Tanya Kuntres Acharon 4c- Virtue of action vs Intellect, Davening- Rabbi Chaim Dalfin

are learning a essay 4 which is could be the longest chapter of Tanya is this essay 4. It's very long and it's very cabalistic but we'll go through it as best as we can. The nuda let's keep focus up to the point the nuda in this essay is that it says in in it says that accomplishes a greater than mitzvah. There are three ways of accomplishing the rectification of the sparks that fell visav desirain. The whole idea of in the mission of a yeid on earth according to the kabola I mean is to to reunite the sparks. That's a common theme in in in kabola andus. But the the explains that the primary mode of doing that is and that's a big so the balat here the alterba seeks to explain that the basic explanation without the entire chapter is that msa is more associated with action even more than mitzvah that's why because mitzvah you listening to God. It It's not who you are. You're following. As the word mitzvah means, a commandment from a commander. So I have kabil. I follow. Thank it's very very great. But where you are and who you are and where you're coming from doesn't necessarily agree. That means there's part of you that disagrees. TA study is so in TA study, TA is Hashem's TA and you use your mind to study TA. So again, it's not who you really are. The only place where there is a method to accomplish the reunification of the sparks is in because the whole gather according to the Rambam is well prayer you have to know who you are what's bothering you what's missing and then you call out to Hashem that's who you are in other words it I'm not talking about and and the types of talking about overall overall is the most corporeal if you can use that word gashnous part of you that's seeks to to reconnect that's the answer that's why the ultimate reunification of the sparks that fell in in from tou is through tila Okay, so now we know what the question was. We know what the answer is, but now we have an entire essay to go through. So let's do that. We're on page we're using those that have the lessons in Tanya, it would be very useful. I'm using that cuz um it's very helpful in its description of certain things. We're on page 305 and here we're towards the bottom of the page. speaks about the the passage there's two ways and we spoke about that in the last year I encourage you to listen to it because it's not only relevant here it's relevant to other places how the light filters itself the self light or the into the kalin one method is called bed mav and the other one's called bedlaps one, it just passes by. It's like uh here in uh New York, you know, we have the express train which skips stations. So, as it flies through, you see the station, but you can't it doesn't stop. It's bad mir passes it by. Islopas would be like it steps. It's the local. It's not the express. It stops at every station and goes in and goes out. So, that's more the idea of let's continue. with God. These attributes correspond to what we call the major or minor intellect. Now we're on top of page 306. And this is why really requested, really begged from Hashem, please let me in. Why? Because he wanted to fulfill the practical mitzvah that can only be done where you all live. Most of you init but these are the ultimate of the chainlike reaction from on high to below. It's to draw down infinity infin godly energy of infinity the bria cabalistic to refine the vessels of the midos. That's where you find the the the 248 sparks. Where do you find them? you find them below and and Mosha wanted to do everything. He didn't want to just do a mitzvah that, you know, he wouldn't that that he could do anywhere in the world. But so begged, "Please let me in. I want to be able to do all the mitzvah." Now, now we're going to talk about page 307. and what about mitzvah that you aren't able to do through others. The Gumor says, you know that one of the most serious breaches is you know being tal already quoted in the first page of Tanya the story of my father when he was 17 18 he was he was uh for Pes to make some extra money he was he was helping in the matzah bakery in Mayar And um at that time the Reba had encouraged the uh you know we should give out Shura matzah to people don't have that was the beginning of the campaign was 54 55 56 those years. So he has a good baker asked the owner of the manager if he could give him a few extra matzah so that he can give to someone who doesn't have matzah. Who was in charge? It was Ra's son. So he told he asked him for who is this matzah. So he said it's to give to people don't have matzah. So he asked him are they religious? Are they fum are they? He said, "No, I don't know they." So he said, "If they're not not from they're not they're They don't need such matzah. They're or they're showy. Sorry to show you." So my father said, "I'm sorry, they're not showy. They're yen." And and became a very contested discussion in the matzah bakery to say the least. in walks in Ra Amram the head of the Turkart and he sees a he hears a commotion and he sees this lab buffer with his son going at each other. So he asks what's the discussion about and they and they tell him exactly what I told you now. So what Abi says to my father, I agree with my son and therefore they should not give you any matzah because matzah you give to a Jew, not to a or I'm sorry to a ye but not to a Russia probably they called them goyam too whatever. So my father said, "Raam, I'll tell you something. you're a Russia also. And the people around there wanted to kill my father, but they held themselves back. And he, my father, he said, I'll explain to you I'll tell you why you're a Russia says in the first page of Tanya quoting to go and that if you're a vat for one minute, you're a Russia. He can't be abaning. And he brings the for you disgrace the word of God. Cut off. You shall be cut off. He should be killed. He'll be killed. So my father turns to