The Holy Epistle: Epistle 26 – Part 6 – video

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The Holy Epistle: Epistle 26 – Part 6 – audio

The above applies nowadays, when the Shechinah is exiled in kelipat nogah; hence the main function of Torah study is to seek out and elevate the sparks of holiness from the kelipot. Hence, too, the current concentration on the laws of issur and hetter, kasher and passul, and the like.

אבל בצאת השכינה מקליפת נוגה [נ”א מהקליפות]

But when the Shechinah will emerge from kelipat nogah [79or: from the kelipot],

אחר שיושלם בירור הניצוצות, ויופרד הרע מהטוב, ויתפרדו כל פועלי און

after the extraction of the sparks will be completed, and the evil of the kelipot will be separated from the good of holiness,80 “and all the workers of evil will be dispersed,”

ולא שלטא אילנא דטוב ורע, בצאת הטוב ממנה

and the Tree of [Knowledge of] Good and Evil (which is of kelipat nogah and which prevails during the time of exile) will no longer be dominant, because the good will have departed from it,

Kelipat nogah is influential only by virtue of its minimal component of good; as soon as this is extracted, kelipat nogah will have no dominion whatever.

אזי לא יהיה עסק התורה והמצות לברר בירורין

then people will engage in the study of Torah and in the observance of the commandments not in order to extract the sparks, as in the present,

כי אם ליחד יחודים עליונים יותר, להמשיך אורות עליונים יותר, שלמעלה מהאצילות

but in order to bring about the consummation of yichudim (“unions” or “marriages” of Sefirot) more sublime than those which are effected through our present Torah study — in order to call forth more sublime lights, transcending81 Atzilut.

כמו שכתב האריז״ל

This is explained in the writings of R. Isaac Luria, of blessed memory.

והכל על ידי פנימיות התורה, לקיים המצות בכוונות עליונות, שמכונות לאורות עליונים

Everything [will be accomplished] by means of the pnimiyut of the Torah, the esoteric dimension of the Torah, by the performance of the commandments with lofty mystical devotions directed to [drawing down] sublime “lights” [from the Divine Luminary].

כי שרש המצות הוא למעלה מעלה, באין סוף ברוך הוא

For the root of the commandments is exceedingly high, in the blessed Ein Sof, at a level loftier than Atzilut.

(ומה שאמרו רז״ל, דמצות בטילות לעתיד לבא

(82As for the statement of our Sages, of blessed memory, that83 “the commandments will be abrogated in the future,”

היינו בתחיית המתים

this refers to the era of the Resurrection of the Dead.

אבל לימות המשיח, קודם תחיית המתים, אין בטלים)

In the days of the Messiah, however, before the Resurrection of the Dead, they will not be abrogated.)84

(note 84) This differentiation between the performance of mitzvot before and after the Resurrection, follows the view of Tosafot in Niddah (loc. cit.). There Tosafot explains that the fact that burial shrouds may be made of kilayim, the forbidden mixture of wool and linen, proves that mitzvot will be abrogated after the Resurrection, for otherwise a Jew would arise wearing forbidden garments.

The Rashba, cited there in Chiddushei HaRan, disagrees, holding that the mitzvot are abrogated as far as the individual is concerned only while he is deceased. As the Rashba understands the Gemara, they will not be abrogated after the Resurrection.

The Rebbe uses this debate to resolve a seeming contradiction between two statements by the Alter Rebbe. In his Note to ch. 36 of Tanya (on p. 478 of Vol. II in the present series), the Alter Rebbe writes that “the [time of] receiving the reward is essentially in the seventh millennium.” Since this is after the time of the Resurrection, this is a time during which we are still intended to perform mitzvot. How, then, does the Alter Rebbe state here that mitzvot will be abrogated at the time of the Resurrection?

