From: murray.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Tanya, Epistle 10, 3 of 3
Date: 23 Aug 92 02:10:11 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Tanya Epistle 10      3/3
 
>>> Continued from previous message
 
But the Holy One, blessed  be He, is called the Ein Sof - [the Infinite
One,] and  His attributes [like Himself] have no end, as it is written,
(42)  "...for  His  mercies never  cease."  [When  a  Jew echoes  G-d's
boundless kindness and compassion,  his actions are thus termed  "G-d's
acts of kindness.]
 
And  this  is  the  meaning of  the  prophet's  words,  (43)  after the
Destruction and the exile: "The kindnesses of G-d have surely not ended
(ki lo tamnu)." That is: "Because we are not perfect,  (44) inasmuch as
we are not  perfect (temimim) and whole, without any  sin or blemish in
our  soul nor  in  the  higher worlds,  we  therefore  need to  conduct
ourselves in accordance with "G-d's kindnesses," that are without limit
or end, in order to call down upon ourselves  Supreme compassion, i.e.,
rav Chesed, and unlimited,  infinite compassion, as it is  written, [at
the conclusion of this verse,] "for His mercies never cease...."
 
[Since we are in need of drawing down this level of compassion, our own
practice of kindness must echo "G-d's kindness."
 
Thus the Prophet is telling the generations that follow the Destruction
that they should  practice unbounded kindness because they are not in a
state  of  tamnu. Being  imperfect, we  need  to arouse  G-d's infinite
kindness and compassion in order to rectify any sins and blemishes.
 
(Moreover, since these  latter generations  are too weak  to engage  in
fasting  and self-mortification, the only means now available to secure
full atonement is through tzedakah. (45)]
 
And  this is what  our Sages, of  blessed memory, meant  by saying that
(46)  "Israel will be redeemed  only through charity."  [This refers to
the  charity] that  they  will perform  even  IF they  are  legally not
obligated, for  (47) "[Mashiach]  the son of  David will not  come etc.
[until the pocket will be empty of even the smallest coin]."
 
[I.e., even  if (Heaven forfend) there will not be a solitary coin left
in one's pocket, tzedakah will still be given. And it is this boundless
level of tzedakah that secures a complete atonement for the sins of our
people, after which (48) "they will immediately be redeemed."
 
The  Rebbe Shlita explains  that the Alter Rebbe  does not conclude the
above- mentioned  quotation about  the precondition  for the  coming of
Mashiach because it is quite possible that he did not want to write out
the  last words  (viz., "until  the pocket  will be  empty of  even the
smallest coin"); and this precondition of the Sages can be fulfilled on
the spiritual level,  by conducting  oneself with the  humility of  the
destitute.
 
This could  also explain why the  Alter Rebbe does not  say ("when they
are  legally  not obligated"),  but rather  ("if  they are  legally not
obligated").
 
 Footnotes
 
1.   Cf. Tehillim 119:130. 
2.   Cf. Mishlei 15:31. 
3.   Note of the  Rebbe Shlita:  "At the  conclusion as  well [of  this
     Epistle] the Alter Rebbe  stresses that `This is what  the prophet
     says,' in order to add certainty to the following statement." 
4.   Eichah 3:22. 
5.   Liturgy, concluding  blessings of Shemoneh  Esreh (Siddur Tehillat
     HaShem, p. 58). 
6.   III, 133b. 