Raam. Raamn tell me. He he didn't know it's blah. He had no idea who he's talking to. Whoever it was, he says, "Do you learn to every single minute?" You don't. Don't tell me you learn every minute. So according to the Tanya, you're also a Russia. According to the Tanya, according to the Gamora, you're also a Russia. So if you're a Russia and you can take matzah, why can't this Jew get matzah? The next morning in the paper then the Turkarta had a paper called I don't know if it comes out today, but in those days it was called the wall, right? The guardians of the wall. So in Hebrew it's and the headline on wasp him you know has the to call it a bomb a Russia I'm saying the story because here says here what about mitzvah that cannot be done by others through others the is you can you can unull So for example, you know what you know what an example for this is if someone passes away and they're a mess mitzvah they don't have any relatives then you can stop learning from your learning not you stop you need to stop learning and go and bury the person even if you're studying the about the heavenly chariot it and what's going on in heaven having such heavenly things because one second. Yes. Yes. Is sir reminds me of the story of a oneb I forget who they were. One Reb went to visit another and uh so the Reb was the host was starting to make up the bed and the guest stopped him and he he no I I'll I'll make up the bed. So the next morning the host as the guest is putting on his toil, he runs over to him and he takes the straps from him and he starts winding the straps around. He says, "What are you doing?" He says is my mitzvah. You can't do my mitzvah. Right. Exactly. So if you do my mitzvah, I'll wrap your Very good. Next line. Surely when it comes to ding which involves the intellect and the love and fear fear and love the intellectual love and fear here that surely no one can do for you here in other words if in the is that there's a time when your tal I'm Sorry. Um learning. Yeah. Because it's no one else can do it for you. So surely which in the entire category of dabing is self my needs what's going on in my heart my mood. So no one can do it for you. That's the point alter is getting the reason as we explained before in order to extract and refine the sparks by means of the practical mitzvah this being the purpose of creation more the the virtue of mitz practical are very great and so to study about them are greater over the intellect itself. The top of next page 308 or the next line it says in the you shall t attach yourself cling to the so here is an important thing when we say Connect, cleave, attach. What are you connecting to? Not the essence. You don't know the essence. So you go to a sadic, you go to a reba, you go to a guttle, whatever, whatever you're right. You see their behavior, you follow their behavior, you it's fine. But that's the what they do. The mahus, you don't know the you don't know what they're thinking. of a says I am just dust and ashes. So in other words, what Abra is saying is that in comparison to the essence, it's only dust and ashes. On page 309, he has an interesting mush I want to read from the note. A tree originally composed of the four elements of fire, air, water, and earth. It's it is burned. Losing its first three elements in smoke, it is reduced to its fourth element, which is mere ashes. Yet though these though these ashes and the tree itself are the same element. The ashes can hardly be compared to the original tree that was beautiful to behold and good to the ear to eat. Sorry. So too the attributes of kindness and love that Aram possessed while his soul was in his body cannot be compared to the attribute of kindness which is one of the spheros. Now speaks about this in in earlier in Tanya. It is thus to be seen that one does not cleave to the essence of the superal attributes but only to their external state their state of mere existence. Understand? So a tree a tree is beautiful with fruits and leaves. When it's burnt it's it's it's but the elements are the same. But this is the that's the point. This is the mits and this is the mus the mahus is is very different than the mitsute. That's his point. This is a mushroom that we get left with quite closely of late. Yes. With burning of trees and forests came by. Needless to say, when it comes to the infinite Hashem, the last no thought can grasp God in his energy. The expansiveness, an extension of his. What do we know about Hashem? The existence, the external We know that Hashem enliven everyone but can but we don't know we don't know God's essence even the upper worlds the angels holy holy holy 310 only emanated effects can conceive their cause. The spiritual beings of the world of Axilus are each an effect brought about by a cause to the levels to in the levels higher than themselves. These beings vest themselves in each other in turn and at each level are able to comprehend the antecedent cause that is vested within. If you say the as explained in it's called the investment of the visages theim but this is not the case with created beings even souls says you can only see my back says I want to see you gom says, "Thank you very much, my dear Moses, but no created being can see the essence of God, the pmas. I'll show you the my backside, which is they say is metaphorically the kesher of tin, the the knot of the head filling, but the idea being the panemas, you don't get to see." Okay. So now the performers of mitzvah however as the alterb will now explain connects a Jew with the essence of divinity when he holds an together with the other three kinds of vegetation and fulfills the mitzvah of the four species ansukus he is holding on to the essence of divinity it's like the marash said is sir when you're eating a piece of matzah you know to say there you're eating eating godliness elus but you're eating a matzah mush it's a matzah and it cost a lot of money one matzah today that's all the is