Chof-Ches Nissan: Do everything you can!

Today is Chof-ches Nissan, the day that the Rebbe delivered the famous sicha in which he charged us with our core mission after Gimmel Tammuz. See my former posts on the significance of this day here, here, and here. Moshiach now, and lechaim!

Matan Torah: Compelling Love

Matan Torah: Compelling Love

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

The Divine Presence rests only in a place that is in a state of bittul, submission and self-nullification, to Hashem.[1]

This is true of any divine revelation, and so it applies all the more to the Giving of the Torah, which was the greatest divine revelation in history. In order to receive the Torah, the Jewish people had to be in a state of total bittul to Hashem.

Now, on one level, this bittul was accomplished through the suffering that the Jewish people underwent in the Egyptian exile, for suffering crushes a person’s ego, making him a vessel for Hashem’s infinite light.[2]

Likewise, we find that immediately before receiving the Torah, the Jewish people cried out collectively, “we will do.”[3] With this they dedicated themselves to Hashem from the very core of their beings, committing to obey Him regardless of what He might command (which they did not yet know, for He had not yet issued the Ten Commandments). They rose to a level of devotion and love for Hashem so intense and sublime that it was as if they had no wish of their own, for their only wish became to fulfill Hashem’s wish.
This is the level of bittul expressed in the analogy to an eved, a servant, who has no independent existence; his entire existence is devoted to obeying everything that his master commands him.[4]

After they reached the level of “we will do,” they merited “we will hear”—to “hear” and absorb the revelation of Hashem’s infinite light.

But how were the Jewish people able to attain such a lofty level of love for Hashem? Had they not only recently been delivered from Egypt, where they had in many respects assimilated with the Egyptians, and sunken to appalling depths of impurity? Indeed, the Zohar states[5] that they had sunken to the forty-ninth gate of impurity, and that when they were redeemed, they were on the brink of falling to the fiftieth and lowest gate of impurity, at which point they would have been irredeemable. At this point they were at the lowest level of divine service, and in a very childlike state (see here concerning “mochin dekatnus”). How could they then “jump” spiritually from such depravity to such heights?

Moreover, how does the above explanation of “we will do” as meaning that the Jewish people received the Torah with total, unreserved eagerness fit with the Talmud’s statement that Hashem “forced the mountain upon their heads like a tub” and insisted that they accept the Torah?[6]

Chassidus reveals that although Hashem “forced” the Jewish people to receive the Torah, they did so not out of fear, but out of love.

Human nature is that “as water reflects a face to a face, so is one’s heart reflected back to him by another.”[7] The way feelings work is that we naturally reciprocate a feeling expressed to us.

Now, the more intense the feeling expressed, the harder it is to express a contrary feeling in return. This explains why an intense expression of love is usually reciprocated. However, at times one may express profound, heartfelt love to another, but still finds that it is rejected, or not sufficiently reciprocated. The reason for this is that for whatever reason, a certain part of the giver, and thus also of the recipient, was not involved in the love. However, if the expression of love is total and uncompromising, then it will be so powerful that it will “compel” the recipient to accept it, for it encompasses the recipient so utterly that he or she “cannot” reject it.

This might also be observed physically, when the one expressing love is overwhelmed with emotion to the point that he hugs his loved one so tightly that his entire back is embraced, and so the recipient of the hug is pinned in place, unable to move and turn his or her back to the lover.

This is the deeper meaning of the Talmud’s statement that Hashem “forced” the Jewish people to receive the Torah. Thus, of the Giving of the Torah it is written, “his right hand embraces me.”[8] Hashem “hugged” the Jewish people so tightly, as it were, that they could not turn their back to Him and reject Him. He revealed Himself to them with an ahavah rabbah, a “great love”—a love so passionate that they were “forced” to respond in kind.

How did they respond in kind? They declared “we will do,” and thereby surrendered to Hashem with an absolute commitment, as explained.

This also explains how they could have “jumped” from the depths of impurity to the heights of holiness. As sublime as their love for Hashem was, it came through a revelation from Above, and not through their own efforts and merit. And so it didn’t matter that they had just emerged from Egypt; as they were, on their degenerate level, Hashem expressed His “great love” for them, and thereby elevated them to a sublime level of love toward Him.

Based on Torah Ohr, s.v. Chayav inish libsumi.

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[1] Tanya ch. 6; cf. ibid. ch. 35.
[2] Cf. Torah Ohr, Yisro 74a-b.
[3] See Shemos 24:7
[4] Tanya ch. 41 (57a).
[5] Zohar Chadash, Yisro, beg.
[6] Shabbos 88a.
[7] Mishlei 27:19.
[8] Shir HaShirim 2:6, 8:3.

This post is dedicated by Reb Kasriel Oliver and family as a merit for Rivka Reizel bas Hinda Zelda Bracha Tsap.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

27 Adar

See my post: 27 Adar: Now it's our job

Purim: Seeing Through the Facade

Purim: Seeing Through the Facade

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

On Purim, we celebrate a very special kind of miracle. A “miracle vested in nature”.

“Normal” miracles jump in your face and jar you out of your sense of self and your default approach to the world. Normally, the external natural world cries out “I exist,” and only allows us to connect with the level of G–dliness that is vested within nature, which stems from the divine name of Elokim. Open miracles, however, virtually “force” us to acknowledge that right behind the Elokim-generated forces of nature lie the name of Havayeh, a level of G–dliness so sublime that it utterly transcends nature, and it even transcends the fundamental parameters of time and space.

(Of course, a true skeptic—one filled with blind faith in the powers of his puny intellect, and a passionate desire to reject anything and everything beyond it at all costs—will find a way to deny, dismiss, and belittle anything and everything that transcends nature. But “we are not speaking of fools.”[1])

Then there is a miracle that can be easily denied, or not noticed to begin with. One could fail to realize that this event involved divine intervention in the “normal” process of nature. This kind of miracle truly tests our faith, our inner bond with Hashem, our power to sense the absolute truth of G–dliness.

This is the lesson of the story of Purim. No dramatic splitting of the sea, flame without oil, or Golem here. Just a series of apparently fortuitous coincidences, any one of which alone might seem surprising, but still well within the realm of statistical probability.

And yet since the Jew’s special Neshamah stems from the name of Havayeh,[2] he has the power, if he so chooses, to see through the façade of Elokim, to see how in fact these were no natural events—this was the handiwork of Havayeh alone.

And this is what we celebrate on Purim—the Jew’s ability to see through the mask of nature[3] and see Hashem’s constant guiding hand. And not only in grand events of national significance, but even in his very own personal life—if he truly wants, he has the power to see how Hashem has guided him every step of the way, and how in fact, every single event in his life is truly from Hashem—and not only from Elokim, but from Havayeh.[4]

Certainly, when the Jew sees in his personal life a “coincidence” that some might attribute to chance, citing the all-knowing professors of statistics as their supposedly unimpeachable source, or at least to the cyclical rhythms of Elokim, the Jew knows the truth—that every single event in his life occurs by Divine Providence alone, and stems (not only from Elokim, but on a deeper level) from Havayeh.

