In the previous letter the Alter Rebbe explained how the Torah study of a group of at least ten, or a mitzvah performed by them collectively, brings about the indwelling of the Shechinah. He spoke of how even those who engage in the avodah of prayer sometimes spend the time before and after prayers in […]

ועל כן קבעו חז״ל בתפלה: כאלו עומד לפני המלך For this reason our Sages, of blessed memory, ordained that with prayer one should [conduct himself]14 “as if he is standing before the king.” Now if he is standing before the King of kings, why do our Sages say “as if”? This means: על כל פנים […]

This letter comments on a discourse (in Tzavaat HaRivash, sec. 120 in the Kehot editions) in which the Baal Shem Tov explains that though all things emanate from G‑d through His attributes of love and awe, these attributes can find themselves in a state of exile. The Baal Shem Tov goes on to say that […]

להבין אמרי בינה “To comprehend the words of understanding,” i.e., the words of Torah,2 מה שכתוב בספר הנקרא צוואת ריב״ש stated in the book called Tzavaat Rivash3 (“The Testament of the Baal Shem Tov),” הגם שבאמת אינה צוואתו כלל, ולא ציוה כלל לפני פטירתו though in fact it is not at all4 his will or […]

והרבה שלוחים למקום and9 “G‑d has many agents” through whom He can act. Hence, even if the offending party had chosen otherwise, the incident would have befallen the victim in any case. This discussion recalls the teaching of the Mechilta cited by Rashi on the verse,10 והאלקים אנה לידו — “and G‑d caused it to […]

אף שטבע זה במים, הוא גם כן נברא ומחודש יש מאין even though this characteristic of water — to flow downward — is also created and innovated ex nihilo. As the Rebbe explains, not only the water itself, but also its characteristic of fluidity, was created ex nihilo. Thus, when the wind caused the water […]

והנה נודע ליודעי חכמה נסתרה Now it is known to those familiar with the “Hidden Wisdom”23 (i.e., the Kabbalah) כי דבר ה׳ נקרא בשם שכינה בלשון חז״ל, ואימא תתאה ומטרוניתא בלשון הזהר that the “word of G‑d” is referred to as the Shechinah, in the terminology of the [Talmudic and Midrashic] Sages, of blessed memory, […]

The Alter Rebbe now returns to the theme of the Divine spark in exile: ונקרא גם כן בשם גלות השכינה This [sustenance of idolaters through the Divine spark] is also called “the exile of the Shechinah.” מאחר שחיות זה, אשר בבחינת גלות בתוכם For this life-force, which is in a state of exile within them, […]

אך שלמדרגה זו, צריך התעוררות רבה ועצומה However, for such a level one needs a great and intense arousal. ועצה היעוצה להתעוררות זו, היא מענין זה עצמו And the counsel suggested to attain such an arousal, derives from this very subject. כשישים אל לבו ויתבונן ענין ירידת השכינה כביכול, ותרד פלאים להתלבש ניצוץ מהארתה One […]

The letters that comprise Iggeret HaKodesh were written over many years and assembled in their present order by the sons of the Alter Rebbe after his passing, as they explain in their introduction (“Approbation”) to Tanya (Vol. I, p. 19ff., in the present series). It is clear from internal evidence, as the Rebbe notes, that […]