Chapter 7 - Part Five

00:00 We’re holding here at the end of chapter 7, on page 12, five or six lines from the bottom. The Alter Rebbe was speaking about kelipas nogah. He explained that it can be elevated or brought down. It all depends on a person’s choice. And even after it has been brought down, it can easily be restored through teshuvah, because in essence it is permitted—and “permitted” means that it is not bound in the hands of the external forces. So it can be elevated again. After that, he spoke about the three impure kelipos, giving examples of forbidden foods, forbidden relations, and things prohibited by the Torah. There it is more difficult, and in the natural order it cannot be elevated—only when “death will be swallowed up forever” and Hashem “will remove the spirit of impurity from the earth,” when all evil will be nullified. But there is another way: teshuvah out of love. Teshuvah out of love has the power to bring about a transformation, so that even deliberate sins become merits. Now the Alter Rebbe is going to discuss a particular matter, a third category. It is not kelipas nogah, and it is not the three impure kelipos. It is a third matter, and the way to elevate the spark there is also distinctive. Let’s read the Alter Rebbe’s words inside. The Alter Rebbe says: “But the vitality in drops of semen that were emitted from him in vain.” Now the Alter Rebbe is speaking about what is called the emission of semen in vain. Earlier we discussed forbidden relations; those are forbidden acts. Before that, the Alter Rebbe discussed—as appeared in the list of corrections, and is also included in newer editions—the matter of relations that are permissible, but not for the sake of Heaven. So there are three cases. There is a permissible act that is motivated by desire. That is one type of kelipas

02:16 nogah that has descended into the three impure kelipos, and we need to find ways to elevate it. There are the three impure kelipos in the case of forbidden relations, and then there is the case of semen emitted in vain. Here the Alter Rebbe is going to explain specifically how this is rectified. The Alter Rebbe says: “But the vitality in drops of semen that were emitted from him in vain, although it has descended and been incorporated into the three impure kelipos”—emission in vain is something that falls into the three impure kelipos—“it nevertheless rises from there through proper teshuvah and intense concentration during the bedtime Shema.” On the one hand, the Alter Rebbe says this is a matter of the three impure kelipos; it is forbidden. We know that the emission of semen in vain is forbidden. In halachah, in the Shulchan Aruch, in the Rambam, and in the Gemara, there are very, very severe statements about it, particularly in the Zohar. The Alter Rebbe will explain this, and so there is certainly an element of the three impure kelipos here. Nevertheless, it is easier to rectify. That is what the Alter Rebbe has come to explain: it is easier to rectify than forbidden relations and forbidden foods. “It nevertheless rises from there through proper teshuvah and intense concentration during the bedtime Shema.” Through the concentration during the bedtime Shema, one can elevate the evil involved in this matter. “As is known from the Arizal, and alluded to in the Gemara: ‘Whoever recites the Shema upon his bed is as though he holds a double-edged sword,’ etc.” That is what the Gemara says, and the Arizal explains it at length. One of the subjects explained in the writings of the Arizal is how to rectify matters connected with the known sin—what are they called?—the sins of youth, and the like, meaning the emission of semen in vain. Much is written about this in the writings of the Arizal, and one of the things discussed is the bedtime Shema. In the writings of the Arizal there are

04:20 meditations for the bedtime Shema and the verses recited there that relate to rectifying this matter. The Alter Rebbe says that this actually has a source in the Gemara. The Gemara says that whoever recites the bedtime Shema is as though he holds a double-edged sword. What does that mean? That is why we recite the verse, “Let the chassidim rejoice in glory; let them sing upon their beds,” which speaks about this matter. That verse is speaking about the power of the bedtime Shema to bring rectification. It is like a double-edged sword that kills the external forces associated with what fell into the three impure kelipos: “to kill the bodies of the external forces that became garments for the vitality in the drops.” The Alter Rebbe says: What is this double-edged sword? Through the bedtime Shema, a person kills the bodies of the external forces that became garments for the vitality in the drops, “and the vitality rises from them, as is known to those versed in the esoteric wisdom.” This is the matter of the [unclear]. The Alter Rebbe is bringing together Gemara and Kabbalah here. The Gemara says it is as though he holds a double-edged sword. How does the verse put it? “The exaltation of G-d is in their throats, and a double-edged sword is in their hands.” The Gemara speaks of a “double-edged sword”—a sword with two edges. What does that mean? In physical terms, it simply means a sword sharpened on both sides. There are swords like that, which can kill with either edge. It does not have just one edge, like an ordinary knife. A double-edged sword has the sharp edge of a sword on both sides. In spiritual terms, Chassidus explains the two sides to mean that the kelipos need to be killed on both sides, meaning two kinds of kelipos. There are kelipos that come from—they study this in RNT; they are already learning it now. But

