Likkutei Amarim Chapter 31 - Part 1

00:01 Speaker 1 Today we’ll begin chapter 31 of Tanya. Chapter 31 is a wonderful chapter, a very foundational chapter. Here the Alter Rebbe takes up the subject of joy again. To explain the flow of the discussion a little: on the one hand, the Alter Rebbe concludes here the subject he began in chapter 29—how to break through a dullness of the heart and mind by breaking the heart. That is what he discussed in the last two chapters. So in the first half of chapter 31, the Alter Rebbe concludes that discussion. He gives us a fundamental principle, one of the most important principles in Chabad Chassidus, revealing the deeper meaning and the overall nature of the avodah of bitterness. We’ll talk about that as the class goes on. On the other hand, in the second half of the chapter, the Alter Rebbe explains the process by which we leave bitterness and arrive at joy. After all, when he began this whole discussion in chapter 26, he laid down the great principle in serving Hashem that we need joy to break the yetzer hara and overcome it. He said there that the main goal is to take the path of joy, but sometimes bitterness is needed as a means to joy. “In all sorrow there is profit”—the point is not the bitterness, but the joy that comes after it. The same is true of teshuvah: after the contemplation and bitterness of teshuvah, the goal is the joy that follows—after Tikkun Chatzos, after the bedtime Shema, and so on. So in this chapter we’ll see how the Alter Rebbe takes us through that entire journey. He explains how the soul moves from contemplating things that bring about a broken heart and bitterness to joy. And in fact, not only is it not

02:20 Speaker 1 a contradiction; one leads to the other. That is what we’ll learn in this chapter. From here, the Alter Rebbe moves into a discussion of joy that continues through several chapters—chapters 31, 33, and 34. In these three chapters, the Alter Rebbe explains several approaches and several ways to reach joy, and each one has layer upon layer of depth. Now, what is the point here? What is the fundamental principle? To understand the flow of the discussion, what does the Alter Rebbe want to tell us at the beginning of this chapter? In chapter 29, the Alter Rebbe addresses what a person should do after he has told us to put aside all worries—worries about sins, worries about troubling thoughts, and everything else. Throughout this struggle, you have to be free of worry, because if you are worried, you won’t be able to overcome the yetzer hara. In chapters 26, 27, and 28, the Alter Rebbe gave us advice on how to free ourselves of all worries, whether material or spiritual. So the person is free of worry. Nevertheless, sometimes he still feels weighed down—pesado, as they say. He feels a dullness of heart and mind. He feels that things aren’t working; he feels stuck. What causes this? The cause is the coarseness, the materiality, of the animal soul. For this the Alter Rebbe brought the teaching of the Zohar: if you have a piece of wood and the fire will not catch, you need to break the wood into small pieces. The same applies to the animal soul. By breaking down its coarseness, the light of the soul is revealed, and then prayer and serving Hashem can kindle the soul

04:08 Speaker 1 and bring a person to love of Hashem and joy. That is what the last two chapters were about: how a person breaks up that wood, how he breaks down the coarseness and materiality. In chapter 29, the Alter Rebbe spoke more about taking stock of a person’s inner state. Even though he is a beinoni—after all, the Alter Rebbe is speaking here about the beinoni—and in practice he is not committing sins now, his inner state makes him susceptible to sin. As the Alter Rebbe explained at length, evil could gain the upper hand over him at any moment, particularly after prayer, and so on. Also, he may have stumbled in the past, so even if he did teshuvah, those memories may return from time to time to awaken him to a deeper teshuvah. And there were other considerations the Alter Rebbe explained. So in chapter 29, the Alter Rebbe advised that by contemplating his own state, a person can come to have a broken and crushed heart, and that breaks down the coarseness. Chapter 29 also gives a second piece of advice: to cry out against the yetzer hara, to thunder at it—silently, in his thoughts, of course. This is the idea of rousing the good inclination against the evil inclination: “You wicked, loathsome, and abominable one!” These are all the approaches in chapter 29 for breaking down the coarseness. In chapter 30, the Alter Rebbe went a step further. He spoke about being “lowly of spirit before every person.” It is not only that some coarseness remains in the soul, in the kelipas nogah of the animal soul, which has not yet been refined. There are also undesirable things you have done and still have not corrected. If

