Igeres Hateshuvah Chapter 4, Part 9 - The letter Yud and the tip of the Yud of the Name Havayah

00:00 Speaker 1 We’re continuing here in Igeres Hateshuvah, chapter 4, at the top of page 94b. The Alter Rebbe is in the middle of explaining the idea of “Hashem’s portion is His people.”

00:16 Speaker 2 The Alter Rebbe explains the special quality of the soul: the soul of every Jew is a part of the name Havayah. The soul is higher than the angels and all created beings, because the soul’s source is the name Havayah. The Alter Rebbe begins by explaining that the name Havayah has four letters, and that these four letters encompass all ten sefiros. He goes on to explain that the same is true of the soul: since it is a part of the name Havayah, the soul also has these four letters, corresponding to its ten faculties. On this basis, the Alter Rebbe will explain what happens when a Jew sins—how he causes a blemish in the name Havayah—and then how we repair it through teshuvah. So now we’re beginning to study the four letters of the name Havayah. The Alter Rebbe says: All ten sefiros are encompassed and alluded to in the name Havayah, blessed be He. Each of the ten sefiros is found within its four letters. And the Alter Rebbe begins to explain how ten sefiros are found in four letters. There are four letters and ten sefiros. How do ten fit into four? How do ten sefiros fit within the four letters of the name Havayah? That is what the Alter Rebbe is coming to explain. “For the yud, which is merely a point, alludes to His wisdom, blessed be He.” The Alter Rebbe begins with the yud. A yud is written like a point, and its shape alludes to chochmah, wisdom, “which is in a state of concealment and hiddenness before it expands and the grasp and understanding become revealed.” In other words, we know the difference between chochmah and binah. It is generally explained—and the Alter Rebbe also discusses this in Likkutei Amarim, chapters 3, 28, and 35—that chochmah is essentially

02:36 Speaker 2 a point. Chochmah is a flash of insight, the initial point of an idea. It has no breadth or depth, which is why the Tanya here calls it a kind of concealment and hiddenness. What does that mean? It means you haven’t grasped it yet. This is how chochmah works: a point lights up for a person. When someone studies, delves into and thinks deeply about an idea, there’s a moment when something lights up for him. A certain truth becomes clear to him; a point of insight lights up. So yes, there is light there, there is a point, there is clarity. Something about the subject has become clear to him: “Wow, I’m beginning to understand what’s going on here.” But because it has not yet permeated him in all its details, he has not truly, fully and inwardly grasped it with his own faculties, down to every detail. Relative to his understanding, to his faculties, it is considered concealed and hidden. In other words, it is not yet part of me. It has not yet taken shape within my own reality. It is something higher. It is as though, at that moment, I don’t exist: I have become nullified to the point of chochmah. That is why chochmah can be read as koach mah, the power of “what?” A person nullifies himself to something higher than himself. True, at that moment I sense it as something real. As we are also learning in the maamar we’re studying now, from 5710, chochmah brings a sense of certainty. There is a truth shining here, there is a point. But because that point has not illuminated me inwardly, I don’t have the words or the explanations; I still can’t explain it to someone else. That means that even within myself, I haven’t fully grasped it. Relative to me, it is considered a kind of concealment and hiddenness. That is why the Alter Rebbe says here that the yud alludes to a point.

