Tanya Likkutei Amarim, Chapter 41 - Part 1

00:01 Speaker 1 There is a very well-known entry in the Rebbe’s Reshimos about a farbrengen the Rebbe held in 5692. That was a Hakhel year, and this is one of the earliest farbrengens we have that the Rebbe himself wrote up—a farbrengen he held in Warsaw after Sukkos. What a wonderful farbrengen. There, the Rebbe speaks at length about the mitzvah of Hakhel. It is the first place we know of where the Rebbe explains the subject of Hakhel. The Rebbe discusses its purpose, its central point, its content. One of the main points he explains is that Shemitah marks the end of a period. When the Shemitah year ends, a period has ended. Just as there are seven days, and after every seven days Sunday begins again. It is a kind of cycle, an encompassing cycle: the seven days of the cycle, and then Sunday begins again. The same is true of years: every seven years, it begins again. Another cycle, another unit—the encompassing cycle of seven years. What we have with the seven days of the cycle, we also have with years. So when this year begins, the Hakhel year, the beginning of a new seven-year cycle, the order of avodah begins anew. And when a person begins his avodah anew, how does he begin? There must be awe. Awe—and the beginning of avodah is what the Rebbe speaks about in chapter 41 of Tanya: “The beginning of avodah, and its essence and root,” is the matter of awe. So when we begin a new period in life, after a whole year of not working and that entire period has ended, we begin a new period and return to work, return to the field, return to our day-to-day work. We are told that we need to begin anew. How do we begin? With yiras Shamayim. And that is the idea of the mitzvah of Hakhel: the king’s role is to arouse awe. “You shall surely appoint a king over yourself”—so that his awe should be upon you. The central idea of

02:29 Speaker 1 kingship is to arouse awe, particularly yiras Shamayim, as Chassidus explains regarding the mitzvah of appointing a king. What was the purpose of that mitzvah? For a Jew to attain awe of Hashem through the king. The king arouses that connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu among the Jewish people. And that is why it is specifically the king. That was the question: Why does the king read at Hakhel? Seemingly, it should be the head of the Sanhedrin, the head of a yeshivah, a nasi. Why the king? What does the king have to do with reading the Torah? The explanation is that the point of Hakhel is not simply Torah study. The point of Hakhel is yiras Shamayim. The purpose of Hakhel was to arouse yiras Shamayim. The king would read, as stated in the Gemara and Rashi and elsewhere, Shema Yisroel and Vehayah Im Shamoa—passages that “strengthen their hearts in the true faith,” in the Rambam’s words. In other words, the purpose of the mitzvah of Hakhel is to arouse and strengthen the whole matter of yiras Shamayim. That is why a king is needed: the king is the one who arouses yiras Shamayim. He instills bittul; he arouses that point. So today, for us to arouse yiras Shamayim—that is the task of this year. The Rebbe said that Hakhel is not just Sukkos; it is the Hakhel year. In other words, this year we have a special task, a special avodah: to arouse yiras Shamayim in such a way that it has an effect, in the words of the verse, “all the days”—throughout the entire period, the entire year or all seven years, all the days. That means there is a special strength and a special capacity in this year to arouse yiras Shamayim inwardly and deeply, so that it affects a person’s entire life. And so, as chassidim, the most powerful thing we

04:33 Speaker 1 can do to strengthen yiras Shamayim is simply to study the chapters of Tanya that discuss it—chapters 41 and 42. These are two chapters in which the Alter Rebbe explains at length how to bring about yiras Shamayim. In general, everyone knows that the Rebbe instructed people many times—and there are many letters in Igros Kodesh in which the Rebbe told many young men and many others to study chapter 41. In response to all sorts of questions people asked the Rebbe about avodas Hashem, one of the things we see over and over in Igros Kodesh is the Rebbe writing that they should study chapter 41 of Tanya. Especially the first eighteen lines of chapter 41, up to “as though standing before the King.” Learn it by heart; know it. There were people whom the Rebbe told to contemplate it every day before davening. There were others whom the Rebbe told to contemplate it not only before davening but during the day as well. There was someone to whom the Rebbe wrote that he should have chapter 41 both in his head and in his pocket—that he should carry a Tanya or a clipping with a photocopy of chapter 41 in his pocket, also as a segulah. In other words, we saw that, for the Rebbe, there is something about chapter 41 of Tanya that helps a person strengthen his yiras Shamayim and helps him in all sorts of matters. Another remarkable thing we see from the Rebbe is that this applies not only to yiras Shamayim but to other matters as well, even material matters. There are a number of letters in Igros Kodesh in which people asked the Rebbe about material concerns, and the Rebbe also advised them to study chapter 41. For example, there are letters from someone who writes to the Rebbe that he has a problem with fears. He is afraid; at night he has dreams—disturbing dreams, nightmares, all sorts of things like that.