06:30 the maamarim of 19 Kislev and Simchas Chanukah explain at length that there is evil that comes from self-importance and arrogance, and evil that comes from a descent into lowliness and desire. So both sides are needed: the double-edged sword kills the kelipos on both sides—both the kelipos that come from a place of exaltedness, that draw sustenance from the higher encompassing light, and the kelipos that draw sustenance from excessive concealment. But what is the Alter Rebbe trying to say here? That the bedtime Shema has the power to extract the sparks that fell into the three impure kelipos, particularly through the known sin of emitting semen in vain. There are several relevant points we need to mention here. I’ll just finish the passage, and perhaps we’ve already said, “as is known to those versed in the esoteric wisdom.” So here is another important point about this whole subject. First, there is a tradition among chassidim that the Rebbe Rashab said that “proper teshuvah,” “intense concentration,” and “the bedtime Shema” mean understanding the meaning of the words. People think: What kind of intense concentration is needed here? Shouting, making a commotion, concentrating—noise and concentration? It simply means saying what is written while understanding the meaning of the words. It does not mean anything else here. Say the bedtime Shema; get into the habit of saying the bedtime Shema word by word, understanding the meaning of the words and thinking about what you are saying. That is what the Alter Rebbe is speaking about here. Second, it is interesting that here the Alter Rebbe says the bedtime Shema rectifies this sin, the known sin of emitting semen in vain. Seemingly, in Igeres Hateshuvah the Alter Rebbe writes something else. In Igeres Hateshuvah, the Alter Rebbe cites Reishis Chochmah, which says that ordinary teshuvah cannot be done for matters involving the emission of semen in vain—that lower-level teshuvah does not help. He cites the Zohar and Reishis Chochmah. Then he says that higher-level teshuvah—right? Reishis Chochmah says that rectifying the known sin specifically requires higher-level teshuvah.

08:49 And what is teshuvah ila’ah, the higher level of teshuvah? The Alter Rebbe explains in chapter 9 of Igeres Hateshuvah that teshuvah ila’ah comes through Torah study, deveikus, love, and joy. Everything he explains there concerns this higher form of avodah in particular: contemplation and diligent study. Or, as the Rebbe would always put it, the avodah of teshuvah ila’ah is studying Torah with great joy. That is how the Rebbe would sum up, in practical terms, what teshuvah ila’ah means. The Alter Rebbe explains it there. Why does teshuvah ila’ah help with this sin? The Alter Rebbe says it is because this sin damages the mind. That is the particular damage caused by this sin, and so the repair must take place in the mind. That is primarily accomplished through teshuvah ila’ah—Torah study, deveikus, joy, and vitality. That is what brings about the repair. So why does the Alter Rebbe write here about the bedtime Shema, while there he writes about teshuvah ila’ah? The simple explanation follows from what we discussed in the previous classes: here and there, he is talking about two different things. Here in chapter 7 of Tanya, the Alter Rebbe is primarily concerned with explaining how to extract the sparks that have fallen into the three impure kelipos. That is the subject here. The Alter Rebbe is discussing holiness and kelipah, the sparks within kelipah, and the need to repair sparks when they fall. Within that, there is kelipas nogah, there are the three impure kelipos, and there is the emission of seed in vain, which involves a particular kind of sparks. So how are those sparks elevated? In Igeres Hateshuvah, the Alter Rebbe is not talking about the sparks. He is talking about the person. These are two different matters, and therefore two different forms of avodah. In Igeres Hateshuvah, the Alter Rebbe comes to explain the avodah of teshuvah incumbent upon a person: how a person

