למה התורה עוסקת כל כך הרבה בעניינים עיוניים?

00:00 This is Igris, and as we talked about the past few times, we're going back through Igris to pick up any of the things that we missed along the way before we dive into Elul. So one of the things that we did miss along the way in our prior sweep through Volume twenty-eight, the year Taf Shin Lamed Gimel, was a letter from Erev Shavuot, which has a lot of Yesodism in it. I'm not sure why we skipped it at the time. I guess we had other pressing things to discuss. It's a letter to a Baal Teshuva who's becoming more frum, and the Rebbe writes to encourage her and to give her some, uh, philosophical reasons to maybe back up her movements toward a greater observance of Yiddishkeit. I wanna give an introduction to the letter, though, and the section we're gonna look at, um, to kinda frame everything. I wanna frame it around a, a single question, which is that if Hamayis Ha'ikkar, if we know for a fact that the most important thing is action. That's what we always talk about. The most important thing is action. Na'aseh v'nishma. The Jewish people got the Torah at Sinai because they had the, um, the foresight to say that first we're going to do something and only afterwards will we study it. So if action is what matters the most, why does Torah have so much theory in it? The Torah is full of theory. Um, and even the Torah itself, which is mainly a book of

01:00 laws, uh, certainly when you get beyond that, when you get into t-the rest of Tanakh, Nah is full of theoretical statements. When you have, uh, when you have things like Mishlei, lines that you'll find in Isaiah, it's a very theoretical book. You get into the Gemara, again, a lot of theory. We learn a lot of Hasidism. Hasidism's packed with theory. Uh, why so much theory in a Torah that's full of action? It should just be a list of things to do. Uh, why is it so important to know that there's a God? Why is it so important to believe in Him? Why is it so important to know about Him if the whole point is Na'aseh v'nishma, right? The whole point is to do, then why do we need to know so much about the one commanding us to do? It's a pretty-- I think it's a pretty reasonable question. The Rebbe more or less is going to ask this in the letter. The Rebbe's gonna address this question, uh, through the lens of Aseres Ha'dibros, asking the Aseres Ha'dibros, The Ten Commandments, has a list of nine practical actions, and, uh, they start with a statement of fact. Starts with a statement of fact that is inactionable, an inactionable theory, uh, because you can, uh, um, I guess you can give, uh... What would the Rebbe's answer be, in a word, to why the Aseres Ha'dibros start with an inactionable theory? The, the Rebbe would say that you can give any human being a

02:00 to-do list, and they'll keep it until it's inconvenient. That's the way the Rebbe would put it. Uh, and once it's inconvenient, they'll twist your to-do list into a pretzel until it technically keeps all of the rules while massacring the intent. So if you have a document that states our purpose and has no means of enforcing the spirit of the, the spirit of the, of the spirit of the law, uh, it becomes a worthless document. So the Ten Commandments open by saying, "I'm God, and I'm gonna be watching to make sure you're not gonna twist this stuff into a pretzel. Now let me tell you what to do." Uh, I will note that this is the promise of humanism, that, uh, the idea of humanism is that there's a morality, the societal rules, morality that we would all stick to, uh, as long as we all keep the same societal rules, that we would all stick to this sort of a general morality. Without any means of enforcing the spirit of those rules, it doesn't work. The Rebbe's going to point out that we tried that once in Nazi Germany, and it didn't work at all. The idea of having a moral system that wasn't enforceable when the spirit of that moral system gets twisted a little bit. I saw while I was doing some research for this shiur that, uh, Elie Wiesel in one of his books says that one of the reasons why the Yidden didn't flee when the Germans started saying all the