04:35 Speaker 2 Sorry—the point-like shape of the yud alludes to chochmah. A point has no expansion; you cannot grasp it. That is the nature of a point. It has no length, breadth or depth. There is only the point itself. That is the initial point of chochmah, and that is why it is alluded to by the letter yud. The same applies to chochmah above. The Alter Rebbe is speaking here about the ten sefiros, about chochmah above. So supernal chochmah—the sefirah of chochmah of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—is in a state of concealment and hiddenness. What that means is that it is above expansion. As the Tanya says in Likkutei Amarim, chapter 35, in the sefirah of chochmah the truth shines that He alone exists and there is nothing besides Him. That is the level of chochmah. Because of the bittul of chochmah, the truth that “there is nothing besides Him” is felt there. That is the opposite of a sense of independent existence, so relative to the world it is concealed and hidden. Chochmah is above the world’s frame of reference. So that is the letter yud, which alludes to the point of chochmah. The Alter Rebbe continues: “And the tip above the yud alludes to the aspect of the Divine will, blessed be He.” The letter yud also has a tip above it. That is why he says “the tip above the yud.” As the letter yud is written in a Torah scroll, there is the yud itself, and above it is a little tip extending upward. That is called the tip of the yud. The Alter Rebbe says that it alludes to the Divine will, “which is above the level of supernal chochmah, as is known.” What does this tip allude to? And it is not there for no reason. In a Torah scroll, every

06:32 Speaker 2 letter and every tip is precise. As is known, Rabbi Akiva would derive heaps upon heaps of laws from every detail. So everything in a Torah scroll is exact. What does the tip above the yud allude to? In terms of the sefiros, the Alter Rebbe says that it alludes to the supernal will, which is above the level of supernal chochmah. That is, as anyone who studies Kabbalah and Chassidus knows, there is the sefirah of keser above chochmah. This is what is called the supernal will, the will above wisdom; in the language of Kabbalah and Chassidus, it is called the sefirah of keser. So the Alter Rebbe is saying that keser, too, is alluded to in the letter. The name Havayah generally alludes to the ten sefiros from chochmah downward, but the tip of the yud alludes to keser, to the will above chochmah. That is the first point. Now the Alter Rebbe will continue and explain the hei, the vav and the final hei. But I want to pause here, because this gives us a tangible example of how, when we pay close attention to the words of the Tanya, the Alter Rebbe teaches us remarkable things. There are several things we need to understand about these words. We’ve learned about the yud, and we’ve learned about the tip of the yud. A simple question comes up when we study these lines: Why bring in the tip of the yud here? Who was talking about the tip of the yud? Why does the Alter Rebbe discuss it? The Tanya is not explaining the letters of the name Havayah for their own sake. This is not a Kabbalah class, and this is not a book that has come to explain these concepts in general. The Alter Rebbe is explaining what it means for the soul to be “a part of G-d above.” He wants to say that just as there is a supernal Havayah, encompassing ten sefiros, so too

08:31 Speaker 2 the soul has a Havayah below, encompassing ten sefiros. That is what the Alter Rebbe wants to explain. So why does he suddenly bring this in, even if only in parentheses? But those parentheses have a purpose. What is the Alter Rebbe trying to tell us with them? That there is also a tip above the yud? Is the Alter Rebbe now teaching us every detail of the letters according to Kabbalah? And what about the tip beneath the yud? He does not explain that. In other words, the Alter Rebbe is not clarifying every detail of the letters here. This is not a lesson about letters. He is speaking to us about the four letters of the name Havayah. So why bring in the subject of the tip above the yud, which alludes to—to

09:09 Speaker 3 why does that belong here?

09:11 Speaker 2 That is one question. The second question: When we look at the Alter Rebbe’s wording, he uses an interesting expression. He says that the tip above the yud alludes to the aspect of

09:24 Speaker 3 blessed be He.