The distinction: In the Note to ch. 36 the Alter Rebbe follows the view of the Rashba, who maintains that at the time of the Resurrection, mitzvot will continue to be in effect. (The Alter Rebbe also follows this view in his maamar in Likkutei Torah on the phrase VeHayah BaYom Hahu Yitaka BeShofar Gadol.) Here, however, he follows the view of Tosafot.

The Rebbe goes on to say that drawing a distinction (as the Alter Rebbe does above) between the two periods, resolves most of the problematic queries posed by the MaHaratz Chayot, whose Glosses on Tractate Niddah cite those Talmudic sources which would seem to indicate that in future time the commandments will not be abrogated. For those sources speak of the era of the Messiah, before the Resurrection, while the teaching that they will be abrogated applies to the era that follows the Resurrection (according to the view of Tosafot).

For further examonation of this subject, the Rebbe refers the reader to the sources listed in Sdei Chemed, Klalim 40:218 (Vol. III, p. 561c ff. in the Kehot edition) and in Divrei Chachamim, sec. 53 (p. 1962b ff.).

At that time, the observance of mitzvot will draw down to this world even higher levels of G‑dliness than those drawn down by the current observance of mitzvot.

ולכן יהיה גם עיקר עסק התורה גם כן בפנימיות המצות, וטעמיהם הנסתרים

This is why Torah study will then be mainly directed to the pnimiyut (the innermost, mystical depths) of the commandments, and their hidden reasons.

Specifically: Gaining insights into the dynamics of the above-mentioned yichudim, and thereby understanding why the scrupulous performance of the commandments brings about these Supernal “unions” which give birth to renewed diffusions of the Divine light that animates this world.

אבל הנגלות יהיו גלוים וידועים לכל איש ישראל, בידיעה בתחלה, בלי שכחה

The revealed aspects of the Torah, however, will be manifest and known to every Jew, by an innate and unforgotten knowledge.

Review will thus be unnecessary.

ואין צריך לעסוק בהם, אלא לערב רב

Only the mixed multitude (and not the Jews) will have to toil in these [aspects of the Torah],

שלא יזכו למטעם מאילנא דחיי, שהוא פנימיות התורה והמצוה

because they will not have merited to taste from the Tree of Life, i.e., the pnimiyut of the Torah and of the commandments.

וצריכים לעסוק [בתורה] במשנה, להתיש כח הסטרא אחרא הדבוק בהם (על ידי עסק התורה)

They will [therefore] need to engage [85in Torah] in Mishnah, in order to weaken (86by their occupation with Torah) the power of the sitra achra that cleaves to them,

שלא תשלוט בהם, להחטיאם

so that it will not dominate them and cause them to sin.

כדכתיב: והחוטא בן מאה שנה יקולל, שיהיו חוטאים מערב רב

Thus it is written,87 “And the sinner at the age of a hundred will be cursed.” This refers to the sinners of the mixed multitude.

Thus, even with the arrival of the Messiah there will be sinners among the mixed multitude, since the sitra achra cleaves to them. They will therefore require means by which to weaken it, so that they will not sin.

Nor will they need only the revealed aspects of the Torah in order to repel the sitra achra.

וגם למעשה יהיו צריכים לפרטי הלכות אסור וטומאה יותר מישראל

In addition, on the practical level, they will need the detailed rulings of prohibition and impurity more than the Jews.

שלא יארע להם פסול וטומאה ואסור

For the latter, nothing will occur that is ritually unfit, impure, or forbidden,

כי לא יאונה כו׳

since88 “there shall not befall [any sin to the righteous]”89and in the era of Mashiach, all Jews will be at the level of the “righteous”.

וגם אפשר, וקרוב הדבר, שידעו מפנימיות התורה, כל גופי התורה הנגלית

It is also possible, and indeed probable, that [the Jewish people] will know all the fundamentals of the revealed plane of the Torah from the pnimiyut of the Torah,

כמו אברהם אבינו, עליו השלום

as was the case with our father Abraham, peace be to him.