7.   Tehillim 29:11. 
8.   116a. 
9.   Makkot 23b. 
10.  Devarim 33:2. 
11.  Mishlei 31:26. 
12.  Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction II (Patach Eliyahu). 
13.  Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 30 (p. 74b). 
14.  The parentheses are in the original text. 
15.  This being a characteristic of the attribute of Gevurah. 
16.  Shabbat 88b. 
17.  Note of the Rebbe Shlita: It would appear that this phrase (`most 
       commandments have a delimited measure') seeks to highlight their
     maximal  limits, especially  since the  Alter Rebbe  qualifies the
     noun   'measure'   (shiur)    with   the   adjective   'delimited'
     (metzumtzam).  (The   commandments  that  follow   would  then  be
     instances of Chesed olam,  being no higher than the finitude  of a
     worldlike  Chesed). Paradoxically, how-ever, the examples that the
     Alter Rebbe then  gives all  indicate the minimal  limits of  each
     mitzvah!  [...]  Indeed,  even when  the  mitzvah  of tzedakah  is
     carried  out at the [boundless] level of  Chasdei Havayah it has a
     minimal  limit - i.e., [the obligation obtains only when the donor
     owns at least] a  perutah (whereas from the finite  perspective of
     Chesed olam  he would be  exempt from it,  as is discussed  at the
     very  end  of  the present  Epistle).  By  way  of resolving  this
     anomaly, it could be suggested that the Alter Rebbe seeks to point
     out [...]  that tzitzit which are thirteen thumb-breadths long are
     in no way superior to tzitzit of twelve; hence the  measure of the
     mitzvah of  tzitzit has a  maximal delimitation. The same   may be
     said  of the other examples,  such as the  dimensions of tefillin,
     and so on. 
18.  Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 11:4. 
19.  Ibid. 32:33. 
20.  Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim  32:39. Note of the Rebbe  Shlita: At
     first glance, this requirement would appear to be out of  place in
     a list  of dimensions;  rather, it  would  appear to  be merely  a
     restriction  (disqualifying round  ones,  for example),  though no
     mention is made of  the many comparable restrictions  that pertain
     to  tzitzit  or  to  tefillin.  It  may be  suggested  by  way  of
     explanation that this  phrase [does indeed relate to  a dimension,
     inasmuch as it] seeks to exclude a shape of five (or six or  more)
     sides  that  encompasses (and  is greater  than)  a square.   This
     exclusion  does  not  apply  to  tzitzit  (cf. the  Alter  Rebbe's
     Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 10:1). This gives significance to the
     word `necessarily', which might otherwise appear superfluous. 
21.  Ibid., beginning of sec. 650. 
22.  Ibid., beginning of sec. 634. 
23.  Ibid., 586:9. 
24.  Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 201. 
25.  Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Maaseh HaKorbanot 1:14. 
26.  Ibid. 
27.  Ibid.; Tractate Parah 1:2. 
28.  Avot 1:2. 
29.  Tehillim 89:3. 
30.  Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 249:1. 
31.  Tehillim 52:3. 
32.  Chagigah 13a. 
33.  Rosh HaShanah 31a. 
34.  Berachot 34b. 
35.  Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah  7:4, as distinct from  the wording cited
     in Berachot, loc. cit.: "...do not stand." 
36.  Mishlei 21:3. 
37.  Note of the Rebbe  Shlita: In light  of this explanation, what  is
     the  relevance  here  of  justice?   Paradoxically,  it  could  be
     explained  that  it is  specifically this  word that  explains why
     tzedakah is  preferred over offerings.  For the  kind of  tzedakah
     that  can  be  done equally  by  all  -  the regular,  unqualified
     commandment of tzedakah which is one of the pillars upon which the
     world  stands would appear to belong to [the finite category known
     as] Chesed olam,  as stated explicitly above. How, then, can it be
     found preferable to offerings?  The verse therefore specifies that
     the  subject  at hand  is  the kind  of tzedakah  that  is closely
     accompanied  by justice, i.e., the tzedakah whose goal is the just
     rectification of ones  sins. This  concept is related  to that  in
     Torah  Or (p.  63b), but it  is not   exactly the same.  As to the
     difference in  order between  'tzedakah and justice'  and 'justice
     and tzedakah', see Avot deRabbi Natan, beginning of ch. 33, and Or
     HaTorah, Parshat Vayei ra, p. 99a. 
38.  Ketubbot 50a. 
39.  Iyov 2:4. 
40.  Tehillim 103:17. 
41.  Yevamot 79a. 
42.  Eichah 3:22. 
43.  See above, footnote 3. 
44.  Note of the Rebbe Shlita: The proof being the Destruction and  the
     exile. 
45.  This is explained at  length in Iggeret HaTeshuvah, ch. 3 (in Vol.
     III of the present series). 
46.  See above, Epistle 9, footnote 16. 
47.  Sanhedrin 97a. 
48.  Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 7:5. 
 
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