06:32 Speaker 1 There is also a letter in Igros Kodesh from someone who writes to the Rebbe that he has trouble speaking clearly. He repeats himself—what is it called, [unclear]? Someone who—

07:00 Speaker 2 Stutters.

07:00 Speaker 1 Stutters, exactly. So the Rebbe tells him to study chapter 41. What is the connection? The Rebbe explains that many of these problems come from fear—fear of other people. A person is afraid of other people, and as a result, all sorts of things happen to him. The way to overcome that fear is through yiras Shamayim. When you have yiras Shamayim, you will not feel despair, and that will give you the strength to overcome it. In other words, even for material concerns, the Rebbe gives chapter 41 as advice in a number of cases. It is a foundation for life in general. There was a mashpia of mine in yeshivah who, when he was a young man, was also told by the Rebbe to study chapter 41 of Tanya as the beginning of his avodah. He had asked the Rebbe for guidance in avodas Hashem, and the Rebbe told him to begin with chapter 41 to strengthen his yiras Shamayim. After some time—not such a short time, several months—he asked the Rebbe again. He said that he was studying chapter 41 and contemplating it, but he did not feel it had changed him. The Rebbe told him: “If you do not feel it, it is because you have not studied it enough, because you have not thought about it enough. You need to do it again and again and again. That is the advice. There is no other advice. You want to develop yiras Shamayim? You need to know chapter 41 of Tanya. If it has not yet had an effect on you, that is because you have not contemplated it properly yet. It has not yet had an effect; you have not thought about it with the appropriate seriousness. So think about it again and again.” There is another interesting point about that same Jew who told me this story: the Rebbe also told him that, in addition to chapter 41, he should contemplate the point made in chapter 33. In chapter 41

09:00 Speaker 1 The Alter Rebbe speaks about fear of Heaven. In chapter 33, the Alter Rebbe speaks about joy, and he speaks about the same point, the same analogy, as here in chapter 41, where the Alter Rebbe speaks about the king. Yes, the Alter Rebbe explains that you are together with the king, that you are standing before the king. In chapter 33, too, the Alter Rebbe speaks about a great king being there with you. But there, the Alter Rebbe speaks about the king being with you, and that arouses joy. Here, the Alter Rebbe speaks about the king being with you, and that arouses awe—so that fear of Heaven will go together with joy. Yes, both together. With the Rebbe, you could see how very, very important this point was: fear of Heaven has to go together with joy. It should not remain just fear of Heaven. The Rebbe wanted fear of Heaven, but not a constricted fear of Heaven; specifically, fear of Heaven that comes together with joy. Yes, joy is the substance of it: joy that Hakadosh Boruch Hu chose me, and that Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants, wants, wants to be together with me. He becomes my king and I become His servant, and He chose me. We will see this in chapter 41 itself. Within that same contemplation there are two responses. On the one hand, it brings about awe and bittul. On the other hand, contemplating the very fact that the king chose you and wants you, that He wants to be together with you, and that your thought, speech, and action matter to Him—this brings about awe. At the same time, it brings tremendous joy that we have merited to be servants of the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Incidentally, this is connected too. The Rebbe speaks about it in his sichos. It is also connected with Hakhel. The Rebbe asks: Why is the mitzvah of Hakhel specifically on Sukkos? Its purpose is fear of Heaven. Hakhel is meant to arouse

10:57 Speaker 1 fear of Heaven. Why, then, is the mitzvah of Hakhel specifically on the festival of Sukkos? The Rebbe explains this in his explanations and sichos on Hakhel. The Rebbe explains it in terms of this point: fear of Heaven has to go together with joy. Yes, the whole purpose of Hakhel is to bring about fear of Heaven, but it takes place specifically on Sukkos, “the season of our rejoicing,” when a person rejoices that he has accepted Hakadosh Boruch Hu as king. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were the time of crowning the King, of accepting the kingdom of Heaven. On Sukkos, we have the joy that comes from this kabbolas ol, and then, on Sukkos, comes Hakhel. That is precisely when Hakhel is read. In other words, kabbolas ol has to be specifically with joy. So that is a point by way of introduction, so we understand how important what we are about to learn is. We said that the Rebbe spoke about learning those eighteen lines by heart in particular, but the discussion of fear of Heaven extends through both of these chapters. The Alter Rebbe discusses it at length here. In the first half of chapter 41, the Alter Rebbe goes into detail about several ways to arouse fear of Heaven. Then, in the second half of chapter 41, the Alter Rebbe will speak about love as well—that alongside fear there also has to be love. We need both. After that, in chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe returns to the subject of fear of Heaven. That is the whole of chapter 42. The Alter Rebbe gives several points to contemplate that can help a person reach fear of Heaven. There he also says that every Jew has true fear of Heaven as an inheritance from Moshe Rabbeinu. Because we have Moshe Rabbeinu, and Moshe Rabbeinu gives us the strength to arouse fear of Heaven. So that is the point, briefly, by way of introduction. What is the—how does the discussion continue?

