Audio only. Same class, smaller file size

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

Audio only. Same class, smaller file size

אך היראה עילאה, ירא בשתHowever, 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

Audio only. Same class, smaller file size

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

Audio only. Same class, smaller file size

אך אהבת עולם היא הבאה מהתבונה ודעת בגדולת ה׳, אין סוף ברוך הוא, הממלא כל עלמין וסובב כל עלמיןAhavat olam, however, the second and lower level of love, is that which comes from the understanding and knowledge

Audio only. Same class, smaller file size

והנה בחינת אהבה זו, פעמים שקודמת ליראה, כפי בחינת הדעת המולידה, כנודע שהדעת כולל חסדים וגבורות, שהם אהבה ויראהThis [latter] category of love sometimes precedes fear, according to the quality of the Daat which fathers it, as