09:25 Speaker 2 Far, far above the level of supernal Chochmah. He says “above” twice. Why does he say “far, far above”? There are the notes of the Rebbe’s father, as we’ve discussed several times. The Rebbe taught us that although his father’s notes are written very briefly and use Kabbalistic terms, they actually explain fundamental ideas in Igeres Hateshuvah. If we understand what he meant, we can use them to understand essential points in Igeres Hateshuvah. So here, “far, far above” is a repetition that seems unnecessary. Reb Levik asks: What is the significance of saying “far, far above”? He says it is because there are two levels in the tip of the yud: Chochmah Stima’ah and Galgalta. In Kabbalah and Chassidus, when we speak about the level of Kesser, we are speaking about two levels. There is Chochmah Stima’ah. Chochmah of Atzilus is revealed Chochmah, but there is also a level called Chochmah Stima’ah, the Chochmah within Kesser. It is concealed Chochmah. This is like the account in the Gemara: When Rabbi Akiva was killed, Moshe Rabbeinu cried out, “This is Torah, and this is its reward?” Moshe Rabbeinu could not understand how such a thing could be done. Rabbi Akiva—how could Rabbi Akiva be killed in such a brutal way? It says that Hakadosh Boruch Hu told him, “Be silent; so it arose in My thought.” What does “Be silent; so it arose in My thought” mean? The Alter Rebbe explains in Likkutei Torah that there is a level of Chochmah Stima’ah. Moshe Rabbeinu is Chochmah of Atzilus, while the Chochmah of Hakadosh Boruch Hu here is Chochmah Stima’ah. Chochmah Stima’ah is utterly beyond comparison with Chochmah of Atzilus—so much so that Chochmah of Atzilus cannot understand what takes place in Chochmah Stima’ah. That is why He told him, “Be silent; so it arose in My thought.” So Chochmah Stima’ah is a level above revealed Chochmah. There is

11:27 Speaker 2 however, an even higher level, which is

11:31 Speaker 3 above Chochmah Stima’ah,

11:33 Speaker 2 and that is what is called—and that is why the Alter Rebbe says “far, far above.” Good. That is what Reb Levik says. Now, why is this level relevant here? What does it have to do with this? There is a wonderful explanation from the Rebbe. I’ll go straight to that explanation. There are other things we need to understand here, but since we’ve stopped on this point, I’ll go straight to it. The Rebbe says something tremendous here. The Rebbe says that this entire passage in parentheses is fundamental to understanding all of Igeres Hateshuvah. In Igeres Hateshuvah, the Alter Rebbe comes to teach us that a Jew has the power to do teshuvah. Even though a Jew has sinned—and when a Jew sins, he causes a blemish. He creates a stain. He causes a blemish in the name Havayah. Every sin blemishes the name of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But when a Jew does teshuvah, he can repair that blemish. So there is something remarkable about teshuvah. After all, the person sinned; he caused a blemish. What was done was done—how can it be repaired afterward? How does our teshuvah accomplish anything? Where does a Jew get the power to do teshuvah? And where does the power come from to repair what has already been damaged? You’ve already damaged it. How do we do that? The answer is that the supernal will is above the name Havayah. By doing teshuvah, a Jew reaches the level of the supernal will, the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. Through the avodah of teshuvah, a Jew rises to a level above the ten sefiros. The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy come from the level of Kesser. They come from the will that is above Chochmah, and therefore it is not bound by Chochmah there, so Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgives him. True, there was a blemish in the letters of the name Havayah, but because the will is far, far above, because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is above Chochmah, the blemish therefore does not

13:43 Speaker 2 carry weight at the level of Kesser. At the higher level of will, it does not carry weight. And because it does not carry weight, he is forgiven. As soon as a Jew does teshuvah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgives him. That is forgiveness. But we don’t only want Him to forgive us. We also want to make good every deficiency. There are two aspects to teshuvah. One is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu pardons you. That pardon comes from the higher will. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgives you. Fine, but the goal is not only that Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgive us; the goal is also to make good everything that is lacking. So there are two aspects here, and now we’ll see how the deficiency is made good. It’s true that the will above the yud can overlook what you did, but you also want to repair the yud of the name Havayah. How does the will above the yud repair the yud? The Alter Rebbe answers that with this passage in parentheses. Because the tip of the yud—the aspect of Kesser—is also within the yud, it is not entirely separate from it. There is the yud of the name Havayah, and the yud also has a tip. That tip is part of the yud. Because it is part of the yud, it can also cleanse, replenish, and repair the yud. In other words, Kesser, the supernal will, has two sides. On the one hand, because it is above Chochmah, above the ten sefiros, it is not limited. It can forgive you; it can pardon you. That is because it is above the yud. On the other hand, because it has a connection to the yud—some relationship, some connection, in that it is part of the letter yud. In a Torah scroll, the letter yud also has

