Why is it necessary to connect to the Rebbe? - According to the Tanya

00:01 Speaker 1 Today we’ll talk about a general theme in Tanya: hiskashrus, the bond with the Rebbe. Tanya is the Written Torah of Chassidus. All the themes of Chassidus are found in Tanya; that is their foundation. From there we have all the maamarim, the Oral Torah that explains it. There are many maamarim. But one of the foundational teachings of Chassidus revealed by the Baal Shem Tov is the bond between a chossid and a Rebbe. The Rebbe spoke about this in 5710: one of the innovations brought about by the Baal Shem Tov was this whole relationship of Rebbe and chossid. Before the Baal Shem Tov, there were many leaders and great Torah scholars among the Jewish people. But generally, there was a rabbi or a rosh yeshiva. The relationship of Rebbe and chossid was an innovation brought about by the Baal Shem Tov. Does that mean the Baal Shem Tov invented it? Of course it already existed among the Jewish people. At the beginning, it’s there plainly throughout the Chumash. Look at Moshe Rabbeinu in the parshiyos we read at this time, especially before Gimmel Tammuz. By Divine Providence, we study Parshas Naso, Behaaloscha, Shelach, Korach, and Chukas—parshiyos that all explain what a Rebbe is, what the role of a Rebbe is. Parshas Naso says, “Lift up the heads”; naso means to elevate. Parshas Behaaloscha explains “I will take of the spirit that is upon you”—that all influence must pass through Moshe Rabbeinu. Parshas Shelach, of course, with the whole story of the spies, emphasizes how crucial bittul to Moshe Rabbeinu is. Parshas Korach is certainly the story of Korach and his dispute with Moshe Rabbeinu. In Parshas Chukas, everything returned in Moshe’s merit: Moshe Rabbeinu cares for the Jewish people; he is the shepherd of Israel. So the parshiyos we always study at precisely this time are parshiyos about hiskashrus, and each one tells us a different story that explains to us

02:29 Speaker 1 just how important and essential the relationship between Rebbe and chossid is. That is Moshe Rabbeinu’s role, the role of a Rebbe. But in practice, we know that historically the relationship of Rebbe and chossid was not openly present until the Baal Shem Tov brought it out. That was one of the points of contention at the time, one of the objections to the Baal Shem Tov and the teachings of Chassidus. The opposition was to this whole idea that the Baal Shem Tov established: there is a rav, and there is a Rebbe. They are two different things. There is a rav, a shepherd, but there is also a Rebbe. That is a different kind of bond. As the Rebbe discussed in 5710, this was among the things the Baal Shem Tov began as a preparation for the Geulah. The Baal Shem Tov’s revelation is the revelation of “your wellsprings will spread outward”; the whole sign was a preparation for the Geulah. The Baal Shem Tov revealed the unity of Hashem. In fact, everything the Baal Shem Tov revealed relates to the revelation of Moshiach. It was a first taste, a first glimpse. The era of Moshiach was beginning to enter the world. So the concept of a Rebbe, too, is a preparation for Moshiach, because Moshiach will also be a Rebbe. Moshe Rabbeinu is the first redeemer and the final redeemer; Moshiach will be a Rebbe in the form of Moshiach. The Baal Shem Tov’s revelation was a kind of preparation, a taste of this: that these revelations, too, must come through a connecting intermediary. That will be Moshiach, the collective yechidah, who will reveal the unity within the world. A glimmer of this began with the Baal Shem Tov, and afterward with the Baal Shem Tov’s disciples—our Rebbeim, in every generation. And since Tanya is the Written Torah, it is in Tanya that we learn the foundations: What is a Rebbe? What is his role? What is hiskashrus? We learn this in Tanya. Where in Tanya does it discuss