The Gemara relates90 that Abraham fulfilled the entire Torah even before it was given at Sinai. Now there are passages and commandments to which he could not possibly have related on a physical level.

Inscribed on the tiny parchment scrolls within tefillin, for example, are Biblical passages which record the Exodus from Egypt — a land to which his descendants had not yet been exiled. The mode of Abraham’s performance of the commandments was thus spiritual and esoteric, as the Alter Rebbe explains in Torah Or91 and Likkutei Torah.92

Abraham thus knew all the revealed aspects of Torah from its esoteric core. In Time to Come all Jews will know the Torah in a similar manner.

ולכן אין צריך לעסוק בהם כלל

They will therefore not need to occupy themselves with them — with the laws defining what is permitted or prohibited, pure or impure — at all.

מה שאין כן בזמן בית שני, היו צריכים לעסוק

At the time of the Second Temple, by contrast, although the scholars did not derive their sustenance from the illiterate, for they had their own fields and vineyards, they needed to be involved in these [laws],

גם כי לא בשביל הלכה למעשה בלבד, אלא שזהו עיקר העבודה

and not only for their practical application, but because this is the main purpose of divine service —

להתיש כח הסטרא אחרא, ולהעלות ניצוצי הקדושה, על ידי התורה והעבודה, כמו שכתוב במקום אחר

to weaken the power of the sitra achra and to elevate the sparks of holiness by means of Torah study and worship, as is explained elsewhere.93

* * *

ואחר הדברים והאמת האלו, יובן היטב בתוספת ביאור הרעיא מהימנא דלעיל

After the above words of truth it will be possible to clearly understand the earlier-quoted passage from Ra’aya Mehemna,

במה שאמר: אילנא דטוב ורע כו׳

which spoke of “the Tree of Good and Evil, [i.e., prohibition and permission],”

רצונו לומר: קליפת נוגה, שהוא עיקר עולם הזה

meaning kelipat nogah, which is the mainstay of this world,94

כמו שכתוב בעץ חיים

as is written in Etz Chayim.

At the moment, until Mashiach arrives, the dominant influence in this material world is kelipat nogah, the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” After his arrival, however, this dominion will cease, and man’s divine service will be directed not to extracting the sparks of holiness hidden in the material world, but to bringing about ever higher Supernal unions, as explained above.

ודי למבין

This will suffice for the discerning.

Addendum

In the middle of the above Epistle, the Alter Rebbe stated that if “one ate [forbidden food] in order to save an endangered life,… [the food] becomes [entirely] permissible.”

The Rebbe notes95 that this concept is problematic; indeed, many editions of the Tanya omit the word “entirely”, which is evidently why it found its way into current editions as a bracketed text.

The Rebbe goes on to distinguish between prohibition (issur) and impurity (tumah). When something is prohibited, one can sense its inherent evil; for example, forbidden foods clog the mind and heart with spiritual congestion. Thus, even if a pregnant woman scented forbidden food on Yom Kippur and the Torah permitted her to eat it (if her life would otherwise be in danger),96 eating that food would still becloud her soul.

Moreover, even when the prohibition was not intrinsic to the food, but a thought or a statement invalidated it, as for example when an animal was slaughtered with idolatrous intent,97 eating this food leaves its imprint. Thus, for example, the Midrash98 traces the wayward path of Elisha ben Avuyah (known as “Acher”) to very early beginnings — before his birth his mother had tasted food that was prepared for idolatrous worship.

In light of the above, the Rebbe goes on to note, we can understand why a nursing mother who has eaten forbidden food, even when permitted to do so because her life was endangered, should refrain from nursing her child.99 For although eating this food was in fact halachically permitted, the nature of the food and the spiritual blemish which it imparts to her infant remain unchanged.

