Tanya Chapter 16
by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Gedalia Potash and William Schecter, MD
This draft has been neither edited nor approved by Rabbi Potash
Saturday February 13, 2021
And this is the great principle for the Beinonim in Service to G-d: The principle is to govern and control the animal nature in the left chamber of the heart by way of the Divine Light which illuminates the G-dly Soul in the brain controlling the heart, when contemplating the Greatness of the Eternal. This contemplation gives birth from the Beinoni’s understanding (Tvunah) to the intellectual Spirit, the Knowledge and the Fear of G-d (of the Beinoni) causing him to flee from Evil forbidden by the Torah and the Talmud and even the most simple of the Rabbinical Prohibitions.
And you shall love the Lord with your heart in the right chamber (of the heart) with passion and desire to cleave to Him through the fulfillment of the Mitzvot of the Torah and the Talmud, Talmud Torah (Torah Study) being the most important.
Furthermore, knowledge of a great principle is necessary for the Beinoni to serve to G-d. The principle is that if his particular intellect is unable to give birth to the revealed love of G-d in his heart, such that his heart burns with the flames of a fire and he passionately desires to cleave to Him (G-d), at least there is a hidden love in his brain and mysteries in his heart. (the reason for this is that if this particular person’s intellect and his Nefesh, Ruah and Neshamah1 have the attribute of a fetus, i.e., the fear and love remain hidden as in a fetus prior to birth, meaning it is present but unexpressed, as opposed to the person who has the attribute of birth (a fully formed child after birth), meaning that the fear and love are revealed by his understanding, as is known to those who understand Kabbalah). The heart born with understanding (Tvunah) intellectually understands with spirit, wisdom and understanding the Greatness of G-d, compared to Whom all else is naught. It is appropriate that the Soul of every living thing will yearn for Him, to cleave to him and join His Light.
Also, it is fitting for the Soul and Spirit of the Beinoni to passionately desire to leave their material sheath, the body, and cleave unto Him (G-d). They (the Soul and the Spirit) are forcefully contained within the body (against their will), bound to it like a deserted wife2. But man’s mind is incapable of comprehending the Divine unless this thought is invested in the Torah and its Commandments, as a person who embraces a King as discussed above.3
It is fitting for them (the Beinonim) to embrace Him (G-d) with all their heart, Soul and might, by performing the 613 Mitzvot in deed, speech and thought which is the achievement and knowledge of the Torah as referred to above. When one deepens one’s Knowledge (both informationally and emotionally) of the Torah, in the mysteries and understanding of his heart and mind, his mouth (speech) and his heart (emotions) will be equal (will be joined). When one fulfills both by speech and the understanding achieved in his heart and mind, meaning that his desire shall be for G-d’s Torah which will guide his speech by day and by night, as well as guiding his hands and the remainder of his organs to fulfill the Mitzvot completed in the understanding of his heart and mind, then this understanding is invested in deed, speech and thought of the Torah and its commandments. This unity of heart and mind in contemplation of the Torah and its commandments gives intellect, life wings to fly on high as the Beinoni is engaging them with true revealed love and fear in his heart.
Here the Elter Rebbe quotes a small portion of the Talmud. I will insert a slightly longer section to give his quote context: The Rabbis of the Talmud hinted at this when they said “G-d adds the merit of a good intention [in rewarding] a good deed” (Kiddushin 40:a). It should have said “Rav Ashi said: If a person intended to perform a mitzva, but due to circumstances beyond his control, he did not perform it, the verse ascribes him credit as if he performed the mitzva, as he is among those that think upon His name.” (Brachot 6:a)
Rather, because of the love and the mercy that is revealed in the heart of the Beinoni, they are invested in the performance of the Mitzvot to give life to them to fly on high. The heart is a physical object, like the rest of the organs of the body. They are the tools required to perform actions. But the heart is also an internal organ which gives life to the other organs and therefore can invest them with thought, speech and action giving them wings to ascend.
So, the love and mercy in the understandings of his mind and the mysteries of his heart, referred to above, elevate their paths (spiritually) to the highest levels in the attribute of deed. Unless G-d joins this high spiritual intention to the actual deed (as referred to above in Kiddushin 40:a and Brachot 6:a) it is impossible for the attribute of mind and vitality to elevate them to fly on high. For Mitzvot performed without this high spiritual intention are not called “good intention” because they were not performed with true the love and fear revealed in the heart.
(The Elter Rebbe here inserts an aside referring to complex Kabbalistic principles that we have not covered. I will not translate this as it is peripheral to his main argument.)