15:47 Speaker 2 a tip. So because it has a connection to the yud, it has the ability to make good the deficiencies in the yud of the name Havayah. Now we can understand why the Alter Rebbe brings this up here: it is relevant to all of Igeres Hateshuvah. It explains what power makes teshuvah possible. And we can also understand that because a Jew is a part of Havayah, a Jew has this aspect as well. What is the tip of the yud in a Jew’s avodah? It is, in essence, the power of teshuvah. In Chassidus, this is the level of chayah and yechidah, which are encompassing powers of the soul. Because of these powers, even when a Jew has become separated from G-dliness, he neither wants to nor can be separated from G-dliness. And so he is aroused to teshuvah even after he has stumbled in sins and transgressions. When a Jew awakens the tip of the yud within his soul—the level of chayah and yechidah—he thereby arouses above the revelation of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, and that brings forgiveness for sins. This explains, in general, why the Alter Rebbe brings up the tip of the yud here: it is relevant to Igeres Hateshuvah as a whole. Why does he say “above, above”? Because, as we said, there are two aspects to “above” and “far above.” Listen closely—this is another fundamental explanation, a wonderful explanation relevant to all of Igeres Hateshuvah. The Rebbe says this in a sicha: When a person commits a sin, every sin has two aspects. There are two things involved in every sin a person commits. One is a blemish, a stain. You did something Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not want, so you blemished the name Havayah. You did something wrong, you created a stain, you brought evil into the world, and that is the aspect of

17:49 Speaker 2 One: bringing evil into the world. It is like a person getting his clothes dirty. When we commit a transgression, we become soiled; we bring impurity into the world, we bring kelipah into the world, we bring evil into the world, G-d forbid. That is one aspect of sin. There is another aspect to sin: you leave a revelation of G-dliness missing. The whole point of a person fulfilling a mitzvah is that he draws a revelation of G-dliness into the world. When you commit a transgression, instead of drawing down G-dliness, you had an opportunity to reveal G-dliness and did not do so. A revelation of G-dliness was missing. Generally, this is the distinction between positive mitzvos and prohibitions. That is what seems to emerge at the beginning of Igeres Hateshuvah. What is the difference between a positive mitzvah and a prohibition? If I did not fulfill a positive mitzvah—a positive mitzvah draws light into the world. The purpose of every mitzvah is to draw down G-dliness. A Jew puts on tefillin and draws G-dliness into the world. A Jew puts on tzitzis and draws G-dliness into the world. A Jew davens and draws G-dliness into the world. And if, G-d forbid, I did not put on tefillin one day, there was an opportunity, but I did not draw down G-dliness. I did not bring about that revelation, that drawing down of G-dliness into the world. I had an opportunity to draw down G-dliness and did not do it. That is not the case with a prohibition. What do I cause? I cause a stain. When Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells a person not to eat something and he eats it; when Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells him not to desecrate Shabbos and he desecrates it—what he has done is bring in, add impurity, add evil and darkness, bring kelipah into the world. So that is generally the distinction between positive mitzvos and prohibitions. But in truth, it is not quite so precise. The truth is that every positive mitzvah and every prohibition has both aspects. Looking at it more closely, as we wrote, we know that all mitzvos have both aspects. In other words, when a Jew does not put on

