From: murray.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Tanya, Epistle 4, 3 of 3
Date: 21 Aug 92 15:47:26 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Tanya Epistle 4   3/319, part 3 of 3 
 
Continued from previous message 
 
In these terms, too, we can understand the meaning of [the above-quoted
phrase], "Righteousness  [or charity]  shall go (yehaleich)  before Him
(lefanav)."   The   word   lefanav   shares  a   root   with   pnimiyut
("inwardness"),  and yehaleich - [the causative form of the verb, which
appears in this verse  in place of the  expected form, yeilech  ("shall
go")] - shares a root with  holachah ("leading"). [It thus implies that
charity does not itself "go  before Him": rather, it causes some  other
entity to  "go before Him."]  For  [tzedakah] leads the innermost point
of [a man's] heart towards G-d, and then  (30) "he sets his steps" (31)
towards the way of G-d" - as it is written, (32) "And you shall walk in
His ways,"  [and likewise,] (33) "You shall go after the L-rd your G-d"
- with [his]  entire performance  of the commandments,  and with  [his]
(34) "study of Torah, which  is equivalent to them all."  For  they all
ascend to G-d  through the inwardness of the  heart, [which is revealed
through the service of tzedakah,] [and this ascent is] more intense and
reaches far higher than  their ascent to G-d through the externality of
the heart,  [for this ascent] is  born only of man's  contemplation and
knowledge  [of  G-dliness], without  an  illumination  of the  [Divine]
"countenance"  [i.e., inwardness] from above,  but in a  state in which
"the countenance is hidden."   For the Supernal "countenance"  does not
radiate  downwards  except through  an  arousal  initiated from  below,
through an act  of charity, charity being called "peace".   And this is
the meaning of the  verse that says, (35) "He  has redeemed my soul  in
peace"  - [or, "through peace."  This,  as explained by our Sages, (36)
refers  to tzedakah  and  acts of  loving-kindness  that are  known  as
"peace".   [The verse speaks] expressly of "my soul," (37) [inasmuch as
it refers to the Shechinah found in the soul of each and every Jew, for
the  Divine spark  that vitalizes  the soul  of every  Jew is  redeemed
through "peace" - through tzedakah.]  This is also the reason for which
charity is called  "peace", because  according to the  teaching of  our
Sages,  (38) of  blessed memory,  by virtue of  charity "peace  is made
between Israel and their  Father in heaven," through the  redemption of
their souls, which are truly a part of G-d, from the grip of the forces
of evil.   [The Alter Rebbe wrote this letter, like most of the letters
that  comprise Iggeret HaKodesh, in connection with the charitable fund
of Kollel Chabad in the Land of Israel. This fund  supported R. Mendele
Horodoker and  his colleagues, together  with their disciples,  who had
settled  there. Hence the Alter  Rebbe concludes:]   This is especially
the  case with  charity for  the Land  of Israel, for  it is  truly the
charity of G-d, [since it is directed  to a place where the Divine Name
is revealed, to  a Land of  which] it is  written, (39)  "The eyes "  [
i.e.,  the most quintessential efflux and attention] - of the L-rd your
G-d are constantly upon it."   [In this vein it is also  written,] (40)
"And  My eyes and  My heart  will be  there at all  times." It  is this
[charity for the Holy Land] that has stood by us to redeem the  life of
our souls from the counsel of those who seek to repel our steps,[ i.e.,
those who desire  to harm us.]   And  this [charity] will  stand by  us
forever - to  set our  souls in the  true life of  the Fountainhead  of
Life, so  that we  will be  (41) "enlightened with  the light  of life"
which G-d (42) "will make  His Face radiate with us, Selah."  Amen, may
this be His will.   
 
Footnotes  
 
1.   Rambam,  Hilchot Matnot Aniyim, beginning of ch. 10. On the source
     and  wording of this teaching, see the note of the Rebbe Shlita at
     the conclusion of Epistle 9. 
2.   Yeshayahu 1:27. 
3.   Tehillim 85:14. 
4.   Ibid. 27:8. 
5.   Parentheses and brackets are in the original text. 
6.   According to a variant  reading, Lehisbonen would mean  "by making
     them  meditate." 
7.   Cf. Shir HaShirim 8:6. 
8.   Tehillim 130:1. 
9.   Zohar II, 63b. 
10.  The parentheses  close  here in  the original  text. However,  the
     Rebbe (Shlita) points out  that they should in fact  close further
     on, after the words, "in every soul of Israel." 
11.  Kohelet 7:14. 
12.  Mishlei 3:19. 
13.  See note 10, above. 
14.  Cf. Tanya, Part I, ch. 19. (Note of the Rebbe Shlita.) 
15.  "It  would seem  that  the text  should  read, Kemamar  -  `as our
     Sages...'"     (Note of the Rebbe Shlita.) 
16.  Megillah 29a. 
17.  Devarim  10:16. The same Hebrew word means  both "excision" and   
     "circumcision". 
18.  See Sefer HaLikkutim Dach: Tzemach Tzedek, s.v. Milah. 
19.  Sanhedrin 98a; Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 7:5. 
20.  Mishnah, Shabbat 137b. 
21.  Devarim 30:6. 
22.  Sanhedrin 97a. The phrase Hesech Hadaat commonly implies that Daat
     is   absent  because  it has  been  forgotten; the  Alter  Rebbe's
     interpretation makes Daat absent because it has been transcended. 
23.  See Shabbat 10a. 
24.  Bamidbar 6:25. 
25.  Zohar III, 247b; cf. Taanit 25b. 
26.  Cf. Iyov 33:28. 
27.  Mishlei 4:23. 
28.  See Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun  37: "And the blood... from  the periah
     to     provide nurture". Similarly at the conclusion of Tikkun 24.
     See  also Sefer  HaMitzvot by  the Tzemach  Tzedek, Mitzvat  Eglah
     Arufah; Levush on Yoreh Deah 265:10. (Note of the Reb be Shlita.) 
29.  The Hebrew  Veshoveha can mean either  "her returning expatriates"
     or "her captives." 
30.  Tehillim 85:14, continuing the verse which began, "Tzedek shall go
     before Him,..." 
31.  Regarding the term Pe-omov (his steps) - and so too Pe-omenu ("our
     steps")  later on -  the Tzemach  Tzedek (in  his  comment on this
     verse in     Tehillim) refers the  reader to  the maamar  entitled
     Paamon   VeRimon   (which   appears   in   Or   HaTorah,   Parshat
     Tetzaveh).(Note of the Rebbe Shlita.) 
32.  Devarim 28:9. 
33.  Ibid. 13:5. 
34.  Mishnah, beginning of Peah. 
35.  Tehillim 55:19. 
36.  Berachot 8a, and Rashi ad loc. 
37.  One would have  expected the verse to say, "[He  has redeemed] me"
     [rather than "my soul"],  as in the verse, "You have  redeemed me"
     (Tehillim 31:6). (Note of the Rebbe Shlita.) 
38.  Tosefta, Peah, ch. 1. 
39.  Devarim 11:12. 
40.  I Melachim   Tim 67:2. 
 
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