Igeres Hateshuvah Chapter 4 - Explaining the concept of the letters of the Name Havayah in the soul

00:01 We’re continuing here with Tanya, Igeres Hateshuvah, page 94, chapter 4. We’re holding near the bottom of page 94a, three lines from the bottom. Here the Alter Rebbe begins to explain the four letters of Hashem’s name—what they mean Above and how they are found in a Jew’s soul. As we discussed, in chapter 4 the Alter Rebbe gives an introduction to explain the soul’s great stature. That helps us understand the power a Jew has: by observing Torah and mitzvos, he connects himself to Hakadosh Boruch Hu; and by committing a transgression, G-d forbid, he causes a blemish and separates himself from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It also helps us understand how a person can return and repair things through teshuvah—the power of teshuvah to repair the damage, make good the deficiencies, and draw close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu again. This is the idea of returning the lower hei, the lower level of teshuvah, and returning the upper hei, the higher level of teshuvah. So the Alter Rebbe has begun to explain the soul’s unique stature: the soul is a part of Hashem’s name. Now the Alter Rebbe will explain in detail what that means: what Hashem’s name is, what its four letters are, and how every soul contains all four letters. The Alter Rebbe says: “To explain this matter, as is known from Eliyahu’s discourse.” To understand it, says the Alter Rebbe, there is a passage known as Eliyahu’s discourse. He means Pesach Eliyahu, a passage in the Zohar that is recited on Erev Shabbos, at twilight before Minchah. “Eliyahu began and said: Master of the worlds.” It says there: “You are the One who brought forth ten adornments, which we call ten sefiros.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu—“You”—are the One who brought forth and revealed ten adornments. “Adornments” is a word

02:19 for ornaments: ten ornaments, ten beautiful vessels, ten adornments, “which we call” ten sefiros. What is the purpose of the ten sefiros? “To conduct the worlds through them.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu revealed and established the ten sefiros because through them He governs the worlds. There are hidden worlds and concealed worlds, and there are also revealed worlds, as the Zohar goes on to say. “You are wise, but not with a knowable wisdom.” The Zohar continues: You, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, have wisdom, but Your wisdom is not knowable wisdom; it is not wisdom as we know it. “You understand, but not with a knowable understanding,” and so on. We say that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has ten sefiros, including chochmah, binah, and so on. The Zohar goes on to say that His chochmah is “not with a knowable wisdom.” The wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not wisdom in the same way that ours is. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is called wise, and there is the sefirah of chochmah. But we should not think that the sefirah of chochmah Above has the measure and limits of our wisdom. His wisdom is “not with a knowable wisdom”; it is an entirely different kind of wisdom. Ours is the wisdom of a created being, so it has the measure and limits of a created being. The chochmah of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is infinite wisdom. It is supernal wisdom, beyond all comparison. The same is true of binah. All of this is the wording of Pesach Eliyahu, the wording of the Zohar. In other words, Hakadosh Boruch Hu has ten sefiros. The Alter Rebbe says: “And all ten sefiros are included and alluded to in the blessed name of Hashem.” All ten of the sefiros of Hakadosh Boruch Hu are included and alluded to in the four letters of His name. Now, in the rest of the chapter, the Alter Rebbe will explain how the ten sefiros are alluded to in those four letters. The Alter

04:31 Rebbe will explain what the letter yud alludes to, what the first hei alludes to, what the vav alludes to, and what the final hei alludes to. We’ll learn that shortly. I want to pause over the words we’ve learned so far. The Alter Rebbe has introduced the four letters of Hashem’s name and told us that they are connected with the ten sefiros. That is what he is about to explain. Later in the chapter, the Alter Rebbe will explain that since the human soul is a part of Hashem’s name, it too contains those four letters. They correspond to the soul’s ten faculties—the yud, hei, vav, and hei as they exist in a person’s soul. We’ll see that at the end of the chapter. Now there is a simple question: Why does the Alter Rebbe need this lengthy introduction? We have already learned many times in Tanya that there are ten sefiros Above. The Alter Rebbe mentions them several times in Tanya, both in Likkutei Amarim and in Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. We don’t see him citing all his sources every time he mentions the ten sefiros. At the beginning of Tanya, in Likkutei Amarim, chapter 3, the Alter Rebbe also writes about the ten sefiros, but there he does not say that Pesach Eliyahu speaks of ten sefiros. That implies it is something obvious and familiar to anyone who studies Chassidus: Hakadosh Boruch Hu has ten sefiros. Why, all of a sudden, does the Alter Rebbe need to bring a source here? Perhaps I don’t know what Eliyahu says. And he doesn’t just bring a source; he quotes the whole passage. Why does he need all of it? If you need to establish that there are ten sefiros, just quote briefly: “Which we call ten”