So why did he, let’s just say, receive an e-mail from an old friend he had fallen out of touch with for years soon after he spent five minutes consciously thinking about this person for no apparent reason (as actually happened to me just last night)? The Jew knows that this was no fluke. Hashem wanted to show him a little glimpse of His Personal Providence by slightly removing the façade of nature for a brief while.

Then this experience shows him tangibly how mikreh—chance is rak meiHashem—only from Hashem.[5] His eyes are opened up (and perhaps this is one of the meanings of the Rebbe’s exhortation that we “open our eyes”) to see Hashem’s hand in every aspect of his life. And the more he searches earnestly for Hashem, the more he truly sees Him.

This endows him with the encouragement to approach even his daily mundane, apparently banal routine duties with joy and inspiration, knowing that Hashem—including the lofty level of Havayeh—goes with him always, even in the apparently negative events in his life (may Hashem spare us), and that only Hashem gives him the strength to perform acts of might.[6] And through this faith, “everything will become good on a revealed level as well.”[7] Kein tihiyeh lanu!

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[1] Bava Kama 85a.
[2] See the explanation and sources quoted here.
[3] This is one of the reasons for the custom to dress up in costume on Purim (Rabbi Moshe Chagiz, Eileh Hamitzvos, p. 293).
[4] Cf. Tanya, Iggeres HaKodesh ch. 11.
[5] Sfas Emes, Parshas Zachor, 5632.
[6] Cf. Devarim 8:14-18.
[7] Tanya ibid.


This article is dedicated by Sholom Ber and Rochel'e Odze, l'ilui nishmas Yaakov ben Moshe (Jack Muchnik) a"h.


Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Conversion and Birth

Conversion and Birth

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

Our sages say: “A convert is like a newborn child.”[1] At first glance, our sages use this analogy to describe the utter transformation that the convert undergoes upon conversion, who becomes a new being, like a newly born child.

However, if this is the purpose of the comparison, it seems lacking. After all, even a newborn child exists before its birth—and fully formed, with all its organs in place. All that occurs at birth is that the child’s hidden existence becomes manifest, and it functions (albeit only on the basic level) independently in the outside world. Why isn’t conversion described with another analogy, one that truly implies a complete metamorphosis?

The answer: Indeed, the process of conversion is directly comparable to physical birth, for the convert’s special Jewish Neshamah existed even before conversion, just as a baby exists before birth. In fact, the convert’s Neshamah was present when the Torah was given, as were the Neshamos of Jews who are not converts.[2] This is comparable to the way that an unborn child is taught the entire Torah,[3] just as the entire Torah was given to every single Jew at Sinai.

However, although the convert’s Neshamah exists, it is hidden, and it has no impact on the “outside world”—i.e., our physical world. When the conversion occurs, the convert’s Neshamah is “born”—it emerges and begins to exert an impact upon the outside world.

Thus, we find that our sages refer to a convert using the apparently odd phrase, “ger shenisgayeir—a convert who converts.” Shouldn’t it refer to “goy shenisgayeir—a non-Jew who converts,” along the lines of a standard Talmudic expression, “katan shehigdil—a minor who becomes an adult”? Rather, this precise expression alludes to the spark of a holy Jewish soul that lay within the convert even before conversion.[4]

Moreover, this Jewish soul existed in the non-Jew from his physical birth.

To explain, the Talmud says, “The son of David [Moshiach] will not come until all the souls to be vested in bodies [lit. “in the body”] have been exhausted.”[5] This means that Moshiach’s coming depends upon a certain number of Jewish people being born. Why is the singular word “guf—body” used to refer to the bodies into which the souls are to be vested?

This alludes to a deeper meaning. Every Neshamah that will ever be placed in a Jew awaits in a heavenly storehouse called “guf—body,” and the angel appointed over birth takes the Neshamah from that storehouse and implants it inside the embryo in the mother’s womb.

However, sometimes the angel mistakenly puts a Jewish Neshamah in the womb of a non-Jewish mother, and that child ends up becoming a convert.[6]

Based on the Rebbe's Hisva’aduyos 5743, Vol. 2, p. 925.

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[1] Yevamos 62b.
[2] Pirkei DeRebbi Elazar ch. 41.
[3] Niddah 30b.
[4] Chida, Midbar Kedeimos 3:3.
[5] Yevamos 62a.
[6] Teshuvos Baalei HaTosafos, p. 286, in the name of R’ Yehudah HaChossid.

This post is dedicated to all the righteous converts; may they be blessed begashmiyus and beruchniyus!

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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Tefillah: Rising up from the lowest levels

The verse states concerning Yaakov: “And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was fixed in the earth, and its head reached the heavens.” This alludes to Tefillah, which is called a ladder. The Jew starts at the lowest rung of the ladder of Tefillah—“the earth”—and rises ever higher, until he can reach the most sublime spiritual heights—“the heavens.”


The above-mentioned verse uses the word artzah for earth, although it is usually spelled aretz. Artzah, with an additional hei, alludes to the very lowest level in the earth.


This teaches us that even when the Jew is struggling not only with the standard natural state of animalistic selfishness that most of us feel upon waking, but with sins that have caused him to sink to a nadir of spiritual degeneracy, may G–d save us, Tefillah has the power to pull him out and elevate him to the most sublime spiritual level.


Nevertheless, Tefillah can only raise the person up if he is inspired to invest the effort that Tefillah requires. But if he is on a low level, how can he reach the state of yearning for G–dliness that will inspire him to climb up the rungs of Tefillah?


The solution is for one to reflect upon this very fact—that he is on a low level, both with regard to his thought, speech, and action, and with regard to his intellect and emotions. Even the essence of his soul may be trapped in the forces of impurity. This realization transforms him into a vessel for change, inspiring him with a yearning to invest the effort to rise up the ladder of Tefillah.

Adapted from Sefer HaMa’amarim Melukat—Nissan, pp. 181-182.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Sin Detracts from Our Bond with Hashem

Sin Detracts from Our Bond with Hashem

Rabbi Y. Oliver

(This is continuing from the previous post.)

In addition to the specific kind of wicked deed that each of the negative emotions entices one to commit, all negative emotions seek to make the Jew susceptible to sin in general, for, as our sages say “A person does not sins unless possessed by a spirit of foolishness.”[1] This “spirit of foolishness” comprises the negative emotions within the Bestial Soul, which are “foolish”—they seek to entice the person to sin by concealing from him the truth of the nature of sin.

The “spirit of foolishness” uses falsehood to entice the person to sin in many ways. One of its prime ruses is the claim: “Sin will not impinge upon your bond with Hashem.”[2]

Every Jew harbors an innate love and yearning for Hashem (the ahavah mesuteres[3]) that makes it intolerable for him to allow his bond with Hashem to be weakened, never mind severed, G–d forbid. In the words of the Alter Rebbe, “A Jew doesn’t want to, and cannot, become separated from G–dliness.”[4] And since “Your sins separate between you and Hashem, your G–d,”[5] by nature, a Jew cannot bring himself to commit a sin and thereby sever his connection with Hashem.

