Parshas Yisro
1. At the Giving of the Torah it says, "וידבר אלקים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר" ("And G‑d spoke all these words, saying"). The commentators ask: what is meant by "saying"? Everywhere it says "And [G‑d] spoke… saying," it means that this should be repeated to the Jews who did not hear it at the time it happened. But at the Giving of the Torah, since all the Jews were there and all of them heard, what then does "saying" mean? One cannot say that it is for the sake of the later generations, because at the Giving of the Torah the souls of the later generations were also present.1 The Maggid of Mezritch, of blessed memory, answers this: the point of the Giving of the Torah is to draw down the Ten Commandments of the Torah into the Ten Utterances with which the world was created. As is known, the explanation2 of the verse "עשרה עשרה הכף בשקל הקודש" ("ten, ten [shekels] each spoon, by the holy shekel") is that the Ten Utterances are equal to, and correspond to, the Ten Commandments. That is why it says "And [G‑d] spoke… saying": to draw the "spoke" — the Ten Commandments — into the "saying" — the Ten Utterances.
2. The meaning of this in the service of G‑d is:
The light of the Torah — the Ten Commandments — must shine also in the matters of the world — the Ten Utterances.
Not like those who think that Torah is one separate thing and the world is another separate thing: when he is in the setting of Torah he will be a Torah Jew, and when he comes into the world he will conduct himself according to the norms of the world — according to the way the world is set up and the way the world behaves. Rather, what is demanded is that all of his matters, including the matters of the world, should be according to the norms of the Torah. We are not speaking about forbidden things. That is obviously a simple matter: what one may not do, one may not do. What is meant is that even in permitted things there must not be the norms of the world, "balebatish" norms,3 but only the norms of the Torah.
3. This is also what is written: "היתה לי דמעתי לחם יומם ולילה באמור אלי כל היום איה אלקיך" ("My tears have been my bread day and night, when they say to me all day, 'Where is your G‑d?'"). "My tears have been my bread day and night": he is so embittered that the tears replace bread. The tears take the place of bread, as it is known that bitterness — being embittered — causes one not to feel any hunger. And what is the bitterness from? He says further on in the verse — "when they say to me": there is a complaint and a demand from Above: "all day," the whole day, "where is your G‑d?"
"Your G‑d" (Elokecha) means "כוחך וחיותך" (your strength and your vitality).4 And who is "your G‑d"? Havayah — "your G‑d." Havayah is above time and space and above the chain of descending worlds, and that is "your G‑d" — your strength and your vitality. Even more: "אנכי הוי׳ אלקיך" ("I am Havayah your G‑d"). "I" (Anochi) means: "אנכי מי שאנכי, דלא איתרמז לא בשום אות ולא בשום קוץ" ("I, Who I am, Who is not alluded to in any letter nor in any tip of a letter").5 That is "your G‑d" — your strength and your vitality.
And this is what is demanded of him: "All day, where is your G‑d?!" The feeling of "I am Havayah your G‑d" — where is it with you the whole day?!
That he hears about this "your G‑d" while davening and learning, or during a farbrengen — that is too little. That is not the intent. That could have been accomplished with angels as well, or with souls Above as they stand beneath the Throne of Glory. The intent of the soul's descent into the body is to refine the body and the animal soul (for "הנשמה עצמה אינה צריכה תיקון כלל" ("the soul itself needs no rectification at all")6). Of him it is demanded that the whole day — while he eats, while he drinks, while he does business, and while he speaks with people — the "your G‑d" should be with him, just as he himself understood it and sensed it while davening and while learning.
(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Mikeitz, 5713)
4. There are those who claim that the teachings of Chassidus are a matter of the hidden [part of Torah], and therefore, Heaven forbid, one should not learn it. The answer to this is:
At the Giving of the Torah the entire Torah was given, both the revealed and the hidden parts of the Torah. On the contrary, the revealed part of the Torah was then in a hidden state. As is known,7 the Ten Commandments contain 620 letters, in which the 620 mitzvos are alluded to: the 613 mitzvos of the Torah and the 7 Rabbinic mitzvos. Thus all the mitzvos were in the Ten Commandments — only by allusion and in a hidden way. By contrast, the hidden part of the Torah was revealed, because all the Jews then saw the Work of the Chariot (as is also alluded to in the verse "רכב אלקים רבותים אלפי שנאן… סיני בקודש" ("The chariot of G‑d is myriads, thousands of shin'an… Sinai in holiness"): "shin'an" (שנאן) is an acronym for shor (ox), nesher (eagle), ari (lion), and the nun stands for the face of man), and the Work of the Chariot is the inner dimension of the Torah.
