והנה ראשית הדברים המעוררים האהבה והיראה, ויסודן, היא האמונה הטהורה ונאמנה ביחודו ואחדותו, יתברך ויתעלה

First among the factors that arouse love and fear, and their foundation, is a pure and faithful belief in the Unity and Oneness of G‑d, may He be blessed and exalted. (“Oneness” here means that all of creation is united with G‑d and utterly nullified to Him.)

That is to say, pure faith in G‑d’s Unity is the starting-point and foundation of one’s meditation on yichuda ila‘ah (“higher-level Unity”) and yichuda tata’ah (“lower-level Unity”), and this meditation in turn leads to the love and fear of Him.

There are truths that transcend intellect and that can be perceived only through faith. At the same time, utilizing faith for something that can be comprehended is making use of the wrong faculty: intellect must grasp that which is within the reach of intellect, and faith must be used to apprehend that which transcends intellect. When within belief there is a mingling of the rational and the superrational — when truths that are accessible to comprehension are confused with things that defy comprehension — such belief is not “pure”, for pure belief deals only with that which transcends rationality. It is only when one utilizes his intellect to comprehend all that is subject to comprehension and his power of faith is then utilized solely for that which defies intellect, that such faith can then be deemed “pure faith.”

Since both categories are represented in the subject of G‑d’s Unity and Oneness, it becomes necessary to explain those aspects of the subject that are capable of being comprehended so that one’s faith will be “pure” — relating only to those matters that entirely transcend comprehension.

Footnotes

1.The twelve chapters of the work proper — Likutei Amarim, Part Two — are known as Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah (“The Gate to [the Understanding of] G‑d’s Unity and the Faith”).

2.Devarim 6:4-9.

3.Note of the Rebbe: “It should be mentioned that at the conclusion of Pelach HaRimon, Vol. I (Kehot, N.Y., 5714) there are glosses to this by R. Hillel of Paritch. References are to be found in Or HaTorah of the Tzemach Tzedek (on Chanukkah).”

4.Devarim 6:4.

5.Pesachim 56a.

6.I, 18b.

7.Mishlei 22:6.

8.The Rebbe here distinguishes between these two terms, as follows. “Roots” refers to the original source from which one’s divine service ultimately emanates; “foundations” suggests the ongoing support of one’s present service (recalling the foundations upon which a building actually stands).

The Rebbe goes on to remark that this distinction is reflected in ch. 4 of the first part of Tanya: “from [the love of G‑d the positive commands] issue forth, and without it they have no true (i.e., enduring) substance.”

9.Note of the Rebbe: “As above, ch. 4 [of Part I].”

10.Tehillim 34:15.

11.The Rebbe raises the question why the Alter Rebbe does not add the expression “all prohibitive commandments” as he soon does with regard to positive commandments — “all the positive commandments.” In explanation, the Rebbe suggests that perhaps a word was inadvertently omitted, and the text below should read, “all positive and prohibitive commandments of the Torah,” thereby alluding both to the love and to the awe of G‑d as the root and foundation of all commandments, both positive and prohibitive.

12.Tehillim, loc. cit.

13.Parentheses are in the original text.

14.Note of the Rebbe: “In addition to the fact that love itself and likewise awe are individual positive commandments [in and of themselves].”

15.Devarim 11:22.

16.Tehillim 97:12.

17.Iyov 32:8.

18.Note of the Rebbe: “As explained above, ch. 44 [of Part I].”

19.Part III, 67a, 68a.

20.Yeshayahu 26:9.

21.The Rebbe notes that the Alter Rebbe terms this a “general way” in meditation, because its subject — life and the love of life — is by nature universal, with no great differences in the degree of love or in the details of the meditation.

22.Note of the Rebbe: “As explained above, ch. 46 [of Part I].”

23.Bereishit 24:9; see Yalkut Shimoni, ad loc., and Kohelet Rabbah 1:4.

24.Devarim 4:20.

25.Note of the Rebbe: “And the more he knows in specific detail the infinite gap [between himself and G‑d] etc., the greater will be his love [for Him]. See ch. 46 [of Part I].”

26.Mishlei 27:19.

27.A reference to Tanya, Part I, chs. 46-49, where this manner of love (“face reflecting face”) is discussed at length.

28.Devarim 10:12, 14, 15, 16, 22.

29.Ibid. 11:1.

30.Ibid., v. 22.

31.Ibid. 6:6.

32.The Rebbe notes that the above enables us to understand a related statement of the Sifri that is otherwise baffling. The Sifri states that the verse that teaches that “you shall love the L‑rd your G‑d with all your heart” does not explain how G‑d is to be loved; the verse therefore goes on to tell us that “these words…shall be upon your heart,” for “thereby you come to know G‑d and cleave to His ways.”

The question here is obvious: How does “upon your heart” give a better explanation of how G‑d is to be loved than “with all your heart”?

According to the above explanation of the Alter Rebbe, however, the Sifri is thoroughly understandable: “upon your heart” refers to the kind of meditation that inevitably leads to the fulfillment of the commandment to “love the L- rd your G‑d with all your heart.”

33.Bamidbar 18:7.

34.Mishlei 24:16.

35.Note of the Rebbe: “Similar to R. Zeira, who fasted in order to forget the Babylonian Talmud [as a prerequisite to his attaining mastery of the spiritually more elevated Jerusalem Talmud]” (cf. Bava Metzia 85a).

36.Tehillim 37:24.