Yet this only means that the Jew cannot bring himself to knowingly sever his connection with Hashem. However, his evil inclination, called “the sly one,”[6] can delude him into imagining that sin will not detract from his bond with Hashem, and it is this outlook that makes him capable of sin.

This person has entered a state of spiritual delusion, and this enables him to fall into a vicious cycle of sin without concern for the spiritual repercussions. After all, he is a Jew regardless, he tells himself, and so he can still perform Mitzvos. Despite what happened, he will still come to shul the next morning, don his Tallis and Tefillin, and davven. His relationship with Hashem will not be affected.[7] 

On a more severe level, and often as a tragic result of not having received a proper Jewish education, this spiritual denial may also be accompanied by various foolish heretical rationalizations. He doesn’t keep kosher, he claims, because “Kosher was only necessary in the past for health reasons, but now that we have advanced in our medical knowledge, it is no longer necessary,” G–d forbid, and the like. The main thing, he declares, is “to be a Jew in your heart,” or simply a “good person”—according to whatever that means by the currently popular definition of secular society, of course. And yet at the same time, he identifies as Jewish, often proudly; he affiliates himself with certain “Jewish” causes and groups; and he adheres to certain Mitzvos and age-old Jewish customs.

In any case, it is indeed true that “Even one who has sinned remains a Jew,”[8] and since Jewishness means possessing a Jewish neshamah, even a sinner has a neshamah. However, it is only the neshamah’s essence (also known as the soul-level of yechidah) that remains completely unaffected by sin;[9] its lower levels, however, are severely damaged by sin[10], may G–d save us. (Concerning the levels of the neshamah, see here).

In fact, at the time that one commits a sin—even a relatively minor rabbinic prohibition—these lower levels of the neshamah become completely severed from G–dliness, and even more distant from Hashem than the forces of kelipah, may G–d save us.[11] And even afterwards they remain stained and wounded, and the process of cleansing and healing them thoroughly through teshuvah (repentance) may be long and arduous.

Since one connects to Hashem on the conscious level through the revealed parts of the neshamah, the damage done to these parts of the neshamah is indeed very detrimental to one’s relationship with Hashem, and keeping this in mind is one method of overcoming the temptation to sin.

May we all recognize, each one of us on his or her own level, that any deviation at all from the will of Hashem will detrimentally affect our relationship with Him, and may this recognition give us the inspiration to commit ourselves to obeying His will without compromise.

Based on Toras Menachem 5718, Vol. 22, pp. 88-89.

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[1] Sotah 3a.
[2] Tanya ch. 14. Cf. ibid. chs. 24, 25.
[3] Ibid. chs. 18, 19.
[4] Hayom Yom 25 Tammuz. Cf. ibid. 21 Sivan.
[5] Yeshaya 59:2.
[6] Cf. Hayom Yom 23 Sivan.
[7] Sefer HaMa’amarim Toras Shmuel 5640, Vol. 2, p. 369.
[8] Sanhedrin 44a.
[9] Cf. Hayom Yom 11 Shevat: “He may be missing in one area or another, but the Modeh Ani [i.e., the essence of the Neshamah] of a Jew [always] remains whole.”
[10] Cf. Sefer HaMa’amarim Melukat, Vol. 1, p. 151 ff.
[11] Tanya ch. 24.


This post was dedicated in honor of my dear father, tzu langer yoren, Reb Kasriel ben Yehudis Oliver, as a merit for success in his personal life.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

On developing positive emotions

On developing positive emotions 

Rabbi Y. Oliver

Everyone possesses both good and bad middos, emotional character traits. Some exist innately, from birth, while others are learnt from others, whether by direct inculcation, or by example.

Moreover, “Hashem made this one”—the side of impurity—“opposite this one”[1]—the side of holiness. So not only do both kinds of emotions exist, but they parallel one another. For example, although kindness is typically positive, it can also take on an evil form. Strictness is often negative, but it can also come out positive—and so on (see here).

Altogether, every person possesses seven emotional traits: The seven positive traits, which correspond to the seven branches of the Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash,[2] and their seven negative counterpart emotions, which correspond to the seven wicked nations that inhabited the land of Canaan until the Jews conquered it.

Actions are dictated by emotions. Intellectual awareness alone will not bring forth a commensurate action. Emotions constitute the energy and drive that bring intellectual convictions down into action.

Thus, one’s emotions are very important: By developing positive, holy emotions, one spurs oneself to good actions: Love of Hashem inspires one to perform positive Mitzvos, while fear of Hashem inspires one to refrain from violating negative Mitzvos.[3]

Conversely, negative emotions naturally draw the person to commit wicked deeds—sins—or permitted deeds with only selfish intent, without the desire to serve Hashem. Likewise, they entice the person to be idle and not exert oneself to perform Mitzvos to the extent of one’s capabilities. And just as we were commanded to expel the seven nations from the Land, so are we commanded to banish our negative emotions from within, so that that they not lead us to sin. Then we can truly “settle the Land” within by cultivating positive and even holy emotions.

May Hashem grant us much inner strength to overcome and banish the negative and selfish emotions within, and develop and ingrain within ourselves positive and holy emotions. This effects an “inner redemption” which hastens the coming of the true and complete redemption through our righteous Moshiach—may he come to redeem us today!

Based on the Rebbe's Toras Menachem 5718, Vol. 22, p. 88 ff. See continuation here.

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[1] Koheles 7:14.
[2] Torah Ohr 32b.
[3] Tanya beg. ch. 4.

This post was dedicated by Shmuli Markel and family (Shmuel Leib ben Esther and Sara Rochel bas Chaya Nechomoh), and by Yisroel Meir Raphael and family.




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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Where does our heart lie? II

(The following post was continued from an earlier post on this topic here.)

When the Jew channels all his desires to serving Hashem, he becomes a vessel for G–dliness to enter him. Moreover, he also becomes a vessel for material prosperity, which also comes only from Hashem’s blessings. As our sages say, “An empty vessel holds.”[1]

However, our sages continue, “a full vessel does not hold.” This means that when the person is full of desires for physical pleasures and indulgences for their own sake, rather than to connect to G–dliness, he is “full,” for he desires to receive from Kelipah. Thus, he is not a vessel to receive blessings from Hashem.

Rather, one should work at refining oneself so that he does not desire worldly pleasures. He accomplishes this by reflecting upon how these desires have distanced him from G–dliness. Moreover, he should reflect upon the fact that his craving for the physical reflects a certain sense of entitlement. He thinks, perhaps subconsciously, that he somehow deserves to indulge all his desires. But when he reminds himself that he has not served Hashem as expected, he realizes that he deserves nothing. These thoughts lead him to a broken heart, and this breaks his desires for physical pleasures.

Through this, he makes himself a vessel for Hashem’s blessings in all areas, material and spiritual.
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[1] Berachos 40a.

Based on Sefer HaMa’amarim 5714, Tonu Rabonon, p. 299.

