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Video is also available – click to open והנה מודעת זאת שהאבות הן הן המרכבה It is known that “the Patriarchs constitute the Divine Chariot.“1 שכל ימיהם לעולם לא הפסיקו אפילו שעה אחת מלקשר דעתם ונשמתם לרבון העולמים Throughout their lives, they did not cease even momentarily from binding their mind and soul to the […]

Video is also available – click to open From the end of Ch. 30 up to this point, the Alter Rebbe discussed various forms of joy which one ought to strive to attain when saddened over his spiritual shortcomings: the joy of one’s soul on its being released from exile within one’s body and animal […]

Video is also available – click to open שאינו מאיר ונאחז בפתילה בלי שמן that it does not shed light nor is it retained by the wick, without oil, By nature, fire strains upward; it will not remain below unless restrained by a wick or wood, for example. But a wick alone is rapidly consumed, […]

Video is also available – click to open The Alter Rebbe will now proceed to explain why good deeds can serve as oil for the light of the Shechinah, whereas the divine soul cannot. The explanation in brief: Man’s soul is not, after all, completely nullified before G‑d and one with Him to the extent […]

Video is also available – click to open ואף שמהותה ועצמותה של נפש הבהמית שבלבו, שהן מדותיה הרעות, עדיין לא נכללו בקדושה Although the substance and essence of the animal soul, in his heart, i.e., its evil middot (its evil emotional character), have still not been absorbed into holiness, As explained in ch. 12, only […]

Video is also available – click to open In the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe began to explain why the observance of the practical mitzvot is the ultimate purpose of Torah and of one’s spiritual service to G‑d. (This practical aspect is underscored by the conclusion of the verse, “For the thing is very near […]

Video is also available – click to open A question arises, however. How is it possible (even upon subjugating the kelipot and transforming them into holiness) that we in this world should experience a revelation of the Ein Sof-light without veil or concealment, when even the higher worlds cannot receive such revelation without dissolving into […]

Video is also available – click to open וגם כבר היה לעולמים מעין זה, בשעת מתן תורה A glimmer of this revelation which will take place in the future has already been experienced — at the time of the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, כדכתיב: אתה הראת לדעת כי ה׳ הוא האלקים, אין עוד […]

Video is also available – click to open ולכן היו בטלים במציאות ממש, כמאמר רז״ל, שעל כל דיבור פרחה נשמתן כו׳ Therefore, they the Jews who stood at Sinai were nullified out of existence, as our Rabbis have said:14 “At every [divine] utterance their soul took flight from their body, אלא שהחזירה הקדוש ברוך להן […]