From: murray.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Tanya, Epistle 11, 1 of 3
Date: 27 Aug 92 19:16:55 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Tanya - Epistle 11    1/3
 
Epistle Eleven
 
[Like  most of the components of Iggeret HaKodesh, this pastoral letter
too was  addressed to the  chassidic community as  a whole.  Why, then,
echoing the words  first addressed  to Daniel: "To  enlighten you  with
understanding," (1) does the Alter Rebbe open it in the singular?
 
In this letter  the Alter Rebbe demands spiritual service  of a caliber
so seemingly formidable  as to be attainable only by  a chosen few. For
in it  he calls upon  the reader  not to desire  physical things,  even
those things that are  essential for his wellbeing and  utilized in his
service of G-d.
 
Even such essentials, states the Alter Rebbe, should not be desired for
their  physicality  but for  their spirituality,  for  the spark  of G-
dliness found within them. So much so  that even if a person finds that
he is lacking (G-d forbid)  life's essentials, he should not  be pained
by their absence;  rather he should rejoice in his  belief that this is
indeed for  his good, as shall soon be explained. Such a lofty response
to  deprivation  would seem  to  be within  the  reach of  only  a very
restricted elite.
 
The  Alter  Rebbe  therefore  begins  this  letter  in  the   singular,
indicating that every single individual can attain this level of divine
service. For it requires only  an absolute faith in G-d, and  this lies
hidden within every Jew; let  him but unveil this faith, and he will be
able to live by it.
 
"To enlighten you with  understanding" that not by  this path will  the
light of G-d dwell within [one], (2) i.e., by desiring the (3) "life of
flesh,"  and children, and sustenance,  [The Alter Rebbe  is negating a
desire that emanates from a craving for pleasure, rather than  a desire
that results from purposeful  need.] for on this our  Sages, of blessed
memory, said, (4) "Nullify your will [out of deference to His will]."
 
[This] means  [not that one  should set aside  his own will  because it
does not  coincide with G-d's  will, but] that [from  the outset] one's
will should  be [so] nullified that  he has no desire  whatever for any
worldly  matters  that  are   incorporated  within  the  three  general
categories of (5) "children, life, and sustenance."
 
[Although  these are  essentials, and  though they affect  one's divine
service, they should be desired not for themselves, but only insofar as
they further the accomplishment of one's spiritual tasks.
 
The above  directive to  "nullify" thus implies  bittul bimetzi-ut,  an
utter nullification of the self. Confronted by  a scholar of stature, a
lesser scholar may experience self-effacement -- but he still remains a
self-assertive personality.  Utter  nullification, by  contrast,  means
that  this  sensation  of  self  ceases  to  exist.  In  similar  vein,
nullifying  one's own  wishes before  G-d connotes  the absence  of any
wishes other than G-d's.]
 
[One should thus live] in  the spirit of the teaching of our  Sages, of
blessed  memory, that (6) "Against  your will do  you live." [I.e., one
should view the corporeal aspects of his life as being  contrary to his
will, and  surely so with regard  to the corporeal aspects  of children
and sustenance.
 
The Alter Rebbe now goes  on to explain how  a Jew can achieve a  total
lack of  yearning for the physicality  of things, even  things that are
essential.
 
According to the explanation that follows, it will be seen that one can
go beyond this,  and even not be pained by  their absence. Indeed, this
equanimity  in  the  face of  deprivation  proves  that  he derives  no
pleasure from these things when he does have them.
 
For it is possible for a person not to derive (conscious) pleasure from
something (7) and still delight in it subconsciously; the proof of this
is  that  he grieves  mightily  at  its loss,  and  pain  is the  exact
counterpart of pleasure.]
 
The clarification of  this matter, [how one can achieve  a state of not
desiring  the  physicality of  even those  things  most crucial  to his
existence, is as follows]:
 
This [can be achieved] only  [when there is] an absolute belief  in the
Yotzer Bereishit.
 
[Literally, as  in the  opening words of  the Aleinu  prayer, (8)  this
phrase refers to  G-d as "the  One Who formed  the first beginnings  of
Creation." In  the Kabbalistic lexicon, however,  reishit also connotes
the  Sefirah called Chochmah (lit.,  "wisdom").  The  Alter Rebbe hence
uses  this  phrase here  to  allude  to G-d  as  "the  One Who  created
[everything] by means  of reishit," i.e.,  by means of  the Sefirah  of
Chochmah.]
 
This means that  the creation of yesh ["that which  exists"] out of the
state of ayin [lit., "nothingness"] which is called reishit Chochmah,
 
Loosely, the phrase yesh me-ayin means "something from  nothing," i.e.,
creation  ex nihilo.  Here, however, the  meaning of ayin  is not "non-
being"  or  "non-existence",  for we  cannot  say  that  the source  of
creation  is  "non-being" when  (9) "Everything  is  from You":  all of
creation comes from G-dliness, the only entity that has true existence.
 
Rather, ayin  here means "incomprehensible",  for that which  a created
being  understands  he  terms   "existing"  while  that  which  totally
transcends his understanding he  denotes as "non-existing", inasmuch as
it does not exist within the world of his understanding.
 
Yesh me-ayin thus describes  the creation of something that  comes into
existence  from the  ayin of  Chochmah. Chochmah  in  turn is  known as
reishit (lit., "first"), as in  the verse, (10) "Reishit  chochmah...."
The level of emanation called Chochmah  is deemed to be "first" because
it  is the  first of  the Sefirot  and as  such serves  as a  source of
creation,  unlike the  levels of  Divinity preceding  it which  are too
high, so to speak, to emanate down to the level of creation.]
 
i.e.,  the Divine [Sefirah of]  Chochmah which is  not apprehensible to
any created being, [and which is the  level of Divinity described above
as  Yotzer Bereishit,  that  refers to  G-d  as  "the One  Who  created
(everything)  by means of  reishit," i.e., by  means of the  Sefirah of
Chochmah,] -  this creation  occurs at  every time (11)  and moment  at
which  all  created beings  come into  being  ex nihilo  [yesh me-ayin]
through G-d's wisdom which animates everything. (12)
 
[G-d not only  vitalizes all beings  but also creates  them, and  since
creation takes place ex nihilo it must occur constantly.
 
For it  is explained at length  in the teachings of  Chassidut that the
relationship between Creator and created differs from  the ilah ve-alul
("cause  and  effect")  relationship  of, for  example,  intellect  and
emotions.  Once emotions are brought  about by the  intellect, they can
then continue  to exist independently,  because in truth  the intellect
merely serves to  reveal pre-existing  emotions; it  does not  actually
create them.
 
Creation ex nihilo; however, involves creating  a being that previously
did not exist at all. The ayin that creates must therefore continuously
vest itself within  the created being, so  as to constantly  effect the
phenomenon  of   creation.  (This   is  explained  in   Shaar  HaYichud
VeHaEmunah, (13) a priori, from the splitting of the Red Sea.)
 
This is also the meaning of the statement, (14) "He Who in His goodness
renews each day, continuously, the work of creation...." G-d constantly
creates the universe anew from the ayin of Chochmah.]
 
Now when a man will contemplate  in the depths of his understanding and
will [moreover] picture in his  mind how he comes into being  ex nihilo
at every single moment, [so that he is  affected at every moment of his
existence by G-d*s wisdom,] how can he entertain the thought that he is
suffering,  or has any  afflictions related to  "children, life, [i.e.,
health,] and sustenance," or whatever other worldly sufferings?
 
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