442 —השפעה במחנה, בחירה חפשית וידיעת ה', הבהרות בתניא

B"H, 10 Shevat, 5709.

Haraha"ch vavac"h iy"a nu"m etc. Mohari Yosef Altien

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In response to your letter: a) You wonder why regarding the division of Shas only you and Reb Shalom Poizner participated from your camp. After so many years living there, have you not influenced even one person to be under your impact? If this is so in matters of Nigleh (revealed Torah), how much more so in matters of the inner dimension of Torah and mitzvos, where the yetzer hara opposes even more strongly and provides all kinds of ready excuses. When will you finally begin to do your part in spreading the wellsprings of the Baal Shem Tov outward? Mashiach waits for each of our actions so that what he answered to the Baal Shem Tov—that he will come then to redeem us from both physical and spiritual exile—will be fulfilled. This is not just a clever saying but is meant literally as written in the Baal Shem Tov's Iggeres HaKodesh. My intent is not that you find people to take a few tractates but that you and your friends make your environment into a Lubavitch corner which Divine Providence has planted for now in your camp. Then when the Alter Rebbe travels around the world and comes to our camp, he should not find strangers but his own people—a proper beis midrash, names of chassidic books on the floor, and an atmosphere filled with letters of Torah imbued with awe of Heaven generally and Chabad Chassidus specifically. Even though these letters rise above, their impression remains forever—as is known regarding all matters of holiness. Why delay this work? Meanwhile all Israel remains in a doubled darkness of exile; each day brings greater curses—especially when people begin calling darkness light and exile redemption.

b) Regarding your question about knowledge and choice: Since G‑d already knows today what I will do tomorrow, how can I act differently tomorrow? Would that not make His knowledge false? The explanation is simple: Free choice means I have full ability to act as I wish without compulsion. Even here, tomorrow I have full ability to choose as I wish; I could choose contrary to what is known Above because Divine knowledge does not compel or relate at all to my choice. What I do is only because I choose it freely. Besides my previous example (of someone who knows future events but does not influence them), consider also an example from compulsion: Someone says he knows that if you throw a stone tomorrow it will fall to earth. When it falls, no one says it fell because he said or knew it would; rather, since gravity exists by G‑d's decree, he knows it will fall. If nature dictated stones rise upward, he would say so too. So too here: Because tomorrow I freely choose a certain action without compulsion, therefore Above it is known accordingly; if I chose otherwise freely tomorrow, then Above it would be known otherwise too. The difference between this analogy and Divine knowledge is: (a) We understand how someone knows about falling stones—he knows natural laws—but we cannot understand how G‑d knows my future choices; thus Rambam explains that He and His knowledge are one. (b) Another question: How can G‑d's knowledge—which creates and sustains everything—not affect creation at all? After all, His thought creates worlds! The answer: This knowledge operates in a transcendent way etc., as explained in Chassidus. See also what I referenced previously: Tikunei Zohar Chadash at its end; Pardes Shaar Atzmus v'Kelim ch. 9; Shelah's introduction on Bechirah; Toras Chaim end Parshas Vayeira; Tzt"z's gloss on mitzvas Din Eved Ivri concluding "and examine well for it is purest flour."

c) In your previous letter you asked about "the vitality of mitzvah actions and their fulfillment" mentioned at start Tanya ch. 23 p. 56. Answer: See there ch. 37 where they are included in ratzon elyon: (1) vitality of tefillin parchment etc.; (2) energy from the animal soul moving one's hand to put on tefillin etc.; both are meant by "vitality" in ch. 23. See also Tanya summary 1 (p. 11) and notes there (p. 108) referencing Torah Or.

d) You also asked there on Tanya ch. 23 why it says "and power of speech." Answer: In my opinion speech itself does not unite completely like thought but serves only as body to soul—like action for nefesh habehamis—for moving lips counts as action; see Tanya ch. 37 and Likkutei Torah s.v. U'Veyom Hashabbos third maamar.

In P.S., may the whole group begin—and surely everyone relates to what was written above.

Summary

The Rebbe urges proactive influence within one's environment for spreading Chassidus, clarifies that free will remains intact despite Divine foreknowledge using clear analogies, and explains nuanced points from Tanya about mitzvah vitality and distinctions between thought and speech.