This is especially so, according to the halachic determination (with regard to one who is ill as well), that a life-threatening situation merely sets aside a prohibition; it does not make the prohibited object permissible.100

As the Rebbe concludes, the above considerations evidently explain why in current editions of Iggeret HaKodesh — regarding the food eaten in a life-threatening situation that becomes “[entirely] permissible” — the word “entirely” is bracket-ed, and in many editions never appeared. (end of note 84)

At that time, the observance of mitzvot will draw down to this world even higher levels of G‑dliness than those drawn down by the current observance of mitzvot.

ולכן יהיה גם עיקר עסק התורה גם כן בפנימיות המצות, וטעמיהם הנסתרים

This is why Torah study will then be mainly directed to the pnimiyut (the innermost, mystical depths) of the commandments, and their hidden reasons.

Specifically: Gaining insights into the dynamics of the above-mentioned yichudim, and thereby understanding why the scrupulous performance of the commandments brings about these Supernal “unions” which give birth to renewed diffusions of the Divine light that animates this world.

אבל הנגלות יהיו גלוים וידועים לכל איש ישראל, בידיעה בתחלה, בלי שכחה

The revealed aspects of the Torah, however, will be manifest and known to every Jew, by an innate and unforgotten knowledge.

Review will thus be unnecessary.

ואין צריך לעסוק בהם, אלא לערב רב

Only the mixed multitude (and not the Jews) will have to toil in these [aspects of the Torah],

שלא יזכו למטעם מאילנא דחיי, שהוא פנימיות התורה והמצוה

because they will not have merited to taste from the Tree of Life, i.e., the pnimiyut of the Torah and of the commandments.

וצריכים לעסוק [בתורה] במשנה, להתיש כח הסטרא אחרא הדבוק בהם (על ידי עסק התורה)

They will [therefore] need to engage [85in Torah] in Mishnah, in order to weaken (86by their occupation with Torah) the power of the sitra achra that cleaves to them,

שלא תשלוט בהם, להחטיאם

so that it will not dominate them and cause them to sin.

כדכתיב: והחוטא בן מאה שנה יקולל, שיהיו חוטאים מערב רב

Thus it is written,87 “And the sinner at the age of a hundred will be cursed.” This refers to the sinners of the mixed multitude.

Thus, even with the arrival of the Messiah there will be sinners among the mixed multitude, since the sitra achra cleaves to them. They will therefore require means by which to weaken it, so that they will not sin.

Nor will they need only the revealed aspects of the Torah in order to repel the sitra achra.

וגם למעשה יהיו צריכים לפרטי הלכות אסור וטומאה יותר מישראל

In addition, on the practical level, they will need the detailed rulings of prohibition and impurity more than the Jews.

שלא יארע להם פסול וטומאה ואסור

For the latter, nothing will occur that is ritually unfit, impure, or forbidden,

כי לא יאונה כו׳

since88 “there shall not befall [any sin to the righteous]”89and in the era of Mashiach, all Jews will be at the level of the “righteous”.

וגם אפשר, וקרוב הדבר, שידעו מפנימיות התורה, כל גופי התורה הנגלית

It is also possible, and indeed probable, that [the Jewish people] will know all the fundamentals of the revealed plane of the Torah from the pnimiyut of the Torah,

כמו אברהם אבינו, עליו השלום

as was the case with our father Abraham, peace be to him.

The Gemara relates90 that Abraham fulfilled the entire Torah even before it was given at Sinai. Now there are passages and commandments to which he could not possibly have related on a physical level.

Inscribed on the tiny parchment scrolls within tefillin, for example, are Biblical passages which record the Exodus from Egypt — a land to which his descendants had not yet been exiled. The mode of Abraham’s performance of the commandments was thus spiritual and esoteric, as the Alter Rebbe explains in Torah Or91 and Likkutei Torah.92

Abraham thus knew all the revealed aspects of Torah from its esoteric core. In Time to Come all Jews will know the Torah in a similar manner.

ולכן אין צריך לעסוק בהם כלל

They will therefore not need to occupy themselves with them — with the laws defining what is permitted or prohibited, pure or impure — at all.

