Chapter 5 - Part Two

00:00 Okay, in the previous class we read the beginning of chapter 5 inside and translated a little of what it says. Today I want to explain it more in my own words. What is the Alter Rebbe saying here? In chapter 5, the Alter Rebbe comes to explain the special advantage of Torah study over all the other mitzvos. There is a special connection. Even though we discussed in chapter 4 that, through Torah and mitzvos in general, a Jew unites with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The special quality of Torah and mitzvos is that “no thought can grasp Him except when it is clothed in Torah and mitzvos,” and then a Jew grasps His Essence. That is why one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is better than the entire life of the World to Come. Nevertheless, within that itself, Torah study has a particular advantage, and that is what the Alter Rebbe comes to explain in chapter 5. What is special about Torah study? In the first part of the chapter, the Alter Rebbe uses a lot of different expressions. So let’s simply work out the sequence here. In general, as the Rebbe understands the plain meaning—and this appears in several maamarim of our Rebbeim—I’ll say right away how the Rebbe understands it, because that fits best with the sequence in Tanya. There are three stages when you study a subject in Torah, particularly in depth. The sequence is that, at first, when you begin a sugya and study it—whether it’s Hemshech 5666, the Gemara, or a maamar—at the first stage, before you begin to delve into the sugya, you grasp the subject in a general way. So at first you study the sugya broadly, as an overview. Call it a first reading, call it whatever you like: getting to know and understand the subject in general. At this first stage, when a person begins studying the sugya, his mind encompasses the sugya. Like when you say, “Today we’re going to study this sugya, today we’re…”

02:26 So let’s say that today I want to study this passage in Hemshech 5666. At the beginning of your study, your mind encompasses it, while Hemshech 5666—the maamar, the Gemara, the subject you’re studying—is encompassed, as though it is inside your mind. That’s stage one. Then comes stage two: you begin to study the sugya in depth. You start digging into the details, and what happens is that you find yourself inside it. You enter into the depths of the sugya. When you study in depth, you don’t take in the entire sugya at once; you take one detail. So it is as though you enter into that detail, and the larger sugya encompasses you. In other words, your mind is inside it. The person’s mind is inside, while the concept being studied—the sugya, Hemshech 5666, the maamar—encompasses him, because he has entered into a detail and immersed himself in the sugya. The larger sugya surrounds him, and he is inside it. After a person has finished examining the sugya, he sums it up. He has delved into it and understood all the details, and now he takes in the sugya as a whole again: “So what did we learn?” He makes a summary. At this point it is reversed again: the person encompasses the sugya. So these are the three stages of in-depth study. At first, I, the person doing the thinking, encompass the concept being studied. At the second stage, it’s the other way around: the concept encompasses the thinker, because the person is inside the subject. And once he has finished and grasped it, he again encompasses the subject. These are the three stages in intellectual understanding, and you can see them in the Alter Rebbe’s wording here. If you look inside, the Alter Rebbe says: “When any intellect understands and grasps an intellectual concept,” then he says that

04:52 “the intellect grasps the concept and encompasses it in the mind, while the concept is grasped, encompassed, and clothed within the mind that comprehends and understands it.” This is the stage at which the person encompasses the concept, and the concept is inside him. We already discussed in the previous class why the Alter Rebbe states both sides—that he grasps the thing and that the thing is within him—even though they are the same thing. We explained that last time. Then the Alter Rebbe says: “And the intellect is also clothed in the concept.” That is the second stage: the intellect is clothed in the concept. The intellect is inside, and the concept seems to encompass it “while he comprehends and grasps it with his mind”—during the close examination, during the learning. So here the person is inside it. And later, as the Alter Rebbe continues, we will see that he says it becomes “united and one with the concept.” In other words, once again: there is a stage when I grasp the concept, a stage when the concept grasps me, and a stage when I have finished studying the subject and once again grasp the concept, because now I have absorbed it. That is how ordinary intellectual understanding works in general. But there is something special about understanding Torah, and this is another very, very important point in our discussion. With Torah in particular, no matter how much we understand, we never understand it completely. After all, we are talking about Torah’s wisdom, which is infinite—the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So there is always its true, boundless depth that you have not yet reached. However much you have grasped, you have grasped only a part. With ordinary intellectual understanding, what you have grasped, you have grasped completely. Ordinary understanding is limited. What you understood, you have. So now you have grasped it; it is entirely within you, and you encompass it. “I have the sugya. I studied it and understood it completely.” But when we speak about true wisdom, the wisdom of Torah, Divine wisdom,

