Chapter 42 – Part 3

Video is also available – click to open רק מאחר שנתלבשה הנפש בגוף, צריכה ליגיעה רבה ועצומה, כפולה ומכופלת Only, since the soul has clothed itself in the body, it needs a great and mighty exertion, doubled and redoubled, in order to feel and be attached to G‑d. While it is true that the soul […]

Chapter 42 – Part 4

Video is also available – click to open ומכל מקום, בקושי ובחזקה, שתתחזק מאד מחשבתו באומץ ויגיעה רבה ועומק גדול, להעמיק בגדולת ה׳ שעה גדולה Nevertheless, with difficulty and with forceful effort, when his thought greatly exerts itself with vigor and great toil and intense concentration, immersing [itself] in contemplation of the greatness of G‑d […]

Chapter 42 – Part 5

Video is also available – click to open וגם כי אין לו דמות הגוף And although He has no bodily likeness, How, then, can we possibly say that G‑d possesses an “eye” and “ear”, organs that are part of a physical body? הרי אדרבה, הכל גלוי וידוע לפניו ביתר שאת לאין קץ מראיית העין ושמיעת […]

Chapter 42 – Part 6

Video is also available – click to open In describing earlier the fear a Jew should possess for G‑d, the Alter Rebbe said that it should be similar to the fear felt “when one stands before a king,” for G‑d is omnipresent and observes all man’s actions. A question arises: When one stands before a […]

Chapter 42 – Part 7

Video is also available – click to open הגהה *NOTE The Alter Rebbe will now say that by looking at heaven and earth one not only becomes aware of their G‑dly vitalizing force, but also perceives how the world and all its inhabitants are truly nullified to the divine life-force. This can be perceived by […]

Chapter 43 – Part 1

Video is also available – click to open The Alter Rebbe explained in the previous chapter that every Jew has the ability to attain yirah tata‘ah, the lower level of fear of G‑d. This enables him to perform all the positive commandments and refrain from transgressing all the negative commandments. In the present chapter the […]

Chapter 43 – Part 2

Video is also available – click to open אך היראה עילאה, ירא בשת However, as for yirah ila‘ah, a fear stemming from a sense of shame before G‑d’s greatness, Fear of G‑d stemming from a sense of shame is similar to the shame and total sense of abnegation a person feels when he is in […]

Chapter 43 – Part 3

Video is also available – click to open The Alter Rebbe now explains that there are also two general levels in the love of God. The higher level is called ahavah rabbah (“great love”). It is a gift from above, granted to an individual after he has attained the level of yirah ila‘ah. This love […]

Chapter 43 – Part 4

Video is also available – click to open אך אהבת עולם היא הבאה מהתבונה ודעת בגדולת ה׳, אין סוף ברוך הוא, הממלא כל עלמין וסובב כל עלמין Ahavat olam, however, the second and lower level of love, is that which comes from the understanding and knowledge of the greatness of G‑d, the blessed Ein Sof, […]

Chapter 43 – Part 5

Video is also available – click to open והנה בחינת אהבה זו, פעמים שקודמת ליראה, כפי בחינת הדעת המולידה, כנודע שהדעת כולל חסדים וגבורות, שהם אהבה ויראה This [latter] category of love sometimes precedes fear, according to the quality of the Daat which fathers it, as is known. (17For Daat incorporates both Chassadim and Gevurot, […]