Tevet 10, 5783 · January 3, 2023, Today's Tanya Lesson Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 9
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Tevet 10, 5783 · January 3, 2023
Today's Tanya Lesson
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אך הנה כתיב: ולאום
מלאום יאמץ
It is written,1 however, “One nation shall prevail
over the other nation.”
The verse
refers to Jacob and Esau. In terms of a Jew’s spiritual life it is understood
as an allusion to the divine soul and the animal soul respectively, who are
constantly warring with each other.
כי הגוף נקרא עיר
קטנה, וכמו ששני מלכים נלחמים על עיר אחת, שכל אחד רוצה לכבשה ולמלוך עליה
For the body is called2 a “small city.”
The two souls, in relation to one’s body, are just as two kings who
wage war over a city, which each wishes to capture
and dominate even against its will and to rule with the consent of the
populace;
דהיינו להנהיג
יושביה כרצונו, ושיהיו סרים למשמעתו בכל אשר יגזור עליהם
that is to say,
each king wishes to direct its inhabitants according to his will, so that
they obey him in all that he decrees upon them.
כך שתי הנפשות —
האלקית, והחיונית הבהמית שמהקליפה — נלחמות זו עם זו על הגוף וכל אבריו
So, too, do the two souls
— the divine soul and the vitalizing animal soul, which originates from kelipah
and is therefore the very antithesis of the divine soul — wage war against each
other over the body and all its organs, the body being analogous
to the city and the organs to its inhabitants.
Here, too,
each soul wishes to direct the city’s inhabitants according to its will, as
follows:
שהאלקית חפצה
ורצונה שתהא היא לבדה המושלת עליו ומנהיגתו
The divine soul’s will
and desire is that she alone rule over the person and direct him,
וכל האברים יהיו
סרים למשמעתה ובטלים אליה לגמרי
so that all the organs be
subject to her discipline, following and obeying
her dictates, and furthermore that they surrender
themselves completely to her, i.e., that they not only
obey her, but also surrender their will to her,
ומרכבה אליה
and
she desires further still that all the organs become a “chariot” for
her.
The divine
soul desires that the organs not only surrender their will to it, implying that
they do indeed have a will of their own, though it is surrendered to the soul,
but rather it desires also that they have no will other than its own — similar
to a chariot, which has no independent will, but is merely an instrument of its
driver.
ויהיו לבוש לעשר
בחינותיה וג׳ לבושיה הנזכרים לעיל, שיתלבשו כולם באברי הגוף
Moreover,
the divine soul desires that [the organs] be also a garment,
an instrument of expression, for her ten faculties and three garments
of thought, speech and action mentioned above,3 all of which should clothe the limbs
of the body,
ויהיה הגוף כולו
מלא מהם לבדם
and the entire body
should be permeated with them alone.
The body’s
being harnessed in service of the divine soul might not preclude its serving
the animal soul, too, on occasion. The Alter Rebbe therefore adds the phrase:
“the entire body should be permeated [by the divine soul] alone,”
emphasizing the divine soul’s desire to have exclusive use of the body as an
instrument of expression, leaving no place for the faculties and garments of
the animal soul.
ולא יעבור זר בתוכם
ח״ו
No alien would then [so
much as] pass through the organs, G‑d forbid,
i.e., the animal soul would exert no influence whatever on the body.
The above
forms a general description of the divine soul’s desire to pervade the whole
body. The Alter Rebbe now turns to specifics: which organs would give
expression to each particular faculty or garment of the divine soul.
דהיינו: תלת מוחין
שבראש יהיו ממולאים מחב״ד שבנפש האלקית
That is to say,
[specifically:] the three brains — the three sections of
the brain, which correspond to the three intellectual faculties: Chochmah, Binah, Daat — would be permeated with
the ChaBaD of the divine soul,
שהיא חכמת ה׳
ובינתו
namely, [in] discerning G‑d
and understanding Him, i.e., applying the
faculties of Chochmah and Binah
to the understanding of G‑dliness,
להתבונן בגדולתו
אשר עד אין חקר ואין סוף
by pondering His
unfathomable and infinite greatness with these two
faculties;
ולהוליד מהן, על
ידי הדעת, היראה במוחו ופחד ה׳ בלבו
through applying
to this meditation the faculty of Daat (knowledge) [as well],
i.e., through immersing oneself in the subject of G‑d’s greatness with the
depth typical of Daat, so that one not only
understands this greatness, but actually feels it, they
i.e., his aforementioned faculties of Chochmah
and Binah engaged in pondering G‑d’s greatness will give birth to an
awe [of G‑d] in his mind, and dread of G‑d in his heart.4
Thus, not
only his mind but also his heart will be permeated with the faculties of the
divine soul: the mind — with the divine soul’s CHaBaD faculties
pondering G‑d’s greatness, and the heart — with the divine soul’s emotions (the
fear just mentioned and the love soon to be discussed) arising from this
contemplation.
