Friday, July 31, 2015

Short Summary of Likutey Torah VaEtchanan

בס"ד
ואתחנן אל ה' וגו' אתה החילות וגו'

להיות עולם הזה הוא עולם השפל ע"כ ברא אלקים את האדם שהוא נר הוי' נשמת אדם להאיר את
העוה"ז... והיינו ע"י ק"ש ותפלה שיאיר שם הוי"ה בלבו ע"י שיתפעל מקרב איש ולב עמוק וזהו ענין ברוך אתה הוי"ה כו'

This physical and material world is “low” and “dark”, meaning the coarse nature of materiality, defined by time and space, conceal G-dliness, and even spirituality.  Hence this world is called dark, since it only senses itself and does not sense the G-dly lifeforce creating it, and “low” because it is the “farthest” from the “higher” realms where G-dliness is openly revealed (mainly the world of Atzilut).

And for this reason Man was created, each of us being a “candle of Hashem” to light up the darkness.  How?  By manifesting G-dliness within ourselves, our being, our existence, and since we exist in the physical material world, we manifest G-dliness in the physical and material world.

Specifically, we do this by the process of davening, uniting G-dliness and the physical world through the process of pesukei dzimra, the laining of the Shma, and the Amida davening - thereby revealing the Name of Hashem in us and through us in the world.

This is what it means “Blessed are You…” - Boruch (“blessed”) literally means “to bring down”, “You” - means to the presence as we only say “you” to someone who is right here in front of us, and who did we bring down to be right in front of us? Hashem - the Blessed Essence of No End.

יבאר פי' וענין הגילוי שם הוי"ה בלבו דהיינו ע"י שיבין ענין ובטובו מחדש בכל יום מע"ב. בריאה חדשה ממש מאין ליש. ולא דרך השתלשלות שהוא ענין גילוי ההעלם לבד. וע"ז מורה שם הוי'.

How do you bring down the revelation of the Name YHVH in his heart?  By shedding away the husks that conceal Hashem, mainly my sense of corporeal independent existence which defines the physical and material world.  I do this by contemplating how the world is being created from nothing literally at every instance, that is the inner meaning of the blessing we say “He recreates in His kindness…”  

This creation something from nothing is higher than the order of progression of worlds (Atzilut, Beriya, Yetzira, Asiya) which are only revealing what was already before albeit in a concealed way.  This creation we are referring to is actually creating something that before was not in existence at all, referring to the beginning of everything, every moment, from absolute nothing.

וזהו ואהבת את הוי"ה שיהיה שורה בך בבחינת גילוי.  והיינו בכל לבבך תוך שני לבבות פנימית וחיצוניות. וע"י אעדל"ת זו נמשך אתעדל"ע להיות ברכה והמשכה בגילוי.  

This contemplation immediately brings us to love Hashem with all our heart, with both our hearts, both the external feelings we are conscious of as well as our inner emotive attributes, all burnt up with love for the Creator.

And through this process taking place in us (from below) we elicit a great revelation (from above), as is the process that the result of motivation from below (us turning from feeling ourselves and the world and eliciting our love and desire for G-dliness), is motivation from Above (Divine revelation in us and through us in the entire world).  

אך ותלמוד תורה כנגד כולם שהוא רק המשכה מאתעדל"ע מבחינה שאין אתעדל"ת יכולה להשיגה וזהו אתה החילות וגם כדי להיות אתעדל"ת צריך להיות תחלה אתעדל"ע כמ"ש ע"פ אלה מסעי בענין ויכתוב משה את מוצאיהם למסעיהם. וע"ז ביקש משה אעברה נא ואראה להמשיך בה בחינת אתה החילות:

Until now we have discussed the process by which man is a candle of the light of G-dliness in the dark world, which is accomplished through davening.  This is a process of motivation from below eliciting a motivation from above.

However the next level is the study of Torah, which is a motivation from Above, from such a high level that it is not elicited by a motivation from below.  It is from such a high level that Created beings cannot reach and “motivate” or “elicit” it, but it comes from the very essence of Hashem Himself so to speak.

This is what Moshe said “You have began”, that Hashem Himself started the process, unelicited from below.  This is what Moshe was asking, that he should bestow this supernal level into the physical land of Israel (and by doing so there would be no room for destruction or exile, since sin and evil cannot penetrate this level).

