry or sadness of any kind. As we discussed, in chapter 26 the Alter Rebbe spoke about material worries, and then about worries over serious sins. After that, in chapter 27, he spoke about worries over improper thoughts and desires that arise during the day, while a person is going about his worldly affairs. The Alter Rebbe gave advice, and we explained how a person should deal with each of these things so they won’t disrupt his service of Hashem with joy. In chapter 28, the Alter Rebbe addresses a different kind of worry: worry over stray thoughts that arise during the service of Hashem. In other words, in chapter 27 we were talking about a person who feels bad and becomes sad because he has improper thoughts and desires during the day, while going about his worldly affairs. The Alter Rebbe explained that not only should he not be sad; on the contrary, he should be happy that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is giving him the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah, “Do not stray after your hearts and after your eyes.” He has an opportunity to practice iskafya, with all the merit of doing that work each day. The Alter Rebbe explains that we should see this not as a problem but, on the contrary, as something positive that uplifts a person. But that makes sense when thoughts arise during the day—when he’s working, out in the world, eating, or occupied with material

02:18 matters. Then we can understand that there’s a purpose here: to give a person opportunities for iskafya, with all the merit that entails. But what happens when these distractions come during davening? When you’re davening, you can’t say that’s what they’re for—what connection is there? Seemingly, on the contrary, during davening a person should be completely focused on his prayers, drawing close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and davening with deveikus, with no distractions at all. If I think a stray thought in the middle of davening, that would seem to show that something is wrong with my davening, that I’m not immersed in it. The same applies during Torah study, when a person should be wholly immersed in holiness. So if he has stray thoughts and distractions during davening or Torah study, one might think that they do not come from a pure, holy place. Particularly when you look at various places in the books of Chassidus, including Chabad Chassidus—for example, in the Alter Rebbe’s own Likkutei Torah—he says in a number of places that stray thoughts arising in the middle of davening stem from various forms of dullness of the mind and heart. They are connected with various matters of wrongdoing, which prevent a person from ascending through davening. In other words, there seems to be a strong case that this comes from a bad place, and that a person should therefore recoil from it. This is what the Alter Rebbe comes to explain in chapter 28: how to relate to stray thoughts and improper thoughts connected with davening and Torah study. How should a person view them, and how can he rise above them so they don’t leave him dispirited, but instead enable him to overcome them and strengthen himself with joy, as

04:21 the Alter Rebbe is about to explain. This chapter, chapter 28, is also very important and fundamental—not only for its advice about what the Alter Rebbe discusses here, how a person can avoid becoming sad over stray thoughts during davening, but more generally as well. In this chapter, the Alter Rebbe gives us a wonderful approach to one of the fundamental ways of Chassidus, one that applies to many things in daily life. He gives us wonderful advice relevant to a number of aspects of our everyday lives, as we’ll see later in the chapter. The Alter Rebbe begins as follows: “And even if thoughts of desire and other stray thoughts arise in him while he is engaged in Torah study or davening with concentration.” We’re talking about thoughts that arise not while he’s going about his worldly affairs during the day, but while he’s studying Torah or davening with concentration. The Alter Rebbe says: “He should pay no attention to them, but immediately turn his mind away from them.” So the Alter Rebbe first gives direct advice, and he’ll return to this shortly. But first he tells us what the advice is: don’t make an issue of it. Don’t make an issue of it. “He should pay no attention to them”—don’t focus on them. What’s the advice? Turn your mind away. There’s something interesting here: in chapter 28, unlike chapter 27, the Alter Rebbe doesn’t use the word “improper.” In chapter 27, he speaks of improper thoughts and improper desires. Here he says, “thoughts of desire and other stray thoughts.” That distinction is important, a fundamental distinction. During the day, we’re talking about improper thoughts,

06:23 improper desires. During davening, they aren’t necessarily improper thoughts. It might be a thought of desire, but what matters is that the thoughts are foreign to the davening. This is the precise point explained in a number of places in Chassidus: during davening, the problem is not only thinking about something bad, G-d forbid. Even if you’re thinking about good things, if they aren’t connected to the davening, they’re considered stray thoughts. The Rebbe points out in a number of places—and so does the Alter Rebbe—that “stray thoughts” means thoughts foreign to this particular activity. That’s the point. “Stray thoughts” means thoughts that don’t belong. In other words, they have no connection to the davening. If you’re in the middle of davening and thinking about a subject in nigleh, that’s certainly a stray thought. But it’s sometimes said that even thinking about a subject in Chassidus, if it isn’t connected to the focus of your davening, is also considered a stray thought. In the Reshimos, the Rebbe asks the Frierdiker Rebbe about thinking Chassidus in the middle of davening. There’s thinking Chassidus before davening, and there’s thinking Chassidus during davening. The Rebbe asks whether thinking Chassidus during davening counts as stray thoughts. There’s a very interesting exchange between the Rebbe and the Frierdiker Rebbe on this subject. So if someone thinks Chassidus in the middle of davening, does that count as a stray thought? As I recall, there’s an interesting discussion there. The Rebbe asks about it, and the Frierdiker Rebbe tells him that it isn’t a stray thought. In short, they have a very interesting discussion about it. But in any event, what do we know? We know that the issue is whether the thoughts belong. That’s why the Alter Rebbe’s wording is precise: during davening, you need to be immersed in the davening. If you’re thinking other thoughts, even good thoughts, but they aren’t connected to the davening, then that’s considered