04:20 Speaker 1 hiskashrus? There are several places. I’ll name them now, and we’ll see how many we can cover, at least touch on a few. Then, with Hashem’s help, in the next class we’ll study one of them. The places in Tanya that explain hiskashrus begin with chapter 2. That’s the first place, right at the beginning of Tanya. The second is chapter 42. We studied it here in the yeshiva recently as well. Chapter 42 of Tanya discusses the Rebbe, Moshe Rabbeinu. The third is chapter 44, where the Alter Rebbe again returns to the subject of Moshe Rabbeinu. Those are three places in Likkutei Amarim. Where else, later in Tanya, is the subject of a Rebbe discussed? In Igeres Hakodesh. Yes, in Igeres Hakodesh—primarily sections 27 and 28. There the Alter Rebbe discusses the bond with a tzaddik after his passing, right? How even after his passing the tzaddik is still—on the contrary, he is present in all the worlds—and how the tzaddik influences his students, and so on. That is section 27. Then there is section 28, which explains the connection between a tzaddik’s passing and the red heifer. So those are essentially the places in Tanya that discuss the Rebbe and chossid and the bond between them. Now, what is the difference between these places? They don’t all say the same thing. Each has another point, another insight, another aspect. So let’s begin with chapter 2. Chapter 2 is the beginning of Tanya. We haven’t even learned yet that the soul has ten faculties; that comes only in chapter 3. We haven’t learned about its garments or about Torah and mitzvos. So what do we know in chapter 2? We know that every Jew has two souls. One soul comes from kelipah and sitra achra, and there is a second soul, “truly a part of G-d above.”

06:37 Speaker 1 The whole foundation of chapter 2 is that the Alter Rebbe explains this astonishing thing—one of the revolutions, you could say, in what the Alter Rebbe explained and revealed about what a neshamah is. That is chapter 2. We are not yet talking about the soul’s faculties or its garments. We are not talking about a person’s experience; we are talking about the very essence of a Jew. A Jew is truly a part of G-d above, and this is present in every Jew. Whether you are one of the leaders of the Jewish people, someone of the very lowest standing, or one of the sinners of Israel—it makes no difference. Every Jew, in every generation, at every level from highest to lowest, has within the very essence of their being a part of G-d above, truly, drawn from Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s supernal wisdom. Granted, it has descended and passed through many levels, until there are “toenails,” which have no sensation at all and seem completely distant. But that is all on the outside. Deep within, every Jew has a connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s supernal wisdom. How does that connection happen? Through the Rebbe. That is the role of a Rebbe. So the Alter Rebbe says that through cleaving to the Torah scholars, the leaders of the Jewish people in their generation, the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah of everyone in that generation become connected. Even unlearned people, those of the very lowest standing, and sinners of Israel have a connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu through the Rebbe. In other words, to put this in terms of personal experience, in chapter 2 the Alter Rebbe tells us that the bond between Rebbe and chossid reaches the very essence of being a Jew. If you want to feel your Jewishness, if you want to feel your connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, to feel the reality that you are a Jew, you need to be connected to Moshe Rabbeinu. The sustenance and vitality of the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah of all the Jewish people comes from the soul, from the wise tzaddikim

08:42 Speaker 1 The leaders of the Jewish people in each generation. The essence of a Jew—that is what mesirus nefesh and faith are about, the most essential things a Jew has. The Alter Rebbe will explain this at length later. In chapters 18 and 19, the Alter Rebbe speaks about it at length, but the foundation is here in chapter 2. Seemingly—and I say “seemingly” because I’m not sure, though at first glance it would seem so—this is connected to Ve’atah Tetzaveh. What does the Rebbe say in Ve’atah Tetzaveh? There the Rebbe speaks about the whole matter of mesirus nefesh: a Jew has mesirus nefesh and will certainly give his life rather than be separated from G-dliness in any way. Who reveals this? The ra’aya mehemna, the faithful shepherd. It is revealed through the leader of the generation. Of course, the Rebbe explains it in the language of the Rebbe’s maamar, in a completely different way. He explains the whole matter of the essential bond, faith, and so on—the ra’aya mehemna—but the foundation is in chapter 2 of Tanya. So that is the first point. For faith and mesirus nefesh, for a Jew to feel his Jewishness—the sustenance and vitality of his nefesh and ruach that come from the very fact that he is a Jew—who connects you to your Jewishness so that it shines openly within you, even after you have descended here into this world? That is the matter of hiskashrus, of connection. And the more connected you are, the more openly it shines. That is why there is a connection described as “from the rear.” Those who are not connected, or those who rebel, G-d forbid—even they, at the other extreme, are connected, but in a manner of “from the rear.” So of course it depends on us. If we want it to be an inward connection, it cannot be in that manner. That is the first point, chapter 2 of Tanya. I once heard Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi say a vort—I don’t know whether he said it in the name of the early chassidim. He said a vort about the Alter Rebbe

