וכן לקיים כל המצות
He must also perform all the mitzvot,
כמו שכתוב: אשר קדשנו במצותיו
as it is written,9 “He has sanctified us with His commandments.”
כמו הרי את מקודשת לי
This [sanctification] has the same sense as in the phrase,10 “You are sanctified unto me” — i.e., separate from all others and wholly sanctified unto G‑d through the performance of His commandments.
היא בחינת קדש העליון
This is the level of Kodesh HaElyon (“Supernal Holiness”), which one draws upon himself through the performance of the mitzvot.
לשון פרישות והבדלה
“Kodesh” translated “holiness” connotes something apart, or transcendent,
שאינו יכול להתלבש תוך עלמין
that cannot be contained within the created worlds, permeating each of them with Divine life-force commensurate with its particular capacity,
משום דכולא קמיה כלא חשיב
since11 “everything is considered as naught before Him.”
Relative to this transcendent level, the differing levels of spirituality of the various created beings are of no consequence.
אלא בבחינת סובב כל עלמין
Rather, this is a level [of holiness] that transcends [lit., “encompasses”] all worlds, and hence affects them all equally from afar, so to speak;
הוא רצון העליון ברוך הוא וכו’
this is [the level of] the Supreme Will, and so on, which is drawn down into this world through the performance of mitzvot,
כמו שכתוב: בלקוטי אמרים פרק מ”ו
as discussed in the first part of Tanya, Likutei Amarim, chapter 46.
וגם אחר התפלה אומרים: אליך ה’ נפשי אשא
After prayer as well, we say,12 “To You, O G‑d, I lift my soul,” referring to the initiative of the worshiper below in raising his soul upward to its Source,
דהיינו לאתדבקא רוחא ברוחא כל היום וכו’
so that through the performance of mitzvot spirit will cleave to Spirit throughout the day…..
וכל זה: על ידי ההתבוננות בגדולת אין סוף ברוך הוא
All this is brought about through meditation on the grandeur of the Infinite One,
בהעמקת הדעת בשתים לפניה ובפסוקי דזמרה, כנודע
concentrating the mind deeply during the two blessings preceding Shema and during the preparatory hymns of praise known as pesukei dezimrah, as is known.
Meditating in this fashion gives birth to a love for G‑d, which is translated into the study of the Torah and the performance of mitzvot. This form of Divine service is teshuvah ila’ah that takes the direction called milmata lemala; it works its way upward from the initiative taken by the enterprising worshiper who elevates himself by his own bootstraps.
ומאחר שהתפלה היא בחינת תשובה עילאה
Since prayer is an expression of teshuvah ila’ah, the higher level of return,
צריך להקדים לפניה בחינת תשובה תתאה
it must be preceded by teshuvah tata’ah, the lower level of return that is reached by the contriteness of a penitent heart.
וזה שאמרו רז”ל במשנה: אין עומדין להתפלל אלא מתוך כובד ראש
This is what the Sages intended in the Mishnah:13 “One should embark on worship only in an earnest frame of mind.”
ופירש רש”י: הכנעה
Rashi explains this to mean “humility”.
והיא בחינת תשובה תתאה
This is the state of teshuvah tata’ah,
לעורר רחמים כנ”ל
in which one arouses Divine compassion for oneself, as noted above, in chapters 7 and 8.
וכדיליף התם בגמרא מקרא דכתיב
This the Talmud14 infers from a phrase which states 15 with regard to Chanah,
והיא מרת נפש
“She was bitter of spirit, [and she prayed to G‑d].”
אכן בברייתא שם: תנו רבנן, אין עומדין להתפלל אלא מתוך שמחה
At the same time we must note the Beraita there:16 “Our Sages taught, `One should embark on worship only with joy.’”
Thus, while the individual is to begin his preparations for prayer by achieving a state of bitterness of spirit, he is expected to begin his actual prayers in a state of joy.
ועכשיו בדור יתום הזה, שאין הכל יכולין להפוך לבם כרגע מן הקצה
In our bereaved generation, however, when not all are capable of turning their hearts instantly from one extreme [to the other], from humility to joy,
אזי עצה היעוצה: להקדים בחינת תשובה תתאה בתיקון חצות כנ”ל
it is advised that teshuvah tata’ah be practiced earlier, at Tikkun Chatzot; This is an especially appropriate time for the spiritual stocktaking that leads to the humility of a “broken and contrite heart,” as noted above.17
ומי שאי אפשר לו בכל לילה, על כל פנים לא יפחות מפעם אחת בשבוע, לפני יום השבת
Whoever cannot do this nightly18 should maintain an absolute minimum of once every week, before the Shabbat.
כנודע ליודעים, שהשבת היא בחינת תשובה עילאה
It is familiar to the initiates in the mysteries of the Torah that Shabbat is of the order of teshuvah ila’ah;
ושב”ת אותיות תש”ב אנוש
indeed, the very letters of the word Shabbat spell tashev [“You return”,19 as in the phrase,20 “You cause man to return.”
כי בשבת היא עליות העולמות למקורם כו’
For on Shabbat all the worlds ascend to their Source …., and this, too, is the time of the ascent of the soul to its Source — which constitutes the act of teshuvah.
ובפרט תפלות השבת, וד”ל
The prayers of Shabbat in particular — even more than the weekday prayers — [are an act of teshuvah ila’ah]. This will suffice for the perceptive.
(ובזה יובן מה שכתוב: שובה אלי כי גאלתיך
21(We can now understand the phrase,22 “Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
פירוש: כי מאחר שמחיתי כעב פשעיך, היא העברת הסטרא אחרא
For since [as in the preceding phrase] “I have erased your sins like a thick cloud,” removing the sitra achra,
וגאלתיך מן החיצונים בהתעוררות רחמים עליונים, באתערותא דלתתא בתשובה תתאה כנ”ל
and “I have redeemed you” from the evil lit., “extraneous” forces through the arousal of Supreme compassion following the initiative taken by man below in his teshuvah tata’ah, as explained above,
אזי שובה אלי בתשובה עילאה)
therefore, “Return to Me” — with teshuvah ila’ah.)
Footnotes 1.Yeshayahu 51:16. 2.Shir HaShirim 2:6. 3.Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar. 4.Devarim 6:5. 5.Ibid. 6:6-7. 6.Note of the Rebbe: “`For Scripture speaks [here] of the study of the Torah’ (Berachot 13b). See [Tanya,] Part I, end of chapter 49.” 7.Tanna devei Eliyahu Zuta, ch. 21. 8.Note of the Rebbe: “See [Tanya,] conclusion of ch. 37.” 9.From the blessing recited before the performance of certain mitzvot. 10.Kiddushin 5b; from the betrothal ceremony. 11.Zohar I, 11b. 12.Tehillim 25:1. 13.Berachot 30b. 14.Ibid. 15.I Samuel 1:10. 16.Berachot 31a. 17.Note of the Rebbe: “See above, chapter 7.” 18.Note of the Rebbe: “As explained in chapter 11 of Kuntres HaTefillah, this applies only to great tzaddikim….. For most people, however, it need not be nightly….” 19.Conclusion of Torat Natan. 20.Tehillim 90:3. 21.Parentheses are in the original text. 22.Yeshayahu 44:22.