מה שאין כן בזמן בית שני, היו צריכים לעסוק

At the time of the Second Temple, by contrast, although the scholars did not derive their sustenance from the illiterate, for they had their own fields and vineyards, they needed to be involved in these [laws],

גם כי לא בשביל הלכה למעשה בלבד, אלא שזהו עיקר העבודה

and not only for their practical application, but because this is the main purpose of divine service —

להתיש כח הסטרא אחרא, ולהעלות ניצוצי הקדושה, על ידי התורה והעבודה, כמו שכתוב במקום אחר

to weaken the power of the sitra achra and to elevate the sparks of holiness by means of Torah study and worship, as is explained elsewhere.93

* * *

ואחר הדברים והאמת האלו, יובן היטב בתוספת ביאור הרעיא מהימנא דלעיל

After the above words of truth it will be possible to clearly understand the earlier-quoted passage from Ra’aya Mehemna,

במה שאמר: אילנא דטוב ורע כו׳

which spoke of “the Tree of Good and Evil, [i.e., prohibition and permission],”

רצונו לומר: קליפת נוגה, שהוא עיקר עולם הזה

meaning kelipat nogah, which is the mainstay of this world,94

כמו שכתוב בעץ חיים

as is written in Etz Chayim.

At the moment, until Mashiach arrives, the dominant influence in this material world is kelipat nogah, the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” After his arrival, however, this dominion will cease, and man’s divine service will be directed not to extracting the sparks of holiness hidden in the material world, but to bringing about ever higher Supernal unions, as explained above.

ודי למבין

This will suffice for the discerning.

Addendum

In the middle of the above Epistle, the Alter Rebbe stated that if “one ate [forbidden food] in order to save an endangered life,… [the food] becomes [entirely] permissible.”

The Rebbe notes95 that this concept is problematic; indeed, many editions of the Tanya omit the word “entirely”, which is evidently why it found its way into current editions as a bracketed text.

The Rebbe goes on to distinguish between prohibition (issur) and impurity (tumah). When something is prohibited, one can sense its inherent evil; for example, forbidden foods clog the mind and heart with spiritual congestion. Thus, even if a pregnant woman scented forbidden food on Yom Kippur and the Torah permitted her to eat it (if her life would otherwise be in danger),96 eating that food would still becloud her soul.

Moreover, even when the prohibition was not intrinsic to the food, but a thought or a statement invalidated it, as for example when an animal was slaughtered with idolatrous intent,97 eating this food leaves its imprint. Thus, for example, the Midrash98 traces the wayward path of Elisha ben Avuyah (known as “Acher”) to very early beginnings — before his birth his mother had tasted food that was prepared for idolatrous worship.

In light of the above, the Rebbe goes on to note, we can understand why a nursing mother who has eaten forbidden food, even when permitted to do so because her life was endangered, should refrain from nursing her child.99 For although eating this food was in fact halachically permitted, the nature of the food and the spiritual blemish which it imparts to her infant remain unchanged.

This is especially so, according to the halachic determination (with regard to one who is ill as well), that a life-threatening situation merely sets aside a prohibition; it does not make the prohibited object permissible.100

As the Rebbe concludes, the above considerations evidently explain why in current editions of Iggeret HaKodesh — regarding the food eaten in a life-threatening situation that becomes “[entirely] permissible” — the word “entirely” is bracket-ed, and in many editions never appeared.

Footnotes
1.

These Kabbalistic terms are borrowed from Bereishit 2:9.

2.

Daniel 12:3.

3.

Zohar III, 124b.

4.

Vol. III, p. 1089, in the present work.

5.

Daniel 12:10.

6.

Devarim 32:12.

7.

Zechariah 13:2.

8.

Zohar III, 29a, b.

9.

Cf. Berachot 34b.

10.

Following early editions of the Tanya, the correct Hebrew text here reads chaseirei (spelled with a resh), meaning “those who lack.” Other editions appear to read chassidei (spelled with a daled), and have led to some mistranslation.

11.

