לקוטי שיחות חלק ד׳ - שופטים

The perfection of intellect is when the intellect bears fruit—when it affects the emotions.

On the verse (Devarim 20:19), “For man is the tree of the field,” the Sifri states: “This teaches that a person’s life comes only from the tree.”

And the Gemara states (Taanis 7a): “Is man a tree of the field? … Rather … if he is a worthy Torah scholar, ‘from him you shall eat, and him you shall not cut down’; but if not, ‘you shall destroy him and cut him down.’”

The explanation is as follows:

The Gemara’s question is that, seemingly, the perfection of man lies in the intellect—the level of chai, the living realm—and not in the emotions, which correspond to the level of tzomeach, the vegetative realm.

To this the Gemara answers that the perfection of intellect is specifically when the intellect produces fruit—when it acts upon and influences the emotions.

The reason is that the root of the emotions is higher than the root of the intellect. This also explains the connection with the Sifri’s interpretation that a person receives his vitality from the tree: the root of tzomeach, the vegetative realm, is higher than the root of medaber, the human or speaking realm.

Now, within intellect itself there are also the four levels of domem, tzomeach, chai, and medaber—inanimate, vegetative, living, and speaking.

Accordingly, the Gemara asks, “Is man a tree of the field?” It is true that the ultimate purpose is for the intellect to affect the emotions. However, for this it would seemingly be sufficient for the emotional dimension within the intellect itself to influence the emotions. This would still not represent the perfection of the essential intellect itself.

The Gemara therefore teaches that the essential intellect itself must also affect the emotions. If it does not, then “you shall destroy him.”

This is because specifically the essential intellect, which is above the entire realm of emotions, has two unique abilities:

First, it can affect the emotions without the emotions concealing or obscuring the intellect.

Second, specifically the essential intellect has the power to transform the emotions completely.

The practical lesson from this is the concept of “Yafutzu maayanosecha chutzah”—“Your wellsprings shall spread outward.”

It is specifically by spreading the wellsprings outward that the waters within oneself truly become “wellsprings.” As explained above, the ultimate purpose of the essential intellect is that it should affect and transform the emotions.