The greatness of the souls of Yisroel over all creations | Chapter 4, Part 5

00:01 We’re holding here in Igeres Hateshuvah, on page 94, at the line beginning “with His very power, by way of analogy,” through “without end.” The Alter Rebbe begins here to explain the special quality of Jewish souls. To understand what happens when a Jew performs a mitzvah—or, G-d forbid, the opposite, when a Jew commits a transgression: what does it damage? What does it do to the soul? And from this we’ll also understand the power of teshuvah. How does a Jew repair things through teshuvah? What does teshuvah accomplish? Within teshuvah itself there are teshuvah tata’ah and teshuvah ila’ah, different levels of teshuvah. So we need to understand the connection a Jew has with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Here the Alter Rebbe begins by explaining that connection. A Jewish soul comes from the Name Havayah: “His people are a part of Havayah.” This is the fundamental difference between all other created beings, including angels, and souls. It is specifically of the soul that we say it is a part of the Name Havayah. Another point is “and He breathed.” These two ideas are connected: all created beings came about through speech, while the soul came about through “and He breathed.” The difference between speech and breathing is the difference between the external and the internal. Speech is an external breath. Breathing out is an inward transmission, a breath that comes from within. And now the Alter Rebbe continues to explain this. As we said in the previous class, what the Alter Rebbe says here he already said in chapter 2 of Likkutei Amarim. But of course, as the familiar saying goes, “Words of Torah are sparse in one place and rich in another”—or as chassidim like to say, “Words of Torah are rich in one place and rich in another.” There is richness everywhere. In other words, each place explains things that the other does not. Each adds something. So

02:36 we already showed in the previous class that the Alter Rebbe cites verses here that he does not cite in Likkutei Amarim, and conversely, he cites verses there that he does not cite here, and so on. We can learn a number of things from that. Now we’ll continue and look at this point as well. The difference between breathing and speech is also discussed in Likkutei Amarim, chapter 2. The Alter Rebbe brings it there as well to explain the description of the soul. But here the Alter Rebbe adds several details that will bring us to the heart of the matter. Specifically, we’ll arrive at Igeres Hateshuvah. Of course, what belongs in Likkutei Amarim, the Alter Rebbe brings in Likkutei Amarim; what belongs in Igeres Hateshuvah, he brings in Igeres Hateshuvah. So let’s read on inside. The Alter Rebbe says: “with His very power, by way of analogy ... without end, there is an exceedingly great difference Above between all the hosts of heaven, and even the angels, who were created from nothing into something and live and exist from the external aspect of the vitality and flow that Ein Sof, blessed be He, bestows to give life to the worlds.” The Alter Rebbe is saying that the distinction we discussed between “and He breathed” and “and He said”—speech and breathing, the external and the internal—is also an exceedingly great difference Above. In a moment we’ll see the precision of the wording, but that is what he says: “an exceedingly great difference Above.” There is a very great, enormous distinction, and that distinction exists Above. Meaning that already at their source, where souls come from and where angels come from, there is a very great difference between all the hosts of heaven, even the angels. That is, the Alter Rebbe wants to explain this even with regard to them. In fact, this is the difference between souls and all created beings. This point applies to all created beings: they all come from “and He said.” Yes, but the Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize here the

04:38 extraordinary quality, the special quality, of souls. To emphasize it, the Alter Rebbe does not compare souls to created beings in general, but to the hosts of heaven. The hosts of heaven, of course, have certain very great qualities that earthly hosts do not have. The hosts of heaven endure as individual entities. As it says, they have a quality of permanence: they do not change or grow weaker. They are “as strong as on the day they were created.” Here, by “hosts of heaven,” he does not mean angels. He means the sun, moon, and stars. Those are called the hosts of heaven. After all, he then says, “and even the angels.” So although in Chassidus and in verses of Tanach “hosts of heaven” sometimes includes angels, here the Alter Rebbe specifies “and even the angels.” That means he is not speaking only about angels. He is speaking about the created beings among the hosts of heaven—the stars, sun, moon, all of them—which have this special quality of permanence. They do not grow weaker; they are “as strong as on the day they were created.” How much more so the angels, who are spiritual beings, holy beings, beings who sing to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and so on. Nevertheless, there is an exceedingly great difference Above between all these created beings, even the angels. Compared to what? To souls. What do we say about all created beings, even the hosts of heaven, even the angels? That they were created through speech. That is, they come from the external aspect of the vitality, from the external aspect of the vitality and flow that Hakadosh Boruch Hu bestows to give life to the worlds. This aspect is called “the breath of His mouth.” In relation to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, it is, so to speak, merely the breath of His mouth—an external aspect, by way of analogy. Of course, Above, the concepts of speech and breathing do not apply literally. They are all analogies that enable us to understand the nature of the connection