10:50 returns to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Teshuvah—the mitzvah of teshuvah according to the Torah—is simply abandoning the sin. And within teshuvah itself there are two levels, teshuvah tata’ah and teshuvah ila’ah. As a person draws close to G-dliness, which is the essence of the mitzvah of teshuvah, there are two levels to that. There is teshuvah tata’ah, the teshuvah of kabbolas ol, and there is teshuvah ila’ah, which is associated with binah. The Alter Rebbe says that for certain transgressions, teshuvah tata’ah alone is not enough; teshuvah ila’ah is needed as well. It is specifically teshuvah ila’ah that brings a person to unite with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, bringing about a complete repair. Here, by contrast, the Alter Rebbe is not speaking so much about the person. He is speaking more about the sparks. To extract the sparks from the sin a person committed—he has brought impurity into the world. He caused his vitality, a holy vitality, to be drawn down. A drop of seed is a holy vitality. In particular, as the Tzemach Tzedek explains in Derech Mitzvosecha, every drop contains the potential for a child. It contains vitality, the potential for an actual child to come from it, and so there is an aspect of bloodshed involved, and so on. To extract the spark from such a situation, other means are needed. What is the means? The Alter Rebbe says: the bedtime Shema. The question is, why is it actually easier? Why did the Alter Rebbe say that for a forbidden union, great love in teshuvah is needed to elevate the vitality—something exceptional—while for this sin he says the bedtime Shema recited with concentration? Why is the repair really easier? Here the Alter Rebbe says something remarkable: “And therefore, the sin of emitting seed in vain was not included among the forbidden unions.” Because it is easier

12:44 to repair this matter, that is the reason, says the Alter Rebbe, why the Torah does not state an explicit prohibition against emitting seed in vain. Some people made a mistake about this. It is not stated as a prohibition in the Torah. The Torah lists all the forbidden relations in Parshas Acharei Mos and Parshas Kedoshim. It lists all the forbidden relations. So, seemingly, given what the Zohar says about the sin of emitting seed in vain, why does the Torah not state an explicit prohibition? The Torah does say one thing. In Parshas Vayeishev, it tells us that Yehudah married and had a son, Er. Then he had a son, Onan, and both of them died. Why did they die? Because the Torah says they destroyed their seed. That was their sin. The sin of Er and Onan was the emission of seed in vain, and it says, “Hashem put them to death”—death at the hands of Heaven. So the Torah states explicitly that it is a sin, so severe that its punishment is death at the hands of Heaven. But if so, why does the Torah nowhere say that it is forbidden to do it? That is the question, and it is asked explicitly. Here the Alter Rebbe gives a remarkable answer. He says, “The reason the Torah does not state explicitly that it is forbidden, even though it is more severe than they are”—the Alter Rebbe adds something striking here. He says that in one respect, the emission of seed in vain is more severe than other forbidden unions: “It is more severe than they are, and its sin is greater in terms of the magnitude and abundance of impurity and kelipos that it produces and multiplies to a very great extent through the emission of seed in vain, more than through forbidden unions.” In one respect, this particular sin brings far more impurity into the world than other sins involving forbidden relations. And yet the Torah does not state a prohibition against it. “The reason for this,” says the Alter Rebbe,

14:49 “is that through forbidden unions, one adds strength and vitality to the kelipah of the forbidden union, to the point that one cannot elevate the vitality from there through teshuvah.” There are two sides to this. On the one hand, this sin, the emission of seed in vain, adds far more impurity. On the other hand, with forbidden unions, the impurity is harder to repair. There is no contradiction; both things are true. How does that work? How can the impurity here be greater, as the Alter Rebbe says, while at the same time being easier to repair? We will soon see that the Alter Rebbe explains this according to Kabbalah in the note. But first, the plain meaning. The explanation is very simple. When we are speaking about the sin of a forbidden union, a person committed the sin with another person, with something tangible. It became invested in a physical body. The sin took hold in something physical, and that makes it harder to extract. It was absorbed somewhere. It reached a place that is forbidden by the Torah. Once it is absorbed in a particular place, there is a vessel that has taken hold of it, a place where it is caught, and it is harder to extract. That is why a very special form of teshuvah is needed for it: teshuvah out of love, as we discussed earlier. Ordinarily, though, it cannot be extracted. With seed emitted in vain, there is no vessel. It was in vain. It went out into the world, into the air. It was not absorbed anywhere at all. In that respect, because it was not caught in a vessel, it is easier to extract. On the other hand, precisely because it has no vessel, there is nothing to limit it, so it spreads without bounds. That is why it proliferates. In other words, the difference is more—if I were to put it in words—