08:21 a foreign thought, and this, and that, and the other—and he needs to get rid of it. But how does he get rid of it? The Alter Rebbe says: This is not the time to argue with it. He must immediately turn his mind away from it. The Alter Rebbe continues: “Nor should he be foolish enough to engage in elevating the middos of the foreign thought, as is known.” The Alter Rebbe adds that a person should not make the mistake of engaging in elevating the middos of a foreign thought. What does the Alter Rebbe mean here? There is something very interesting here. The Alter Rebbe was, after all, a student of the Maggid of Mezritch, who was a student of the Baal Shem Tov. When you look at the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid, you find something that is truly one of the foundations of the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings. It appears many times. If you look in Kesser Shem Tov, he brings it up several times in one form or another. The Maggid of Mezritch brings it up several times, in various contexts, in his books Maggid Devarav LeYaakov and Or Torah. It is a foundation of the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings, called “elevating the middos of a foreign thought.” What does that mean? The Baal Shem Tov says that if a person experiences some desire or foreign thought, what should he think? He should think that this foreign thought has a source. Every thought has a source. Where does it get its vitality? Like everything in the world, it has vitality from Above. So this foreign thought, too, has vitality from Above; otherwise, it could not exist. Where did this foreign thought come from? From the shattering of the vessels. In other words, in its source it is holiness, but through the shattering of the vessels it fell into kelipah, and a spark fell from it. And that spark

10:20 is present in the foreign thought. Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu bring me this foreign thought in the middle of davening? So that I could refine the sparks. That is what is written in the Arizal’s teachings: the main purpose of the avodah of davening is the refinement of the sparks. The Alter Rebbe brings this up several times in Tanya. The avodah of davening is the refinement of the sparks. So during davening, a person needs to elevate the sparks of holiness that fell into kelipah. That is why he is given a foreign thought: every thought contains a spark. For example, he says, if in the middle of davening a thought comes to you connected with love—a foreign love, G-d forbid, a love for something inappropriate—why did this thought connected with the middah of love come to you? You need to contemplate that the source of this thought is connected with the middah of love. Above, the middah of love is a lofty love. In its source, it was a lofty love, a sefirah; but through the shattering of the vessels, a spark fell and became love for undesirable things. So you transform it: you take that love and turn it into love of Hashem. During davening, you awaken a great love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and in this way you elevate it. This is called elevating the middos. You elevate the middah of that thought. You identify which middah the thought belongs to: it belongs to the middah of love. You transform it into holiness, and in doing so you accomplish something wonderful. You elevate a spark that fell into kelipah and bring it back to its source in holiness. Likewise, if some fear comes to you in the middle of davening, the same applies. It is a foreign thought connected with fear, with awe—a fear of something else. What is going to happen tomorrow? You’re afraid; you don’t know how you’ll repay

12:09 your debts. All sorts of worries people have, things involving a foreign fear. So what do you do? You think about where that fear comes from—from the awe that exists Above. You go through that whole line of thought, and you transform it into holy awe, fear of Heaven. Then you elevate the spark. The Baal Shem Tov discusses this in connection with many things. In fact, we know that in Tanya itself, in Igeres Hakodesh, the Alter Rebbe discusses it. There is an entire, well-known chapter, Igeres Hakodesh 25, about Tzavaas Harivash. It addresses something the Baal Shem Tov said, which the Alter Rebbe comes to explain because the misnagdim had objections to the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings. One of their objections concerned the Baal Shem Tov’s statement that if a non-Jew disturbs a Jew in the middle of davening, one must know that the Shechinah has clothed itself in that non-Jew. The misnagdim made a huge uproar over it. The Shechinah clothes itself in a non-Jew? How could that be? That was one of the misnagdim’s objections to the chassidim. It even went so far that, among the accusations against the Alter Rebbe during his imprisonment, they brought up part of this objection too. The handwritten questions and answers from the Alter Rebbe that have come to light in recent years show that one of the questions was about this very matter: how do you explain the Baal Shem Tov’s statement that Hakadosh Boruch Hu clothes Himself in all sorts of things, even things opposed to holiness? There were various objections that the Alter Rebbe had to answer. The Alter Rebbe explains it there, as he does in Igeres Hakodesh 25. And this is the essential point: there is a lofty spark in everything. When a Jew contemplates the fact that there is a spark here, he elevates that spark. This strengthens him and gives him more resolve, and through this he refines