Tefillah: Revealing the Neshamah

Tefillah: “Gluing” our inner selves to Hashem

What is the fundamental purpose of Tefillah, prayer? The word Tefillah is etymologically related to the word tofel, “gluing” and bonding,[1] for the fundamental purpose of Tefillah is to reach Hiskashrus, a deep inner bonding of the Neshamah with G–dliness.

In particular, the focus of this inner bonding is changing one’s emotions, and so Tefillah is called “the service of the heart,”[2] for the goal of Tefillah is to transform one’s heart to love and fear Hashem.

How does the person transform his emotions? This comes through intellectual understanding that is followed by hisbonenus, contemplation on Hashem’s greatness. This is the meaning of the verse, “Know [“da”] the G–d of your father, and serve Him with a complete heart.”[3] The word da refers to Da’as, awareness of G–dliness that permeates the person, which can only be achieved through hisbonenus.[4] This verse is telling us that every Jew is obligated to reflect upon Hashem’s greatness according to his ability, and thereby inspire himself to love and fear of Hashem.

There are different kinds of hisbonenus, each one designed to bring to a different emotion. In Tefillah, each section has its own individual hisbonenus.

Rising up the rungs

These sections (and the specific hisbonenus that accompanies each one) are alluded to in the verse concerning Yaakov: “And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was fixed in the earth, and its head reached the heavens.”[5] The ladder here alludes to Tefillah.[6] The Jew starts at the lowest rung of the ladder of Tefillah and rises ever higher, until he can reach the greatest spiritual heights.

This implies a fixed order: Just as one can only rise to a higher rung after having passed the lower rung, so, too, one can only rise to a higher level of connection with Hashem in Tefillah after completing the task required of one on the lower level.[7]

In particular, the ladder of Tefillah is said to have four rungs—the four sections of Shacharis, the Morning Prayer: Tefillas HaShachar, Pesukei DeZimrah, Blessings of Shema/Shema, and Shemoneh Esrei.

Tefillah: Revealing the Neshamah

When the person first wakes up, his Neshamah is said to be only “in his nose.”[8] It only encompasses him; it has not become revealed in him at all. Through Tefillah, however, he brings the Neshamah to a state of full revelation in the body. He does this by revealing ever-higher levels of the Neshamah.

There are four levels of the Neshamah (there is a fifth that we will not discuss just yet): Nefesh, Ru’ach, Neshamah, and Chaya, each of which is alluded to in the liturgy:[9] “It is pure” refers to Chaya; “You created it” to Neshamah; “You formed it” to Ru’ach; “You made it” to Nefesh.[10] (On the levels of the Neshamah, see here.)

Each level of the Neshamah is revealed through engaging in the hisbonenus connected with the corresponding section of the liturgy.

Likewise, through each successive section of Tefillah, one rises up to connect one’s soul to a progressively higher spiritual world, of which there are four.

(To be continued...)
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[1] Keilim 3:5.
[2] Ta’anis 2a.
[3] I Divrei HaYomim 28:9.
[4] Cf. Tanya end ch. 3.
[5] Bereshis 28:12.
[6] Zohar 1:266b, 3:306b.
[7] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5692-5693, p. 41.
[8] Yeshaya 2:22. Cf. Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 79d. Ma’amarei Admur HaEmtza’i, Vayikra, Vol. 2, p. 757. Hanachos 5577, p. 15.
[9] In the “Elokai Neshamah” prayer, recited in the Morning Blessings: “My G–d, the Neshamah that you gave in me is pure; You created it, You formed it, You made it.”
[10] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5663, Vol. 2, p. 68.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Tenth of Teves: Hidden Divine support

What is the positive aspect of the exile? That it brings the Jewish people in proximity to non-Jews, enabling us to fulfill our mission to influence them, which was far less attainable when we lived separately from them, in our own Land. In the Rebbe’s words:

On[1] the Tenth of Teves “The king of Babylonia besieged Jerusalem.”[2] As we have often discussed, the Hebrew word for “besieged,” samach, may be interpreted as etymologically related to the word for support, as in the phrase “He Who supports the fallen.”[3] This represents the idea that the Tenth of Teves provides [the Jewish people with] assistance, for at its spiritual root, it contains a positive aspect.[4]

The same principle applies to Jewish activity to influence Gentiles to adhere to the Noahide Code. For when “The king of Babylonia besieges Jerusalem” in the literal sense [i.e., the Jewish people are in exile], it is easier to influence him in all areas related to observing the Noahide Code, because it is unnecessary to travel to a distant place before he comes to the Jewish people, because he has come close to Jerusalem. This then enables the fulfillment of the deeper interpretation of the word samach [supporting Jerusalem], for when he approaches Jerusalem, he enables the Jewish people to fulfill that which they were commanded, including the command that they were told by G–d “to compel all the world’s inhabitants to undertake the laws commanded to Noah’s descendants.”[5]

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[1] Hisva’aduyos 5745, Vol. 2, pp. 1013-1014.
[2] Yechezkel 24:2.
[3] From the Nishmas hymn in the Shabbos liturgy.
[4] See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 20, p. 518 ff.
[5] Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, 8:10.

Self-sacrifice: Essence and permanence

(This post comes in continuation to the posts here, here, and here.)

How did the Maccabees respond to the influence of the Greeks, who desired to entice them to sin?

To preface, our sages say, “Dovid and Shlomo were anointed with a horn, and their kingdom continued. Sha’ul and Yehu were anointed with a jar, and their kingdom did not continue.”[1]

Chassidus explains[2] that the horn, which is above the head, represents serving Hashem with bittul and suprarational self-sacrifice, and this mode of divine service stems from the very essence of the Neshamah. Since Dovid and Shlomo displayed this self-sacrifice, their kingdom “continued,” i.e., it lasted in a permanent, eternal way, akin to a horn, which is solid and lasting. For since the essence of the Neshamah transcends change, by tapping into this energy, one brings permanence and eternity into one’s own divine service.

In contrast, Sha’ul personified Binah, understanding, for he had attained a sublime level of intellectual greatness. Now, of course intellect is vital in the service of Hashem; in particular, “The mind dominates over the heart.”[3] However, intellectual study only connects one with a level of G–dliness that is subject to change, and so Sha’ul’s kingdom did not last.

The difference between the kingdoms of Dovid and Sha’ul was not only apparent after time, once Hashem decreed that the kingdom of Dovid and Shlomo would last eternally,[4] while the kingdom of Sha’ul and Yehu ceased. Rather, the difference between their kingdoms was recognizable from the outset: Sha’ul and Yehu’s kingdom was based on reason and intellect, and therefore its end was inevitable, while the kingdom of Dovid and Shlomo was based on bittul and self-sacrifice, and therefore it was immediately apparent that it was destined to last.

This was the Maccabees’ response to the Greeks’ demand, “Write for yourselves on the horn of an ox that you have no portion in the G–d of Israel.”[5] Seeing that the Greeks sought to degrade the Jewish people to the “horn” of unholiness, as explained in the previous post, the Maccabees realized that they must respond in kind, with the “horn” as it exists in the realm of holiness—unyielding suprarational self-sacrifice that stems from the essence of the Neshamah.