05:57 Speaker 1 you take stock of what you should be, given what is expected of you—as the Alter Rebbe explained throughout chapter 30, “Do not judge your fellow until you have reached his place”—then, given your circumstances, your spiritual level, and the fact that you have studied Torah, much more is expected of you. Are you putting up a fight, and so on? A person may then conclude that there is much in his conduct he has still not corrected. Lashon hara in subtle ways, subtle transgressions—but for the beinoni, those subtle failings are worse than the blatant sins of the lowliest person. That is the reckoning the Alter Rebbe explained in chapter 30. So these are two chapters with two lines of thought, two approaches to contemplation, meant to bring about a broken heart. Now, what is the goal? The goal is to break down the coarseness, to break the heart. “A broken and crushed heart, G-d, You will not despise.” Once a person’s heart is broken, he can then come to the avodah of teshuvah, and the light of his soul can shine within him. As we’ll see, the ultimate aim is to reach joy. We’ll see that later in the chapter. But there is one problem the Alter Rebbe needs to explain, and the first part of chapter 31 is devoted to it. It’s a problem we all know: contemplating what is said in chapters 29 and 30 can make us depressed. It can make us sad and leave us with no desire to pray or learn. So instead of having its intended effect, it has exactly the opposite effect. It puts a person in a bad mood and brings him down. It takes away the desire to improve. That leaves us facing a danger, and this is what the Alter Rebbe sets out to explain in the first part of chapter 31.

07:54 Speaker 1 of the chapter. The Alter Rebbe explains this in a most remarkable way, going into what we might call the psychology of the soul. How do we make sure that contemplating all we have discussed about evil in chapters 29 and 30 has a positive effect—that it uplifts a person, strengthens him, and takes him out of the dullness of mind and heart? How do we make sure it does not, G-d forbid, do the opposite and bring him to sadness, where he falls into the kelipos? As the Alter Rebbe said in chapter 26, that is one of the yetzer hara’s tactics for bringing a person down. Sadness comes to break a person and put him in a bad state of mind. This is what the Alter Rebbe comes to explain in chapter 31. Let’s read it inside and see how he puts it. The Alter Rebbe says: “And even if, when he spends a long time delving deeply into the above matters, for an hour or two, in order to become lowly in spirit and brokenhearted, he comes to great sadness.” The Alter Rebbe is saying that if we spend an hour or two contemplating everything we discussed in the last two chapters, it will bring a person to lowliness of spirit and a broken heart. And what might result from that? It could bring him to great sadness. Not just sadness—the Alter Rebbe emphasizes great sadness, because the more you contemplate it, the greater the sadness may become. We’ll soon discuss the precise wording here, but first let’s read a few more lines. The Alter Rebbe says: “He should not be concerned.” Don’t be afraid; it’s not a problem. What does it mean that it’s not a problem? The Alter Rebbe goes on to explain this at length. Let’s read it, though we’ll need to come back

09:46 Speaker 1 to it, because there is a great deal to discuss. But first, let’s at least read the lines so we can understand what follows. Why should he not be concerned? Surely this is not good. The Alter Rebbe explains. How can you say he should not be concerned when sadness is not good? “Although sadness comes from kelipas nogah and not from holiness.” How could it be part of serving Hashem? “For of the side of holiness it is written, ‘Strength and joy are in His place.’” Holiness is specifically associated with joy. “And the Shechinah rests only amid joy, and likewise with regard to a matter of halachah, etc.” What does “etc.” include? The Rebbe says it refers to prayer: “One should begin to pray only amid joy.” The Alter Rebbe mentioned a matter of halachah, Torah study, and so on; the same applies to prayer. In other words, prayer, a matter of halachah, and all these things—the Shechinah rests specifically amid joy. “Rather, if the sadness concerns matters of Heaven, it is from the good within nogah.” Yes, even sadness over matters of holiness still belongs to kelipas nogah. But it is the good within nogah, not the evil within nogah. That, too, needs explaining. Let’s finish the passage: “Therefore, the Arizal wrote that even concern over one’s sins is appropriate only at the time of confession, and not during prayer or Torah study, which must be accompanied by joy that comes specifically from holiness.” Because sadness, even over matters of Heaven, belongs to kelipas nogah—it is the good within nogah, but it is still nogah—the Arizal writes that a person should think about his sins only at the designated time, during confession. During study, by contrast, he must not. Why? Because Torah study must be accompanied by joy and must come specifically from the side of holiness. Any sadness is