03:00 things they were going to do or when rumors started spreading about the barbarism of Germany, is because they didn't suspect that a place like Germany could do that. They knew them as being ethical, moral, smart people, scientific people, uh, phil-philosophical people, the source for a lot of Europe's philosophy in general. They just couldn't imagine that that was something they would have to run away from. They thought the reports weren't true, uh, and of course, they were. So the Rebbe's message in this letter and the section that we're gonna look at is that without, what, what do they call it? Without first principles, uh, namely the existence of an active God who demands the letter and the spirit of his law, there's no morality. There's just a temporary state of not murdering and stealing from each other until it becomes expedient to murder and steal from each other. That is my, uh, somewhat long-winded introduction to the Rebbe's letter. Let's see it in his own words. The Rebbe writes, "Bracha v'shalom," 'cause he's writing to a woman. "Maaras." When I looked this up in his Kasha, they actually had her name. Her name was Chana Lamdan, or is Chana Lamdan. I don't know who she is, but I do know that she comes from a family of, uh, Slonim. So she comes from the family that is somewhat related to the Alter Rebbe, directly related to the Alter Rebbe, something the Rebbe's going to mention in the letter. "V'ne'em yeskadnu mechtam hamates ear afkib ichur zman."

04:05 The Rebbe says it was delayed, but I was very happy to receive your letter from the ninth day of Iyar. This letter, I should ta-say the title. It's, uh, Yud Tov Tov Beis from Erev Shlach Lecha of Shavuot of Taf Shin Lamed Gimel. Okay. The Rebbe writes, "Mi yuchan hanesi likrbei al davar hayiskadmos, hayiskadmos v'eyasheva leamakor." Says, "I was very happy to hear that you have begun returning to the source of all things, to returning to the source. I'm happy to hear you're engaged in Teshuva." "Uvesigne nayidu al hatzmus v'sh'kol Yehudi," you're also doing this in a way that is known to the essence of every single Jew. "K'maimer Chazal, Yisrael hamini b'nei maminiim." The truth is, as Chazal say, every Jewish person is a believer, the son of the children of believers, that we are, uh, naturally descended from. We're naturally, we're people who believe, so we're returning to our truth, not bringing-- A lot of people think of, uh, of Baal Teshuva as taking on a new thing or putting on new clothes. The truth is that the source of every Jew is a fundamental belief in God, and, uh, and going back to that is recognizing who you really are, not putting on something new. So all right. "Achad miyesodei emunas Yisrael hu shemaisas hu ha'ikkar." He says, "One of the foundations of the Jewish people's faith is that action matters more than anything else, certainly more than theory." "K'mutkash gam ken matan Torah," this is also emphasized at Matan Torah. "Vesefer

05:10 Aseres Ha'dibros sh'kolei hamayis." This, uh, would be found in the content of the Aseres Ha'dibros. Look in the Ten Commandments, they're entirely practical. "Levada dibbur rishon," with one exception. That first dibbur, the first of the commandments. "Haman hiyeh esed likyim kole hamayisim." It's to say that there is a basis for keeping all of the actions that come afterwards, and that is, "Anechi Havayala Echah Sherezese Achamenas Hatzan." I'm God who took you out of Egypt. And that's not a, that's not an action. "Shegam zeh nekuda mayis v'eyeser," he says that in truth is very practical. "K'vishru einu b'deireinu," as we have seen in our generation, "Deireh shel Hitler v'yarshav," the generation of Hitler and his descendants. I'm s- I'm surprised there's the, that there's no Yamach Shemei there. He usually puts one. I don't know. "Asher koleila shebiztu es hatziva shel lo sirtzach ulo signev al shitas philosophis v'shitas v'musar. Avam yesades v'sefer alatam." That also the people who kept the ideas of not murdering and not stealing, but they understood them to be philosophical, to be musar, to be good, uh, good general advice for life But they base them on human intellect. It wasn't just that they didn't keep to these things that they ultimately ended up murdering and stealing. These people used their philosophy and their musar to create a sheta that would allow them, a position that would allow them to, within their own rules, justify murder and stealing. So they ended up twisting their ideals. They didn't say, "We're not-- We're,