10:29 Speaker 1 writing about a Rebbe already in chapter 2. He said a vort—it’s just a vort, not the plain meaning, but it sounds like a vort. He said: Why does the Alter Rebbe bring up the matter of a Rebbe already in chapter 2? You’ve barely said anything yet, and already you’re talking about a Rebbe? The Alter Rebbe wants to tell us that as soon as a Jew learns that he has two souls—as the Alter Rebbe has revealed—he realizes that our lives are rather complicated. A person starts learning Tanya. What does he discover? That he has two souls. It is no small thing to say that. Life is much more complex than I thought. I am made up of two lives, two souls. So he needs a Rebbe. He understands that without a Rebbe, he won’t manage. So the Alter Rebbe immediately tells you: Don’t worry, there is a Rebbe, and he will explain to you how to proceed. That is a vort about chapter 2. Moving on. What does chapter 42 say? In chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe brings up the matter of a Rebbe in connection with serving Hashem. Which aspect of that service? Yiras Shamayim, fear of Heaven. Not just any aspect: “the beginning, the core, and the root of service.” There the Alter Rebbe is speaking about avodah, the avodah of Yiras Shamayim. And the Alter Rebbe says that for a Jew to have Yiras Shamayim—what is Yiras Shamayim? It is kabbolas ol Malchus Shamayim, accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and it means having a sense of G-dliness. As the Alter Rebbe explains, he should feel that “Hashem stands over him,” and this should affect his thought, speech, and action, so that he turns away from evil and does good. “What does Hashem your G-d ask of you but to fear Hashem your G-d, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to keep all His commandments?” We receive this through Moshe Rabbeinu. What is the explanation? The Alter Rebbe explains that Moshe Rabbeinu embodies daas, and this daas

12:26 Speaker 1 is present in every Jew as an inheritance; we received it from Moshe Rabbeinu. Something of Moshe Rabbeinu’s daas shines in the soul of every Jew, and because every Jew has this aspect of daas, fear of Heaven is a small matter. We only need to reveal it, and that is the work of [unclear], and so on. The Alter Rebbe explains throughout chapter 42 how to bring it from concealment into revelation. But Yiras Shamayim, too, is connected to our having something of Moshe Rabbeinu within us. That is the power that enables a Jew to attain Yiras Shamayim. That is chapter 42. Chapter 44: the Alter Rebbe speaks about love of Hashem. In chapter 44, the Alter Rebbe introduces a love that encompasses all loves, is equally accessible to every soul, and comes to us as an inheritance from our ancestors. There is a love of Hashem within every Jew, equally accessible to every soul. Which love is the Alter Rebbe talking about? Two loves: the love expressed by “For You are our Father,” and the love expressed by “For He is our life.” Every Jew is naturally drawn to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu, because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is our life. A Jew contemplates the fact that true life is G-dliness. A Jew wants to live, but he knows what living means: to be connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, because that is true life. This is “My soul desires You,” because Hashem is my soul and my life. So a person chooses life. That is the love of “For He is our life.” And there is the love of “For You are our Father.” Both are present naturally within a Jew, but, says the Alter Rebbe, we received them as an inheritance from our ancestors. Nevertheless, the Alter Rebbe asks here in chapter 44: How are they revealed? The Alter Rebbe says that Moshe Rabbeinu, the ra’aya mehemna—in Moshe Rabbeinu this love shone like that of “a son who strives for his father and mother, whom he loves

