Amalek: The Source of the Seven Nations

 

(Continued from here.)

Amalek’s goal in preventing Daas of holiness from influencing the emotions is for the person to then succumb to his desire to sin.

This is the meaning of the verse: “Amalek is the first of the nations.”[1]

Rashi there explains that Amalek was first in the sense that it was the first nation to attack the Jewish people after the Exodus, despite knowing about the tremendous miracles that Hashem had performed for the Jewish people.

But the deeper explanation is that the Amalek within is “the first,” the source, “of the nations,” of the Seven Nations within, of the seven negative character traits.

For, as explained, the inner Amalek blocks the Daas of the Divine Soul from arousing emotions of love and fear of Hashem.

This vacuum in the emotions automatically enables the seven negative character traits to seize control and tempt one to sin.

This is also the deeper meaning of the verse, “One who is separated seeks pleasure.”[2] By separating the emotions from the intellect, so that the person lacks fear of Hashem, he comes to “seek pleasure,” to indulge in all the forbidden pleasures.

This is the reason that the inner Amalek’s “end is to be destroyed,” for the drive to provoke the desire to sin is evil and irredeemable.

Earlier, we said that we accomplish the mitzvah to banish the Seven Nations by uprooting the desire for sin, through Teshuvah.

This obligation is directly tied to the mitzvah to eradicate Amalek, for Amalek’s objective in his chutzpah is for the person to succumb to his negative desires and fall into sin. Thus, we also eradicate the Amalek within through Teshuvah.

Erasing Amalek by Remembering Him

Another way in which we overcome the Amalek within is by fulfilling the mitzvah to remember the nation of Amalek, as it is written, “Remember what Amalek did to you.” [3]

Based on the above explanation, this remembrance entails a command to reflect upon the distinguishing trait of the nation of Amalek: An all-consuming desire to incite arrogant, insolent rebellion against the truth of Hashem. One should feel pained at the very existence of such obscene evil in the world, and in so doing, one also subdues the Amalek within.

This strengthens the person so that his meditation upon Hashem’s greatness will indeed result in love and fear of Hashem, which will in turn inspire him to observe the Mitzvos with passion and an inner sensitivity to G-dliness.

Based on the Rebbe Rashab’s Sefer Hamaamarim 5643, 5644, 5645, p. 305 ff.; Sefer Hamaamarim 5654, p. 196 ff., p. 337 ff.

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[1] Bamidbar ibid.

[2] Mishlei 18:1.

[3] Devarim 25:17.

The Significance of Seventy

The Significance of Seventy 

by Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

in honor of the seventieth birthday of my mother,
Zipporah Oliver (Chana Feiga bas Reizel) 

Seventy is a very significant age, for it represents the full span of a lifetime, as David Hamelech says in Tehillim: “Our days are seventy years”.[1]

But how does this fit with the fact that some people lived for much longer? In particular, the Avos—Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov—lived for far longer than seventy years. It would seem clear that David included all mankind in his statement, including the Avos, so why did they live for so long?

The answer is that in fact, this emphasis on the age of seventy is not referring to a physical age but to a spiritual age. As is known, the number seven represents the seven middos, the emotional character traits. Seventy represents perfection in each of these traits, as they each contain ten, corresponding to the three levels of intellect and the seven emotional traits as they exist within each trait.

We find a similar expression of perfection within the seven traits in the custom of counting the forty-nine days of the Omer, when we specifically mention how each day corresponds to one of the seven traits within each of the seven traits.

Seventy represents an even higher level of perfection, because it includes the three levels of intellect within each emotion as well.

Thus, the reason that a lifespan lasts for seventy years is that our task is to refine our character traits and reach the spiritual level of seventy, which represents perfection in the refinement of one’s character traits.

Thus, the greatness of the Rambam is expressed in his lifetime of seventy years, which emphasized that he reached perfection in his self-refinement and this perfection also expressed itself on the physical level, in the length of his lifetime in this world.

But since this number represents spiritual accomplishments, it could also be accomplished by someone who is not seventy. Indeed, we find that in the Hagadah, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says “I am like someone who is seventy years”, which means that spiritually he had reached the age of seventy even though he was physically a young man.

But if this level of perfection can be reached in seventy years and even less, why did the Avos live for longer?

The answer is that even after a person has reached perfection in his divine service, that does not necessarily mean that one’s life needs to come to an end. One may be given the opportunity to rise to an even higher level of perfection, by involving oneself in a completely new endeavor, one that is higher than his previous form of divine service.

Although this task is based on his previous divine service, it is far superior to it, and it adds further perfection to his previous divine service.

All human life is divided into stages and each stage has its own task. When one stage is complete, because one completed one’s mission in that stage, then a new stage begins with a new task. As the Mishnah puts it: “At five, one studies Chumash; at ten, Mishnah”,[2] and so on. The same applies to the end of the age of preparation for mitzvos, at 12 for a girl and at 13 for a boy.

Likewise, at the end of a period of seventy years, corresponding to the seven character traits, comes a new level of divine service in order to reach an even higher level of perfection.