Through this approach they were victorious, and they came to “thank and praise G–d’s great name,” which refers to Hashem’s very Essence. Since they served Hashem with the essence of their Neshamos, they were rewarded with a personal revelation of Hashem’s very Essence.

Likewise, in our time as well, the forces of secularism and hedonism “rise up against us to destroy us.”[6] They strive both overtly and subtly to lure us, G–d forbid, to abdicate our special, chosen role as Jews, to give up our precious Torah and Mitzvos, and to assimilate into the non-Jewish society.

The only response to this pressure is mesiras nefesh—to press ahead with uncompromising self-sacrifice, obedience, and devotion to practicing and disseminating Torah and Mitzvos despite all the difficulties that one may face.

Moreover, this approach should be more than merely one aspect of our divine service; it must be the very foundation of our divine service, such that it is recognizable from the very beginning. Only then can we be confident that our efforts will bear fruit that will last permanently.

Through this we will surely merit a miraculous victory over all negative forces in our time, and the ultimate divine salvation—the arrival of our righteous Moshiach, may he come NOW!

Based on Sefer HaMa’amarim 5729, p. 86 ff.

To read this essay in full, see the article on Scribd here.

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[1] Megillah 14a.
[2] Ohr HaTorah, Chanukah 301a.
[3] Cf. Tanya ch. 12.
[4] I Shmuel 15:29.
[5] Bereshis Rabba 2:9.
[6] Haggadah.

This post was dedicated in the merit of a refuah shelamah for Rabbi Yoseph Dov ben Freeda and Chanah Freeda bas Feiga Zelda.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

On the Greeks' demand that the Jews write heresy

(See my article concerning Hei Teves here.)

(This post comes in continuation to the posts here and here.)

This also sheds light on the Greeks’ demand of the Jewish people: “Write for yourselves on the horn of an ox that you have no portion in the G–d of Israel.”[1] Here, too, in the case of the Greeks’ agenda to force the Jewish people to write words of heresy, we see how their oppression of the Jewish people was primarily spiritual.

But what is the significance of “the horn of an ox,” and what led the Greeks, who were highly intelligent, to think that this act of coercion would somehow influence the Jews to give up their connection with the holiness of Torah and Mitzvos, G–d forbid?

The answer is related to the different supernal origins of the Jewish people and the nations.[2] There are four “faces” in the supernal divine chariot,[3] and the souls of the gentile nations stem from the level known as “the face of an ox.” More precisely, their souls are derived from the “horn” of this supernal ox. Just as a horn is considered secondary to the animal itself,[4] so does the horn represent the lower, external level of G–dliness from which the souls of the gentile nations (and the entire natural order, for that matter) are derived, which is related to the divine name of Elokim, which represents nature.[5]

In contrast, the souls of the Jewish people are derived from a transcendent or “internal” level of G–dliness, the name of Havayeh, as it is written, “For his nation remained the portion of Havayeh.”[6] This is alluded to in the verse, “And He [Hashem] blew into his [Adam’s] nose a soul of life.”[7] Vigorous blowing represents expending one’s inner strength.[8]

This is why the Greeks specifically wanted the Jewish people to write this statement on the horn of an ox. They wanted the Jews to degrade themselves to receive their sustenance from the same external[9] level of G–dliness from which the gentile nations derive their sustenance, the Name of Elokim, and in so doing they would forfeit their special bond with Hashem and his Torah and Mitzvos, which would lead them to assimilate with the non-Jews, G–d forbid.

Based on Sefer HaMa’amarim 5729, p. 86 ff. To be continued...

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[1] Bereshis Rabba 2:9.
[2] Torah Ohr, Vayeshev 30a. Ohr HaTorah, Chanukah 300a ff.
[3] Discussed in Yechezkel 1:1-3:27. Obviously, there is no physical chariot or ox in the higher spiritual realms, and these are anthropomorphisms, as is common in the Kabbalistic teachings.
[4] Chullin 117b.
[5] Cf. Tanya, Igeres HaTeshuvah ch. 4.
[6] Devarim 32:9.
[7] Bereshis 2:7. Since, as Kabbalah teaches, Adam possessed a Jewish soul, this verse sheds light on the nature of the Jew’s special soul.
[8] Tanya, beg. ch. 2.
[9] Likewise, the Greeks sought to influence the Jews to engage in secular studies, known as “chochmos chitzoniyus,” lit., “external wisdoms.”

This post was dedicated by Yerachmiel “Mitch” Belzer and family, as a merit for Malkah bas Neyereh. Also dedicated by Rabbi Shmuli Markel and family (Shmuel Leib ben Esther and Sara Rochel bas Chayah Nechomoh).

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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeitof a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Chanukah: Only pure Torah study prevents assimilation

Only pure Torah study prevents assimilation

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

As long as the Jewish people remain in exile, “in every generation, they [the gentile nations] rise up against us to destroy us.”[1] In some ages, our enemies sought to destroy us by slaying the Jewish body, G–d forbid. In the time of the Greeks, however, their method was to entice the Jewish people to adopt the Greek culture and assimilate into their society, with the ultimate goal of bringing them to cease to exist as a separate nation, G–d forbid.

Thus, the Medrash relates[2] that the nations came to their wise man, Avnimos, and asked him whether they could prevail upon the Jewish people to assimilate with them. Avnimos replied: “Go and frequent their houses of pray and houses of study. If you find children chirping with their voice [in Torah study], you will not be able to defeat them. But if not, you will be able to defeat them.”

However, teaching children Torah only has the power to protect Jews from such harm if it is taught in a pure, uncompromised manner, permeated with fear of Hashem. Such an education will bring the Pinteleh Yid, the core of the Jewish children’s pure Neshamos, to be revealed in their hearts, endowing them with the inner fortitude to be faithful to Hashem and His Torah for their entire lives.

May we draw strength and inspiration from Chanukah to each do our part to promote a pure, uncompromising Torah education for every single Jewish child throughout the entire year!

Adapted from the Previous Rebbe's Sefer HaMa’amarim 5689, pp. 115-116.

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[1] Haggadah.
[2] Yalkut Shimoni, remez 115.

Countering the Greeks’ agenda to secularize Mitzvah observance

Countering the Greeks’ agenda to
secularize Mitzvah observance

Rabbi Y. Oliver

(This post comes into continuation to the previous post.)

The same was true of the Greeks’ approach to Mitzvos: They sought “to lead them astray from the Chukim of Your will.”[1] Now, there are three kinds of Mitzvos:

· Eidos: Mitzvos that were established to commemorate a specific event, e.g., Shabbos, Pesach, or Sukkos. On its own, human intellect wouldn’t realize how important these Mitzvos are, but once Hashem commanded us to keep them, we can come to understand and accept the reason behind them.

· Mishpatim: Mitzvos that human intellect can appreciate on its own, such as honoring one’s parents, giving charity, and so on.