06:43 between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and souls, and the nature of His connection with angels and all created beings. Since the Torah uses the language of saying, speech, and the breath of His mouth with regard to all created beings, even angels—we’ll soon see why he is so intent on emphasizing “even angels”—that, at any rate, is what he says here. Even angels all come from the aspect of the breath of His mouth, from speech. As it is written, “and by the breath of His mouth, all their hosts.” This is the aspect of vitality clothed in the letters of the Ten Utterances. This aspect that we call “the breath of His mouth,” speech, is the letters—the G-dly vitality clothed in the letters of the Ten Utterances, which are vessels for the flows of vitality, and so on, as explained in Likkutei Amarim, Part II, chapter 11. The Alter Rebbe explained this at length in Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, chapter 11. There he explained that letters are an external garment, as they are in the human soul. Letters serve as an external garment through which to convey something to another person, someone outside myself. That is the idea of the forms of the letters: flows of vitality that take different forms, but what they all have in common is that letters are a means of revealing something to another. Along these lines, when we say that all the angels, along with all other created beings, were created through speech, “letters” means that all created beings come into existence as something separate. They were created, so to speak, in a way that their existence is not united with G-dliness; what reaches them is only the external aspect, as something given to another—an external transmission. The human soul, on the other hand—the soul of a Jew—is initially drawn from the inward aspect of the vitality and flow that Hakadosh Boruch Hu bestows. Where does it initially come from? What is the foundation, the source, of a Jewish soul? It comes from the inward aspect of the vitality and flow that Hakadosh Boruch

08:52 It is, as it says, “He breathed,” and so on. The verse that says “He breathed” emphasizes the special quality of the soul. Where does the soul originally come from? The soul’s root is in the dimension of inwardness, the Name Havayah. The Name Havayah has no relation to anything outside of Him; it is an essential name. So the soul comes from that essential dimension, from that level of G-dliness where Hakadosh Boruch Hu is, so to speak, by Himself, and souls are rooted at that level. That is the soul’s advantage over the angels. But the Alter Rebbe is precise here: he says “initially.” What exactly does “initially” mean? It means that this is the soul’s root—where it first comes from. The soul’s original root is in the inward dimension of the life-force. But afterward, it descends through the order of levels, also by way of the letters of the utterance “Let us make man,” and so on, in order to be enclothed in a body. And what is the purpose of that? The Alter Rebbe is saying: that is how it begins, but afterward, for the soul to be able to act down here in the world, it also had to pass through the external dimension, to be enclothed through the utterance “Let us make man,” so that it could be enclothed in a body. And why is that the purpose? In other words, what is the Alter Rebbe saying here about the soul? What is the difference between a soul and the angels? First, on the simple level—I’m saying the simple level; afterward we’ll look a little deeper. Simply put, what does the Alter Rebbe say is the difference between angels and a soul? Angels come from the external dimension of the life-force, as we said. They have no other root. The entire root of the angels, like that of all created beings, comes from where? From speech, from the Ten Utterances, from the external dimension, from the whole realm of something outside of Him. That is why they are entities in their own right, a reality of... and they do not have such a deep union with G-dliness. By contrast, what do we say about the soul? There are two aspects to the soul. In terms of its root, the soul is rooted in the inward dimension of

11:00 the life-force, the Name Havayah. That is why it says “He breathed”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu brought the soul down here into the world through breathing, through an inward breath. That means the soul’s root is in the inward dimension of the life-force. But on the other hand, the soul is enclothed in a body, and a body is an entity in its own right. So for the soul to be able to become an entity in its own right, to be enclothed in a body and act through the body, it too had to pass through the Ten Utterances. And here a very simple question arises. There is one very simple question: if so, what, in the end, is the difference between a soul and the angels? It turns out that the entire difference between them is above. Down here, on the contrary, the soul too was enclothed through speech. So if all the Alter Rebbe wants is to emphasize the soul’s advantages over the angels, what is he saying? That initially, above, the soul comes from a higher place. Fine, very nice—but that is above. What’s more, look at how he begins. How does the Alter Rebbe begin? “There is an exceedingly great difference above.” The difference between a soul and the angels—where is it? It is exceedingly great, an enormous difference, but where? Above. What does that mean? What do we learn from this? Down here the soul is enclothed in a body, and the Alter Rebbe says that for a soul to enter a body, speech is needed. Well then, what is the soul’s advantage down here? The Alter Rebbe has come to explain an advantage of the soul. And another, more general question: what is the Alter Rebbe trying to tell us here? Why do the angels matter? Why all this discussion about angels? Who was talking about angels? The Alter Rebbe wants to explain the soul—so let him explain the soul. Why does he explain the whole subject of angels at all? So there are these questions, and many more.