(From the sichos of the festival of Shavuos, 5713)
5. Those who oppose the study of Chassidus generally have two claims:
a) If it is a necessary study, why did it not exist earlier? And if it was possible to manage for so many years without Chassidus, that is a sign that it is not a necessary study.
b) It is a study that leads to nullifying the existence of the physical and of the "yesh" (sense of self), and nullification is, after all, a matter of negation and absence.
6. The answer to this is:
It is written in the Rambam's "Shemoneh Perakim"8 that just as there are illnesses and cures of the body, so too there are illnesses and cures of the soul. From this it is understood that from many matters that concern illness and healing of the body one can learn about illness and healing of the soul.
7. In general, an illness, may the Merciful One save us, means that a certain part of the body is missing or damaged. There is, however, an illness in which nothing at all is missing in the body; on the contrary, something has actually been added (grown on) — a piece of flesh. Seemingly, who cares that there is an extra piece of flesh? Nothing is missing from the part that is supposed to be there! Nevertheless, we see that this is an illness. And on the contrary, sometimes, may the Merciful One save us, it is an even more severe illness than when something is missing in the body, to the point that it is such a severe disease, Heaven forbid, that people do not even want to call it by its name. The piece of flesh that has grown on is harmful to the place where it is found, and it can also spread further, Heaven forbid.
Just as this illness is different from all other illnesses, so too its cure is different from the cures for other illnesses. All cures add something to the person. By contrast, the cure for this disease is to destroy the superfluous part, and through this the person becomes truly healthy. The cure for this illness, Heaven forbid, was discovered altogether only a couple of generations ago, and the detailed ways of how to use the cure were discovered even later, and research is still in progress.
8. It is self-understood that if someone does not want to use the cure on account of the claims: a) a cure is a matter of broadening and strengthening the existence of the body, not of destroying; b) since for generations upon generations it was not used, he does not want to listen to the new doctors with their new cures — he is "Sam Sapozhnik" and will conduct himself the way people used to conduct themselves — everyone understands that these are no claims at all.
For what must be strengthened and broadened is the healthy part of the body, but not the part that has grown on, because it does not belong to the body, and on the contrary, it is harmful to the body — so it must be destroyed.
In earlier times the illness, Heaven forbid, was not as open and frequent as today, so people did not search so hard [for a cure], and mainly, from Above the cure for it had not been prepared. By contrast, recently, when the disease has multiplied, Heaven forbid, the Holy One, blessed be He, "הקדים רפואה למכה" ("prepared the cure before the blow") and provided the cure for it.
9. All matters in the physical derive from their root and their counterpart in the spiritual. So too the disease and cure mentioned above, which came about in the recent generations, came about because of their counterpart in the spiritual, which also came about in the latter generations.
It is, after all, the very "heels of Moshiach" (Ikvesa diMeshicha); soon it will be "קץ שם לחושך" ("He puts an end to darkness"). Consequently, the kelipah of Amalek is strengthened and multiplied — chutzpah, arrogance without reason and without a why. — In earlier times there was also pride and arrogance, but it was not as coarse as today. —
And from this there came about in the physical as well an existence that has in it no reason and no why at all; this existence takes away the strengths of the body, as though it alone were the main existence.
So the A-lmighty prepared the cure before the blow and revealed the teachings of Chassidus, which bring about a destruction and a laying waste of the diseased part — the existence of the "yesh" (ego).
10. It is self-understood that in one detail the parable is not like the thing it illustrates. In the parable, if one keeps up the cure too long, it can cause destruction in the healthy part of the body as well. By contrast, in the spiritual one can keep learning Chassidus continuously, learn further and learn more, and it will cause destruction only in the part of pride and arrogance. In the healthy part it will, on the contrary, give strength and added power, as it is said9 that Torah is "עוז ותושיה" ("strength and wisdom") — wisdom (tushiyah) for the animal soul and strength (oz) for the G‑dly soul.