· Chukim: Laws that have no rationale, and that we perform simply because Hashem so commanded us. Of these laws it is said: “The Satan and the nations ridicule the Jewish people, saying, ‘What is this Mitzvah, and what rationale does it have?’”[2]



The Greeks didn’t mind the first two categories of Mitzvos, Eidos and Mishpatim, because they can be explained rationally. But they vehemently opposed the observance of “the Chukim of Your will,” because the Chukim are suprarational.

This can be explained on a deeper level. As discussed, the essence of the conflict between the Jewish people and the Greeks lay in a titanic struggle between faith and reason. We explained this above vis-à-vis the struggle over how to view Torah, and the same conflict existed in how to view Mitzvos. The Greeks sought to bring even the suprarational Mitzvos to conform with reason, while the Jews fought to make pure faith permeate all the Mitzvos, to have even the rational Mitzvos performed in a way that transcends reason.

To explain, the Greeks would even have allowed the Chukim if they could be kept in a rational manner. But if the Chukim have no reason, how could they be fulfilled rationally?

This would be a kind of “argument from authority.” An intelligent person can accept the advice of a renowned world-class expert even if he doesn’t personally understand the expert’s rationale. He realizes that in order to understand the topic to the degree of depth that the expert has attained, he would have to spend many years of in-depth study, for “many years inform one with wisdom,”[3] and so in this case, it is only rational for him to rely upon the expert’s vastly superior knowledge. All the more so, an intelligent person can accept that since Hashem created the universe, and His intellect is infinitely greater than ours, it is perfectly reasonable for me, a puny human, to obey the Creator’s instructions even when I do not understand them, and even when my mind tells me the opposite.

This is the meaning of the precise wording of the Ve’al HaNissim prayer, which states that the Greeks sought “to lead them [the Jewish people] astray from the Chukim of Your will.” The Greeks would have allowed the Chukim if they had been kept in a rational manner, as explained. What they opposed was the Jews’ stubborn performance of the Chukim on account of “Your will”—without any reason at all, nor even the reason that Hashem knows better, but simply because Hashem so commanded.



While the Greeks sought to make even the Chukim intellectually agreeable, the Jewish people strove to promote the exact opposite approach—to bring even the rational laws, the Eidos and Mishpatim, to be performed like the Chukim.[4]



Yes, we ought to use our intellect to study and internalize the logical reasons behind the Eidos and Mishpatim. However, we should not do so because intellect itself so dictates. Likewise, Hashem is not instructing us to follow intellect because it has some kind of inherent value, G–d forbid. Rather, even when we use our intellect, as in the performance of these Mitzvos (and in Torah study, and so on), we ultimately do so simply because Hashem commanded us. Thus, at their essence, even the rational Mitzvos are suprarational. And therefore, had Hashem commanded us to do something else to serve Him—even something totally non-intellectual, like chopping wood—we would have done so with the same enthusiasm.[5]



Put differently, in every act of performing a Mitzvah, one should submit oneself to Hashem with two intentions:[6]

The individual intention: One should delve into the significance behind each individual Mitzvah, and remind oneself of its reasons and become inspired by them as one performs the Mitzvah. This is the external aspect of the Mitzvah.

The general intention: As one performs the Mitzvah, one should be mindful that one is performing a divine command. This command is the essential core of the Mitzvah that is common to all Mitzvos—Eidos, Mishpatim, and Chukim alike; positive and negative commandments alike.[7] Since this involves obeying without (or before) understanding, this intention involves a certain self-sacrifice, a surrender of the ego and self that goes against human nature. This is the “Chok” aspect of every Mitzvah, which makes all the Mitzvos essentially suprarational. Although it may be difficult, a Jew is capable of this self-transcendence because of the natural love of Hashem (ahavah mesuteres) that flows from his Jewish Neshamah. Thus, all our observance of Torah and Mitzvos depends upon the foundation of suprarational self-sacrifice—an ability that enables the Jew to give up his life when faced with the challenge of dying al kiddush Hashem.[8]

It was this inner core that came to the fore in the resistance of the Maccabees. The Jews understood that the only way to fight against the Greeks’ war against faith was by intensifying their devotion in the very area that the Greeks sought to eradicate—by arousing their own inner potential for suprarational self-sacrifice.

And so the Jews started a war of the few against the many and the weak against the mighty.[9] Since the Jews’ chances of winning in this insurrection were so minuscule, their behavior was not rational; some would call it a suicide mission. Rather, it was an expression of suprarational faith, and so it was the fit response to the Greeks’ efforts to eradicate the suprarational.

Based on Sefer HaMa’amarim 5729, p. 86 ff. To be continued...

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[1] Ve’al HaNissim liturgy.
[2] Rashi on Bamidbar 19:2.
[3] Cf. Iyov 32:7.
[4] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5698, p. 175.
[5] Likkutei Torah, Shelach 40a. Sefer HaMa’amarim 5666, p. 54.
[6] Likkutei Torah, ibid.
[7] Tanya ch. 30.
[8] Cf. ibid. end ch. 25.
[9] Ve’al HaNissim liturgy.



This post was dedicated by Reb Kasriel and Zippi Oliver in honor of 30th yahrtzeit of Shmuel ben Yosef Tzvi on 18 Kislev.

Also dedicated by Rabbi Levi and Chani Kurinsky in honor of the tenth wedding anniversary of Levi Yitzchok Halevi ben Chana Brocha and Chana Bas Yocheved Rivkah on the 1st night of Chanukah, and the birthday of Chana Bas Yocheved Rivkah on the 5th night of Chanukah.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Countering the Greeks' Agenda to Secularize Torah (G-d forbid)

Countering The Greeks’ Agenda to Secularize Torah, G–d forbid

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

The Greeks sought “to bring them [Jewish people] to forget Your Torah.”[1]

The wording here is precise: The Greeks did not oppose Torah study per se; on the contrary, since Greek culture valued intellect as the greatest good, and they recognized the beauty, depth, and complexity of Torah—as it is written, “for it is your wisdom in the eyes of the nations”[2]—they held Torah study in high esteem as a most sublime, profound intellectual pursuit. In this sense, they were willing to allow and even encourage the Jewish people to study Torah.

Rather, they opposed Torah study with the belief that it is “Your Torah”—that it is divine. Torah is not just another wisdom among many; it is more than even a very advanced wisdom, more advanced than all others. Likewise, Torah is not a tool for intellectual gratification and development, G–d forbid—although it does carry those fringe benefits as well.

Rather, although it involves the intellect, Torah is fundamentally different—it is holy intellect. In these ostensibly intellectual teachings, Hashem reveals to us His will and wisdom, which are infused with a sublime level of G–dliness that transcends intellect altogether. And so by studying Torah, the Jew is able to unite with Hashem, as it is written, “Three knots are tied to one another: The Jewish people to Torah, and the Torah to Hashem.”[3] This means that by grasping the technical details of Torah,[4] the Jew fuses his mind and soul with a level of pure G–dliness that completely transcends intellect.