We find this also regarding Torah study, and Hashem “looked into Torah and created the world”.[3] Torah study comes in stages: Chumash, and then Mishnah, and then Gemara. Each stays follows and builds on the accomplishment of the previous stage or stages. So after one has study Chumash well, then one progresses to studying Mishnah, and so on.

But on the other hand, the study of Mishnah adds to the understanding one reached at the previous stage, when one had only studied Chumash, and so is it with all the further dimensions of Torah that one learns.

So those who have been blessed by Hashem with a life longer than seventy years have merited to be able to open a new page and start a new form of divine service.

As mentioned, we find this in the case of the Avos, who lived for longer than seventy years. Once they reached the age of seventy, they began a new kind of divine service.

“The deeds of the forefathers are a sign for the sons”[4]: Every single Jew is granted the ability, through the Avos, to complete the divine service of seventy years and then to start a new, higher form of divine service.

Conversely, one can attain this perfection before the age of seventy and then start a whole new level of divine service, and then another, and so on.

We see this in the age of the Rambam, who lived for seventy years. Although he lived for exactly seventy years, he managed to accomplish many different tasks during this time, which would have taken a lot more time for someone else.

The lesson is that everyone should constantly grow and increase in their divine service, and with renewed vigor, in all the three areas of Torah study, prayer, and charity.

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[1] 90:10.
[2] Avos 5:21.
[3] Zohar 1:134:1
[4] Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 9.

Adapted from the Rebbe's Hisvaduyos 5749, vol. 2, pp. 163-165.

Overcoming the Dangers of Intense Religiosity (pt. 3)

Overcoming the Dangers of
Intense Religiosity (pt. 3)

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

Earlier (pts. 1 and pt. 2), we explained the phenomenon of well-meant, otherwise worthy religious feelings being “hijacked” and being expressed in a counter-productive, even harmful manner.

Now for the big question: How does one avoid falling into this trap?

One root cause of spirituality going awry is the lack of the proper foundation of one’s service of Hashem.

To serve Hashem properly it is not enough to eschew hedonism, to think constantly about Hashem, to be spiritual, and to love Hashem. It is not even enough to fear Him. The same goes for fulfilling the Mitzvos that relate to the sphere of interactions with other people: It is not enough for a religious person to be generous and hospitable, to be humble and forgiving, to be devoted and tireless in serving one’s community. 

Yes, these are all important and even vital elements of a deep, personal relationship with Hashem. Yet all of them can go awry, so none of them comprise the very foundation of one’s relationship with Hashem.

The beginning and foundation of serving Hashem is very (and perhaps even deceptively) simple: Kabolas ol Malchus Shomayim, submission to the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven.[1] This means that one is in a state of constant submission, such that all one’s behavior is part of serving Hashem, and is done with the intention of following His wishes.

With regard to emotional expression, this means that no emotion or desire, however worthy it may otherwise be, should be expressed exclusively because one feels that way.

Rather, even if the emotion coursing through one’s heart is fully appropriate, one should be conscious of its inner core. This very emotion is part of serving Hashem, for through it one fulfills a divine command—the command to feel certain feelings.

For Torah and halacha direct us not only in our actions, but also in proper thoughts and feelings, in “chovos halevavos—duties of the heart.” In this case, not only is it worthy to love and fear Hashem, but in so doing, we fulfill explicit divine commands[2] (which are, in fact, Biblical obligations no less binding than the obligation to keep Shabbos or kosher): “Love Hashem, your G–d”[3] and “Fear Hashem, your G–d.”[4]

This holds true not only for spontaneous, gut feelings (which are much more likely to be hijacked in the manner described above), but even for feelings that emerged, as they should, from a process of study, comprehension, and hisbonenus (“contemplation” or “meditation”). For intellect, emotions, and the (very worthy) process of intellect producing emotions all depend upon the firm foundation of Kabolas ol Malchus Shomayim for their success.

When a Jew’s life is based on this foundation, his entire relationship with Hashem is stable and strong, and then he is able to attain success in his spiritual strivings in all areas and on all levels[5]—intellect, emotions, and thought, speech, and action. Moreover, it ultimately also paves the way for Hashem’s blessings for material prosperity.

If, however, one gets carried away with a passion for a holy pursuit (in whatever area), but lacks the awareness that this feeling is not just self-expression, but a part of serving Hashem and fulfilling a divine command, then no matter how worthy and holy the passion, this person is at high risk. This passion may well devolve into inappropriate feelings and behavior, as explained in the previous posts in this series.

Thus, we find how Nadav and Avihu, who yearned to serve Hashem on a high level, were so intent on their desire to offer up the incense in the Mishkan that they did so when they were not supposed to. They then “came too close to Hashem, and died.”[6] The reason this happened was that their passion to come close to Hashem lacked kabolas ol Malchus Shomayim, the simultaneous desire to submit to Him, and so it ended tragically. Let us not make the same mistake.

Adapted from the Rebbe's Sichos Kodesh 5723, p. 54.

Read this essay in full on Scribd here!

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[1] Cf. Tanya beg. ch. 41.

[2] These are counted in the Six Constant Mitzvos binding on men and women equally, as enumerated in the introduction to Sefer HaChinuch.

[3] Devarim 6:5.

[4] Ibid. 6:13.

[5] Cf. Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 1, pp. 104-105.

