In the letter that follows, the Alter Rebbe urges chassidim to devote the daily interval between Minchah and Maariv to the group study of Ein Yaakov, and to the laws in the Shulchan Aruch that have frequent and practical application. He introduces this appeal by explaining how sublime is the Divine Presence that dwells within Jews when they study Torah publicly. Indeed, only in the World to Come can this lofty level of Divinity be manifestly received as a reward — except when it abides over Jews and within Jews when, in this world, they study Torah together.
בגזירת עירין פתגמא ומאמר קדישין
“This statement is made by decree of the wakeful [angels] and by the word of [those] holy ones,”
This phrase1 is used by the Sages2 (and here by the Alter Rebbe) to denote eminent Torah scholars, who are likened to ministering angels;3 specifically —
חכמי המשנה, עליהם השלום
the Mishnaic Sages, peace be upon them,
ששנו במשנתם: עשרה שיושבין ועוסקין בתורה, שכינה שרויה ביניהם
who taught in their Mishnah:4 “If ten people sit togeth-er and engage in the study of the Torah, the Divine Presence (the Shechinah) rests among them.”
A similar teaching5 — “The Shechinah hovers over every gathering of ten Jews” — means only that the Divine Presence hovers over them in a transcendent (lit., “encompassing”) manner, as explained at the end of ch. 11 of Tanya. In this instance, however, where ten Jews are studying Torah together, the Shechinah rests “among them” — in an internalized manner.
כי זה כל האדם
“For this is the whole [purpose] of man.”6 As the Gemara7 interprets this verse: “The entire world was created solely for this purpose.”
ואף גם זאת היתה כל ירידתו בעולם הזה, לצורך עליה זו
Moreover, [the soul’s] very descent to this world was for the purpose of this ascent, which is accomplished through public Torah study,
אשר אין עליה למעלה הימנה
and no [possible] ascent is higher than this.
The ultimate ascent of the soul, the reason for which the soul initially descended, is attained not only after it completes its descent, after it leaves the body; rather, through public Torah study while the soul is still within the body, it causes the Shechinah to rest in this nether world, and is thereby elevated more than by any other means.
כי שכינת עוזו אשר בגבהי מרומים, והשמים ושמי השמים לא יכלכלו אימתה
For the Shechinah of [G‑d’s] Might which is in the supernal heights, and Whose awesomeness8 “the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain,”
תשכון ותתגדל בתוך בני ישראל, כמו שכתוב: כי אני ה׳ שוכן בתוך בני ישראל
dwells and becomes magnified among the Children of Israel, as it is written,9 “For I, G‑d, dwell among (תוך) the Children of Israel,”
על ידי עסק התורה והמצות בעשרה דוקא
as a result of [their] study of the Torah and observance of the commandments in groups of [at least] ten, for ten Jews constitute a congregation.
כמו שאמרו רז״ל: אתיא תוך תוך כו׳
For, as our Sages of blessed memory said,10 “We infer a conclusion from [two appearances of] the word toch.”
In certain specified cases, the Sages draw an analogy from one expression in the Torah to the identical expression in a different context. A comparison of this kind (a gezeirah shavah) is made between two appearances of the above word. One verse states,11 “I will become sanctified in the midst (toch) of the Children of Israel,” while another verse states,12 “…from the midst (toch) of this congregation.” From this we learn that the recital of a davar shebikedushah, a text involving the sanctification of G‑d’s Name, requires a “congregation.” From a verse regarding the spies, where G‑d refers to the ten evil spies as a congregation, we learn that a congregation is not less than ten people.
The Rebbe Rayatz asks:13 Of all the possible contexts, why do our Sages derive this rule from the evil assemblage of the spies?
Answering his own question, the Rebbe Rayatz explains that with these words Moses sought to insulate the people from the makkif of evil, from the transcendent [and most intense] dimension of evil. (As far as the pnimi of evil was concerned, the permeating [but less intense] dimension of evil, Moses was able to rectify it.) Now, since everything in the realm of holiness has its counterpart in kelipah, in the forces of evil,14 it follows that the level of holiness referred to here is the transcendent level. Thus, when a congregation of at least ten participants engages collectively in prayer or in Torah study or in the observance of a mitzvah, they elicit a response from a transcendent level of Divine light, from an or makkif, that is utterly superior to the light called forth by a group of fewer than ten.
ועל זה נאמר: בקרבך קדוש
Concerning this it is written,15 “The Holy One is within you.”
This means to say that a level of Divinity which is holy in the sense that it is initially distinct from this world, is thereby drawn down and integrated within the ten or more people involved.
As the Rebbe Rayatz explains in the above-mentioned talk, the Alter Rebbe had spoken earlier of the transcendent degree of illumination that merely encompasses one; at this point he cites the phrase “The Holy One is within you” to indicate that this encompassing illumination can also become internalized within a Jew.
