Video is also available – click to open In the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe explained that the statement of the Sages that “G‑d desired an abode in the lower realms” refers to our physical world. This is the lowest of worlds in terms of the degree of revelation of the divine creative power: it […]
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Chapter 37 – Part 2
Video is also available – click to open Thus far, the Alter Rebbe has discussed the effect of a mitzvah on the objects used in its performance (e.g., the etrog, the parchment used for tefillin, etc.). He now discusses its effect on the power of a Jew’s animal soul that is applied to the mitzvah. […]
Chapter 37 – Part 3
Video is also available – click to open This, in summary, is the subject of the following discussion. זאת ועוד אחרת An additional [virtue] in mitzvot involving action (aside from their function in elevating one’s animal soul, mentioned above): שכח נפש החיונית המתלבש באותיות הדבור בתלמוד תורה או תפלה וכיוצא בהן או מצות מעשיות the […]
Chapter 37 – Part 4
Video is also available – click to open But surely there are more than 600,000 souls; besides, it is quite impossible for one person to use a six-hundred-thousandth of the entire world. אלא שששים רבוא נשמות פרטיות אלו הן שרשים, וכל שרש מתחלק לששים רבוא ניצוצות, שכל ניצוץ הוא נשמה אחת These 600,000 particular souls, […]
Chapter 37 – Part 5
Video is also available – click to open ובזה יובן מה שהפליגו רז״ל במאד מאד במעלת הצדקה, ואמרו ששקולה כנגד כל המצות In light of the above, where it was explained that the advantage of the “active” mitzvot lies in their elevating effect on the body and vital soul, we can understand why our Sages […]
Chapter 37 – Part 6
Video is also available – click to open ואף על פי כן אמרו רז״ל: לא המדרש עיקר אלא המעשה Nevertheless, notwithstanding the superior level of unity with G‑dliness attained only by Torah, our Sages have said:11 “The essential thing is not study, but deed.” והיום לעשותם כתיב, ומבטלין תלמוד תורה לקיום מצוה מעשיית, כשאי אפשר […]
Chapter 38 – Part 1
Video is also available – click to open In the previous chapters the Alter Rebbe discussed the distinctive merit of mitzvot performed by speech and action, for by means of them the vitalizing soul is elevated to holiness. The mitzvot have this ability for they are performed with the power of the vitalizing soul that […]
Chapter 38 – Part 2
Video is also available – click to open ואף שבשניהם אור אחד שוה בבחינת הסתר פנים True, in terms of the “concealment of Countenance” i.e., the degree to which the “Countenance,” the inner aspect of the divine life-force, is concealed, the light i.e., the divine creative life-force is the same in both [body and soul] […]
Chapter 38 – Part 3
Video is also available – click to open The Alter Rebbe now distinguishes between permitted and forbidden objects. The former receive their life-force directly through kelipat nogah; for the latter to receive the G‑dly life-force clothed in kelipat nogah, it must first descend still further, to be veiled in the three completely impure kelipot. דהיינו […]
Chapter 38 – Part 4
Video is also available – click to open ואף שבשתיהן, במצוה ובכוונתה, מלובש רצון אחד, פשוט בתכלית הפשיטות בלי שום שינוי וריבוי, חס ושלום, ומיוחד במהותו ועצמותו יתברך בתכלית היחוד True, although both the actual mitzvah and its kavanah contain the same [Supernal] Will, which is perfectly simple, i.e., changeless and indivisible so that it […]