13:54 the middos. On a straightforward reading of Kesser Shem Tov, this is the way to correct foreign thoughts. A person reads Kesser Shem Tov, Or Torah, Maggid Devarav LeYaakov—the books of the Maggid and the Baal Shem Tov—and this is the way to correct foreign thoughts. This approach continued among the Maggid’s disciples through the generations. Later works, such as Noam Elimelech and Kedushas Levi, present it as a path in avodah, relevant to many matters. Then the Alter Rebbe comes along here and says: This is not for us. This is one of the remarkable innovations the Alter Rebbe revealed in Chabad Chassidus. The Alter Rebbe defined what applies to us and what does not. That is what the Alter Rebbe means when he says, “Let him not be foolish.” The Baal Shem Tov said it, and the Maggid said it, but they were saying it to tzaddikim. They had students who were complete tzaddikim, and to them they spoke of this kind of path in avodah. But an ordinary person who is a beinoni—and all the more so someone who can only wish he were a beinoni—does not belong to this level. That is the Alter Rebbe’s wording, and that is what he is addressing and ruling out here. This is the remarkable innovation here. Seemingly, this is one of the few places, perhaps the only place, where the Alter Rebbe openly seems to present a different approach from what the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid said. Generally, Chabad Chassidus is the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings. But there is this distinction: some things the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid said apply to tzaddikim, while other things do not apply to everyone. This is one of the innovations the Alter Rebbe revealed through the Tanya, and here we see it clearly. So much so that there is a well-known saying among chassidim,

15:54 commonly repeated, that the words “Let him not be foolish” are written on every page of Tanya. There is a saying that “Let him not be foolish” is written on every line of Tanya, on every page of Tanya. The Alter Rebbe also wrote it explicitly here: “Let him not be foolish.” But really, in every chapter of Tanya that you study, you need to remember, “Let him not be foolish.” It is very easy to get confused, imagine things, dream dreams, and take things in all sorts of undesirable directions. So you always need to remember, “Let him not be foolish.” That is a fundamental principle. Here the Alter Rebbe writes it explicitly: “Nor should he be foolish enough to engage in elevating the middos of the foreign thought, as is known, for those teachings were said only to tzaddikim.” What the books present as advice for dealing with a foreign thought was said to tzaddikim, whose foreign thoughts do not come from themselves. They are not their own foreign thoughts. Such things have no place within them. So when a foreign thought comes to a tzaddik, it is only so that he can correct it. He has no desire for it whatsoever. It is not that the tzaddik has some connection to these things. On the contrary, something comes to him that has no connection to him, something utterly removed from him. It is given to him so that he can elevate and correct it. Only a true tzaddik knows that this thought came to him so that he could correct it, because it comes from others. His foreign thoughts come from other people. As it is sometimes written, a tzaddik needs to elevate his chassidim, his students. So sometimes the people around him have foreign thoughts, and because they are around the tzaddik and are his students, those things come to the tzaddik. When the tzaddik elevates them, he also elevates this within the chossid. There is also

17:47 There is such a concept: when a tzaddik elevates an alien thought, it also has an effect on the chassidim. There are stories about chassidim who suddenly had a thought of yiras Shamayim because the Rebbe was thinking about them. These are the kinds of things chassidim talk about: when the tzaddik, when the Rebbe says, “[unclear] and all Israel with us,” he brings about yiras Shamayim in the chassidim. Things like this are written in teachings from the Baal Shem Tov. These are spiritual things that tzaddikim accomplish. Their alien thoughts came from others, and when they elevate those thoughts, they also elevate them for their students. But all of this applies only to tzaddikim. What about someone whose thought comes from himself? Here we’re talking about an ordinary person. The alien thought that comes to him is his own, from the evil in his heart, in its left chamber. The alien thought that enters his mind comes from something hidden within me. Chassidim say a vort: You call that an alien thought? It isn’t alien. A tzaddik has an alien thought. What does “alien thought” mean? It’s alien to him; it doesn’t belong to him. It came to him from somewhere else. But when it comes from my animal soul, it isn’t alien. It’s an old acquaintance. It comes from me; I know it. It isn’t alien—it’s my very nature. It’s me. You can’t call it an alien thought. The Alter Rebbe says this more gently, but that’s the point: it came from the evil in my heart, in its left chamber. He says: How can he raise it upward when he himself is bound below? How do you expect to elevate an alien thought when you yourself are sunk in the depths of the kelipos? There’s a principle: A prisoner cannot free himself from prison. A person who is himself in prison cannot get himself