11:30 Speaker 1 connected with kelipah, so it has no place during Torah study. Then how can you say, “He should not be concerned”? That is the Alter Rebbe’s question. How can you say it isn’t a problem? It is a problem. The Alter Rebbe answers: “Nevertheless, this is the way to subdue the sitra achra—with its own kind and its like.” The Alter Rebbe says: True, but this is the way. To break and subdue the kelipah, you can use something that comes from the kelipah itself. You take something from within the kelipah to break it. How do we subdue the sitra achra? “With its own kind and its like”—with things that come from it. As our Sages said: “From the forest itself comes the handle for the axe that fells it,” and, “He encountered one like himself.” Now let’s begin explaining what the Alter Rebbe is saying here. Before we go into the details, there is something remarkable to notice. If you pay attention to the precise wording in Tanya, you see how exact every word is. Look at the wording: the Alter Rebbe keeps using pairs of expressions. Right at the start, “for an hour or two.” Why both? Say either an hour or two hours. Elsewhere in Tanya, the Alter Rebbe says [unclear]. Here, though, he uses this double expression, “an hour or two.” What does it mean? Then he says “lowly in spirit and brokenhearted”—another pair. After that he says “sadness,” but adds “great”: sadness, great sadness. And at the end of what we just read, the Alter Rebbe says, “to subdue the sitra achra with its own kind and its like.” Again, two expressions: “its own kind and its like.” What is the distinction? He also brings two sayings of our Sages: “From the forest itself comes the handle for the axe that fells it,” and then he adds, “He encountered one like himself.” We have not yet translated those sayings, but what is behind all this paired wording?

13:40 Speaker 1 The Rebbe gives a wonderful explanation that helps us understand the plain meaning of this passage in Tanya. The Alter Rebbe is continuing from two chapters, and in those chapters he discussed two kinds of self-examination. What is the difference between them? Broadly speaking, in the first chapter, chapter 29, the Alter Rebbe spoke mainly about the state of the soul. I say “mainly” because he discusses other things as well. But in general, what is chapter 29 about? What brings a person to feel brokenhearted when he considers the state of his soul? The fact that my soul is kelipah. As the Alter Rebbe says, who is this “I,” this person? The animal soul—and the animal soul is kelipah. In this state, the self is what matters most to me; that is why I am susceptible to desires and so on, and might even be worse than a mosquito. The Alter Rebbe’s whole discussion concerns the state of the soul—a soul connected to kelipas nogah—and that brings about a broken heart. In chapter 30, the Alter Rebbe’s main focus is on matters of evil. It is not only about the state of your soul; it is also about things you still need to correct. You are not yet serving Hashem as you should. Both in “do good” and in “turn away from evil,” something is lacking: your prayer is not as it should be, your Torah study is not as it should be, your tzedakah is not as it should be. And when it comes to turning away from evil, you still have some connection to lashon hara. Yes, it may be subtle, but it is

15:46 Speaker 1 there in you. And as the Alter Rebbe says, that subtle fault of yours is more serious because you have Torah knowledge. [unclear] For you, then, it is worse. So that is what is happening here: there are two stages of self-examination. On the one hand, the self-examination of chapter 29 is easier to recognize, because it concerns the state of my soul. The contemplation in chapter 30 is harder to notice, because it concerns more subtle forms of evil. It takes more time. That is why the Alter Rebbe says “an hour or two.” Some things are more apparent, more obvious. A person recognizes coarser forms of evil; that does not take much time, so that is “an hour.” But the subtler forms of evil—the whole self-examination of chapter 30, where you have to measure yourself against even the least of the lowly—you do not see immediately or openly. That takes more time. That is “two hours”: you need more time to uncover it. It is like the well-known story about the Rebbe Maharash. People asked him why those without money spent only a short time with him in yechidus, while those with money spent a long time. Among chassidim, the wealthy would spend more time in yechidus and the poor less. The Rebbe Maharash said: It’s simple. A poor man comes into yechidus and immediately tells me what he needs, what is bothering him, and what is wrong. Then I can advise him what to do. But when a wealthy man comes into yechidus, I ask him, “How are things? Is everything good? How is life?” “Everything is fine, everything is…” When I begin talking with him, he slowly starts to reveal that things are not good. It takes longer