ואין דבר שבקדושה בפחות מעשרה
Likewise, “[the congregational recital of] a davar shebikedushah, a text involving the sanctification of G‑d’s Name, requires a quorum of ten,” as quoted above.16
Thus, in order that the holiness be “within you,” it is necessary that the Torah be studied in groups of at least ten.
ומשום הכי נמי אצטריך להו לרז״ל למילף מקרא, מנין שאפילו אחד שיושב ועוסק בתורה כו׳
This also explains why our Sages, of blessed memory, had to derive from Scripture [an answer to their question],17 “From where do we know that even one person who sits and engages in the study of the Torah, [the Holy One, blessed be He, sets a reward for him]?”
The Mishnah18 derives its answer from the verse,19 “He sits alone and [studies] in stillness; indeed, he takes [the reward] unto himself.” Evidently, then, a proof text was needed to show that even individual study is rewarded.
ואף גם זאת לא מצאו לו סמך מן המקרא, אלא לקביעת שכר בלבד, ליחיד לפי ערכו, לפי ולפי ערך המרובים
And even so [the Sages] did not find in Scripture support for that, i.e., they did not find support for the proposition that an individual can bring about the previously-mentioned indwelling of G‑d’s holiness, but only for the allotment of a reward to the individual, proportionate to himself [and]20 in proportion to the many.
If there are fewer than ten individuals, the reward is divided equally among them. According to the version “[and] in proportion…,” the more individuals participate, the greater the reward for each of them.
אבל לענין השראת קדושת הקב״ה, אין לו ערך אליהם כלל
But as to causing an indwelling of G‑d’s holiness,21 [the individual] cannot be compared to [the congregation] at all.
The sanctity drawn down through group study of the Torah is immeasurably more sublime.
* * *
וההפרש שבין השראה לקביעות שכר, מובן למביני מדע
The distinction between [causing a Divine] indwelling (by collective study) and the allotment of a reward (to an individual student), is understood by discerning thinkers.
כי קביעת שכר הוא שמאיר ה׳ לנפש תדרשנו באור תורתו, שהוא מעטה לבושו ממש
For the allotment of a reward is what takes place when G‑d irradiates22 “the soul that seeks Him” with the light of His Torah, which is truly the covering in which G‑d garbs Himself.
Through this garment, i.e., through the Torah, G‑d irradiates the soul of the Jew who seeks Him. This search for Him can take place either during the service of prayer that precedes one’s study of Torah, or during one’s actual study. As explained at the conclusion of ch. 37 of Tanya, the Talmudic phrase קורא בתורה can mean not only “reading (i.e., studying) the Torah,” but also “calling [G‑d] through the Torah.” In this sense, when one studies Torah one resembles a child who calls his father, asking him to come and be with him.
ולכן נקראת התורה אור, שנאמר: עוטה אור כשלמה
For this reason the Torah is called “light”, as it is written,23 “He garbs Himself in light, as with a garment.”24
This verse refers to the degree of illumination (diffused by the Torah) which, like a garment, is finite.
Likewise, the faculties of the soul are inherently limited, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Since the light that emanates to the soul must be integrated within its faculties, this illumination itself must also be limited. In the words of the Alter Rebbe:
והנפש היא בעלת גבול ותכלית בכל כחותיה
Now the soul is limited and finite in all its faculties.
לכן גם אור ה׳ המאיר בה הוא גבולי, מצומצם, ומתלבש בתוכה
Therefore, the light of G‑d that radiates in it is also limited and contracted, and vests itself within it.
ועל כן יתפעל לב מבקשי ה׳ בשעת התפלה וכיוצא בה
This is why the hearts of those who seek G‑d are ecstatically aroused at the time of prayer and the like.
כי בו ישמח לבם, ויגיל אף גילת ורנן
For their hearts rejoice in Him and exult25 “even with exultation and song,”
ותתענג נפשם בנועם ה׳ על ה׳ ואורו
and their souls delight in the pleasantness of G‑d26 and His light
בהגלותו ממעטה לבושו, שהיא התורה
as it becomes revealed through the covering in which [G‑d] garbs Himself, which is the Torah;
ויצא כברק חצו
“and His arrow comes forth like lightning”:27 from this garment, this illumination initially emanates to the soul with all the vigor of a lightning bolt.28
וזו היא קביעת שכר התורה, הקבועה תמיד בנפש עמלה בה
This is the allotment of the reward for the [study of] Torah, which is always fixed in the soul that labors in it.
Being fixed within the soul constantly, this reward is received by the soul not only in the World to Come — when the soul is enabled to apprehend rewards that are not to be obtained in this world29 — but in this world as well. And since this kind of reward consists of a finite degree of illumination, it can be received by the soul even as the soul finds itself within the body.
This is why it is written that a reward awaits even one individual who studies Torah.
