Like most of the components of Iggeret HaKodesh, this pastoral letter too was addressed to the chassidic community as a whole. Why, then, echoing the words first addressed to Daniel (“To enlighten you with understanding”),1 does the Alter Rebbe open it in the singular?
In this letter the Alter Rebbe demands spiritual service of a caliber so seemingly formidable as to be attainable only by a chosen few. For in it he calls upon the reader not to desire physical things, even those things that are essential for his wellbeing and utilized in his service of G‑d.
Even such essentials, states the Alter Rebbe, should not be desired for their physicality but for their spirituality, for the spark of G‑dliness found within them. So much so, that even if a person finds that he is lacking (G‑d forbid) life’s essentials, he should not be pained by their absence; rather he should rejoice in his belief that this is indeed for his good, as shall soon be explained. Such a lofty response to deprivation would seem to be within the reach of only a very restricted elite.
The Alter Rebbe therefore begins this letter in the singular, indicating that every single individual can attain this level of divine service. For it requires only an absolute faith in G‑d, and this lies hidden within every Jew; let him but unveil this faith, and he will be able to live by it.
להשכילך בינה
“To enlighten you with understanding”
כי לא זו הדרך ישכון אור ה׳
that not by this path will the light of G‑d dwell within [one],2
להיות חפץ בחיי בשרים, ובני ומזוני
i.e., by desiring the3 “life of flesh,” and children, and sustenance,
The Alter Rebbe is negating a desire that emanates from a craving for pleasure, rather than a desire that results from purposeful need.
כי על זה אמרו רז״ל: בטל רצונך כו׳
for on this our Sages, of blessed memory, said,4 “Nullify your will [out of deference to His will].”
דהיינו, שיהיה רצונו בטל במציאות, ולא יהיה לו שום רצון כלל בעניני עולם הזה כולם
This means not that one should set aside his own will because it does not coincide with G‑d’s will, but that from the outset one’s will should be [so] nullified that he has no desire whatever for any worldly matters
הנכללים בבני, חיי ומזוני
that are incorporated within the three general categories of5 “children, life, and sustenance.”
Although these are essentials, and though they affect one’s divine service, they should be desired not for themselves, but only insofar as they further the accomplishment of one’s spiritual tasks.
The above directive to “nullify” thus implies bittul bimetziut, an utter nullification of the self. Confronted by a scholar of stature, a lesser scholar may experience self-effacement — but he still remains a self-assertive personality. Utter nullification, by contrast, means that this sensation of self ceases to exist. In similar vein, nullifying one’s own wishes before G‑d connotes the absence of any wishes other than G‑d’s.
וכמאמר רז״ל: שעל כרחך אתה חי
[One should thus live] in the spirit of the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory, that6 “Against your will do you live.” I.e., one should view the corporeal aspects of his life as being contrary to his will, and surely so with regard to the corporeal aspects of children and sustenance.