17:57 Speaker 1 Time, so you need to—by the time you uncover the things that need correcting, it takes time. So the wealthy man’s yechidus isn’t because he simply, uh, deserves more honor. There is the idea that “the Rebbe shows affection to the wealthy,” but the Rebbe Maharash said this vort. What—regarding our subject, there is certainly overt evil. Overt evil is relevant enough, but hidden evil, evil in its subtler forms, takes more time. On the other hand, contemplating the fact that your soul is a soul of kelipas nogah, without actual evil in practice, produces only a lowering of the spirit. By contrast, contemplating the fact that you have actual evil within you produces a broken heart. A broken heart is more than a lowering of the spirit. Lowering of the spirit means: Okay, I feel somewhat lowly, but I’m still not broken. When you see that your situation is much worse, that gives you a broken heart as well. So lowering the spirit belongs to chapter 29, and a broken heart belongs to chapter 30. And that’s also precisely the meaning of “great counsel.” There’s ordinary counsel and there’s great counsel. It depends on what you contemplate. This is what the Alter Rebbe says next: “This is the way to subdue the sitra achra with its own kind and its likeness.” What does “its own kind and its likeness” mean? “Its own kind” means from the thing itself. “Its likeness” means only something resembling it—not the actual thing. That’s the difference between actual evil and its subtler forms. “Its own kind” means taking the evil itself, the matters of the animal soul itself, and through that reaching a broken heart. “Its likeness” is only something resembling it. There’s no actual evil here; it only resembles it. So that’s why it’s called “its likeness.” What are the two proofs the Alter Rebbe brings from the Gemara? The Gemara says, as our Sages said: “From the forest itself comes the handle for the axe that fells it.” What is the Gemara saying? That if you want to destroy

20:12 Speaker 1 the forest—abba, abba means a forest, yes? Uh, what they call a bosque. You want to break the trees? How do you break trees? You have to take wood, and from that wood you make the—the—what’s it called? The—

20:33 Speaker 2 Axe.

20:34 Speaker 1 The axe, yes. So “from the forest itself”: from the tree itself you take the wood that will then be used to break the tree. Right? You take from the tree the thing that will later break it. In the same way, you take the breaking of the heart from the kelipah itself in order to break the kelipah. “From the forest itself comes the handle for the axe that fells it.” Likewise, “It was struck by one of its own kind.” There was a story there about someone who killed a snake. Yes, the Gemara relates it, and then someone said to him that the one who had killed the snake was himself a snake, as it were—his behavior was not good. Yes, he—an Amora [unclear] was angry with him for killing the snake. “It was struck by one of its own kind”: he himself behaved like a snake, and he was the one who killed the snake. So an expression is being used here, yes—that’s the point. But what’s the difference between the two expressions? They seem to say the same thing. The difference is that “it was struck by one of its own kind” is a snake and a snake: one snake killed the other snake. With the tree, by contrast, the wood itself doesn’t actually break the tree. You can’t break a tree with wood. What breaks the tree is the iron; you hold the iron with a wooden handle. So the wood is a step further removed. It isn’t the actual thing itself. It’s something more indirect. That’s the difference between “its own kind” and “its likeness”: contemplating outright evil, or contemplating subtler evil, which isn’t outright evil. So we see here in Tanya that when the Alter Rebbe uses particular expressions and repeats a phrase, every word in Tanya is precise. And in practical terms, the Alter Rebbe is trying to explain here, following what we discussed earlier, two kinds of contemplation. In any case, what is the point the Alter Rebbe is making?

22:30 Speaker 1 The point the Alter Rebbe is explaining here is that although everything we learned earlier in chapters 29 and 30 involves contemplation that could make a person sad, the Alter Rebbe says: Don’t be concerned. Why not? Because this is the way to do it. To break the kelipah, you have to use the kelipah. This is still just the beginning of the explanation; the Alter Rebbe will explain more shortly. But there is a very important principle here. Today, in the world, this whole idea that the Alter Rebbe is discussing has become very, very, uh, important. The best analogy for it in our world today is what everyone is talking about all the time now: the vaccine against the disease, may Hashem spare us, the pandemic in the world. So how—there are several kinds of vaccines, yes? Different kinds. One kind of vaccine uses the virus itself to defeat the virus and build immunity against it. That’s the point of “it was struck by one of its own kind”: you take from the thing itself, from the kelipah, the means of breaking the kelipah. So sometimes, becau—what I mean is, the deeper point here is that kelipah is ego. To break the ego, sometimes you need a line of reasoning that speaks to the ego. If you approach it only with concentrated contemplation, your animal soul won’t be affected by it. You have to speak to it in its own language, in its own way, about its own concerns. That’s why the contemplation has to draw on matters of the animal soul itself in order to break the animal soul. That’s the first point the Alter Rebbe makes here. And with Hashem’s help, as we continue through the chapter we’ll see another point: the difference between bitterness and sadness. First the Alter Rebbe speaks about sadness. Even sadness itself is still something we use

24:32 Speaker 1 for the sake of healing. Beyond that, the Alter Rebbe explains something else: that this isn’t really about sadness at all, only bitterness. That’s the difference between bitterness and sadness. Sadness is kelipah; bitterness is holiness. That’s another principle we’ll see later in the chapter.