The combination (of the performed Mitzvah and the good Intention) which G-d fuses together raises the performance of the Mitzvot and Torah Study performed with good intention, as discussed above, to the level of the World of Briah, the place of elevation of the Torah and the Mitzvot performed through true intellectual love and fear revealed in the heart. But even if good intention is not combined with the performance of the Mitzvah, the Act is raised to the level of the World of Yetzirah4 through the natural fear and love hidden in the heart of every Jew at birth as will be explained at great length below.
To summarize, there is hidden love and fear (awe) of G-d in the right side of the heart of each person. Some people are born with this love and fear concealed. Others are born with the love and fear revealed. Some people are able, through prayer and contemplation, to awaken the hidden love and fear of for G-d. If so, if G-d combines this passionate love and awe with the actual performed Mitzvah, the act rises to the World of Briah, one World below the highest spiritual World—Atsilut. If on the other hand, the person, either intellectually or emotionally, is unable to awaken this hidden love and awe, the performance of Mitzvah still has value and will rise to the World of Yetzirah, one spiritual level below the World of Briah and one spiritual level above our own World of Asiyah.
- Nefesh, Ruah, Neshama: All three of these words can be translated into the English word Soul. Nefesh (נפש ) Kabbalistically refers to the lowest spiritual level of the Soul—matters concerning only the individual. Ruach is on a higher spiritual plane and refers to the Soul’s relationship to others. Ruah (רוח ) also means wind or spirit in Hebrew. Neshama (נשמה ) is the highest spiritual level and refers to the Soul’s relationship with G-d. Neshama also means breath in Hebrew and refers to G-d ‘breathing’ life into man (Genesis 2:7). In modern colloquial Hebrew, a man may refer to his girl friend or wife affectionately as “Neshama”.
- Deserted Wives ( אלמנות חיות ) This expression refers to a woman whose husband has disappeared. He may be dead but with no proof of death. Alternatively, he may have abandoned her without a Get (a bill of divorce). In any case, she is not free to remarry and remains bound in this state, often against her will. A more common term for this situation is Isha Agunah ( אישה עגונה )—an anchored woman.
- As a person who embraces a King: This is a reference to a sentence in Chapter 4 of the Tanya. Although the Torah is invested in material issues (the Mitzvot), when a person performs the Mitzvot, it is analogous to embracing the King (G-d), for, said the Elter Rebbe in Chapter 4, there is no difference in the merit of the Beinoni’s proximity and commitment to the King, whether the King is wearing one or several garments, because the King’s body is inside of the clothes. Similarly, the King embraces the Beinoni with his arm, even if the arm is enclothed. Rabbi Potash further explained this concept in his discussion of Chapter 4: “. Performance of a Mitzvah, Rabbi Potash said, is like reaching out and touching G-d (the King). If you shake hands (figuratively) with a King, you establish a relationship with Him. It doesn’t mean that you understand Him or that you have touched all of Him, but it does mean that you have initiated a relationship. So, Rabbi Potash says that the person who performs the Mitzvot out of love desires to have a relationship with G-d in contrast to the person who performs the Mitzvot out of awe and fear. This person simply desires to avoid Divine punishment.”
- In Kabbalistic cosmology, there are 4 hierarchical Worlds. The highest, Atzilut, is the closest to G-d spiritually which has pure Divine emanation and is the source of the Souls of the Tsadik Gamur, a Soul lacking any Animal (material) lusts or desires. Atzilut begins with an aleph indicating oneness or the unity of G-d. Atzilut is derived from the word Atzel, meaning next to (G-d)
The next level down is the World of Briah where there is a greater separation from the Divine. Briah (creation) begins with the letter Bet which has the numerical value of 2 and indicates duality.
The next level down is Yetzirah (formation) in which the concealment of the Divine begins. Yetzirah begins with the letter yud having the numerical value of 10.