Mishlei 3:18.

12.

Chagigah 11b; 13a.

13.

See Shaar HaGilgulim, end of Introduction XV; et al.

14.

Note of the Rebbe: “See beginning of Idra Rabbah (Zohar III, 127b ff.) and many other places in the Zohar where Rashbi expresses himself similarly.”

15.

Note of the Rebbe: “It could be suggested that civil law is singled out, for in this field the law of the Torah [sometimes] takes into account ‘the custom of local merchants’ or ‘the law of the land’ or a waiver by one of the parties to a transaction; and so on.” [Hence the most “remarkable wonder” would be that the study of such a seemingly mundane level of law should override the seemingly more spiritual occupation of prayer.]

16.

Shabbat 11a.

17.

Note of the Rebbe: “Many have asked: ‘If so, how were the Supernal Unions (yichudim) usually effected by daily prayer, accomplished [by them]?’ For an answer, see Torah Or 38d, 69a, et al. [where it is explained that these holy Sages were so self-effacing and so G‑d-fearing that their Torah study bore spiritual results which others can only achieve through prayer].”

18.

Berachot 20a.

19.

Note of the Rebbe: “Many have asked: ‘If so, how were the Supernal Unions (yichudim) usually effected by daily prayer, accomplished [by them]?’ For an answer, see Torah Or 38d, 69a, et al. [where it is explained that these holy Sages were so self-effacing and so G‑d-fearing that their Torah study bore spiritual results which others can only achieve through prayer].”

20.

Rosh HaShanah 35a.

21.

End of Law 2.

22.

Note of the Rebbe: “It could be suggested that the Alter Rebbe adds the reason, since the reason too is part of the question, as is soon stated. Note that Mishnah is the revealed level of the Torah, while Scripture is related to Kabbalah (see the commentary in Likkutei Torah on the maamar beginning Lo Tashbit). But see Hilchot Talmud Torah of the Alter Rebbe, beginning of sec. 2, [from which it would seem that Kabbalah is related to the Oral Torah, not to Scripture].”

23.

Note of the Rebbe: “The Alter Rebbe omits the Order of Nashim, etc. (See Likkutei Levi Yitzchak on Tanya.)”

[Explaining this omission, the father of the Rebbe states there that the Alter Rebbe’s point could not be proved from the fact that the study of Nashim (which deals with marriage and divorce, etc.) overrides the Reading of Shema. For, as the Gemara says regarding the erasing of the Divine Name in the course of the purification of a sotah (the woman suspected of adultery), G‑d is even willing to allow the Divine Name to be erased, so long as this will restore peace between a husband and his wife. It is thus to be expected that the Reading of Shema, whose essence is the affirmation of the unity of the Divine Name, should defer to the study of this particular Order.

Other Kabbalistic reasons are offered there as well.]

24.

These parentheses/brackets are in the original text.

25.

Note of the Rebbe: “This requires further examination and research [to find where Rashbi actually states this in Ra’aya Mehemna]. See Zohar I, 27b (and in the Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar XIV, foot of p. 71 ff.); also Biurei HaZohar there [by the Mitteler Rebbe], (as well as by the Tzemach Tzedek, Volume II).”

26.

These parentheses/brackets are in the original text.

27.

Shaar HaMitzvot, Parshat Vaetchanan; et al.

28.

Shabbat 33b.

29.

These parentheses/brackets are in the original text.

30.

Chagigah 14a and Rashi there.

31.

The author of Minchat Elazar poses the following question (Divrei Torah 8:70):

The study of the Mishnayot would likewise not have taken more than several months, if they did not debate all the legal problems and solutions involved. We can thus say the same for their study of the Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar: while several months would suffice for the bare-bone text itself, even thirteen years would not suffice for discussing and plumbing its depths!

The Rebbe answers this by noting that the Alter Rebbe anticipated this question in this very letter.

