From: murray.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Tanya, Epistle 13, part 2 of 3
Date: 28 Aug 92 17:13:21 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Subj: Tanya-Epistle 13      2/3
 
 
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[Although the element of  Chesed within those described as  "those that
fear You" is  concealed, for their  soul-root derives essentially  from
Gevurah, it  is latent within  them just as  abundantly as it  is found
within those who are essentially of the "right".]
 
Moreover,  both [degrees of  Chesed] - [that  which is  dominant in the
souls deriving from  the "right" as  well as that  incorporated in  the
souls deriving from the  "left"] - are manifest without  limit, measure
or dimension.
 
And this is the meaning of the phrase, "How abundant is Your goodness";
i.e., [it applies in both cases] without limit and  measure; whether it
be the goodness "which You have hidden away for those who fear You," or
that which "You have wrought for those who trust in  You," referring to
the trusting ones  who derive  from the "right",  [A person trusts  his
beloved  friend to act  in his best  interests. In the  same way, those
whose souls stem  from the "right"  and who serve  G-d with Chesed  and
love, place their  trust in Him.]  and whose kindness and  goodness are
also  in a state of  manifestation and expansiveness  before [the sight
of] man, and by no means in a state of contraction and concealment.
 
[We can  now understand why the verse begins by saying "hidden away for
those who  fear You" and  concludes with the manifest  state of "before
man":
 
The verse is alluding to two forms  of Chesed - in its concealed state,
as possessed  by "those who  fear You," and  in its revealed  state, as
possessed by "those who trust in You."]
 
( (22) The reason the verse says "FOR those who fear You," [which would
seem  to imply  that the  Chesed from  above is  granted to  them as  a
reward,] rather than "IN those who fear You," is, that whatever is in a
state of concealment within any soul is not vested within the body - in
the individual's mind and  heart, [for they are incapable  of receiving
it.]
 
Rather,  it encompasses [the individual]  from above, so  to speak, and
thence  it radiates to his mind and  heart at those times which require
an arousal of the attribute in question, so that it will be aroused and
will illumine his mind and heart in order to result in actual deeds.)
 
[For example,  a person whose charitable  contributions are customarily
limited  will have revealed to him the concealed and infinite attribute
of Chesed, which will prompt him to give tzedakah unstintingly.]
 
[King David] therefore said that whereas the "abundance of goodness" of
the  House of  Israel, [both] that  which is  hidden and  that which is
manifest,  is (so to speak) without limit  and measure (relative to the
category of their soul vested  in the body), [The kindness of  a finite
creature is by definition  limited. However, it may be  termed infinite
in relation  to the soul vested in the body.] therefore "You, too, O G-
d, relate to them  with the attribute of Your  unlimited and infinitely
great Chesed,  [which is of the  level known as Gedulah,  and] which is
called rav Chesed" - [the Chesed of Arich Anpin that utterly transcends
the lesser Chesed of Z-eir Anpin, from which the worlds evolve by means
of the Seder Hishtalshelut.]
 
"For there is Chesed and [then] there is [a far higher form of] Chesed"
(23)  There is  Chesed olam  [lit., "Chesed  of the  world" -  i.e.,] a
worldlike [and hence finite] Chesed, that has an opposite counterpart -
the  attribute of din, [of severe justice,] heaven forfend, which would
diminish and contract [G-d's] goodness.
 
The superior form of Chesed, however,  which is called rav Chesed, does
not have the  attribute of din opposed to it,  to diminish and contract
the  abundance of [G-d's]  benevolence from extending  without limit or
end.
 
For it derives  from the  level of [Divinity  called] Sovev Kol  Almin,
[which  transcends (lit.,  "encompasses") all worlds  and limitations,]
and  from [the level of  Divinity called] Temira  DeChol Temirin [lit.,
"that which is  hidden [even] from  all the hidden [worlds],"  which is
called  Keter Elyon  [lit., "the  Supernal Crown"),  i.e.,  the utterly
transcendent level of Divinity known as Keter.]
 
This, then, is  the meaning  of the  verse [which  follows our  opening
quotation, and  which continues to  speak of "those  who fear  You" and
"those who  trust  in You":]  "Hide  them in  the  concealment of  Your
innermost dimension..."  [for,  as explained above, Panim  denotes both
"countenance" and  "inwardness";] "conceal them in  a sukkah..." [i.e.,
in the sublime level of Chesed which, deriving from the above-mentioned
level of Keter,  transcends the Seder Hishtalshelut, and will encompass
them like a sukkah.]
 
         * * * * *  Supplement by the Rebbe Shlita * * * * *
 
The thrust  of the above letter, which was delivered by an emissary who
was to collect contributions for charity, is that even  those who serve
G-d by  means of their  soul-root in the  "left", - even if,  like Beit
Shammai,  they are  totally righteous  individuals  (who need  not give
tzedakah  [for the sake of atonement];   cf. "for we are not complete,"
as explained  above in Iggeret  HaKodesh, Epistle 10),  - nevertheless,
they too possess "an abundant and immense" degree  of Chesed. "At those
times which require it," moreover, "it results in actual deeds."
 
This is  explicit in the concluding passage of the letter which was not
printed   "by the rabbis, long  may they live, sons  of the illustrious
author of  blessed memory, whose soul  is in Eden," and  which reads as
follows: (24)]
 
And after the above words, from the depths of  my soul I seek to arouse
the  [infinite] abundance of benevolence that is concealed in the heart
of every individual  in the chassidic brotherhood, (25) [so  that it be
manifested]  from  concealment to  revelation  and  be translated  into
action, and  so that you will all "fill your  hands unto G-d" by giving
charity with  a full and open  hand through the trusted  bearer of this
message - and what is written  [above] in the letter should suffice for
the discerning.
 
I am not  spelling it out,  for this is  not necessary; the above  will
suffice. These are  the words of one  who loves you with all  his soul,
and who seeks your welfare with heartfelt and soulful longing.
 
[At this point the Alter Rebbe signs:]
 
Shneur Zalman, the  son of my master, my father,  our mentor and Rebbe,
Rabbi Baruch
 
[The Rebbe Shlita  adds: "The above passage [which makes  it clear that
the foregoing teachings were intended  to find practical expression  in
the giving of tzedakah] enables us to understand the  relevance here of
the  first part of this  letter, which otherwise  should seemingly have
begun  with   Vehine  Kol  Ish  Yisrael  -  `Now  every  Jew  needs  to
comprise...."'
 
FOOTNOTES
 
1.   Tehillim 31:20.
2.   Michah 6:8.
3.   Yirmeyahu 13:17.
4.   Note  of the  Rebbe  Shlita: "See  Moed  Katan 16b  Mibefnim  etc.
     B'seser. 5. Note  of the  Rebbe Shlita: "Tur  and Shulchan  Aruch,
     beginning of Hilchot Tzedakah."
6.   Ketubbot 50a.
7.   Ibid. 103b.
8.   In  the standard Hebrew text, this last sentence appears after the
     following   one  (i.e.,   after  Berchava...-   "expansively").  A
     parenthetical  comment there  notes  the  consequent anomaly,  and
     suggests that  the sentence might in  fact belong here, as  in the
     present edition. 
9.   Tehillim 119:45.
10.  Malachi 3:10.
11.  Avot 4:3.
12.  Note of the Rebbe Shlita: "Eduyot, chs. 4-5."
13.  Note of the Rebbe Shlita: "See Zohar III, 245a."
14.  Note  of the Rebbe Shlita  in He-arot VeTikkunim: "This expression
     requires some explanation."
15.  Zohar III, 70a.
 
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