The lowest World, the one in which we live, is Asiyah meaning action. In the World of Asiyah, G-d is present but concealed. Asiyah begins with the letter Ayin having the numerical value of 70
וזה כלל גדול בעבודת ה' לבינונים: העיקר הוא למשול ולשלוט על הטבע שבחלל השמאלי, על ידי אור ה' המאיר לנפש האלוהית שבמוח, ולשלוט על הלב, כשמתבונן במוחו בגדולת אין סוף ברוך הוא. להוליד מבינתו: רוח דעת ויראת ה' במוחו, להיות סור מרע דאורייתא ודרבנן, ואפילו איסור קל של דבריהם חס ושלום; ואהבת ה' בליבו בחלל הימני, בחשיקה וחפיצה, לדבקה בו בקיום המצוות דאורייתא ודרבנן, ותלמוד תורה שכנגד כולן. ויתר על כן, צריך לידע כלל גדול בעבודה לבינונים, שגם אם אין יד שכלו משגת להוליד אהבת ה' בהתגלות ליבו, שיהיה ליבו בוער כרשפי אש וחפץ בחפיצה וחשיקה ותשוקה מורגשת בלב לדבקה בו, רק האהבה מסותרת במוחו ותעלומות ליבו, [הגהה: והסיבה לזה היא מפני היות המוחין שלו ונפש רוח ונשמה שלו מבחינת עיבור והעלם תוך התבונה ולא מבחינת לידה והתגלות, כידוע ליודעי ח"ן], דהיינו, שהלב מבין ברוח חכמה ובינה שבמוחו גדולת אין סוף ברוך הוא, דכולא קמיה כלא חשיב ממש, אשר על כן יאתה לו יתברך שתכלה אליו נפש כל חי לידבק ולהכלל באורו. וגם נפשו ורוחו אשר בקרבו כך יאתה להן, להיות כלות אליו בחשיקה וחפיצה, לצאת מנרתיקן, הוא הגוף, לדבקה בו. רק שבעל כרחן חיות הנה בתוך הגוף וצרורות בו כאלמנות חיות. ולית מחשבה דילהון תפיסא ביה כלל, כי אם כאשר תפיסא ומתלבשת בתורה ובמצוותיה, כמשל המחבק את המלך הנזכר לעיל. ואי לזאת, יאתה להן לחבקו בכל לב ונפש ומאד, דהיינו קיום התרי"ג מצוות במעשה ובדיבור ובמחשבה, שהיא השגת וידיעת התורה, כנזכר לעיל. הנה, כשמעמיק בעניין זה בתעלומות תבונות ליבו ומוחו, ופיו וליבו שווין, שמקיים כן בפיו כפי אשר נגמר בתבונת ליבו ומוחו, דהיינו, להיות בתורת ה' חפצו ויהגה בה יומם ולילה בפיו, וכן הידיים ושאר אברים מקיימים המצוות כפי מה שנגמר בתבונת ליבו ומוחו, הרי תבונה זו מתלבשת במעשה דיבור ומחשבת התורה ומצוותיה, להיות להם בחינת מוחין וחיות וגדפין לפרחא לעילא, כאילו עסק בהם בדחילו ורחימו ממש אשר בהגלות ליבו [בחפיצה וחשיקה ותשוקה מורגשת בליבו ונפשו הצמאה לה' מפני רשפי אש אהבתו שבלבו כנזכר לעיל], הואיל ותבונה זו שבמוחו ותעלומות ליבו היא המביאתו לעסוק בהם, ולולי שהיה מתבונן בתבונה זו לא היה עוסק בהם כלל, אלא בצרכי גופו לבד. [וגם אם הוא מתמיד בלימודו בטבעו, אף על פי כן אוהב את גופו יותר בטבעו]. וזה רמזו רז"ל באמרם: (קידושין מ, א): "מחשבה טובה הקב"ה מצרפה למעשה", והוה ליה למימר: "מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו עשאה"! אלא העניין, כי דחילו ורחימו שבהתגלות ליבו, הם המתלבשים במעשה המצוות להחיותם לפרחא לעילא. כי הלב הוא גם כן חומרי, כשאר איברים שהם כלי המעשה. אלא שהוא פנימי וחיות להם, ולכן יכול להתלבש בהם להיות להם גדפין להעלותם. אך הדחילו ורחימו שבתבונות מוחו ותעלומות ליבו הנזכרים לעיל, גבהו דרכיהם למעלה מעלה מבחינת המעשה, ואי אפשר להם להתלבש בבחינת מעשה המצוות, להיות להם בחינת מוחין וחיות להעלותן לפרחא לעילא, אם לא שהקב"ה מצרפן ומחברן לבחינת המעשה. והן נקראות בשם "מחשבה טובה", כי אינן דחילו ורחימו ממש בהתגלות ליבו, כי אם בתבונת מוחו ותעלומות ליבו כנזכר לעיל. [הגהה: וכמו שכתוב בזוהר ועץ חיים, דתבונה אותיות ב"ן וב"ת, שהן דחילו ורחימו, ולפעמים התבונה יורדת להיות מוחין בנוקבא דזעיר אנפין, שהן אותיות התורה והמצוות, והמשכיל יבין]. אך צירוף זה מצרף הקב"ה כדי להעלות מעשה המצוות ועסק התורה, הנעשים על ידי מחשבה טובה הנזכרת לעיל, עד עולם הבריאה, מקום עליית התורה והמצוות הנעשים על ידי דחילו ורחימו שכליים אשר בהתגלות ליבו ממש. אבל בלאו הכי נמי עולים לעולם היצירה, על ידי דחילו ורחימו טבעיים המסותרים בלב כל ישראל בתולדותם, כמו שיתבאר לקמן באריכות.