06:32 we're calling it off. We used to say no murder, and now we're gonna start murdering." They explained within their position of not murdering that it wasn't murdering when you murdered Jews. In a way that was larger than, uh, any sort of estimation, any sort of measurement. They ended up being the biggest killers. So the biggest killers of all were people who decided that for moral, humanist reasons, they weren't going to kill. And when the opportunity came where they couldn't not, when they felt they needed to kill, um, they were able to find a way to philosophically justify and to build a new philosophy on that premise. So what the Rebbe is saying here is that the reason why the Matan Torah, the Ten Commandments have to begin with is that if you don't have these first principles, you don't have a, a God who's in charge making sure that you're keeping the spirit of the law, then there's nothing to keep you to the spirit of the law. And eventually, your rule, we don't murder, won't apply to some group of people. You'll end up in a state of genocide. The Rebbe then ends on a much more positive note, says, uh, based on what Chazal say, that mitzvah goreret mitzvah, one mitzvah leads to another mitzvah. I think. That is then for sure that the mitzvahs that you're writing to me that you've started doing are going to lead to even more mitzvahs. Specifically in a way that will make you a woman of

07:39 valor and a foundation of her home. That you'll eventually push your entire house to steer your entire house into that same direction. And certainly in your particular case, will help you, the merit of your ancestors. As he's going to say in a second, in honor and with blessing, in a way that is understood among our family. The Rebbe includes her in his family. Because she's a member of wishing her that she should receive the Torah with joy and with internalism. I don't know what is. And with good news for all the things that we're talking about. The Rebbe expands upon these things we just read in the letter. In a sefer from it's printed in the old . They haven't reprinted it yet, so we have to grapple with the rough text. I wanted us to read it together to get a more complete idea of the Rebbe's idea that you can't really tell a society, "Don't murder," without having some sort of first principle over top of it, which is that there's a God who will enforce the letter and the spirit of not murdering. I'm reading in the sefer that's on the page in front of you. There is going to be-- There's only one way, . There's only one way to ensure that people will actually keep the fundamental principles that allow us to settle and populate the world. For example, not murdering. Not stealing. Not coveting. The only way to ensure that people will actually keep that is when they know

09:10 that there is a master of this, of this building, of this capital, somebody in charge of this space. As the Torah says in Vayera, As it says in the pasuk, because there's no fear of God in this place, they're going to kill me. The only way we can ensure that people will not murder is if there's also a fear of God. And so the Rebbe's making a... I, I know this sounds fundamental to us 'cause we're so used to hearing the Rebbe talk this way, but realize the ground that he's laying. He's laying the ground. He's, he's laying the principle down that there is no such thing as a universally or long-term moral person who doesn't believe in God. That's a strong thing to say. He's saying that it might be that right now you are moral, but eventually, when those morals get challenged by you, in, in your case or in the case of the next generation, eventually, a system that doesn't have God in it that is moral will eventually crumble. The reason being that there is no God to enforce those moments when you don't wanna keep it. This is also emphasized in the Ten Commandments themselves. For example, the command not to steal, . Sound familiar? That's right out of our letter. That all of the practical rules that are in come after the first statement, which is . Recognize I'm there now, let me tell you what to do. And as that same first commandment says, "I'm the God who

10:24 took you out of Egypt." Which means not just out of Egypt, but out of all limitations and all boundaries. I took you out of all of those, uh, perverted actions of Mitzrayim. I took away all the limitations that prevent you from being a mensch. And acting a proper way. This all comes from the fact that I am your God, I am your life, and I am your strength. That's sort of a but it is very much striking to our letter. The Rebbe continues here. The Rebbe says, "I can prove it. I can give you proof. This is all very theoretical. Let's prove it." From looking at what happened in the past generation. Once again, we're going to Hitler. That, that, that same country that was so involved in spreading science, and also the wisdom of, uh, of musar, of, uh, living a good life, that is, uh, sa-- I guess the study of life and the study of how to live, right? They were the ones who ended up being the people who acted the least moral and the least human, uh, of any group. Nobody believed that humans could act the way that Ger-- the way that the Nazis acted. Certainly not people. We didn't believe any people could do that, but certainly not people who were praised for their incredible, um, their incredible knowledge of how people should live. Their incredible ethics. They were telling the whole world at the time that if you wanna know how to learn ethics, how to learn