the is it's godliness otherwise you shouldn't be eating that matzah and definitely not paying $10 a matzah whatever they're charging today for a matzah mitz conversely forms hey mom That is actually a works of God. It comes down from on high from the nature in essence of their external aspect. Take for example an four kinds. This is now he's going to give us the cabalistic idea of an esrich and its fork and the three other kinds. Basically, Hashem invested his into the meaning from them outward state from their outward state from their external aspect. Yeah. Contracts. One who intellect a man who uses intellect. soul since it's invested in the body. You can't comprehend the essence. You can't comprehend the real source of of of of what's going on in parenthesis. It says represents the state of in the four worlds. The encompassing transcend light that is not invested in anything. So what does what's the most that the person can intellectually accomplish is to get the the existence through using their intellectual love and fear stop. Now it's a rhetorical question says but wait it says Hashem says you could see my backside. So hill as far as the backside is concerned metaphorically speaking it would seem that you have a full comprehension of says that's only a uh prophecy in other words Hashem is not telling this is the answer is Hashem is not telling Mosha you could see my backside in Pmius you you're a ni you're a prophet So there's something special about prophecy. I I I wanted to say something in a moment that story. This means the prophet had to remove their gash. You know that they had to remove their clothes. You know, it was um it's hard to imagine what that means, and we spoke about it once, but the idea is they had to divest themselves from Gashmiris to receive Nava, which by the way, if anyone tells you they're enough or all that nonsense, you ask him when's the last time they divest themselves from Kashmiris. Maybe this Rabbi Cook, this this guy, I mean, to me, he looks like someone who's not into Kashmir. I don't know. I I don't know how he's alive. this uh Rabbi Cook who I see on the screen. I mean the guy's frail you know another the Reb once said about the old Belza Reb Aaron who passed away in 1957 who lived in Tel Aviv. I told you about him many times. So the Reb said he's not surprised by what he didn't eat. He like Mish almost fasted every every day, every week, right? The Reb said he's not Mosha he's not surprised that he didn't eat because he was on a you know he's surprised that he was able to eat being such a such a sadic that's divested from Gashmis how is he able to eat and yet he had to eat something to survive and he did but that was a pella it's a it's a good vert it's you understand so down to says here why do I say this you talk about a n'vi you know to be a Nvi you have to be divested from Gashm that's the getter of Nvi up according to according to the according to the and if you're not divested of you might be a great guy and but you're not a novi so when Hashem says to who was a novi says only my so that that's a special gift In other words, it has nothing to do with the human comprehension of God. Okay? You hear that? Nas is not human comprehension of God in the ordinary way. It's a special gift that you've earned by refining yourself to the point you where you divested yourself from all of Gashmas that Hashem gives you the power of prophecy. And by the way, I don't know if we must say one second that a ni is a constant. What could there be another for a day? Could there be a ni for a week? I believe so. And you see we have stories in how they were and then they lost their they lost their n. Yes. Just want to say that the brings from a very similar point in the relationship between tahara and kadusha. He says that you know we we we we can work on our tahara but kadusha is always a gift from shmay. Ah very good. Thank you. It's exact. Yeah it sounds exactly what is saying. Let's continue. What's the reason? This is what I said just now inside the text. The reason why a person can't comprehend this intellectually because a creation cannot understand anything about God's essence. God is Hashem is the creator. How can you expect a creation to understand creator? What a creation can do is to tap you know the famous muscles they give with the um with the elephant blind you know like what is it it feels like an elephant you know in other words I don't I don't see it I'm person blind can't I can't tell you I saw an elephant but boy does it sound like an elephant boy does it smell like an elephant that's our understanding of godliness we're like blind and What do we know about Hashem's workings? Nothing. But we know Hashem makes this, Hashem does this and this and this and this. So we build a picture based on ouristic understanding. But to say that a nra that a creature can understand the essence of Hashem, absolutely not. Let's continue. and without the comprehension there is no true in God. Conversely, he comes from the highest levels. All fruit are coming from a very cabalistic. We're just going to go through it. The 30 vessels came into my 10 erances. We're going to stop here. So basically, so basically the is saying but when you take an and you and this you use for the mitzvah of of of the four things you have you have godliness. The essence god your mind and your your feelings are all you and and and so so see right now he's speaking about the virtue of mitzvah but remember the point in the in this essay is that as great as mitzvah mas are actionoriented mitzvah are and that's why mashenu pleaded please let me go he wanted to be able to do kitzah initless wherever you are will accomplish as far as the rectification of the sparks that fell in a greater way. That's a tremendous tomorrow. I have to travel. So we're going to learn not tomorrow but um Wednesday, right? Tomorrow's Tuesday. Wednesday morning, right? See you all Wednesday. Take care. Bye. Bye. Bye.