16:49 Of quantity and quality. The greater amount of impurity is specifically with wasting seed, because it has no defined vessel. So the spread of impurity in the world—the kelipah created through it in this world—is very great. That is why, in one respect, the Zohar speaks very, very harshly about this sin, more than about other transgressions: a person increases impurity in the world. But the positive side is that precisely because it is not absorbed into a vessel, it does not have such a firm hold, so it is also easier to rectify. Those are the two sides. And that is what the Alter Rebbe says: on the one hand, the impurity is increased to a very great extent specifically through the known sin, yes? On the other hand, because it is not absorbed into a vessel, not absorbed into a body, it is easier to rectify. Therefore, by saying the Shema before bed with proper concentration, one can rectify this sin. The Alter Rebbe now explains this in the note; look inside. He says it in the terminology of Kabbalah, but it is exactly what we said. Why is it harder to rectify forbidden relations? Because they have been absorbed into yesod d’nukva. Everything a person does in the world has an effect in kelipah or in holiness, depending on whether it is a mitzvah or a transgression. It affects the sefiros. When a person sins with a woman in a way forbidden by the Torah, the sin is absorbed into a body, into the nukva. So there is a yesod d’nukva of kelipah that receives and absorbs the vitality from holiness. There is a recipient; there is absorption. That is why it is harder to rectify. That is not the case with wasting seed, where there is no aspect of nukva. It has gone into the air; it has not been absorbed anywhere into the kelipah. It is only that its forces—on the other hand. Why did we say there is a greater amount? The Alter Rebbe continues: “It is only that its forces and hosts enclothe”

18:44 the vitality—they seize it, for they are forces that consume vitality. The forces of impurity seize the wasted seed, and because the forces of impurity are so numerous, its effect is also widespread. That is why the greater amount of impurity is specifically here. Those are the two sides. So the Alter Rebbe resolves it this way. Why—sorry—why does the Torah not explicitly mention the sin of wasting seed? Because there is an easier way to rectify it, and therefore it is not included among the prohibitions the Torah states explicitly. But the Rebbe cites, in his letters, an opinion among the Rishonim that wasting seed is indeed prohibited by a negative commandment in the Torah. The Rebbe cites a work by one of the great Rishonim, who writes that “You shall not commit adultery,” from the Ten Commandments, refers to wasting seed. Yes, that is what he writes, as the Rebbe cites—and the Tzemach Tzedek also cites it in Derech Mitzvosecha, in the mitzvah of being fruitful and multiplying. In any event, this was not accepted as the practical halachah. As the Alter Rebbe says here, it is easier to rectify, and therefore it is not a negative commandment stated in the Torah. The Alter Rebbe continues: “Unless he repents out of great love”—he is returning to forbidden relations. There, such great love is needed that deliberate sins become merits for him, and then he transforms even the evil of forbidden relations. So the Alter Rebbe concludes the chapter. The Alter Rebbe says: “And with this,” based on what we have explained, “we can understand the statement of our Sages: ‘What is a wrong that cannot be made right? One who has relations with a forbidden woman and fathers a mamzer.’” From what we have explained so far, we can understand why our Sages say that if a man was with a woman forbidden to him and a mamzer was born from it, the Gemara says this is something that cannot be rectified. Why? What

20:50 does it mean that it cannot be rectified? After all, nothing stands in the way of repentance. The Alter Rebbe says: Why, in the case of “and fathers a mamzer,” do we say it cannot be rectified? Because then, even if he repents so deeply, he cannot elevate the vitality to holiness, since it has already descended into this world and become clothed in a flesh-and-blood body. It is for the same reason: there is now a body. Once a baby is born, there is a person walking around in the world, and that living person was born from your transgression. Once there is a flesh-and-blood reality, it is something that cannot be rectified. So there are three levels here. If it is wasted seed, there is no vessel at all. On the one hand, that means a greater amount of impurity; on the other hand, it is easier to rectify through the Shema before bed. If it is forbidden relations, then it is not easy to rectify, because there is already a vessel. There is a person involved, and to rectify it, the Alter Rebbe says, requires great love—great love transforms deliberate sins into merits. But if a mamzer has already been born from it, that is a third level: a situation that cannot be rectified even through great love, because a child has been born from it. There is a reality in the world; it exists in the world. The spark is already within an existing reality in the world—the mamzer who was born. Now, regarding what it says here—we are close to Rabbi Levi’s yahrzeit—the Rebbe cites in his notes, in the source references, something he heard from his father, Rabbi Levi. He said that what is written here in Tanya applies only in the ordinary course of things. But if one repents with very great love and through prayers, one can even affect a mamzer: one can cause the sparks, even those within a mamzer, to be elevated, and this causes the mamzer to die. That is