It was this submission to the suprarational that the Greeks so vehemently opposed, and which they sought to prevail the Jewish people to forget—even, if necessary, through brute force.

But before they resorted to force, how did they seek to contaminate the Jews’ Torah study? By systematically enticing them to become preoccupied with secular wisdoms and to view amassing secular knowledge as a highly desirable pursuit of inherent ethical value.

In this way, the Jews came to treat these wisdoms as on a par with the wisdom of Torah (lehavdil). Once Torah wisdom is treated as the equal of secular wisdom, the student loses the sensitivity to the Torah’s inherent holiness, and views it as a purely intellectual pursuit, may G–d save us.

This is the deeper reason that when they broke into the Beis Hamikdash, the Greeks made a point of contaminating all the oil that they could find. Oil represents wisdom,[5] and the Greeks fought with all their might to contaminate the holy oil of Torah with the impurity of secular wisdom, and thereby influence the Jewish people to treat Torah as if it were no different from other wisdoms, G–d forbid.

The Greeks’ success at contaminating the pure oil in the Beis Hamikdash represented the fact that unfortunately, they had been largely successful at their mission of secularization, and many Jews in that time succumbed to the intensely powerful lure of Greek wisdom. At first they studied it as outwardly religious Jews, and then they dropped Jewish observance altogether, defecting to the ranks of the anti-religious Jewish Hellenists, who eagerly took up the battle-cry of the Greeks to “modernize” the “old-fashioned” and “superstitious” Jews (G–d forbid).[6]

However, it is written, “one nation will prevail over another nation”[7]—“when one rises, the other falls.”[8] Although in context, this verse is discussing the conflict between Yaakov and Esav, the same principle can be applied to other spiritual conflicts. Thus, when the Maccabees fought vigorously back and promoted Torah study, they prevailed over the Greeks and the insidious infiltration of Greek wisdom in the Jewish community.

Of course, the Maccabees did not merely promote Torah study—they promoted Torah study permeated with pure faith in Hashem, the Giver of the Torah, and it was this Torah study that dispelled the corrupt influence of the wisdom of Kelipah.

The key to approaching the Torah with such faith is cultivating bittul, humility. Of the Torah it is written, “It is not in the heavens, nor across the sea.”[9] The Talmud interprets: “The Torah will not be found among the arrogant and in one who expands his mouth upon it.”[10] No matter how much Torah an arrogant, egotistical person studies, the light of Torah cannot enter him. Only when the student of Torah sincerely humbles himself to Hashem and to the holiness in His Torah is he a fit vessel for the Torah’s light.

And when one studies Torah with bittul, he is also able to study secular studies for the sake of Heaven. He views these studies as fundamentally subordinate to Torah, as having no inherent value, and as serving as nothing but a means to an end (to earn an ample livelihood or as a tool to understand a concept in Torah, and so on[11]). Then his Torah study will remain pure and untainted, and he will not be adversely affected by studying these wisdoms. Thus, we find that many of our greatest sages, notably the Rambam and the Ramban, attained great erudition in secular wisdom.[12] Their bittul to G–dliness was so sublime that they were able to use secular wisdoms themselves for the sake of Torah and divine service.

Based on Sefer HaMa’amarim 5729, p. 86 ff. See the continuation here.

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[1] Ve’al HaNissim liturgy.
[2] Devarim 4:6.
[3] Cf. Zohar 3:73a.
[4] Chassidus refers to this as “levushei hasagah”—“garments of understanding.”
[5] Zohar 3:7b.
[6] Similarly, in more recent times, the Jewish department of the Communist party, the Yevsektsia, which consisted largely of ex-Yeshiva students, were infamous for their ruthless persecution of religious Jews and their tireless efforts to uproot Jewish observance, far outdoing their non-Jewish comrades in their ideological zeal.
[7] Bereshis 25:23.
[8] Ibid., Rashi.
[9] Devarim 30:12.
[10] Eruvin 55a.
[11] Cf. Igros Kodesh, Vol. 3, p. 123 ff.
[12] Tanya end ch. 8.


This post was dedicated by Reb Kasriel and Zippi Oliver in honor of the birthday of Yehudis Fraida Tsap (Yehudis Fraida bas Hindeh Zeldah Bracha) on 8 Kislev. Also dedicated by Rabbi Shmuli Markel and family (Shmuel Leib ben Esther and Sara Rochel bas Chaye Nechomoh). May we be immediately reunited with the Rebbe!


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Chanukah: A Titanic Conflict of Wisdoms

Chanukah: A Titanic Conflict of Wisdoms

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

Oil represents wisdom,[1] and so the oil of the Holy Temple represents the wisdom of Torah, while the Greeks’ efforts to contaminate this oil represents their efforts to bring secular wisdom to be dominant. Thus, the struggle between the Maccabees and the Greeks was essentially a struggle between two kinds of wisdom, each of which seeks total domination.

Although secular wisdom can be very profound, Torah wisdom is so vastly superior to it that the Zohar comments[2] on the verse, “And I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom over foolishness”[3] that King Solomon was describing the greatness of “wisdom”—Torah, over “foolishness”—secular wisdom.

Thus, secular wisdom is associated with the evil inclination, which is called an “old and foolish king,” while wisdom of Torah is associated with the good inclination, which is called an “unfortunate, wise child.”[4]

To explain, wisdom of holiness engenders bittul—self-effacement and humility, while wisdom of Kelipah engenders yeshus—egotism and arrogance. This also translates itself into one’s interaction with others: yeshus leads to conflict and division, while bittul fosters harmony and unity. The reason for this difference is as follows:

The underlying purpose of wisdom of holiness, Torah, is to explain how the universe was created yesh mei’ayin, something from “nothing”—i.e., from pure G–dliness. Moreover, even after being created, everything in the universe depends absolutely upon this G–dliness for its ongoing existence, and so even now, the true reality of the universe is G–dliness.[5] The awareness of our total dependence upon G–d permeates everything we do with faith in Divine Providence. Likewise, since this wisdom focuses on bittul, studying it imbues one with bittul—with the willingness to nullify oneself, i.e., humility. Thus, Torah wisdom is indeed true wisdom.

In contrast, wisdom of Kelipah, secular wisdom, explains not the ayin, pure transcendent G–dliness, but the yesh, the egotistical world that feels itself to be independent from its source in G–dliness and self-sustaining, G–d forbid. Since this wisdom focuses on yeshus, on the universe as it feels itself independent from G–d, studying it imbues one with yeshus—with arrogance and a sense that one does not truly need G–d (G–d forbid). Ultimately, this leads to heresy—total denial of G–d and rejection of His providence, may G–d save us. Thus, secular wisdom is indeed true foolishness.

This manifests itself in the different impact of these wisdoms on the student’s intellect and emotions. In general, intellect seeks to transcend personal bias and focus on the topic at hand in an objective way, which is the idea of bittul, while emotions focus on subjective, self-centered considerations, which is the idea of yeshus.

Since Torah engenders bittul, it imbues an even greater measure of bittul in the intellect, bringing one to true objectivity, and it even elevates the self-focused emotions to a state of bittul.