12:54 Speaker 1 Before we read chapter 41 inside, how does the Alter Rebbe—how did the Alter Rebbe come to speak about this here? What is happening in chapter 41? “However.” The Alter Rebbe begins chapter 41 with the word baram. What does baram mean? In Aramaic, baram means “however.” Why “however”? After what we have just said, the Alter Rebbe says, “However”—nevertheless, we need to understand what the point is here. We need to understand how the discussion continues, so we can know what the Alter Rebbe wants to tell us here. In the chapters leading up to chapter 41, beginning with chapter 35, the Alter Rebbe introduced a new subject in Tanya. From chapter 35 through chapter 40—35, 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40—six chapters, the Alter Rebbe discussed an entire subject that can be called, in two words, action and intention. That is the point of these chapters. From chapter 35 through chapter 40, the Alter Rebbe speaks, on the one hand, about the importance of action. It is all based on the verse, “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” The ultimate purpose for a person is the ultimate purpose of Hakadosh Boruch Hu: that Hakadosh Boruch Hu should have a dwelling place in the lower worlds. Therefore, action specifically—action—is the main thing. He cited the Zohar, which gives the analogy of the oil and the wick: deeds, good deeds, are the wick, which holds the Divine presence. They are what bring the Shechinah to rest upon a person. There specifically has to be action. Action is the main thing, because making a dwelling place in the lower worlds means actual deeds in the physical world. But see what he brought in chapter 38: the teaching of our Sages, “A mitzvah without intention is like a body without a soul.” If you have only action, that is a body. Action is indeed the main thing, and through action we draw down the light of the Ein Sof, making a dwelling place in the lower worlds, with all its advantages and all its revelations.

14:59 Speaker 1 In the end, everything depends primarily on performing the mitzvos, and so on. But alongside that, there also has to be intention. If you have action alone, then action without intention is like a body without a soul. The Alter Rebbe explains this—the Alter Rebbe discusses the intention of mitzvos at length in chapters 38, 39, and 40. And the Alter Rebbe cites the Zohar. The Zohar says, “Without fear and love, it does not soar upward.” If a person learns Torah and has no love and fear, then his Torah or mitzvah does not rise upward. But isn’t action the main thing? The ultimate purpose is expressed in speech and action, in actual deeds. Nevertheless, it is not enough just to do; there also has to be “in your heart”—love and fear as well—because otherwise it does not rise upward. So the Alter Rebbe explains “soar upward” with the analogy of a bird. A bird has wings, but on the one hand, according to halachah, the wings are not the essential part of the bird. The Alter Rebbe brings the halachic point that the wings are not the bird’s most important part. As detailed in halachah, even a defect in the wings does not render the bird a treifah. That is to say, the wings would seem to be something secondary. Nevertheless, when a bird goes to fly upward, it needs wings—and specifically two wings. It cannot fly with one wing. It needs two wings, and with its two wings the bird can fly. That is how a bird flies: with its two wings. The same applies in serving Hashem. The Alter Rebbe says that the wings are love and fear. Love and fear are the wings. They are what lift up and refine. For there to be a G-dly quality and a spiritual feeling in our Torah and mitzvos, and for them to rise upward, there specifically have to be wings: love

16:56 Speaker 1 and fear. We need both together. Love alone will not do it. Fear alone will not do it. We need love and fear together, and these are the wings that lift up the Torah and mitzvos. That is what he discussed in the preceding chapters, particularly chapter 40, which leads into chapter 41. Now look: he comes and says, “However.” Although we have discussed the need for two wings so that the Torah and mitzvos will rise upward—the need for both love and fear—nevertheless, says the Alter Rebbe, we must know that “the beginning of the service, and its core and root,” is fear. That is how chapter 41 follows from what he discussed earlier. So now we will begin reading inside. The Alter Rebbe says, “However, one must—one must always keep in mind.” The Alter Rebbe says that a person must always keep this in mind—always keep it in mind. This means that the point we are about to learn, fear of Heaven and accepting the kingdom of Heaven, is something a person must always keep in mind. There are two precise words here: “keep in mind” and “always.” In other words, this has to be something one remembers. It is a matter of remembering. As we will see later, this is not a matter of inward spiritual work; it is a matter of remembering. A person needs to have this in mind. There are things about which you say, “This is in my mind all the time.” Through repeatedly training himself, going over the explanations and these ideas again and again and again, a person reaches the point where they remain in his mind. In other words, he remembers it. It becomes part of his thoughts, something that comes to mind at every moment. “Keep in mind”—and this remembering is constant. It is not that I remember it from time to time. It…