07:16 which is inherently unlimited, then however much you grasp, it will always be only a part. After all, “Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.” And that is not only because there are other subjects in Torah. In any field of knowledge there are always other subjects, but I can have a complete grasp of the particular subject I studied. In Torah, even that very subject—every subject in Torah wisdom, every detail—is inherently Divine wisdom, and so that detail, too, is infinite. This is what it means that there are “seventy faces to the Torah”: because Torah has so many dimensions, however much you have understood a subject in Torah, you have never understood it completely. Ultimately, it is Divine wisdom, and Divine wisdom is inherently unlimited. It follows that even after all my in-depth study, when I have understood the subject and encompass the sugya, there is also a part of it that encompasses me. That is why, as the Rebbe goes on to say, this wondrous union is found especially in Torah study: it is a union from every side. I encompass the subject, and at the same time the subject encompasses me. Both are present. In other words, there are two stages, two points here. What we discussed earlier was the ordinary process of learning. There is a sequence of three stages: first I grasp it in general; then I enter into it and delve deeply, so that I am, as it were, inside it and the concept encompasses me; and then, when I am finished, I have grasped it. That is one point: the ordinary three-stage process of intellectual understanding. But there is another point, a special point emphasized here in Tanya concerning Divine wisdom: at that very same time, even after all my in-depth study and learning, when I have already understood

09:11 I went into the matter and studied the sugya in depth, all the way through. But there is always something beyond me—after all, this is Hashem’s own wisdom. So even while I grasp the idea in Torah, the idea in Torah also encompasses me, because it is the boundless wisdom of G-dliness. That makes this a unique union: at the same time, you unite with it, you grasp it, and you are grasped by it. These are all points that help us understand what is special about learning Torah. Another very important point: there is a sicha of the Rebbe on this. It was one of the sichos the Rebbe gave specifically to the students on Chanukah. In one of those years—perhaps 5717 or 5718, as people know—there was an arrangement in which the students would go into the Rebbe’s room, and the Rebbe would give a sicha on Chanukah and distribute Chanukah gelt. This went on for ten years, until 5728, and then it stopped. In any case, those sichos contain very important teachings from the Rebbe, especially for students. There was always a point connected to Chanukah, which the Rebbe would then bring out in the sicha. In one of those years, the Rebbe spoke about this chapter of Tanya. It may have coincided exactly with the daily Tanya lesson on Chanukah. I think chapter 5 is studied on Chanukah, if I’m not mistaken, as the Tanya lesson for one of those days. In any case, the Rebbe spoke about this chapter and added another point. The Rebbe asked the classic question everyone asks: Look, in chapter 5, this “wondrous union” does not apply only to Torah. [unclear] The wondrous union applies to any intellectual subject you study. Even, lehavdil, in worldly fields of knowledge and intellectual study, you have these stages: you encompass the idea, and the idea

11:11 encompasses you. That is a union. So what, ultimately, is the special quality the Alter Rebbe is describing? Tanya seems to imply that there is something unique specifically about learning Torah. The Rebbe gave the following explanation. The Rebbe said: There is a very fundamental difference between human wisdom—worldly wisdom—and Divine wisdom. It is really the essential difference between Creator and created being. In human wisdom, everything is separate. The world in general is a world of separate things. As we say, as the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya: “He is the Knowledge, He is the Knower, and He is the Known.” In our world, when a person studies a subject—say, medicine—there are three things involved. There is the person studying, there is the knowledge of medicine, the intellectual understanding he is learning, and there is the object: what is he studying? These are three different things. In other words, when I study medicine, what is that knowledge? Say you are learning which medicines should be given for certain illnesses, may we be spared. There is the intellectual understanding of the matter: what the illness is, what causes it, and which medicines help cure it. If I know the root cause—but the medicine itself is a plant or a substance made from something. So there are three components here. There is the physical object in the world—the plants or other things that exist in the world. There is the knowledge of medicine, and there is the person studying medicine. Those are three separate things. And the person studies them. Ultimately, each thing stands on its own. The person studying is an entity in his own right; there is the knowledge he studies, the knowledge of medicine; and there are the physical things from which the medicine is made. Each