[6] Vayikra 12:1; Ohr HaChaim ad loc.

Dedicated by Reb Yisrael Meir Raphael and family.

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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Overcoming the Dangers of Intense Religiosity (pt. 1)

Overcoming the Dangers of
Intense Religiosity (pt. 1)

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

Whoa. Take it easy.

Is it good to be passionate and intense about goodness and holiness? Yes, undoubtedly. In fact, we are commanded to strive for this state, and not only is one who lacks passion neglectful, but he is at great risk of sliding into sin, for spiritual coldness and apathy lead one to all manner of evil, may Hashem save us.

Yet one must also take precautions to ensure that this intensity of feeling not go overboard and be expressed inappropriately.

The goal of learning about Hashem’s greatness is that this knowledge inspire one to genuine feelings for Hashem—middos (emotions) of ahavah ve’yirah, love and awe of Hashem (see here).

Then instead of simply going through the motions—known as “Mitzvas anoshim melumadah”—one’s heart will be in it:

• Not only will he no longer view Mitzvos as an odious chore, but since he knows that performing the Mitzvos draws him into a close connection with Hashem, he eagerly looks forward to the opportunity to fulfill them, and does so with great gusto and joy. 

• Likewise, his awareness that sin separates and distances him from Hashem makes the very thought of sinning repulsive and motivates him to do his utmost to avoid falling in sin. 

The Torah states that this process of inner change is the mission of every single Jew.

To explain, Chassidus teaches that Hashem “made this one,” Kelipah, spiritual impurity, “opposite this one,” Kedushah, holiness. Kelipah and Kedushah (see here) parallel each other. The same is true of the emotions that stem from these two cosmic forces, respectively: The unworthy emotions of the Bestial Soul parallel the worthy emotions of the Divine Soul (see here).

When one succeeds in this process of transforming one’s emotions, the holy emotions replace the unholy ones (see here). In this state, love of physicality is replaced by its counterpart in holiness, love of Hashem. Fear related to one’s physical life (e.g., fear of pain, poverty, shame, and so on) is replaced with fear of Hashem.

However, by their very nature, emotions are egotistical. This holds true not only of the undesirable or at least selfish emotions of the Bestial Soul, but even of the holy emotions of the Neshamah, the Divine Soul.

Emotions are all about personal feelings and desires. One could desire to indulge in hedonistic pursuits or to attach oneself to the loftiest heights of holiness—either way, the ego is involved. Although in the latter case it is expressed in a constructive and virtuous way, it is still necessarily present.

This is especially the case when the emotion is felt tangibly. An emotion could be present but not felt, for it lies under the surface (cf. Tanya ch. 16). But when an emotion is tangibly felt, there is a strong egotistical component even in the holy emotions, and this is bad. This creates the serious danger that when the emotion is expressed, it may devolve into its counterpart in Kelipah. I will provide a handful of more common examples, with the caveat that this is only a very brief treatment of such behaviors, for this process can manifest itself in numerous forms:

Love: Love involves opening up and transcending limitations for the object of one’s love. So when love of Hashem goes awry, one  loses a sense of boundaries, and then openness to and love of Hashem degenerate into dangerous openness and evil love—material indulgence and forbidden pleasures.

For instance, during prayer the Jew becomes aroused with passionate  love for Hashem. After prayer, the intense feeling remains, but it becomes expressed in a more intense desire to indulge the senses, e.g., gluttonous eating.

Fear: Fear drives one to create limits and boundaries out of a sense of caution. So when fear of Hashem goes awry, the person becomes so filled with fiery passion or with a sense of self-limitation and inhibition gone too far that he succumbs to the negative emotions of the Bestial Soul. He may break out in sudden anger, sink into depression, inflict pain and torment upon others, or the like. 

Another manifestation of this egotistical element of fear of Hashem is when the person  shows off his intense desire to avoid sin. Even when he has no conscious desire to do so, and he is simply expressing his genuine emotion of fear of Hashem, the showiness is inappropriate. If his emotions were pure, this self-display would not occur, and this trait stems from his deep-seated condition of spiritual coarseness.

This is an example of what Chassidus calls yenikah lachitzonim, “giving sustenance to negative spiritual energies.” This means that when something holy lacks purity, it unwittingly gives strength to the forces of Kelipah, with often disastrous and tragic results. This expression is also used more broadly to describe anything good and holy that is done in a foolish, inappropriate, or otherwise inadvisable manner and therefore leads to an unfavorable outcome.

In this case, it means that the small element of ego in otherwise worthy and holy feelings is able to be grabbed and used by the evil inclination to feed undesirable emotions.

What is the key to overcoming these dangers? Stay tuned!

Based on the Rebbe Rashab’s Sefer HaMaamarim 5660, pp. 8-9;
Sefer HaMaamarim 5670, pp. 103-104.  

Read this essay in full on Scribd here!

This post was dedicated by Rochel'e and Sholom Ber Odze in honor of the birthday of Yeshaya Yaakov bas Rochel on 24 Sivan. May he have a shnas hatzlocho begashmiyus u'veruchniyus!

Also dedicated by Zvi Rona and family l'ilui nishmas Shlomo ben Pesach, whose yahrtzeit was on 8 Tammuz.

Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), Yaakov Yehuda ben Shaindel (Jacob Ostreicher), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).

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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Programmed Purity Vs. Frail Freedom

Programmed Purity
Vs. Frail Freedom

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

(This post is a continuation of this earlier post: Of Angels and Men)

Hashem’s creation is awesomely vast. It encompasses not only our world, but also the entire Seder Hishtalshelus, the awesomely vast system of higher spiritual worlds that ends with our physical universe (see here).

Yet all the beings that Hashem created possess a fundamental limitation: Each one is endowed with a very small repertoire of qualities and character traits. With these few traits each creature is equipped to carry out its individual role, but is unable to perform any other role.

In the animal kingdom we find that each species exhibits a distinct emotional tendency. For instance, the raven is cruel, while the eagle is compassionate, and so on.

So is it in higher spheres: The angels, which are compared to animals,[1] are also limited to the distinctive traits with which they were created. Gavriel, the angel of fire and strictness, is unable to deviate from its nature and be kind, while Micha’el, the angel of water and kindness, is unable to be harsh. Thus, of the supernal angels it is written that Hashem “established them forever and ever; He has established a decree that shall not be transgressed,”[2] for they are unable to change.

This is also the reason that “one angel cannot perform two missions”:[3] since its character is fixed, it is incapable of expressing itself in any other way.

In contrast, Hashem fashioned mankind as a microcosm of the Seder Hishtalshelus, and so his inner self encompasses all levels in miniature. Thus, he is endowed with the entire spectrum of character traits, ranging from the highest to the lowest and from one extreme to another.

We can observe this is in the classic episode of the binding of Yitzchak. Hashem asked Avraham, who personified kindness,[4] to deviate from his nature and act with such harshness as to kill another person—and not just anyone, but his only son. Yes, Avraham was ready to obey because Hashem requested it of him. But how could he have obeyed, if his defining attribute was kindness? The answer is that no matter how much a person excels in a particular trait, he always retains the ability to act differently. Thus, although Avraham excelled in kindness, he could still be cruel.

Conversely, even the criminal guilty of the most dastardly crimes, the sort whom all will agree belongs in an electric chair, is capable of being kind and loving.

This is the reason that when the Torah describes the creation of all the other creatures, Hashem is referred to in the singular—“And Hashem made the firmament”;[5] “And Hashem made the animals of the earth”;[6] and so on. Only in connection with mankind do we find the plural form—“Let us make man.”[7] This alludes to the unique multiplicity that Hashem implanted within the mankind such that his spiritual makeup parallels all the higher heavenly spheres, and thus runs the entire gamut of qualities.

Based on the Rebbe Rashab’s Sefer HaMaamarim 5660, p. 10.

(To be continued, G-d willing.)

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[1] Sifri, end of Bahaaloscha; Bamidbar Rabba, end of Naso.

[2] Tehillim 148:6.

[3] Bereshis Rabbah 3:2.

[4] Avraham is associated with love and kindness, as it is written, “Avraham, who loves Me” (Yeshayah 41:9). Moreover, “The divine attribute of kindness said before the Holy One: ‘Master of the Universe, since the days of Avraham, I have not have to perform my job, for Avraham serves in my stead’” (Sefer HaBahir 191, cited in Pardes 22:4).

[5] Bereshis 1:7.

[6] Ibid. 1:25.

[7] Ibid. 1:26.



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Sponsored by Pinchas and Feygl Cylich (Pinchos Boruch ben Yeshaya Yaakov and Feiga Matl bas Freidl) in honor of their parents, aleihem ha'sholom: Yaakov ben Boruch, Rayzl bas Pinchos, Yaakov Yisroel ben Shamai, and Freydl bas Mendl.




Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Hava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).

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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Balance in Chinuch

Balance in Chinuch

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

Our sages say: “Avraham—Yishma’el emerged from him; Yitzchak—Esav emerged from him; Yaakov—his bed was complete.”[1] 

Chassidus explains that although Avraham’s avodah (divine service) was chessed, kindness,[2] and it was a pure and holy chessed, it lacked the balance that only gevurah, strictness, can create, and so it was susceptible to being overcome by its evil counterpart—unholy chessed. Likewise, the avodah of Yitzchak, pure and holy gevurah,[3] lacked the balance that only chessed can create, and so it was susceptible to being overcome by its evil counterpart—unholy gevurah (for more on the way attributes can exist in both a holy and unholy form, see here).

This is the reason that Avraham’s avodah was incomplete, and therefore Yishma’el, who personified evil chessed, emerged from Avraham. Likewise, Yitzchak’s avodah was incomplete, and therefore Esav, who personified evil gevurah, emerged from Yitzchak. Only Yaakov, whose avodah was tiferes, “harmony,” which combines and balances chessed and gevurah, begot children who were all righteous—“his bed was complete.”[4]

Chinuch (education)—and any relationship, for that matter—requires the unconditional love and permissiveness of chessed and the rigorous, harsh discipline of gevurah. But as valuable as each of these approaches is, adopting either one to the exclusion of the other is unhealthy. Although following the opposite approaches of chessed and gevurah simultaneously may be challenging, they must be both be incorporated—and carefully balanced.