11:58 philosophy, turn to us, and they ended up being the most barbaric of all. How does that happen? Says the Rebbe. The only way, because their wisdom was not based on a foundation, which is the foundation of all things. It was not based on the foundation that there's someone in charge of all of this, someone you have to answer to, God. He's the creator of the world, and he's also the one currently running it. In the well-known . Why does Adam say that the ? That the fundamental of all fundamentals Excuse me, is to know that there is a first cause of all causes, a first thing, and that all things exist only true to-- only due to the truth of that one Motzei. Therefore, a person has to keep to what God says. Basically, why did, why did Nazi Germany fail? It was an incredible experiment in, in human morality, and the answer is because it was based on nothing. There was no God underneath it, and since there was no God that they had to fear, no God that they had to watch over, no God they would have to answer to, then as soon as it didn't suit them to keep to those strict rules, they could twist them, technically fulfilling the letter of the law. And who was going to shout and say, "Hey, wait, you're destroying the spirit of the law?" There was no one to answer to. However, if you want to ensure that somebody is going to act ethically,

13:16 in a way that is productive for the world, it is obligatory to first instill in them the knowledge that there is a Baal HaOlam in this world, that there's a master of this world. Once again, do recognize what the Rebbe is saying is revolutionary. It sounds, it sounds simple to us 'cause we're used to it, but the Rebbe is saying here that in response to people who say, "Can't you be ethical without a God?" The Rebbe says, "No. It is absolutely obligatory to instill in them the knowledge of Baal HaOlam Not just a God that made the world, but a God who is active in the world and keeping it going. who is watching over all the details of his creation. And the reason why? Because if he's just a, uh, sort of a supernal God that is above everything, but not involved in the practical actions of beings, then we could say, "Yeah, God made the world, and I'm gonna do what I want with it." The only way to ensure that people are going to not just make up ethical rules, but stick to them, the only way the Rebbe says, to make sure that people won't just ma-- won't just make up active mo-- make up moral rules and then not stick to them, is to have a God beneath all of that who they have to answer to. And, uh, this is-- We don't have to read that last paragraph. This is an answer to a question that you get a

14:23 lot in Chabad houses, uh, and you get a lot in Israeli taxis. I mean, this is a common question that comes up, is, "Do you really think I can't be a moral person without belief in God?" And the answer is, as far as the individual goes, absolutely. Why can't an individual be a moral person without belief in God? All they have to be is someone who never gets seriously challenged. You have people who are incredibly moral who do not believe in God. The problem here isn't that it's impossible that a person can be moral without belief in God. The problem is that the first time or the seventh time, eventually they'll be challenged by s-- by, by a desire to break that morality. And since Adam Karov Etz HaDa'at, people are biased, people want what they want, they're going to twist that morality into something ugly. And if there's no stop on that, no fear of a God above who says, "Hey, wait a minute, I told you no murdering," and I meant no murdering, not, not just no murdering of the people you like, then eventually that morality crumbles. So while I think there can be individuals who, uh, just aren't challenged all that much, who end up being moral without a God, you don't have societies like that, certainly. And even the individuals, it's hard to imagine someone who's not challenged eventually who breaks their moral code. Whereas when there's a God over all things, um, we have a hard stop. We have

15:23 a fear of God that can prevent us from doing things, twisting His words, even when, um, even when it's convenient. Okay, we're ending a little early today. That's our letter and that's our Torah. Please, let's talk.