13:50 thing stands on its own. They are connected, but fundamentally they are separate things. When we speak about the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, though, it is different. When you study the case of an ox that gored a cow, the entire existence of the ox was created by Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and the entire existence of the cow was created by Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So what do we have here? We have Hakadosh Boruch Hu, we have His wisdom, and we have the cow that He created so that we could study the case of an ox that gored a cow. In other words, from the Torah’s perspective, the entire existence of the cow was created by Hakadosh Boruch Hu to make Torah study possible. The true order of things, from the perspective of the higher wisdom, is that “He looked into the Torah and created the world.” As the Rebbe once said at a Shavuos farbrengen: When someone sees a cow in the street, what does he see? Does he see a cow, or does he see “an ox that gored a cow”? In truth, Hakadosh Boruch Hu looked into the Torah and created the world from it. So the entire existence of the ox and the cow in the world was created because the Gemara speaks of “an ox that gored a cow.” That is one example of the principle. So it turns out that Hashem’s wisdom, the physical reality of the ox that gored the cow, and the human mind engaged with this subject are all one. There, the unity is genuine unity. That is the difference. Again, with the intellect of created beings, each thing is an entity in its own right, so there cannot be genuine unity. There is no intrinsic, essential connection between a piece of meat, the mind that understands that piece of meat, and the person

15:55 experiencing it. They are three distinct things that come together, but fundamentally they remain distinct. With Torah study, though, I am saying that Hakadosh Boruch Hu, His wisdom, the physical reality that comes into being, and the human mind engaged with it are all truly one. Fundamentally, they are all one essence. That is why it is a wondrous union—a kind of union found only in Torah, nowhere else. Those are some foundations for understanding the depth of what the Alter Rebbe explains in chapter 5. Now let’s read a little inside, continuing the chapter. The Alter Rebbe says: “Now this halachah is the wisdom and will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which arose in His will.” What does the Alter Rebbe want to tell us here? Again, there is the union of the person with the idea he is studying, and there is the union of that idea with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We want to say that when you learn Torah, all three become one: the person, the idea—the wisdom, the halachah—and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are all one. This is the wondrous union of the person learning, the idea he is studying—whether it is the sugya of an ox that gored a cow, or of two people holding a tallis, whatever sugya he is learning—and the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu present in it. All three are one. That is the wondrous union. So this is what the Alter Rebbe says: “Now this halachah,” which a person studies in depth, “is the wisdom and will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which arose in His will: that when Reuven makes such-and-such a claim, for example, and Shimon makes such-and-such a claim, the ruling between them should be such-and-such.” The Alter Rebbe gives an example from monetary law. The Rebbe explains in one place why he chose this example. He could also have given an example involving mercy. But he specifically chooses a case from Choshen Mishpat, involving the claims of two litigants, because the Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize just how far

18:09 this wondrous union extends. Even when the case involves a false claim—and here one of the claims must be false; one person is telling the truth and the other is lying. One says, “It never happened,” and one of them really is a liar. Nevertheless, even there you find the wisdom and will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And when you study that matter in Torah, it becomes Torah of truth. The Rebbe explains this at length in his lessons, here in the notes. The whole point is that the Torah descends from the loftiest heights and clothes itself in the very lowest matters, even where people make false claims. And what do you find there when you study it? The clarification, the sugya, the analysis and the learning are all the wisdom and will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. You enter into a wondrous union even through such matters. That is how extraordinary Torah is. As the Alter Rebbe says: “Even if this matter never did occur, and never will occur, in a court case involving these claims and demands.” Sometimes there are sugyos that have no practical possibility at all. There are many discussions in Shas about things that never happen, as the Gemara itself says: “It never was and never will be.” Because of the fine distinctions involved, these are situations that could not actually occur—something like the questions posed by Rabbi Yirmiyah. The Alter Rebbe mentions Rabbi Yirmiyah somewhere in Tanya: sometimes Rabbi Yirmiyah asked questions involving distinctions so fine that such a situation could not occur in reality. So the question seemingly arises: What is the purpose of sitting for hours and studying it? It is one thing when I learn in order to do, because the mitzvah is to learn in order to do. A person needs to know what to do, and needs to learn in order to know.