(From the sichos of 12 Tammuz, 5712)
There is a record by my revered father-in-law, our master, teacher and Rebbe, whose hilula [we mark], in which are written down memories of his grandfather the Rebbe Maharash, and also of his grandmother, the righteous Rebbetzin Rivkah (the Rebbe Maharash's Rebbetzin), whose yahrzeit is also Yud Shevat.
Among the memories a story is recorded, which has also already been printed,10 that when she was eighteen years old she was very unwell. The doctor told her to eat as soon as she got up from sleep. Since she did not want to eat before davening, she would get up very early, daven, and eat afterward. Thus she did not eat before davening and also ate early. But it is self-understood that this not only did not add to her health; because of it she also did not get enough sleep.
The Tzemach Tzedek said to her: A Jew must be healthy and strong. Regarding mitzvos it says "וחי בהם" ("and you shall live by them"), and the meaning of "and you shall live by them" is that one must bring life into the mitzvos (as the Maggid of Mezritch explains, as mentioned in the maamar). In order to be able to bring life into the mitzvos, one must be strong and be joyful. And the Tzemach Tzedek concluded: You need not be fasting. Better to eat for the sake of davening than to daven for the sake of eating.
* * *
All the matters that the Rebbeim related, and especially those that were transmitted from generation to generation, are certainly not mere stories. From the very fact that it was transmitted from generation to generation, it is certain that it is relevant to the listeners, so that they should learn from it.
* * *
A person's matters are divided in general into two kinds: a) the matters one does for the sake of G‑d, such as Torah study, prayer and the observance of mitzvos; b) the matters one does for one's own sake — what is truly a need for a person, or what appears to him to be a need.
The inner point of these two categories is "davening" and "eating." The first kind is "davening," because the essence of davening is turning to, and attaching oneself to, and "דע לפני מי אתה עומד" ("know before Whom you stand") — before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. The second kind is "eating": whatever a person needs, he "hungers" for it, and upon receiving what he needs he stills his hunger — eating.
* * *
In the manner of how to daven and how to eat, there can be several approaches.
There can be an approach in which the person is split. His "davening" and his "eating" have no connection with each other. While davening (that is, while he learns, observes mitzvos and davens) he has no connection to worldly matters, to the point that one could think he is a complete tzaddik; but later, when it comes to worldly matters, business or eating in the plain sense, there is no trace at all of holiness, spirituality and refinement on him. But such an approach is something about which it is said: "אטו בשופטני עסקינן?" ("Are we dealing with fools?") — "וברשיעי לא עסקינן" ("and we are not dealing with the wicked").
A second approach: his davening and his eating are connected; in all his matters he looks into the Shulchan Aruch and does as it says there — but he davens for the sake of eating. That is: since he knows that he needs to approach G‑d with requests, and the way to receive from G‑d is as He says in the verse, "אם בחוקותי תלכו… ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם" ("If you walk in My statutes… I will give your rains in their season"), therefore he does what G‑d commands, so that afterward he will be able to come to G‑d with the claim that G‑d should give him everything he needs — pay him for his davening.
The Gemara11 indeed says that "האומר סלע זו לצדקה על מנת שיחיה בני הרי זה צדיק גמור" ("one who says, 'This sela is for charity so that my son may live,' is a completely righteous person"), and accordingly, the path of davening for the sake of eating is also a path. True, Rashi says there: "if he is accustomed to this" — not giving charity once and then, once his son lives, stopping, but being accustomed to it. Nevertheless, even if he is accustomed to it, since it is for an ulterior motive, this is not the ultimate purpose.
True, the Gemara says12 that one should learn Torah and observe mitzvos even "שלא לשמה" ("not for its own sake"). But why? — The Gemara gives the reason: that he will come to Torah study and the observance of mitzvos for their own sake.
* * *
The desired approach and purpose is not that davening and eating should have no connection, and also not davening for the sake of eating, but rather — eating for the sake of davening.