22:57 what is written. That is what the Rebbe cites in his father’s name. It is known that the Frierdiker Rebbe also published a long, detailed story as an introduction to the kuntres Pokeach Ivrim. It is a remarkable story he relates there, involving Reb Yosef the wagon driver and a man who traveled with him. It is a long story—he did not want to be a wagon driver, and the Alter Rebbe told him, and the Mitteler Rebbe too—it is a long [unclear] story. There was a Jew named Shlomo Leib who had drifted away from Judaism, married a non-Jewish woman, and had children. Then, when he traveled with Reb Yosef the wagon driver, thoughts of repentance stirred in him. He was so moved to repent that he changed completely, from one extreme to the other. Eventually his repentance reached such a point that he became ill from all the confession he made as part of his repentance. At a certain point he received word that something had happened to his children, and they had all died. Then he understood that Hakadosh Boruch Hu—the Tzemach Tzedek, the Mitteler Rebbe told him—that when he reached this level of repentance, all the sparks from the forbidden things, even from the children, [unclear]. The Frierdiker Rebbe writes there that the Mitteler Rebbe wrote the kuntres Pokeach Ivrim for him. There you see the guidance he gave him in serving Hashem—how to rectify things, and so on. In any event, these are, of course, very drastic and unusual matters. This is not what we are speaking about for people on our level. Ordinary people—each and every one of us—need to guard ourselves. And the main point we learn here in the chapter, a very important point, is a separate matter connected with youthful sins, and we need to know these things. In other words, to know that, on the one hand, this is a serious matter and we need to guard ourselves. And as is known, that guarding must be primarily in thought and in what we look at, yes? The moment a person

25:18 If a person keeps himself clean, guards himself, and has yiras Shamayim, then things like wasting seed should not happen. Wasting seed is a very serious sin. [unclear] says that when a person brings himself to that point, the Shulchan Aruch says it is even more serious. So certainly a person has control, and everyone has the choice to guard himself and be careful that it does not happen to him. On the other hand, even if someone does stumble in this, he should not think it is the end of the world. We have the guidance the Rebbe gives here and in Igeres Hateshuvah. Saying Krias Shema before bed with concentration releases the sparks caught up in these undesirable matters. And as the Rebbe explains in Igeres Hateshuvah, there is the concept of higher-level teshuvah. As the Rebbe said for our generation, this is higher-level teshuvah: not getting caught up in gloom, but learning with vitality, joy, and intensity. Through that, a person can also correct these matters. In general, this was one of the things they did not speak about publicly in Tomchei Temimim. As you know, there are places where people do talk about it. In Tomchei Temimim, they were careful not to speak about it publicly. Why? Because the Tzemach Tzedek writes that sometimes talking about the subject itself arouses thoughts. Sometimes it arouses fear and all sorts of things that do no good. The talk itself can even cause a person to stumble in this matter. That is why chassidim did not speak about it publicly. Not because, G-d forbid, they treated it lightly—on the contrary, talking about it does not always do good. [unclear] We are learning about it here in Tanya, so I do want to say a little about the subject: to understand both sides, to understand the seriousness of the matter on the one

27:09 hand, and on the other hand, to understand that a young man does not need to spend his whole life preoccupied with it. He simply needs to know that there is a way to correct it. That is why the Rebbe gave us the guidance found in Tanya and in the Rebbe’s letters: to turn over a new leaf, strengthen oneself, and overcome it. The main thing is to make a firm resolution and, in actual practice, to guard oneself against doing these things, to be careful about them. Then a person will go securely on his way. As is known, this sin is also connected with the length of the galus, as the Rebbe cites in the name of the Arizal in several sichos. So it is very important to guard against it, especially in our generation, when there is so much immodesty and it is so easy to stumble in these matters. A young man needs to be stronger, to work on his yiras Shamayim, to stand firm in these matters, to know how to guard ourselves and stay clean. Then there is great success in serving Hashem. As the Rebbe explains in one of the sichos, on Chol Hamoed Sukkos 5714, when the Rebbe spoke at length about this subject, joy in serving Hashem is itself part of what helps a person avoid stumbling in these matters. Wishing you good days.