20:05 What to do. Here the Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize the opposite. The whole novelty of the Alter Rebbe’s point in chapter 5 is that Torah study is specifically not about what you need or don’t need to do. The very fact that you are engaging with the wisdom and will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—that is where the wondrous union takes place. It is not study for the sake of knowing what to do; it is the study itself that brings about this wondrous union. And that is why the Gemara discusses cases and matters that will never actually happen. Nevertheless, since it arose in the will and wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu that if such-and-such is the case, the ruling will be such-and-such, when a person knows and grasps that ruling with his mind, as set out in the Mishnah, Gemara, or halachic authorities, he grasps, takes hold of, and encompasses with his mind the will and wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—which no thought can grasp, nor can it grasp His will and wisdom. When a person studies this matter, the person becomes united with the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which no mind can grasp except as it is clothed in the laws set out before us. And his mind, too, is clothed in them. Again, there are two sides: the person is clothed in the wisdom, and the wisdom is clothed in the person. It is a wondrous union, the like or equal of which cannot be found anywhere in the physical world: to become truly one and united from every side and angle. And another point. There are still several details here that need explaining. Maybe we’ll leave them for another time. I just want to finish with one more thing: the Alter Rebbe emphasizes here this wondrous union—what, again, makes this union so wondrous? There is nothing equal to it because... I mean, with every union in the world, as we said, there are always

22:18 two things here, one influencing the other. Either you influence or you receive; either you encompass or you are encompassed; either you give or... In other words, it is always a combination of parts. So it cannot... It will always be two things coming together and remaining two things. And in any kind of relationship—higher and lower, giver and receiver, teacher and student—that will always be the case. There is one above and one below, and there is the connection between them. But even in that connection, there are always two things, one influencing the other. Torah study is different. The wondrous union is that the person’s mind and the wisdom of Torah become entirely one. In other words, there aren’t two things here; you can’t separate them. The person’s mind becomes the wisdom of Torah. And when a person delves deeply into study and becomes accustomed to it, then... So there are several aspects to this wondrous union. One is that the person’s mind becomes the wisdom of Torah. When you perform a mitzvah, there is you, and there is the mitzvah you perform. You do something for someone. I am a servant, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the King, and I do something for the King. It is an action you perform. So there are two here, one acting for the other: a servant for the king, a student for the teacher, a son for his father. But in Torah, the person’s mind is the wisdom of Torah; it is all one. That is one point. The second is that they become one and united, encompassing and encompassed at the same time. I wanted to say that, among chassidim, we always speak about how what the Alter Rebbe says here applies not only to Torah study, but also to the connection between a chossid and the Rebbe through study—through studying his teachings. In other words, the main connection

24:30 is, as the Rebbe writes in Hayom Yom in the days of Sivan—Hayom Yom says explicitly that the main connection is through Torah study. What is the explanation? Essentially, it is what is written here in chapter 5. Since the wondrous union takes place through Torah study, it follows that the main connection is specifically through studying the Rebbe’s teachings. As in the well-known story that Reb Shmuel Lew always tells: he was with the Rebbe in yechidus and asked for a blessing to strengthen his connection. The Rebbe told him, “Study what I study.” And then the Rebbe told him, as it says in Tanya, that through study there is a wondrous union unlike any other. So when you study what I study, that is the strongest connection. When he asked the Rebbe what the Rebbe studied, the Rebbe said, “I study Nigleh and Chassidus.” The Rebbe did not give him anything specific. I don’t know what that means, but in any case, for us today, thank G-d, there are so many maamarim, sichos, and teachings of the Rebbe. So engaging with, examining, and studying the Rebbe’s teachings—as we are learning here—brings about this whole wondrous union. It reaches the point where the student’s mind becomes like the teacher’s mind: his way of thinking, his outlook, his perspective, so that we also understand these matters—how the Rebbe looks at everything. The Rebbe tells us how to understand; the Rebbe enables us to understand. So that is the wondrous union, the like of which does not exist, and the subtitles were generated automatically.