He prefaces the fact that it took the compiler of the Gemara, R. Ashi, a full ten years to study the first and second editions of the Talmud which then comprised only six Orders. R. Shimon, who was of far greater stature (see Eruvin 54a) and studied the six hundred Orders of the Mishnah in much greater depth, propounding twenty-four solutions to every problem, surely was fully occupied in the cave with the study of the Mishnah.

With regard to the Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar, however, since the Alter Rebbe here quoted the Ra’aya Mehemna to the effect that they contain “no problematic query, which emanates from the side of evil, and no controversy, which emanates from the spirit of impurity,” there were then no questions nor disputations. Surely, then, this took no more than several months.

32.

Berachot 8a.

33.

“Pressing” [on the knife].

34.

“Passing [the knife] under” (instead of over) the windpipe and gullet.

35.

“Pausing” and thus interrupting the act of slaughter.

36.

Note of the Rebbe: “The Alter Rebbe does not mention hagramah [i.e., cutting in a slanting direction] or ikkur [i.e., severing the pipes by tearing].”

38.

Note of the Rebbe: “I.e., there will then be death.”

39.

Yirmeyahu 31:7.

40.

Note of the Rebbe: “I.e., there will then be birth.”

41.

Sanhedrin 51b.

42.

See Eduyot 8:7 and commentaries there.

43.

Menachot 45a.

44.

This sentence has been emended above in Hebrew and English according to the gloss of the Tzemach Tzedek as cited in Luach HaTikkun (Table of Corrections) at the end of Hebrew editions of Tanya.

45.

Note of the Rebbe: “Chagigah 2:2.”

46.

Rambam, Introduction to Yad HaChazakah.

47.

Shaar 49, ch. 2.

48.

Note of the Rebbe: “With regard to the above, compare the Alter Rebbe’s own wording (in Torah Or, Parshat Chayei Sarah) and see the commentary of the Tzemach Tzedek (printed as an addendum to the Kehot editions of Torah Or).”

49.

Cf. Tanya, ch. 7.

50.

See the Addendum to this chapter.

51.

Tikkunei Zohar, p. 17a (in the Introduction that begins Patach Eliyahu).

52.

These terms are explained above, at the beginning of Epistle 20 (Vol. IV in the present series, p. 357).

53.

Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 7; cf. Tanya, ch. 39.

54.

Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 7; cf. Tanya, ch. 39.

55.

Note of the Rebbe: “See also the Note in Tanya, ch. 40.”

56.

Kohelet 8:9.

57.

In the original, eirev-rav; cf. Shmot 12:38. Likkutei Haggahot LeSefer HaTanya emends our text to “nations of the world.”

58.

Zohar II, 85a; et al.

59.

Ibid., 254b.

60.

These parentheses are in the original text.

61.

Zohar III, 248a.

62.

These brackets are in the original text.

63.

These parentheses are in the original text.

64.

These brackets are in the original text.

65.

These brackets are in the original text.

66.

Note of the Rebbe: “All of these have to do with the clarification of the reason [underlying a law], as is soon stated.”

67.

Note of the Rebbe: “…even though it was known. This applies to many halachic rulings in the Gemara and especially in the Codes.”

68.

Note of the Rebbe [on this addition, which identifies the reason with the sublime Sefirah of Supernal Chochmah]: “This [addition] explains the magnitude of the exile [when the reason is not known], (and of the [consequent] redemption [when it is ascertained]) — even though the law itself is known and [hence] not in exile.”

69.

Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun XXI (p. 48b).

70.

This is explained at length in the maamar entitled VaTipakachnah by the Tzemach Tzedek, in Sefer HaChakirah, p. 136.

71.

Tehillim 92:10.

72.

Cf. Zohar III, 173a.

73.

These parentheses are in the original text.

74.

Note of the Rebbe: “I.e., in all of the above categories, each with its own singular quality.”

75.

Note of the Rebbe: “See Hilchot Talmud Torah of the Alter Rebbe, ch.1, end of sec. 4 (and sources cited there in the Kehot edition).”