18:56 Speaker 1 A constant awareness. In other words, the yiras Shamayim that the Alter Rebbe calls for here at the beginning of the chapter is something a person needs to have constantly in mind. We need to engrave it so deeply in our thoughts that it is always before our eyes. And the Alter Rebbe goes on to say: “The beginning of the service, its mainstay, and its root.” What is the significance of the precise words “the beginning of the service, its mainstay, and its root”? We all know that in Tanya, the Alter Rebbe does not write words for no reason. Tanya is like the Written Torah; every word in it is precise. And the Alter Rebbe writes three words: “its beginning, its mainstay, and its root.” What are these three aspects? There is also a well-known story that chassidim tell: The Alter Rebbe once sat pondering for a long time. The Maharil, the Alter Rebbe’s brother, saw him sitting there for so long and asked him what was going on. The Alter Rebbe told him that he had been sitting for several weeks, struggling over whether to write a word with a vav or without one. There is such a tradition among chassidim. Some say it actually happened; others say it was only given as an example. The accounts are not entirely clear. In any case, it concerns the words here, “its mainstay and its root”—whether to write the vav or leave it out: “the beginning of the service, its mainstay, and its root,” or “the beginning of the service, and its mainstay and its root.” Grammatically, the vav in “and its mainstay” is unnecessary, yet the Alter Rebbe writes it. So according to this story, the Alter Rebbe deliberated over such a question, sometimes for several weeks: Should it be written with a vav or without one? There are deep and fundamental matters involved here. It is not arbitrary. That is why chassidim are very particular when learning Tanya by heart, because every letter

20:53 Speaker 1 in Tanya was chosen precisely by the Alter Rebbe, with a great deal of time and effort, and so on. What is the difference, really? At least, as far as we can understand it. The Rebbe once spoke about this in a sicha and offered an insight: What is the difference between “the beginning of the service, its mainstay, and its root”? First, when you say “beginning,” the word means that it is the first thing. That is the simple meaning. A person comes and asks: I want to begin serving Hashem. Where do I start? Where do I start? What should come first? So you tell him: First of all, you need to work on yiras Shamayim, before you work on love of Hashem, before you work on other levels. What comes first? The first thing in serving Hashem, in the order of the service, is yiras Shamayim. Okay. There is a verse: “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem.” So that is the beginning. What does “its mainstay” mean? When you say “beginning,” that implies there are a number of things. Let’s say there are ten things in a person’s service of Hashem, ten levels. There is a sequence; there are many levels. You ask: What is the first level? Fear. Once I have finished with that, the second level comes next. So there are ten altogether—I am just using ten as an example. Say ten, or three, four, or five. There are several stages. This is the first stage, and then there is the second. That does not necessarily make the first more important than the second. The Alter Rebbe adds “and its mainstay.” Yiras Shamayim is not only first, with something else coming second; it is also the mainstay of the service. It is the essential thing, the foundation, the basis. All service of Hashem rests on yiras Shamayim. So “its mainstay” means something much deeper than “its beginning.” A person needs to know that yiras Shamayim is not only where one must start, but that it is an essential part

22:54 Speaker 1 of serving Hashem. And even when you later reach other levels, when you are already working on higher levels of love of Hashem and other aspects of serving Hashem, rising from level to level, contemplating the soul, and so on—fear remains not only the beginning but the mainstay, the basis on which everything rests. That is “its mainstay.” What does “and its root” mean? What does “root” add to “mainstay”? Think about what defines a root. What is special about a root? A root is connected with growth. What is special about it is that it gives life to the entire tree. The tree grows through the root. That is the difference between a mainstay and a root. A mainstay can be like the foundation of a building: You have a foundation, and the building stands on it. True, the foundation is essential because it supports the entire building, but there is no inner connection between the foundation and the building. The foundation holds the building up, but the building itself is made of other things, other stories. The same could be true in serving Hashem: Yiras Shamayim is not only the beginning; it is also the foundation of serving Hashem. But as a mainstay, it is a foundation on which the later stages are built, without necessarily being inwardly connected to them. When the Rebbe says “and its root,” he means that just as a root brings life into every part of the tree and gives life to its branches, and the whole tree keeps growing because it is connected to the root, yiras Shamayim is the life of every part of serving Hashem. It is the root that gives growth and vitality to every aspect of serving Hashem. Why is yiras Shamayim so important that it is the beginning, the mainstay, and the root? That is what the Alter Rebbe will now explain as the chapter continues.