14:37 Speaker 1 more than himself, his soul, and his spirit.” This love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu shone in Moshe Rabbeinu, and he gave himself over to Hakadosh Boruch Hu as a son gives himself over to his father. The Alter Rebbe says: “For who is there, and where is the person whose heart would dare to approach and attain even one part in a thousand of the level of love of the ra’aya mehemna?” Who are we to reach Moshe Rabbeinu’s level of love, even the tiniest fraction of it? “Nevertheless, a tiny fraction and trace of his abundant goodness and light shines for the Jewish people as a whole in every generation, as it says in the Tikkunim: ‘An extension of Moshe is present in every generation to illuminate them.’” So here too, the Alter Rebbe says that we need Moshe Rabbeinu. In other words, although he says that this love is natural to every Jew, an inheritance we received from our ancestors, nevertheless, it is revealed through the extension of Moshe in every generation, “to illuminate them.” Through the power of Moshe Rabbeinu, a Jew has the ability to feel the love of “For He is our life” and the love of “For You are our Father.” The Alter Rebbe therefore gives us guidance on how to bring this into the open. So what emerges? Notice this—it is remarkable. In chapter 2, the Alter Rebbe spoke about faith, the essential bond between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In chapter 42, he spoke about fear, Yiras Shamayim. In chapter 44, he spoke about love, love of Hashem. And with all three, he explains how we receive them from Moshe Rabbeinu. Now, when we come to section 27 of Igeres Hakodesh, what does the Alter Rebbe say there? The Alter Rebbe says: “It is known that the life of a tzaddik is not physical life, but spiritual life.” And what is the tzaddik’s spiritual life? The Alter Rebbe says: faith, fear, and love—the three things we have been discussing.

16:40 Speaker 1 Until now. Let’s look at the Alter Rebbe’s wording in section 27. What does the Alter Rebbe say? “As is known, the life of a tzaddik is not a life of the flesh.” For a tzaddik, the body, the flesh, is not what matters. Even when he was alive in a physical body, the body was not what mattered to him. What does life mean for a tzaddik? Spiritual life: faith, fear of Hashem, and love. That is what life means for a tzaddik: faith in Hashem, fear of Hashem, and love of Hashem. And the Alter Rebbe brings verses: Of faith it is written, “The righteous shall live by his faith”; of fear it is written, “The fear of Hashem is for life”; and of love it is written, “One who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life”—and kindness means love. And these three qualities exist in every world, up to the highest levels. The Alter Rebbe is saying: What is the meaning, the definition, of life for a tzaddik? Faith in Hashem, fear of Hashem, love of Hashem. That is what he calls life. And here he—meaning, that is what life is. Life means faith. Life without faith is not life. Life means fear of Hashem; life means love of Hashem. So when the tzaddik was alive in a physical body, the Alter Rebbe says, because he was clothed in a body, his faith, fear of Hashem, and love of Hashem were clothed in that body. His students received through the body’s limitations as much as they were able to receive. Now that the tzaddik is no longer limited by the body, the Alter Rebbe says, the tzaddik bestows upon them. For it is possible to receive a great, essential love from the spirit of one’s teacher, from the very essence of his faith, fear, and love. He bestows this upon each of the students close to him. By serving Hashem according to what he taught us, we can receive these three qualities through our connection to the tzaddik. So it is remarkable that the Alter Rebbe specifically—meaning, this really follows the progression of the discussion—that in Likkutei Amarim the Alter Rebbe spoke three times about the role of a Rebbe. One

18:44 Speaker 1 spoke about faith in its plain sense, the second spoke about fear, and the third spoke about love. And here he says that these are the life of the tzaddik, and this is what we receive from the Rebbe. In every situation, these are the strengths, the influence that the tzaddik gives each of us. The Rebbe explains in Reshimos—there are notes by the Rebbe on Igeres Hakodesh, section 27. There the Rebbe says that these three things, faith, fear, and love, correspond to the three lines: the right line, the left line, and the middle line. This is not incidental. They are three broad categories, because these are the three lines in every Jew’s service of Hashem. Love of Hashem is the right line; plainly, the right is love. Fear of Hashem is the left line, and faith is the middle line—the segol. The idea of being an am segulah, a treasured people: segol is the vowel sign associated with faith. Love of Hashem, fear of Hashem—these are the three things, the three lines, the three qualities, and we receive them from the tzaddik. The Rebbe also says something else. We see that in Igeres Hakodesh, section 27, to whom was the letter written? To the chassidim of Reb Mendel Horodoker, Reb Mendel Vitebsker. It was a letter—Igeres Hakodesh, section 27, was a letter written to Reb Mendel Horodoker’s students. The Alter Rebbe himself, after all, considered himself a student of Reb Mendel Vitebsker. Reb Mendel Horodoker lived in Eretz Yisroel. He passed away on Rosh Chodesh Iyar 5548. The Tzemach Tzedek was named after him, since he was born the following year, 5549. So the Alter Rebbe wrote the letter to the chassidim. At the beginning of the letter, if you look, the Alter Rebbe’s wording is: “To comfort them with double consolation on the passing of the renowned, brilliant Rabbi, a holy man of G-d, the lamp of Israel, the right-hand pillar, the mighty hammer, our teacher Rabbi Menachem Mendel, may his soul rest in Eden.” So the Rebbe says that every word in Tanya is precise. There are three expressions here: “the lamp of Israel,” “the right-hand pillar,”