19:46 out of prison, let alone get others out. If you want to get someone out of prison, you need to be above it. If you’re outside, you can get him out; but you’re inside. You can’t. It’s the same here: How can he raise it upward when he himself is bound below? How can I bring about an elevation of an alien thought if my own soul hasn’t been refined? My soul is right there. How can he raise it upward when he himself is below? That’s what the Alter Rebbe is explaining here. When we get to the tzaddik, he has no evil of his own. So if an alien thought comes to him, it has come from somewhere else, and he needs to elevate it. But when we come to an ordinary person, who himself is still unrefined, he can’t elevate something to a place he himself hasn’t reached. That’s the principle the Alter Rebbe is stating here. There’s a vort chassidim say: The Gemara uses an expression that the wicked do not repent even at the entrance to Gehinnom. Even at the entrance to Gehinnom, they don’t repent. What does that mean? There’s a vort attributed to the Kotzker: it isn’t talking about ordinary wicked people. He would say it means certain “fine Jews,” little rebbes—false tzaddikim. The Kotzker was well known for fighting against these false tzaddikim. He wasn’t... he himself was of a different sort. So he had a vort aimed at the false tzaddik. What does it mean that he doesn’t repent even at the entrance to Gehinnom? He arrives Above, they make an accounting, and they see

22:01 that he deserves Gehinnom. So they tell him he has to go to Gehinnom. But he’s sure they’re taking him there so he can save his students. He doesn’t realize they’re taking him to Gehinnom for his own sake. So he doesn’t repent. He thinks he’s going in to get someone else out. He doesn’t realize they mean him. It’s a sharp remark. So how can he raise something upward when he himself is below? That’s the pointed meaning of it. But what is the Alter Rebbe’s point here? Look, the point is: what advice does the Alter Rebbe actually give? The Alter Rebbe says that correcting the source of an alien thought is not an avodah for us. So what does he advise? The Alter Rebbe says: “He should turn his attention away from them for the moment.” That is the Alter Rebbe’s advice. The way to deal with an alien thought during davening is to turn your attention away from it. We see that for the Rebbe, this matter of turning one’s attention away is a fundamental principle. As I said, this chapter contains a principle that becomes very central in the Rebbe’s teachings—a general piece of advice in avodas Hashem. You see it dozens of times in the Rebbe’s letters, if not hundreds: a way of approaching avodah, of dealing with distractions, the yetzer hara, thoughts, and so on. The advice is to turn your attention away: “He should turn his attention away from them for the moment.” What does that mean? The point is: What am I absorbed in? In practical terms, turning your attention away means choosing what you connect yourself to. Human nature is such that whatever you’re absorbed in grows stronger for you. If you’re absorbed in the negative, the negative will grow. If you’re absorbed in the positive, the positive will grow. That’s how things work. What you think about and immerse yourself in becomes more

24:27 real. So the moment you start thinking about the fact that you have alien thoughts, bad character traits, or aveiros, you aren’t correcting them. You’re simply absorbed in the negative. In the end, you’re just dwelling on it, and it grows bigger and bigger. But when you turn your attention away, it’s different. The Rebbe writes in one of his sichos that turning your attention away means severing it—iberreissen. You sever your mental attachment, your connection to the evil, to the negative, to the alien thoughts, and put yourself in a place of holiness. You immerse yourself in davening, as the Alter Rebbe is about to explain, and then the alien thoughts will fade on their own. That is why the Alter Rebbe says that the advice for dealing with alien thoughts is to turn your attention away from them for the moment. Reb Shlomo Chaim Kesselman would give an analogy: A person is in the middle of a battle, and the enemy is shooting arrows. You don’t stop to think through exactly what to do and how to protect yourself. If you stop, you’ll get an arrow in the head. That’s not how it works. First you have to run. Get up and run. Don’t concern yourself with where it’s coming from or how you’re going to handle it. Don’t think about that now; you have to run. Once you’ve gotten away, you can start working on things and putting them right. The same applies here in avodas Hashem: the first step has to be to turn your attention away completely. Then, later in the chapter, the Alter Rebbe goes on to explain how, together with this, there also needs to be joy and so on.