Most people are naturally inclined to be lopsided in their approach—some incline to excessive chessed, others to excessive gevurah. We can learn from Avraham and Yitzchak that when one follows one’s nature and goes to extremes in either approach, failing to practice chessed when gevurah is necessary, and vice versa,[5] and failing to create the proper balance between these two approaches, it may well lead, despite all one’s worthy intentions, to a most tragic outcome, may G–d save us.

The parent and educator are faced with the task of going against their nature, and when necessary, practicing chessed despite their natural inclination to gevurah, or vice versa. Ultimately, they must strike a balance between chessed and gevurah, and in a way that is tailor-made for each individual child, and this is the key to their success in the chinuch of their offspring and students.

(Of course, all the above constitutes a very general statement. In any given chinuch situation one must assess how to strike this balance correctly, based on the general guidelines laid out in Torah, and the advice and guidance of rabbonim and mashpi'im, and that is a separate discussion.)

Adapted from the Alter Rebbe’s Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 5a. Cf. Torah Ohr, Toldos 20c.

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[1] See Toras Kohanim on Vayikra 26:42.
[2] Avraham is associated with love and kindness, as it is written, “Avraham, who loves Me” (Yeshayah 41:9). Moreover, “The divine attribute of kindness said before the Holy One: ‘Master of the Universe, since the days of Avraham, I have not needed to perform my job, for Avraham serves in my stead’” (Sefer HaBahir 191, cited in Pardes 22:4).

[3] The Torah associates Yitzchak with holy strictness and fear, referring to Hashem as “the fear of Yitzchak” (Bereshis 31:42). 
[4] For more on this topic, see Zohar 3:179b; Torah Ohr, Bereshis 17c.
[5] See a teaching on this matter from the Previous Rebbe in Sichos Kodesh 5741, Vol. 2, p. 805.



Dedicated by Shmuel and Sara Rochel Markel in honor of the birth of their daughter, Yehudis bas Shmuel Leib. Yegadluha leTorah, lechuppah, ulemaasim tovim mitoch harchavah!

Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Chava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).


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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Avodah: A Tough Job

Avodah: A Tough Job

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

The purpose of a Jew’s life is avodas Hashem. The word avodah has multiple meanings. The most basic meaning is sheirus, to serve Hashem like a servant serves and prepares things for his master, similar to the expression, “I was created to serve my Maker.”[1] Thus, the word avodah means service.[2]

However,[3] the Hebrew word avodah also has a different but related connotation. It is etymologically related to the word ibud, “processing.” This involves taking a coarse, unusable substance, and treating it in various ways until it is refined and usable.

The classic example of this is taking a smelly, foul hide of an animal, and investing the tremendous effort necessary to treat it using many and various treatments until it is converted into leather. Then not only can it be used for constructive mundane purposes, it can even be used for holy purposes, such as parchment for Tefillin and the like.

Likewise, the Jew must engage in avodah in the sense of processing a coarse substance—taking the gashmiyus and the chumriyus (see here) of his body, his Bestial Soul, and the world around him, and fighting and struggling with herculean strength, even in the face of tremendous adversity, to reject the chumriyus and refine and transform the gashmiyus into a vessel for spirituality and G–dliness.[4]

The[5] extent and nature of the effort required to accomplish this transformation varies greatly, depending upon the person’s individual level and life circumstances.

Just[6] as processing hides involves transforming a substance from one extreme to another, so are we to transform the Bestial Soul from a desire for worldly pleasures to the other extreme—love of Hashem.[7]

Furthermore,[8] the hide resists being changed into leather, because one wants to change it into a state completely different from its natural state. So, too, the Bestial Soul naturally resist one’s efforts to transform it, and this necessitates avodah—tremendous effort to go against one’s nature.[9] And yet this resistance is in fact positive, because otherwise we would not need avodah—toil to change the Bestial Soul, and Hashem wants this task to require effort.

This[10] analogy, which emphasizes the need for toil, also implies that it is insufficient to serve Hashem out of fear alone; fear of Hashem does not necessarily require toil, for some people possess a natural fear of Hashem.[11] In contrast, love of Hashem always requires effort to evoke;[12] thus, true self-refinement requires developing both fear and love of Hashem.

Moreover, the hide is hard, and so processing it involves crushing it in order to soften it, and then it can become leather. Likewise, a Jew should engage in Iskafya, lit. “subduing”—going against his nature and crushing it.[13] This softens his personality, fulfilling the directive of our sages, “One should always be soft like a reed, and not hard like cedar.”[14]

This[15] analogy also expresses to the emotional difficulty involved, for the task of processing hides is degrading. Thus, we find that “One may not appoint a king or a high priest who was a tanner [one who processes hides]; since this task is degrading, the people will deride them.”[16] Likewise, the task of transforming the body, the Bestial Soul, and the outside world, will involve enduring unpleasantness and degradation.

A[17] Jew who struggles to overcome his nature is called an oved Elokim, a servant of Hashem. The use of the word oved in present tense implies that this expression refers to one engaged in a constant, lifelong battle with the evil inclination.