Conversely, secular wisdom, which engenders yeshus, brings the emotions to be even more self-focused than they would have been otherwise—i.e., it fosters coarseness and wicked character traits. What’s worse, it even corrupts the otherwise truth-seeking intellect to a state of selfishness and arrogance.

This is the reason that many great gentile sages were notorious for being extremely corrupt and decadent. Their wisdom did not translate itself into more refined behavior; on the contrary, they were more immoral than others of average intellect. The reason is, as explained, that secular wisdom instills and bolsters coarseness and arrogance.

(It should be noted that the above explains the natural impact of each of these wisdoms. However, if one learns Torah without fear of Hashem, G–d forbid, it may become an “elixir of death,” having a very negative effect on the person[6]; conversely, if one is strong in one’s fear of Hashem and studies secular wisdoms in the appropriate way, with the right intentions, they can be beneficial.[7])

Based on Toras Menachem 5714, Vol. 1, p. 300 ff.

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[1] Zohar 3:7b.
[2] ibid. 3:47a.
[3] Koheles 2:13.
[4] Ibid. 4:13. Koheles Rabba, ibid.
[5] Cf. Tanya, Sha’ar HaYichud VehaEmunah, chs. 1-3.
[6] Yoma 72b.
[7] Cf. Tanya, end ch. 8.

This post was dedicated by Reb Kasriel and Zippi Oliver in honor of the birthday of Sara Rochel Tsap (Sara Rochel bas Hindeh Zeldah Bracha) on 11th Cheshvan. Also dedicated by Shmuli Markel and family (Shmuel Leib ben Esther and Sara Rochel bas Chaye Nechomoh). Also dedicated lizchus Rabbi Yossi Soble (Yosef Yitzchok ben Menucha Chaya) and family. May we be immediately reunited with the Rebbe!

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

How to Climb the Ladder of Prayer

(This article is presented in honor of 19 Kislev.

For articles on 19 Kislev from previous years, see here and here.)

How to Climb the Ladder of Prayer

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

The key to ascent—bittul
“And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was fixed in the earth, and its head reached the heavens.”[1] The Zohar states[2] that this alludes to the ladder of prayer. Prayer is constructed like a ladder, where one starts at the lowest rung and rises ever higher, until one can reach the greatest heights.

In particular, the ladder of prayer is said to have four rungs—the four sections of Shacharis, the Morning Prayer, through which one’s soul rises up through the four spiritual worlds, respectively:

• Tefillas HaShachar—Asiyah
• Pesukei DeZimrah—Yetzirah
• The blessings of Shema/Shema—Beriyah
• Shemoneh Esrei—Atzilus

Every ascent is attained through bittul, self-nullification. Thus, in order for the person to rise up to a higher level, he needs to toil in bittul, nullifying himself to Hashem in the way expected of him while on his current level. In the context of prayer, this means that one starts on the lowest level, the world of Asiyah, and in order to rise to the next level, the G–dliness of the world of Yetzirah, one must engage in the hisbonenus that connects one’s soul with the G–dliness of the world of Asiyah. Then the soul can rise to establish a connection with the world of Yetzirah, whereupon the person must engage in the hisbonenus that connects his soul with the G–dliness of the world of Yetzirah ... and so on.

Tefillas HaShachar—Asiyah
We begin prayer with the declaration, “Acknowledge Hashem.” The beginning of prayer is a general, all-encompassing acceptance of Hashem, before one has reached true understanding of Him. This parallels the world of Asiyah, action. This represents the concept that the beginning of divine service is obedience, “we will do” before “we will hear [understand].”[3] At this point one lacks inspiration and enthusiasm, for one when one is just beginning, he has by definition not yet invested the necessary effort to reach such a feeling, for that is a more advanced stage.

Pesukei DeZimrah—Yetzirah
In this section the Jew declares Hashem’s praises[4] with the goal of inspiring and exciting himself from Hashem’s greatness. Although this involves a certain degree of comprehension of Hashem’s greatness, this comprehension is lacking, and the main focus is to arouse a feeling of excitement. The reason that the comprehension is lacking is that in Pesukei DeZimrah we reflect upon how wondrous is Hashem’s creation of yesh mei’ayin, something from nothing, and this is a concept that is fundamentally beyond human comprehension.

It should be noted that according to Chassidus, yesh mei’ayin does not mean that the world was literally created from nothing. Rather, the world was created from a level of G–dliness that is like nothing in comparison to our world, for it exists on a plane of existence that is so vastly superior that we cannot relate to it at all; thus, for us, it is as if it is non-existent.

The reason that we cannot truly comprehend the process of creation yesh mei’ayin is that comprehending something implies internalizing it, and if we would truly understand how our existence stems from a level of G–dliness that is so far beyond us, we would become so overwhelmed that we would lose our sense of independent existence.

Yet although we do not truly understand the process of yesh mei’ayin, reflecting upon it inspires us with wonder and excitement. Thus, Pesukei DeZimrah means literally “verses of song,” for song represents arousing a superficial excitement. Since at this stage one has not reached true understanding, this only refines one’s inner self on an external level;[5] however, this paves the way for one to rise to the next level of inner change.

This also ties in with the second meaning of Pesukei DeZimrah, to “prune,” referring to the “pruning of the thorns”[6] from the Bestial Soul.[7] Just as a vineyard has thorns, which suck the moisture from the ground and ruin the vineyard, so is it with the Jewish people, who are compared to a vineyard. The thorns that obstruct the Neshamah from rising up to the greatest heights are words of idle chatter and mockery, even when spoken without pleasure. Likewise, thinking forbidden thoughts, or looking at forbidden sights, even when one does so without pleasure, contaminates the soul and prevents it from rising to Hashem.

This is the purpose of Pesukei DeZimrah—to excite the Jew with G–dliness and thereby “prune” these Kelipos (negative energies) from him.

This section of prayer corresponds to the world of Yetzirah and connects us with the spirituality of that world, for there the focus of the angels is to sing Hashem’s praises with intense emotional excitement.

Based on Toras Menachem 5712, Vol. 6, p. 137 ff.
Sefer HaMa’amarim 5708, pp. 80-81. Cf. Sefer HaMa’amarim 5668, p. 5 ff.

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[1] Bereshis 28:12.
[2] 1:266b. 3:306b.
[3] This was the declaration with which the Jewish people committed themselves to follow the Torah. See Shemos 24:7; Shabbos 88a.
[4] Cf. Berachos 32a. Avoda Zara 7b.
[5] In the original, one makes a “chakikah kelalis,” an “external engraving.”
[6] Cf. Yeshaya 25:1. Zohar 3:284a.
[7] Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 47d. Ibid., Nitzavim 51d.


This post was dedicated by Shmuli Markel and family (Shmuel Leib ben Esther and Sara Rochel bas Chaya Nechomoh), and by Yisroel Meir Raphael and family. Also dedicated by Dov Oliver in honor of the yahrtzeit of our grandfather OBM, Reb Shmuel Oliver.

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