ואהבת ה׳ כאש בוערה
בלבו כרשפי שלהבת
There
will
also be born of this contemplation a love of G‑d, burning
in his heart like a flame, like fiery flashes.
להיות נכספה וגם
כלתה נפשו בחשיקה וחפיצה, לדבקה בו באין סוף ברוך הוא בכל לב ונפש ומאד
His soul will thirst and
pine with desire and longing to cleave to the blessed Ein Sof with all
his heart, soul, and might — as it is written,5 “And you shall love G‑d, your L‑rd,
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.”
“With
all your heart” means that the heart is filled with the love of G‑d; “with all
your soul” implies that the love spills over beyond the heart, to affect all
the organs of the body — the feet, for example, will move with alacrity to do a
mitzvah; “with all your might” means loving G‑d to the point where one
will sacrifice his life for Him.
מעומקא דלבא שבחלל
הימני
This
love will rise from the depths of the heart, that is, from the right ventricle —
the seat of the divine soul’s emotional faculties, as mentioned above.
שיהיה תוכו רצוף
אהבה, מלא וגדוש
The
kind of love that the divine soul desires entails that [the heart] be
inlaid with love from within,6 and furthermore, not
only would the love be (as it were) on the “surface” of the heart, but the
heart would also be full, with the love occupying
its entire space, as it were; and furthermore, it would be, indeed, filled to
overflowing — i.e., the love would overflow into the left
part of the heart, to affect the emotional faculties of the animal soul which
reside there, as the Alter Rebbe continues:
עד שתתפשט גם לחלל
השמאלי, לאכפיא לסטרא אחרא, יסוד המים הרעים שבה
[The love] would thus
inundate the left part [of the heart] as well, to crush the sitra achra;
specifically, the element of Water in it — in the animal soul,
שהיא התאוה שמקליפת
נוגה
meaning the lust
emanating from kelipat nogah.
As mentioned
in ch. 1, the animal soul’s element of Water gives rise to lust for physical
pleasures derived from kelipat nogah. Now, the animal soul’s spirit of
lust is the kelipah counterpart of the divine soul’s spirit of love
(for G‑d). Thus, the divine soul’s intense love of G‑d has the power to crush
the animal soul’s lust for physical pleasures.
לשנותה ולהפכה
מתענוגי עולם הזה לאהבת ה׳
The
effect of the divine soul on the animal soul’s element of Water would be to change and transform
it from [a lust for] mundane pleasures to a love of G‑d,
כמו שכתוב: בכל
לבבך, בשני יצריך
as it is written,7 [“You shall love G‑d]... with all
your heart” — which our Sages interpret8 (basing themselves on the use of the
dual form of the word — לבבך instead of לבך, which allows the verse to imply “with all your hearts”): “With both your natures,
with your good inclination and also with your evil inclination.”
Accordingly,
the evil inclination (i.e., the lust of the animal soul) must also come to love
G‑d, and this too is part of the divine soul’s battle-plan.
The Alter
Rebbe now describes the specific level of love of G‑d that accomplishes this:
והיינו, שיעלה ויבא
ויגיע למדרגת אהבה רבה וחיבה יתירה ממדרגת אהבה עזה כרשפי אש
This
transformation of the animal soul’s lust to a love of G‑d entails rising to attain
to the level of ahavah rabbah (“abundant love”), a love surpassing
even the level of the “powerful love, like fiery flashes”
that was mentioned earlier.
והיא הנקראת בכתוב
אהבה בתענוגים, להתענג על ה׳ מעין עולם הבא
This [level of love] is
what Scripture describes9
as ahavah betaanugim (“a love of delights”); it is the experience of
delight in G‑dliness that is a foretaste of the World to Come,
since man’s reward in the World to Come consists of delighting in G‑dliness.10
והענג הוא במוח
חכמה ושכל המתענג בהשכלת ה׳ וידיעתו, כפי השגת שכלו וחכמתו
This delight is [felt] in
the brain containing Chochmah (wisdom) and intelligence, which
delights in perceiving and knowing G‑d, commensurate with the capacity of one’s
intelligence and wisdom — the greater one’s
grasp of G‑dliness, the greater his delight.
והוא בחינת המים
וזרע, אור זרוע שבקדושת נפש האלקית
[This delight] is the
level of Water and “seed”, i.e., light that is sown in the holiness of the
divine soul,
המהפכת לטוב את
בחינת המים שבנפש הבהמית, שמהם באו תאות תענוגי עולם הזה מתחלה
which transforms to good
the element of Water in the animal soul from which the lust for physical
pleasure had previously arisen.
This means
that the element of Water in the animal soul, which had previously expressed
itself as a desire for physical pleasures, now expresses itself as a love of G‑d,
having been transformed by the divine soul’s love of G‑d.
