The Chess Game: Angels & Souls: Part 3

00:00 The in continuation to the earlier installments in regards to the game of chess and the Rebbe's insights on the different various aspects of the game. We continue now with installment number three discussing as the Rebbe discusses and elaborates on the specific difference in the way each of them operates, referring to the different pieces of the game. Chassidus explains the distinction between Malachim, angels, and souls, Neshamas and bodies. Angels are called standers as in the verse Seraphim, "Amdim mima'alei," they stood above him, which basically refers to the most intellectual level of the Malachim, but they're-- nevertheless, they are referred to standing although they elevate from one level to another, but it's all within the range of the previous level. Whereas Neshamas and bodies are called walkers, Machalchim, as it says, "Venasati b'chem mahalchim bein ha'amdim ha'eilah," I will grant you walkers among these standers. Which means that the Neshamah in this physical world by doing Taryag mitzvahs receives the experience of accelerating to very high heights which is completely not within the range of the previous level which the Neshamah was on before it did Taryag mitzvahs and it's constantly accelerating from one level to another. Then the Rebbe explains the reason for this is the descent of the soul into the body and the animal soul into a state of constant battle against the evil inclination is a great and profound descent. Yet it is a descent for the sake of an ascent. The Neshamah rises from level to level going from strength to strength

02:02 walking in ever-expanding love and awe of Hashem from day to day more and more until it reaches the source from which it came, its origin in divine thought. This means that on the one hand because of the soul's descent into a body, an animal soul with all the limitations that it entails, its service must follow an orderly progression step by step from lighter to heavier tasks and it lacks the capacity to leap ahead and skip steps as our sages say, "If you grasp too much, you grasp nothing." Unlike being such as souls or angels in the higher world, however, it is specifically through this earthly service like a simple foot soldier that a person becomes a walker, quote-unquote, and gains the power to reach the highest levels even to the level of queen, Malchus of Atziluth, the root of Knesset Yisrael, the collective source soul of Am Yisrael. Through this, the union of king and queen which is Knesset Yisrael and Kodesh Baruch Hu, the Holy One blessed be He, is achieved when the soul completes its earthly mission advancing step by step until it reaches the opposite side of the battlefield. In contrast, angels are called standers although they stand at the height of their world and their service is of a very lofty nature whether in love or fear of Hashem and they may even progress by leaps and bounds, not step by step, they remain fundamentally, fundamentally standers. They spend their whole existence in a single level. Malach Michol with love of

04:31 Hashem, Malach Gavriel with fear of Hashem. Their role and character are fixed since the six days of creation. They do not change or grow from day to day. They remain in the same form, level, and world. They can move only in a single direction according to their nature and type of service. And the Rebbe continues, "The concept of this extension of Malchus like the queen is that it is the source of influence for all the worlds and all levels as it is written, "Malchuscha malchus kol ha-olamim," your kingship is kingship over all worlds. The attribute of Malchus is not limited to one world neither quantitatively as the limitation of the soul below in that it works step by step nor qualitatively as the limitation of Malachim in that they remain at one level but is present in all levels and in all worlds. It becomes the source for drawing down and revealing the infinite light, Ein Sof, into the world giving each world its specific light and vitality suited to its level and dwelling within it similar to the queen in the game who can move in all directions as mentioned earlier. And above- Them all is the King of Kings, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the Holy One. Blessed be He like the king in the analogy. His very essence, which is beyond all definitions of revelation and extension. Therefore, his place, quote-unquote, "is in the royal palace on the royal throne," as in the above analogy. And certainly, he is not in the usual sense

06:26 one who goes out, quote-unquote, "to war." Rather, this is done by the king's emissaries. Am Yisrael who are the soldiers, Malachim who are the officers, and the attribute of Malkhus, the queen. However, for the sake of winning the war, making a dwelling for him in the lower worlds, the king expands all his treasures, even those hidden and sealed from all eyes, and even puts himself, quote-unquote, "in danger," as it were for the sake of victory. Therefore, the king is also found together with his soldiers and officers in the battlefield below. So to say, I am with him in distress on the... In all the suffering he suffers. Therefore, the king's movement is only a single step, but in all directions due to his simplicity, the simplicity of essence, which is connected with the simplicity of the man and the s- the simple soldier, and even this movement occurs only at times in situations that concern victory or because I am with him in distress, quote-unquote. The practical lesson is that although Am Yisrael are below shames, souls, and bodies, especially in the time of Golus, when we have not seen our signs, and their service is like that of simple soldiers who do not have the revelations available to the soul above or to supernal angels, one should not be discouraged by this. On the contrary, the victory of the war and the creation of a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower worlds is achieved specifically through the simple foot soldiers, Pashtei Soldatun, who

08:18 are at the forefront, they go forward. Through this, they have the power to reach the highest levels, higher even than the supernal angels and the soul above, eventually attaining the level of queen, referring to Malkhut Avot Hilus. However, this is only in the present time during the game, so to speak, when the soldier can only attain the level of queen, the extension of Malkhut, but not the level of king itself, the essence of the king, for the king is one and unique. A king, there is only one. But in the future, after the victory is complete, there will be the perfect union of the king and queen, the marriage of Knesset Yisrael and the Holy One, blessed he, Kodesh Baruch Hu. I am the king alone. Am Yisrael and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one. And through all of this, the service of Am Yisrael below, aided by the service of the angels and the attribute of Malkhut, all empowered by the King of Kings, Melech, Malchi, Hamlochem HaKodesh Baruch Hu, there will be a complete victory over all concealments and obscurations of the world. The purpose of making a dwelling in the lower realms will be fulfilled, leading to the complete fulfillment in the future and the marriage of Kodesh Baruch Hu and Knesset Yisrael and the full revelation of essence below. Hashem will be king over all the earth. Hashem will reign forever and ever.