Davening must certainly be for the sake of davening; that is a simple matter. When he knows that G‑d wants him to learn Torah and observe mitzvos, it cannot occur to him at all to do otherwise than G‑d commanded. Consequently he davens "שלא על מנת לקבל פרס" ("not in order to receive a reward"), but because that is what G‑d commanded. He does not ask whether he will have the World to Come for it or not, and all the more so he does not ask about reward in this world.
But that is still too little. What is demanded is that his eating, too, should be for the sake of davening. All his matters should be for the sake of holiness, as it is written, "בכל דרכיך דעהו" ("In all your ways, know Him").
That he will be wealthy, stand very high in "Dun & Bradstreet," and be in a "bracket" that pays 95 percent taxes — that is not the purpose of man's creation. Rather, all his matters should be for the sake of holiness, so that he can learn Torah with peace of mind, observe mitzvos generously, and give charity with an open hand.
And not to be satisfied with himself alone, but to see to influence others as well. For through his being wealthy it will be easier for him to influence others. As we see, a poor man is laughed at, but a rich man — even when he does something foolish people imitate him, and all the more so when he does something proper. Consequently: when he puts on tefillin, everyone will put on tefillin; when he keeps Shabbos, everyone will keep Shabbos, because people see that he became wealthy because he keeps Shabbos; when he puts on Rabbeinu Tam's tefillin, everyone will start putting on Rabbeinu Tam's tefillin; and when he eats shmurah matzah, all the plain-matzah bakeries will close, because everyone will start using shmurah.
And this is what "eating for the sake of davening" means: that all human matters and needs (all of which are called "eating") must be for the sake of "davening" (which includes the entire Torah and mitzvos), to accomplish in them the "and you shall live by them" — to bring life into Torah and mitzvos.
* * *
There is a further lesson from the above: that the instruction was given to a woman, a mother of children, one of whom later became a Nasi in Israel.
The lesson from this is: When one wants children to grow up whose conduct will be not davening for the sake of eating, and not that davening and eating should be two separate worlds, but that they should eat for the sake of davening —
this depends on the mother. She herself should conduct herself this way and instill this spirit in the children from their earliest age, when they are still lying in the cradle — instill in them the feeling that all matters must be for the sake of attaching oneself to G‑d, and that without this, even if there is something to "eat," it has no taste.
And then one raises such children who later become great men in Israel, who have the wherewithal to daven and have what to eat, and eat as G‑d wants — and His will is that Jews should have from "מידו המלאה הפתוחה הקדושה והרחבה" ("His full, open, holy and generous hand"), that there be not only "בני רויחי" ("ample children") but also "חיי רויחי ומזוני רויחי" ("ample life and ample sustenance").
May there be the "והריקותי לכם ברכה עד בלי די" ("I will pour out for you blessing without end"): a blessed home in spirituality and a blessed home in material matters, and may the father and mother have nachas from them for length of days and good years — nachas in spirituality and nachas in material matters.
(From the sichos of Yud Shevat, 5719)
Notes
1) Shemos Rabbah 28:3.
2) Zohar III, 11b.
3) See Sma on Choshen Mishpat, sec. 3, subsec. 13.
4) See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, sec. 5.
5) See Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 60b; Zohar III, 11a.
6) Tanya, ch. 37.
7) Rashi's commentary on the Torah, Shemos 24:12; Baal HaTurim, Shemos 20:13.
8) Ch. 3. See also Hilchos De'os 2:1.
9) Mechilta, Beshalach 15:2; Vayikra Rabbah 31:5; Sanhedrin 26b. See also Torah Or, beginning of Parshas Yisro, 67a, and the Hosafos to Torah Or there, 109a.
10) Hayom Yom, 10 Shevat 5703.
11) Rosh Hashanah 4a.
12) Pesachim 50b. See the Alter Rebbe's Hilchos Talmud Torah 4:3.
Key Lesson
The Torah was given "saying" so that its light would be drawn into the world itself: a Jew's eating, business and everyday conduct must also be filled with G‑dliness, not only his davening and learning. Chassidus is the cure prepared for our generation's swollen ego, and the ideal is to "eat for the sake of davening" — to make every worldly matter, including wealth, serve holiness and bring life into Torah and mitzvos.