13:23 There are questions about the wording, too. I won’t go into all the discussion now. On this chapter in particular, there are sichos of the Rebbe, including in Likkutei Sichos, volume 39—edited sichos on almost every few lines. Every one of these sichos is a bombshell. There is also a sicha in which the Rebbe explains this passage. Besides those, there are many unedited sichos in which the Rebbe discusses almost every line. There are whole worlds here. But I want us at least to understand, on the straightforward level and based on the Rebbe’s explanations, what the Alter Rebbe is saying here. What is the Alter Rebbe coming to explain to us? The central point of the explanation is this: the soul has an advantage over the angels, and the angels have an advantage over the soul. This also matters for us to know in our actual service. In the end, despite all the advantages the soul has over the angels, the angels also have an advantage over the soul, because in practice we do need the service of the angels. The proof is that we speak about the angels in davening. If the angels had no part in this at all, if the soul had no need for them, why would we speak so much about angels in davening? The entire Yotzer blessing describes the angels. What does that have to do with us? Especially since, as is known from the teachings of our Sages, all our service is elevated by the angels. The angels raise the prayers and bring them to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. They embrace and kiss them, cleanse them—there are various aspects to this. As explained in Chassidus, the angels’ service is relevant here, so it certainly matters to the soul as well. What is the general point? Nevertheless, of course, the soul is the ultimate purpose, and Torah and mitzvos were given specifically to the soul. The angels asked for the Torah, but it was not given to them.

15:26 Accordingly, the whole point of Igeres Hateshuvah is to emphasize the soul’s advantage. At the same time, the Alter Rebbe also wants to explain that the angels have an advantage, and in one particular respect the soul needs them. Now, the general difference: what is the difference between a soul and the angels? The soul’s advantage lies in its root. As the Alter Rebbe says, the soul’s root is in the Name Havayah, while the angels’ root is in the Name Elokim. In its root, the soul comes from a higher place. Souls come from the inward dimension; angels come from the external dimension. The angels’ advantage is in what is revealed. The soul is enclothed in a physical body, and therefore the soul does not shine openly. On the contrary, the soul comes down to be enclothed in a body, and what is visible is the body, not the soul. The angels, by contrast, remain angels wherever they are. They are always connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is, the angels’ connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu is more openly apparent. This is an advantage the angels have over the soul. Angels have refined bodies, subtle bodies. In other words, even as created beings, they are spiritual beings who serve Hashem and sing to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. They have no free choice; they are always in a state of complete attachment. The soul does not have that advantage. Do you know why? Because it becomes involved in physicality. But here is the point the Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize—wait, this point also explains why angels are called by the name Elokim. We’ll read that shortly; we haven’t read it yet. The Alter Rebbe says that angels are called by the name Elokim. Souls are not called by the Name Havayah, at least not at present. The Gemara says in Bava Basra that in the future, the Jewish people will be called by the Name Havayah. That will be in the future, when the righteous of the Jewish people will be called by the name of Hakadosh Boruch…

17:40 He is the name Havayah. That will be in the future. At present, the Jewish people are not called by that name. They are called adam, ish, enosh, Yisroel, Yaakov, Yeshurun—all kinds of beautiful names, but not the name Havayah. Angels are called by the name Elokim. What does that tell us? It tells us both sides of the matter. On the one hand, it tells us the advantage of the angels: they are connected to their source. That is why they are called by the name Elokim. Even when they were created, they were created in a way that left them connected to their source; the name Elokim shines within them. Very good. A soul does not have that advantage. On the other hand, this very fact shows us the advantage of souls over angels. The angels are the highest, most exalted created beings, and what name do they have? Elokim. Nothing higher. Why? Because their entire existence comes only from the name Elokim. Not so a soul. True, the soul is down here, the body conceals it, and that too is part of the intention, so that there can be free choice and so on. But at its root, the soul comes from the name Havayah. The soul’s very essence is the name Havayah. And the Alter Rebbe’s novel point, which he wants to explain to us here, is that even when the soul descends below, it is part of the name Havayah. This is what we also explained about the verse the Alter Rebbe brings: “For His people are a portion of Havayah.” It is not speaking about the soul as it is in Atzilus. “For His people are a portion of Havayah” speaks about the soul as it is here below. Where is “For His people are a portion of Havayah” written? It is written in the account of the Jewish people after they were in Egypt, left Egypt, and traveled through the desert. The verse is in the Song of Haazinu, speaking about the Jewish people: “He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel. For His people are a portion of Havayah; Yaakov is the lot of His inheritance.” So it is speaking about the Jewish people here below.