Why[18] is the specific name of Elokim used in this context? Because Elokim, which has the numerical value of hateva, nature,[19] is the divine name that creates the natural order. And when a Jew toils to change his own nature within, this has an impact upon the cosmos in general, such that he “processes” and refines the natural order as a whole, which stems from the divine name of Elokim.[20]

Moreover,[21] ultimately, investing the tremendous effort required to refine the physical elevates the Jew to a state of bittul bimetzius, complete submission to Hashem. This means that not only the Neshamah, but even the Bestial Soul and the body reach a state of bittul bimetzius, such that their entire being exists only to fulfill Hashem’s will. May we all merit to reach this level!


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[1] Kiddushin 82b.
[2] Hemshech Mayim Rabim 5636, p. 91.
[3] Torah Ohr, Bereshis 5b; ibid., Mishpatim 76a. Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2d.
[4] Hayom Yom, 17 Sivan.
[5] Toras Menachem 5718, Vol. 22, p. 39.
[6] Ma’amarei Admur HaTzemach Tzedek, 5615, p. 266.
[7] Cf. Tanya ch. 17.
[8] Toras Menachem 5711, Vol. 3, p. 152.
[9] Tanya 118a.
[10] Toras Menachem 5712, Vol. 4, p. 329.
[11] Kuntres HoAvodah, chs. 1-3.
[12] Of course, some may have to exert more effort than others—cf. Tanya ch. 42.
[13] Ma’amarim Melukatim, Vol. 2, p. 361.
[14] Ta’anis 20a.
[15] Sefer HaSichos 5751, Vol. 1, p. 158.
[16] Kiddushin 82a. Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, 1:6.
[17] Tanya ch. 15.
[18] Toras Menachem 5712, Vol. 5, p. 138.
[19] Ramak, Pardes 12:2. Reishis Chochmah, Sha’ar HaTeshuvah, ch. 6, s.v. vehamargil.
[20] Cf. Likkutei Torah, Balak 73d.
[21] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5733, p. 377.



Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).




Dedicated by the Weinberger family in honor of the yahrtzeit of Melech ben Sara Masha a"h on 19 Tammuz.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

The weekdays and Shabbos—two levels of the heart

The weekdays and Shabbos—two levels of the heart

Rabbi Y. Oliver

The altar represents the Jew’s process of “sacrificing” his or her inner self to Hashem. Thus, the Mishkan contained two altars, the outer and inner altar, representing the two general stages in the Jew’s service of Hashem.

On the outer altar, the Jew would offer up animal sacrifices. This represents the refinement of the Bestial Soul, and in our divine service, this corresponds to the Jew’s divine mission during the weekdays—to refine the body and the Bestial Soul. This gives Hashem pleasure, which is referred to anthropomorphically as “a pleasant fragrance.”[1]

The part of the heart that descends to vest itself in terms that will influence the Bestial Soul is merely the heart’s lower level, known as chitzoniyus ha’lev, the external aspect of the heart. This is the significance of the outer altar.

However, the inner altar was used only for incense offerings, for incense represents a higher form of divine service than animal sacrifices.

The purpose of incense is to produce a pleasant fragrance. We can understand the significance of fragrance from the Talmud: “Which is the thing that the soul enjoys, but the body does not enjoy? Fragrance.”[2] This represents a deeper form of divine service, one that involves the penimiyus ha’lev, the inner dimension of the heart. Of this it is written, “May the entire soul praise Hashem.”[3] This refers to the efforts of the soul itself to rise up to connect to Hashem, without having to lower itself to influence the body, the Bestial Soul, and its worldly environment.

Here the goal is not to refine the body and Bestial Soul, but for the Yechidah, the Neshamah’s essence, to bond and unite with the Essence of Hashem.

Although the animal sacrifices on the outer altar also produced a fragrance that brought pleasure to Hashem, as it were, this fragrance did not compare to that produced by the incense on the inner altar, for just as the entire purpose of the incense is to emit physical fragrance, so does it bring a much more sublime fragrance to Hashem.

This is the difference between the way we serve Hashem in the weekdays, and on Shabbos. On the weekdays (see also here) we refine the Bestial Soul through the chitzoniyus ha’lev, while on Shabbos, we transcend all involvement with the physical (which is the reason for the prohibitions of the thirty-nine categories of work on Shabbos) in order to reach a sublime unity of the penimiyus ha’lev and the Yechidah with Hashem's very Essence (see also here).

This is the deeper significance of the concept that the weekdays act as a preparation for Shabbos, for the more successful one is at refining the Bestial Soul through the chitzoniyus ha’lev during the weekdays, the higher the level of revelation of the penimiyus ha’lev that one merits on Shabbos.

Ma’amarei Admur HaEmtza’i, Shemos, Vol. 2, p. 674 ff.

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[1] Vayikra 6:14.
[2] Berachos 43b.
[3] Tehillim 150:6.

Dedicated by Reb Yisrael Meir Rafael and family.


Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Sin Detracts from Our Bond with Hashem

Sin Detracts from Our Bond with Hashem

Rabbi Y. Oliver

(This is a continuation from the previous post.)