19:48 Speaker 2 tefillin one day, G-d forbid, two things happen: he has not drawn down G-dliness, and also, because he committed a transgression—he needed to put on tefillin and went on without doing so—he adds kelipah to the world. He adds darkness to the world. And the same is true of a prohibition. When a person violates a prohibition, it is not only that he brings a stain into the world; he could have drawn G-dliness into the world, because observing a prohibition also brings about a revelation of G-dliness. When a Jew refrains from a transgression, he is not just sitting quietly, doing no mitzvah. When a Jew holds himself back from committing a transgression, he too draws down a revelation of G-dliness through that. So it follows that each of the 613 mitzvos has two aspects: drawing down the light of G-dliness and not bringing a stain into the world. When a person commits a transgression, he causes two problems: he does not draw down the light of G-dliness, and he also brings impurity and kelipah into the world. When I do teshuvah, I want to repair both things through teshuvah. Through teshuvah I also want to draw down the light of G-dliness that I failed to draw down. There is something about teshuvah—its power is immense. Through teshuvah, a person can draw down what was missing, the revelations he should have drawn down. He can also make up for it because teshuvah does something to his merits, and so on. He can fill what was lacking because of what he did not do before. That is one power teshuvah has. Although in Likkutei—in Igeres Hateshuvah, chapter 1, the Alter Rebbe says that the light is absent and cannot be drawn down, in Likkutei Torah, in the maamar “Mah Tovu” on Parshas Balak, the Alter Rebbe says that through teshuvah rabbah it can indeed be done. Teshuvah has the power

21:39 Speaker 2 to draw down the light. On the other hand, teshuvah also comes to clean away the stain. If so, teshuvah needs to accomplish two things: it needs to clean away the damage, and it needs to supply the drawing down of the light of G-dliness that was missing. The Rebbe says something wonderful. These two things flow from the two levels that the Rebbe’s father, Reb Levi Yitzchak, writes about in his notes. This is the distinction between Mocha Stima’ah and the hidden will. Mocha Stima’ah is intellect—the intellect within Kesser. But it is a level of intellect: Mocha Stima’ah, Chochmah Stima’ah. From there comes the transformation of darkness into light. From the level of Mocha Stima’ah, the light that was missing is drawn down. That is what explains it. Why is Likkutei Torah also brought in, and what does it say there? Through Mocha Stima’ah, all the light that was missing because you did not draw it down can be drawn down. But the hidden will, which is far, far higher—the second level, a will above wisdom—as we said, because it is above wisdom, it is not limited. Therefore it cleans away the stain; it cleans away the damage. And since here in Igeres Hateshuvah the Alter Rebbe is primarily coming to explain this aspect of teshuvah, as we will see later—in Igeres Hateshuvah the Alter Rebbe does not really speak so much about [unclear]. The Alter Rebbe speaks primarily about how, through teshuvah, a person cleans away the damage, as he will explain further on in the chapter. That is why the Alter Rebbe is precise here in saying “far, far higher”—“higher” twice. The meaning is that it is far, far above the Yud, because this is the level of will that is above even Chochmah Stima’ah. From the standpoint of this level, Hakadosh Boruch Hu has no limitations whatsoever, and therefore He can clean away even the damage—all the undesirable things a person did in the past. That is the wonderful power

23:44 Speaker 2 of teshuvah. So here we can see that when we learn Tanya and look at it properly, learning it as the Rebbe taught us to learn, we can see that not a single word in Tanya is superfluous. There is depth within its words, depth that gives us an understanding: What does teshuvah accomplish? What is the power of teshuvah? And how does a person, through his teshuvah, have the ability to do it all—to make up for the undesirable things of the past and also to clean away—to clean away what needs cleaning and to supply the drawing down of the light of G-dliness that was missing in the past. This is the wonderful power of teshuvah, that it can accomplish so much. And the Rebbe concludes with the point about the tip of the Yud: there are two aspects to the tip of the Yud. This is also alluded to in the Alter Rebbe’s wording, “the tip above the Yud.” Many times it says “the tip of the Yud.” Why does it say here “the tip above the Yud”? It means far, far higher. There are, as it were, two aspects to the tip: the tip adjacent to the Yud and the tip that is higher, above it. Since here we want to bring about complete forgiveness from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, as though the person had never sinned, it is the tip above the Yud, far, far higher. Okay, we will continue next time, with Hashem’s help.