יבאר שהמשכה מבחינה זו אינו נתפס בגילוי והתלבשות המחשבה כ"א הארה בעלמא כענין מ"ש ויצא כברק חצו.  וזהו ואראה את הארץ וכמש"ש וה' עליהם יראה. עיניך יונים. ועד"ז חכמים שהם עיני העדה תקנו ברכת המצות.  וכדי להמשיך בחינה זו הקדים משה ואמר ואתחנן אל הוי"ה להמשיך מבחינת חנון שהוא אוצר מתנ חנם שאין אתעדל"ת מגיע שם משם המשיך בחי' הוי"ה שהוא אתעדל"ע:

And this level (in personal divine service “Avoda”) cannot be intellectually perceived and experienced, this is called “seeing”, which is a level higher than intellect.  Which is why the Arizal was able to “see” in his dream secrets that could not be explained even is speaking for 60-80 years straight.  

This is “seeing” that Moshe was asking for, to “see” the land of Israel.  And the sages are called “the eyes of the nation’, inheriting this level of “seeing” from Moshe.  And the blessings we make which were enacted by the sages the eyes of the nation, are actually coming from this supernal level of “seeing”, which have the effect of bringing down the supernal level discussed above as a preparation for the actual performance of a mitzvah.  

This has a direct connection with asking to “see the Rebbe”, which immediately brings to him taking us into the land of Israel in the true and complete redemption by Moshiach.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Take aways from the Rebbe's sicha Hakhel 13 Tishrey 5748 (Part 1)

BS"D

1. Lechatichila Ariber - from the onset, go above.

The sicha was said on the day of the Hilula of the Rebbe Mohorosh, the 4th Lubavitcher Rebbe, who was famous for saying "the world says that when you can;t go under, go over, I say that from the onset you should go over."

This seemingly "cute" idea holds a much deeper concept.  Mainly, that while the world is limited by time and space.  both are created being, and the G-dliness that recreates the world from Absolute Nothing is by definition above the limitation of time and sapce.

Most, if not all, of us live within this limitation of time and space.  Only under extenuating circumstances do we feel so stressed that we tap into the reality above time and space.  The Rebbe Mohorosh tell us to from the beginning work with our intrinsic G-dly qualities, totally above time and space.  See more on this in the sicha 13 Tishrey 5744.

Until the time of the redemption, people are bound by the limitation of time and space, while very few in each generation who are complete tzadikim were at times acting beyond time and sapce (Lechatchila Ariber).  The Rebbe in this sicha is telling us that each and every one of us should act like complete tzadikim, hence act lechatchila ariber.

But how could this be?  if even in Tanya it says that there are indeed very few tzadikim in each generation, and most of us are quite far from being tzadikim, mush less complete tzadikim.  But the Rebbe explains elsewhere in the discourses of 1991-1992 that until the time of the end of the sifting of the 288 sparks, we had no choice and were bound by nature.  But after the time of the complete sifting of the sparks in 1991 (5751) each and every one of us has the ability and obligation to elevate to the level where we are not associated with our personality first and foremost, but rather associated with our Neshama.  This is the level of tzadikim.

But how come we don't see a difference in the world and inside of us since 1991?  That's because of our habits - our habitual association with  our personality.  Our viewing the world through the eyes of our personality and not through the eyes of our Neshama.

The work at hand is therefore a work of breaking habits and getting used to new habits.  This is a function of learning and implementing our learning into a new way of looking at our life.

What comes out of this is that Lechatchila Ariber is not just a nice saying, it is a path in divine service and the path for bringing about the redemption by Moshiach.  It embodies all of the teachings and effort of the Torah of Chassidus since its onset and is the Rebbe's direction to our generation.

This, in my opinion, is the introduction to the Rebbe's message regarding Hakhel, because (a.) this is the way to implement such a lofty goal as Hakhel - to gather the Jews globally into a central network, (b.) it is the individual mission of every Jew int heir process of personal redemption, for which Hakhel is the ideal support.

The Rebbe actually says in the sicha:
(end of ch. 6):
"... we stand in the year of Hakhel which causes an elevation (ariber) in all of Israel, the men women and children, until the very infants, are all elevated by the ingathering of the exiles together, which has an affect on the very place where they gather (even at the time that the physical Temple is not yet standing), that the place should be a holy place [holy means above time and space, unified with G-d]..."

 (beginning of ch. 7):
" ... Lechatchila Ariber quickens and hastens the true and complete redemption by Moshiach, since when we are talking about a person that is above "cheshbonos" [above limitation of logic and reason of time and space] then there is no room of reasoning against him, and the redemption is something he deserves immediately..."  Very deep words, I think the Rebbe is saying that when a person is in the state where he is bound by time and space, then these limitations limit his ability to "merit" which means to relate to the redemption.  When the person elevates above time and space and hence limitations, he automatically "merits' which means associated with the dimension of the redemption which already exists but has to be "brought down" to the real world in a practical way.