19:39 Ah, he said here that when the soul descends below, it becomes enclothed in a body. So let’s look closely at the Alter Rebbe’s wording. What does the Alter Rebbe say? That it descended through six levels, through a sixth aspect in which descents take place, in order to become enclothed in a body. What, then, is the point? What is the Alter Rebbe trying to tell us? The Alter Rebbe wants to tell us that the soul is, in essence, a portion of Havayah, and that does not change. It is true down here as well. The soul is always a portion of Havayah, and that remains true even below. As the soul is here below, inwardly there is no difference between below and above. The soul is always part of the name Havayah. But what happens? For the soul to be able to work with the world, to make a dwelling place in the lower realms, it needs the body. So, to have a connection with the body, it also descended into the letters of speech. It went so far that the soul became enclothed in a body and is not openly called by the name Havayah, because the body hides and conceals it. But that is only on its outer side, on the side of the body. In its essential nature, the soul is a portion of Havayah even when it is here below. And that is what the Alter Rebbe will explain later in the chapter: the four letters of the name Havayah correspond to the chochmah, binah, middos, and malchus found in every soul. Not above—below. The soul below has chochmah, it has binah, it has middos, it has speech. The soul’s existence within the body is connected with the four letters of the name Havayah. So what does this mean? These are the two sides the Alter Rebbe is bringing us. In short, to sum up, what are the two points the Alter Rebbe is teaching? On the one hand, yes, there is an advantage to the angels. We need to know that too, and it is relevant to the whole matter of serving Hashem that the Alter Rebbe

21:41 wants to explain here in Igeres Hateshuvah. In one respect, yes, the angels have an advantage. Their advantage is that they are openly called by the name Elokim. That is their advantage, and that is why they are called by the name Elokim. Why? Because Divine light gives them life; it is openly present within them. Because of the body, we do not see this advantage in a soul, and therefore souls need the angels. But in their essence—if you ask about the soul’s essential nature—a soul is a portion of Havayah. And it is not merely that it was once a portion of Havayah; even when it descended below, it is a portion of Havayah. Ah, so why does he say “above”? As we said, because there is also the body, which conceals. That too is part of the intention: that the body should conceal, so that there can be free choice, so that there can be service, so that there can be everything the Alter Rebbe wants to discuss here—mitzvos and transgressions. But that does not change the essential fact that the soul is a portion of Havayah. Even when it descends here below, it remains a portion of Havayah. So this is the difference between souls and angels, and accordingly we can understand why the Alter Rebbe goes into all this at such length here in Igeres Hateshuvah. In Igeres Hateshuvah, the Alter Rebbe wants to explain two fundamental points in Jewish life. On the one hand, we need to know how it becomes possible for a Jew to commit a transgression. Igeres Hateshuvah comes to explain how a Jew can, G-d forbid—he has free choice—distance himself from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We understand that from this whole explanation. If the soul were openly a portion of Havayah here below, with no difference at all, free choice would not be possible. It would not be possible at all for a Jew to disconnect from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. All the service of Torah and mitzvos would not be possible; teshuvah would not be possible; separation would not be possible at all. That is why it is important

23:38 to explain that side of it. But the main point the Alter Rebbe also wants to explain is the opposite: the power a Jew has to return and reconnect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Where does the power of teshuvah come from? A Jew’s power of teshuvah comes from the fact that he is a portion of Havayah and remains a portion of Havayah in his essential nature. A Jew is a part of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And being a portion of Havayah also means, as the Alter Rebbe will explain, that a Jew is rooted in Atzmus, at the very highest level. That is why he also has the ability to repair all the damage. So all of this is meant to explain what the Alter Rebbe is saying. Now, with that in mind, let’s look closely at the Alter Rebbe’s wording. When the Alter Rebbe begins his explanation, he says, “There is an exceedingly great difference above.” Why does he say “above”? Why does he emphasize “above”? Based on what we have explained, it makes sense: because down here you cannot see it. If you look down here, what do you see? You see that the angels are called by the name Elokim, while souls are not called by the name of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So this difference is above. Above, before they descend into a body, that is where the principal difference is apparent: a soul is a portion of the name Havayah; an angel is called by the name Elokim. That is one side. That is why he emphasizes “above.” But on the other hand, what does the Alter Rebbe go on to say in the chapter? That nevertheless, even below—granted, the angels have the advantage that a higher life-force is within them. But what level of life-force? A higher one. Nothing more. Why? Because the source of all created beings, even the angels, is the external aspect of the life-force. So what is their name? The name Elokim, not the name Havayah. Souls, by contrast, have their source in the name Havayah, and even when a soul descends below, it remains connected with

25:52 the name Havayah. Ah, there is also an enclothement through the letters, the Ten Utterances, [unclear]. That is only so that it can have a connection with the body. That is why this is necessary. But in its essence, what is it? It still remains connected with the name Havayah. That is why the damage caused by a sin or transgression matters so much, and that is also why, through teshuvah, a Jew can return and reconnect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. All of this is to help us understand what the Alter Rebbe wants to explain here. We’ll continue with the rest of the chapter.