21:13 Speaker 1 “the mighty hammer.” These three expressions: “the lamp of Israel” relates to the power of faith. That is the idea of “the lamp of Israel”—a central point, the faith that the tzaddik reveals. “The soul of man is the lamp of Hashem”: the essential matter of faith. “The right-hand pillar” is love of Hashem—the right. “The mighty hammer” is the aspect of strength, of fear. A hammer is associated with might. So these are the three expressions. They correspond to the three things—faith, fear, and love—that the Alter Rebbe goes on to explain are the life of the tzaddik, and that we receive through the tzaddik. The Rebbe once also repeated a teaching from Reb Levik about bringing this to completion and attaining these qualities—faith, fear, and love—which we receive through a connection to the tzaddik. So the Rebbe shared this teaching: What is the numerical value of chayim, “life”?

22:20 Speaker 2 Sixty-eight.

22:22 Speaker 1 Sixty-eight. What is three times sixty-eight?

22:31 Speaker 2 Two hundred—no. Two hundred and four.

22:39 Speaker 1 Two hundred and four. Good. Two hundred and four. Two hundred and four is the numerical value of tzaddik. Tzaddik has a numerical value of two hundred and four. So perhaps the life of the tzaddik is faith, fear, and love—three aspects of life. His life is a life of faith, a life of love, a life of fear. Three times chayim has the numerical value of tzaddik. There is much more to say about this, but that is just a brief point. We are keeping everything brief. But what do we see here in Tanya? How the Alter Rebbe explains to us in these chapters the importance and greatness of connecting to the tzaddik. That itself—just to finish with this: In Igeres Hakodesh, section 27, the Alter Rebbe discusses two things. There is what we receive from the tzaddik inwardly: the faith, fear, and love that the tzaddik bestows through his “fruits.” By being connected to him and following his path, and so on, we receive this inner influence from the tzaddik even after his passing. And there is a second aspect, an encompassing light. He says at the end of section 27 that because the tzaddik served Hashem, there is a light sown from all the tzaddik’s service; a light is created Above. And this light inspires thoughts of teshuvah in all the students, in everyone—all the Jews of the generation whom it influences. For all the students, this is another kind of influence that the tzaddik bestows in an encompassing way: thoughts of teshuvah and good deeds. This is another influence we receive, like the sun shining [unclear] upon six hundred thousand people far away. That is section 27. And in section 28, the Alter Rebbe explains the matter of the red heifer. You see, he explains the connection between the tzaddik and the red heifer. This is also Divine providence for us, since Gimmel Tammuz always falls around Parshas Chukas. There it is explained that the connection between the tzaddik and the red heifer is that the red heifer atones even for matters associated with the three impure kelipos. That is the power of the red

24:51 Speaker 1 heifer: it receives influence from a place beyond the order of spiritual descent, and therefore reaches all the way down, even to atone for impurity from contact with the dead. So this is the power of the tzaddik. When Moshe Rabbeinu—the heifer of Moshe—this too is Divine providence: one of the maamarim we always study around this time is the maamar on Chukas in Sefer Hamaamarim Melukat. It is a maamar that explains the red heifer, the heifer of Moshe: that through connecting to Moshe Rabbeinu, one can atone even for matters of impurity from contact with the dead, and bring about the resurrection of the dead. That is the power of the tzaddik. So these are the five things Tanya discusses in connection with connecting to the Rebbe.