וכמו שכתוב בע׳
חיים, שער נ׳ פרק ג׳, בשם הזהר, שהרע נהפך להיות טוב גמור, כמו יצר טוב ממש, בהסיר
הבגדים הצואים ממנו, שהם תענוגי עולם הזה שהוא מלובש בהם
It is similarly written
in Etz Chayim, Portal 50, ch. 3, on the authority of the Zohar,
that the evil of the animal soul is transformed and
becomes perfect good like the good inclination itself, when it is stripped of
its “unclean garments,” meaning the mundane pleasures in which it had been
clothed.
The yetzer
hara (evil inclination) consists of a powerful drive, an appetite for
whatever it perceives as good and desirable. This drive is neutral, and may be
steered in any direction; however, being clothed in a corporeal body it
inclines toward physical pleasures. These lusts become “unclean garments” for
the animal soul’s drive.
By steering
it away from physical pleasures toward an appreciation of spiritual pleasures,
the divine soul strips the yetzer hara of its “unclean garments” and
clothes it in “pure garments,” so that it may apply its powerful appetite for
pleasures to G‑dly, holy matters.
This, then,
is the divine soul’s desire: that it create, by means of its intellectual
faculties, a fear and love of G‑d so powerful as to transform the animal soul
to good.
וכן שאר כל המדות
שבלב, שהן ענפי היראה והאהבה, יהיו לה׳ לבדו
The
divine soul further desires that similarly, all other emotions of the heart,
which are offshoots of fear and love, be dedicated solely to G‑d.
Thus far, the
Alter Rebbe has discussed the divine soul’s desire for dominion over the mind
and heart. He now goes on to speak of the other organs of the body.
וכל כח הדבור שבפה
והמחשבה שבמוח, יהיו ממולאים מן לבושי המחשבה והדבור של נפש האלקית לבדה
Also, the entire faculty
of speech that is in the mouth, and the thought that is in the mind, be filled
exclusively with the divine soul’s garments of thought and speech;
שהן מחשבת ה׳
ותורתו, להיות שיחתו כל היום, לא פסיק פומיה מגירסא
namely, thoughts of G‑d
and His Torah, in which he would speak all day, “his mouth never ceasing from
study.”11
וכח המעשה שבידיו
ושאר רמ״ח אבריו יהיה במעשה המצות לבד, שהוא לבוש השלישי של נפש האלקית
And the faculty of action
vested in his hands and the rest of his 248 organs — this
faculty being the third of the garments of the divine soul — be engaged
in the fulfillment of the mitzvot, i.e., that he utilize
his ability to act solely in the observance of mitzvot.
In summary:
The divine soul desires that its faculties and garments pervade the body,
entirely and exclusively.
אך נפש הבהמית
שמהקליפה, רצונה להפך ממש
But the animal soul
derived from kelipah desires the very opposite;
it desires that the body be pervaded with its
faculties and its thought, speech and action.
לטובת האדם, שיתגבר
עליה וינצחנה, כמשל הזונה שבזהר הקדוש
But
the animal soul desires this for man’s benefit, in order that he prevail over
her and vanquish her, as in the parable of the harlot [related] in the holy Zohar.12
The parable:
A king desired to test the moral strength of his only son. He had a most
charming and clever woman brought before him. Explaining to her the purpose of
the test, he ordered her to exert every effort to seduce the crown prince. For
the test to be valid, the supposed harlot had to use all her charms and guile,
without betraying her mission in the slightest way. Any imperfection on her
part would mean disobedience, and the failure of her mission. However, while
she uses all her seductive powers, she inwardly desires that the prince should
not succumb to them.
So too in our
case: The kelipah itself desires that man overcome it and not permit
himself to be led astray. The entire stratagem is solely for man’s benefit.
——— ● ———
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FOOTNOTES |
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Bereishit 25:23. |
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Kohelet 9:14; Nedarim
32b.10. Chs. 3 and 4. |
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Chs. 3 and 4. |
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For the difference between
"awe" and "dread", and their relationship to the mind and
heart, respectively, see ch. 3, note 6. |
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Devarim 6:5. |
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Shir HaShirim 3:10. |
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Devarim 6:5. |
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Berachot 54a. |
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Shir HaShirim 7:7. |
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The Alter Rebbe here distiguishes
various degrees of love: ahavah
azah("ardent love"), and ahavah rabbah ("great love"), also
called ahavah betaanugim
("delightful love") - a serene love of fulfillment. The first is
likened to a burning flame; the second - to calm waters. These and other
levels of love are later discussed at length. See chapters 15, 16, 18, 40,
41, 46, 49. |
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Bava Batra 86a. |
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Zohar II, 163a. |
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By Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812),
founder of Chabad Chassidism (Free Translation) More articles... | Elucidated by Rabbi Yosef Wineberg. Translated
from Yiddish by Rabbi Levy Wineberg and Rabbi Sholom B. Wineberg. Edited by
Uri Kaploun. Published and Copyright by Kehot Publication Society © Copyright Chabad.org · 770 Eastern Parkway Suite 405 · Brooklyn, NY 11213 |
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