In addition to the specific kind of wicked deed that each of the negative emotions entices one to commit, all negative emotions seek to make the Jew susceptible to sin in general, for, as our sages say “A person does not sin unless possessed by a spirit of foolishness.”[1] This “spirit of foolishness” comprises the negative emotions within the Bestial Soul, which are “foolish”—they seek to entice the person to sin by concealing from him the truth of the nature of sin.

The “spirit of foolishness” uses falsehood to entice the person to sin in many ways. One of its prime ruses is the claim: “Sin will not impinge upon your bond with Hashem.”[2]

Every Jew possesses an innate love and yearning for Hashem (the ahavah mesuteres[3]) that makes it intolerable for him to allow his bond with Hashem to be weakened, never mind severed, G–d forbid. In the words of the Alter Rebbe, “A Jew doesn’t want to, and cannot, become separated from G–dliness.”[4] And since “Your sins separate between you and Hashem, your G–d,”[5] by nature, a Jew cannot bring himself to commit a sin and thereby sever his connection with Hashem.

Yet this only means that the Jew cannot bring himself to knowingly sever his connection with Hashem. However, the Evil Inclination, called “the sly one,”[6] can delude him into imagining that sin will not detract from his bond with Hashem, and it is this outlook that makes him capable of sin.

One with this belief has entered a state of spiritual delusion, and this enables him to fall into a vicious cycle of sin without concern for the spiritual repercussions. After all, he is a Jew regardless, he tells himself, and so he can still perform Mitzvos. Despite what happened, he will still come to shul the next morning, don his Tallis and Tefillin, and davven. His relationship with Hashem will not be affected.[7] 

On a more severe level, and often as a tragic result of not having received a proper Jewish education, this spiritual denial may also be accompanied by various foolish heretical rationalizations. He doesn’t keep kosher, he claims, because “Kosher was only necessary in the past for health reasons, but now that we have advanced in our medical knowledge, it is no longer necessary,” G–d forbid, and the like. The main thing, he declares, is “to be a Jew in your heart,” or simply a “good person”—according to whatever that means by the currently popular definition of secular society, of course. And yet at the same time, he identifies as Jewish, often proudly; he affiliates himself with certain “Jewish” causes and groups; and he adheres to certain Mitzvos and age-old Jewish customs.

In any case, it is indeed true that “Even one who has sinned remains a Jew,”[8] and since Jewishness means possessing a Jewish Neshamah, even a sinner has a Neshamah. However, it is only the Neshamah’s essence (also known as the soul-level of Yechidah) that remains completely unaffected by sin;[9] its lower levels, however, are severely damaged by sin[10], may G–d save us. (Concerning the levels of the Neshamah, see here).

In fact, at the time that one commits a sin—even a relatively minor rabbinic prohibition—these lower levels of the Neshamah become completely severed from G–dliness, and even more distant from Hashem than the forces of Kelipah, may G–d save us.[11] And even afterwards they remain stained and wounded, and the process of cleansing and healing them thoroughly through Teshuvah (repentance) may be long and arduous.

Since one connects to Hashem on the conscious level through the revealed parts of the Neshamah, the damage done to these parts of the Neshamah is indeed very detrimental to one’s relationship with Hashem, and keeping this in mind is one method of overcoming the temptation to sin.

May we all recognize, each one of us on his or her own level, that any deviation at all from the will of Hashem will detrimentally affect our relationship with Him, and may this recognition give us the inspiration to commit ourselves to obeying His will without compromise.

Based on Toras Menachem 5718, Vol. 22, pp. 88-89.

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[1] Sotah 3a.
[2] Tanya ch. 14. Cf. ibid. chs. 24, 25.
[3] Ibid. chs. 18, 19.
[4] Hayom Yom 25 Tammuz. Cf. ibid. 21 Sivan.
[5] Yeshaya 59:2.
[6] Cf. Hayom Yom 23 Sivan.
[7] Sefer HaMa’amarim Toras Shmuel 5640, Vol. 2, p. 369.
[8] Sanhedrin 44a.
[9] Cf. Hayom Yom 11 Shevat: “He may be missing in one area or another, but the Modeh Ani [i.e., the essence of the Neshamah] of a Jew [always] remains whole.”
[10] Cf. Sefer HaMa’amarim Melukat, Vol. 1, p. 151 ff.
[11] Tanya ch. 24.


This post was dedicated in honor of my dear father, tzu langer yoren, Reb Kasriel ben Yehudis Oliver, as a merit for success in his personal life.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

On Developing Positive Emotions

On Developing Positive Emotions 

Rabbi Y. Oliver

Everyone possesses both good and bad middos, emotional character traits. Some exist innately, from birth, while others are learnt from others, whether by direct inculcation, or by example.

Moreover, “Hashem made this one”—the side of impurity—“opposite this one”[1]—the side of holiness. So not only do both kinds of emotions exist, but they parallel one another. For example, although kindness is typically positive, it can also take on an evil form. Strictness is often negative, but it can also come out positive—and so on (see here).

Altogether, every person possesses seven emotional traits: The seven positive traits, which correspond to the seven branches of the Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash,[2] and their seven negative counterpart emotions, which correspond to the seven wicked nations that inhabited the land of Canaan until the Jews conquered it.