06:28 sefiros. Instead, he quotes at length, the whole wording. Why? There is an even bigger question. The Rebbe discusses all this in a sicha and asks: Seemingly, if a source for the ten sefiros is needed, there is one earlier than the Zohar, a more ancient source. The ten sefiros are mentioned in Sefer Yetzirah. As is known, Sefer Yetzirah is a book associated with Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him. It says that Avraham Avinu wrote Sefer Yetzirah. So if you need to cite a source for the ten sefiros, why quote what Eliyahu says? Quote Sefer Yetzirah. By the way, the ten sefiros are also alluded to in the Gemara. For those who study nigleh, the Gemara too speaks of the ten sefiros. That is in Tractate Chagigah, where the Gemara also mentions them. In any case, why does the Alter Rebbe give these details at all? There’s no need. Why cite a source? And if he does cite one, why this particular source? And why does he copy out the whole passage? The Rebbe tells us something remarkable here, a key to understanding all of Igeres Hateshuvah. In Igeres Hateshuvah, the Alter Rebbe sets out to explain two broad ideas. First, he wants to explain the power a Jew has through observing Torah and mitzvos. How great is the elevation brought about when a Jew observes Torah and mitzvos? A Jew who observes them has the ability, through his Torah and mitzvos, to connect with the sefiros of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Every mitzvah draws G-dliness into the world, and that flow of G-dliness into the world is enclothed through the ten sefiros. That is one point. As the Alter Rebbe will also explain later in Igeres Hateshuvah, there are all the

08:23 The letters of the name Havayah are connected to Torah and mitzvos. The letter yud is connected to the recitation of Shema. The letter hei is connected to tefillin. The letter vav is connected to tzitzis. The final hei is prayer. These are just examples. In fact, all the mitzvos are connected to the letters of the name Havayah, which is why they are called the mitzvos of Havayah. When a Jew fulfills a mitzvah, he connects with the name Havayah, and that is the substance of the name Havayah. The Alter Rebbe brings this here in connection with the ten sefiros of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is what Torah and mitzvos accomplish. On the other hand, what happens when a person has sinned? He did not observe Torah and mitzvos, or he committed transgressions. So what is Igeres Hateshuvah about? The Alter Rebbe comes to explain the special power of teshuvah: a Jew has the ability to do teshuvah and reconnect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And not only that, but also to repair all the damage, clean away all the dirt, and once again put right everything he damaged, everything he did. Both of these things are explained specifically in Patach Eliyahu. In Patach Eliyahu, the first thing Eliyahu Hanavi says in the Zohar is “ten tikkunim.” He does not simply call them ten sefiros; he calls them tikkunim. Tikkunim are adornments. That is the idea of ornaments. In other words, the Alter Rebbe wants to tell us that when a Jew observes Torah and mitzvos, he makes adornments for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He has the ability, so to speak, to adorn the Shechinah. That is what mitzvos are about. Every mitzvah has an effect: an adornment brings about a revelation of G-dliness; it accomplishes things that are like ornaments. And this is written specifically in the Zohar. That is the virtue of Torah and mitzvos. On the other hand, the Zohar also teaches us something else. The Zohar says: “You are the One who brought forth ten tikkunim. You are wise, but not with a knowable wisdom. You are

10:31 understanding, but not with a knowable understanding.” The Alter Rebbe brings these words from Patach Eliyahu in the Zohar: the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not a revealed wisdom. As explained in Chassidus, the Alter Rebbe explains in Torah Or, Parshas Noach, that the meaning of “You are wise, but not with a knowable wisdom” is that the ten sefiros of Hakadosh Boruch Hu have their root in the ten hidden sefiros. This is a whole subject in Chassidus: there are ten revealed sefiros and ten hidden sefiros, and the root of the ten sefiros is far above, in the Infinite. Why does this come up here? To explain how a Jew can repair the damage. After all, if I caused damage, committed a transgression, harmed the name Havayah, then that’s it. We have become separated from G-dliness. How can that be repaired? The answer is that the soul is connected not only to the ten revealed sefiros. The soul also has a connection to the level of the ten hidden sefiros. The soul is connected to the Infinite that is above the ten sefiros, the source of the ten sefiros. Therefore, even if there was damage to the ten sefiros, through teshuvah a Jew rises to that level above the ten sefiros, and so he can repair all the damage. From this we see that nothing in Tanya is superfluous. The Alter Rebbe does not use all these words for no reason. Every part of the extended wording here matters; it is an introduction to the entire subject of Igeres Hateshuvah. It helps us understand both how Torah and mitzvos make adornments for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and how a Jew, through teshuvah, can bring forth such things. And one more thing, one point at least: the Rebbe makes another point, one more detail, about Eliyahu. The Rebbe specifically wants to say this. He could have said, “It is written in the Zohar.” Why does he write “the teaching of Eliyahu”? Why Eliyahu specifically? Because it is written about Eliyahu Hanavi, “He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children.”

12:42 Eliyahu Hanavi is associated with teshuvah. We see in the story in Tanach that when there was worship of Baal, the idol, Eliyahu Hanavi brought down the fire, and through that whole episode he caused all the Jews to do teshuvah: “Hashem is G-d, Hashem is G-d.” Eliyahu Hanavi brought his entire generation to teshuvah. Similarly, before the coming of Moshiach, Eliyahu Hanavi will bring all of Israel to do teshuvah: “He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children.” And because the Alter Rebbe comes to explain the whole subject of Igeres Hateshuvah here, he also mentions Eliyahu Hanavi by name.