76.

These parentheses are in the original text.

77.

Shabbat 138b.

78.

Berachot 8a.

79.

These brackets are in the original text.

80.

Tehillim 92:10.

81.

The word translated “transcending” does not appear in the printed Hebrew text. It has been inserted here according to the emendation of the Rebbe in Luach HaTikkun.

82.

These parentheses are in the original text.

83.

Niddah 61b.

84.

This differentiation between the performance of mitzvot before and after the Resurrection, follows the view of Tosafot in Niddah (loc. cit.). There Tosafot explains that the fact that burial shrouds may be made of kilayim, the forbidden mixture of wool and linen, proves that mitzvot will be abrogated after the Resurrection, for otherwise a Jew would arise wearing forbidden garments.

The Rashba, cited there in Chiddushei HaRan, disagrees, holding that the mitzvot are abrogated as far as the individual is concerned only while he is deceased. As the Rashba understands the Gemara, they will not be abrogated after the Resurrection.

The Rebbe uses this debate to resolve a seeming contradiction between two statements by the Alter Rebbe. In his Note to ch. 36 of Tanya (on p. 478 of Vol. II in the present series), the Alter Rebbe writes that “the [time of] receiving the reward is essentially in the seventh millennium.” Since this is after the time of the Resurrection, this is a time during which we are still intended to perform mitzvot. How, then, does the Alter Rebbe state here that mitzvot will be abrogated at the time of the Resurrection?

The distinction: In the Note to ch. 36 the Alter Rebbe follows the view of the Rashba, who maintains that at the time of the Resurrection, mitzvot will continue to be in effect. (The Alter Rebbe also follows this view in his maamar in Likkutei Torah on the phrase VeHayah BaYom Hahu Yitaka BeShofar Gadol.) Here, however, he follows the view of Tosafot.

The Rebbe goes on to say that drawing a distinction (as the Alter Rebbe does above) between the two periods, resolves most of the problematic queries posed by the MaHaratz Chayot, whose Glosses on Tractate Niddah cite those Talmudic sources which would seem to indicate that in future time the commandments will not be abrogated. For those sources speak of the era of the Messiah, before the Resurrection, while the teaching that they will be abrogated applies to the era that follows the Resurrection (according to the view of Tosafot).

For further examonation of this subject, the Rebbe refers the reader to the sources listed in Sdei Chemed, Klalim 40:218 (Vol. III, p. 561c ff. in the Kehot edition) and in Divrei Chachamim, sec. 53 (p. 1962b ff.).

85.

These brackets are in the original text.

86.

This phrase, enclosed in parentheses in the printed Hebrew text, does not appear in some manuscripts.

87.

Yeshayahu 65:20.

88.

Mishlei 12:21.

89.

Note of the Rebbe: “…For only with regard to the present time does Tosafot maintain (contrary to the view of Rashi) [that the promise of this verse applies] only to edibles (Chullin 5b), [for it is particularly shameful for a righteous person to eat forbidden food, even if unwittingly]. This [restriction to the present] may be derived from the underlying reasoning, viz.: In Time to Come the entire world will attain perfection. [At that time, therefore, no kind of unwitting sin will befall any of the Jewish people, since all will then be righteous].”

90.

Yoma 28b; Kiddushin 82a.

91.

Lech Lecha 11d.

92.

Shemini 18c.

93.

See Likkutei Torah, BeHaalot’cha 32d.

94.

The last phrase in the Hebrew text has been emended according to the Table of Glosses and Emendations.

95.

This Addendum is based on selections from Likkutei Sichot, Vol. III, p. 984ff., and footnotes there.

96.

Yoma 82a; the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 617:2.

97.

Chullin 39b.

98.

Ruth Rabbah 6:6.

99.

Taz (Turei Zahav) and Shach (Siftei Cohen) in Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah, end of sec. 81.

100.

Cf. Rambam, Hilchot Shabbat, beginning of ch. 2.

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