Actions are dictated by emotions. Intellectual awareness alone will not bring forth a commensurate action. Emotions constitute the energy and drive that bring intellectual convictions down into action.

Thus, one’s emotions are very important: By developing positive, holy emotions, one spurs oneself to good actions: Love of Hashem inspires one to perform positive Mitzvos, while fear of Hashem inspires one to refrain from violating negative Mitzvos.[3]

Conversely, negative emotions naturally draw the person to commit wicked deeds—sins—or permitted deeds with only selfish intent, without the desire to serve Hashem. Likewise, they entice the person to be idle and not exert oneself to perform Mitzvos to the extent of one’s capabilities. And just as we were commanded to expel the seven nations from the Land, so are we commanded to banish our negative emotions from within, so that they not lead us to sin. Then we can truly “settle the Land” within by cultivating positive and even holy emotions.

May Hashem grant us much inner strength to overcome and banish the negative and selfish emotions within, and develop and ingrain within ourselves positive and holy emotions. This effects an “inner redemption” which hastens the coming of the true and complete redemption through our righteous Moshiach—may he come to redeem us today!

Based on the Rebbe's Toras Menachem 5718, Vol. 22, p. 88 ff.
See continuation of this essay here.

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[1] Koheles 7:14.
[2] Torah Ohr 32b.
[3] Tanya beg. ch. 4.

This post was dedicated by Shmuli Markel and family (Shmuel Leib ben Esther and Sara Rochel bas Chaya Nechomoh), and by Yisroel Meir Raphael and family.




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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

"It depends on your feeling"

I often hear it asked, “Do we recite tachanun on Hei Teves?” The question is understandable, as one needs to know what to do in practice.

Reb Michoel Seligson related to me (also printed in Otzar Minhagei Chabad, Elul p. 23) that in 5749, he davvened as the chazan on Gimmel Tammuz, and did not recite tachanun. After several people protested, he wrote a letter to the Rebbe asking whether his conduct had been acceptable, and added that he wishes to know the same concerning whether to recitetachanun on Chai Elul. Next to the words “Gimmel Tammuz and Chai Elul,” the Rebbe wrote: “בענינים התלויים ברגש — אין לשאול כיון שזוהי הוכחה שאין רגש”—“In areas that are dependent upon feeling, one does not ask, because asking demonstrates that one does not have the feeling.”

This seems to mean: “True, the Rebbeim never declared it our official custom to recite tachanun on Chai Elul, nor have chassidim kept such a tradition. After all, Chai Elul was a day of celebration carefully hidden until the Previous Rebbe revealed it, and as much as he extolled it, the Previous Rebbe never instructed that one should abstain from reciting tachanun on this day. Likewise, Gimmel Tammuz, the day on which the Previous Rebbe was released from prison (but then exiled), was never formally declared a day of celebration on which chassidim collectively refrained from reciting tachanun.

“However, the halachic exemption from reciting tachanun depends upon your feeling. If you feel truly inspired about the day, and indeed feel it to be a tremendous day of simcha, then you won’t recite tachanun. But if you don’t feel this way, and if you are even unsure about whether you do, then you should recite tachanun as you do normally.”

Perhaps the same principle can also be applied to Hei Teves and other similar days. On the one hand, Hei Teves is a relatively new day on the chassidishe calendar, so there’s a certain resistance to creating “new customs.” After all, “anyone who deviates [from the established custom] has the lower hand” (Bava Metzia 76a). But its recentness is also its greatness. Hei Teves happened with our own Rebbe, the Rebbe of our generation, and this makes it special in a way not found by the Yomei Depagra (chassidishe days of celebration) associated with the earlier Rebbeim.

So, do we recite tachanun on Hei Teves? In this case, the custom is not prescribed. Don’t look inside a book to find the answer, as holy as the book may be—look inside your heart. If you don’t feel filled with joy and elation at his victory and the victory of the Chabad community, then you have no reason not to recite tachanun. (Even for the less emotive types, some simple ways of discerning whether they find the day profoundly meaningful is by seeing whether they enthusiastically fulfill the Rebbe’s directive to purchase seforim on this day, and whether they make a point of attending a farbrengen.) And while you’re reciting tachanun, along with your teshuvah for other things, add to the list the fact that you lack the feeling of joy that a chossid should feel in rejoicing in the Rebbe’s simcha. And hopefully by next year you’ll have grown enough in your avodah that you will indeed rejoice as a chossid should, with a tangible, deeply-felt joy, such that refraining from reciting tachanun will indeed be justified.

Some postscripts:

1. If you derive your joy on Hei Teves from the very opportunity not to recite tachanun, because you donoot find the avodah of teshuvah burdensome, or simply because you want to skip some of the prayers so you can leave shul sooner, may Hashem save us, then it would seem clear that on a day about which we have received no explicit instruction to recite tachanun, you should davka recite tachanun—for that very feeling.

2. Choosing to recite tachanun is not in itself a proof that one is truly joyful. As in all matters of avodah, one must be thoroughly honest with oneself. As the Mitteleh Rebbe so pointedly said, “If you fool yourself, what have you accomplished by fooling a fool?”

3. Obviously, on days like Yud-Tes Kislev in which the Rebbeim have explicitly declared that we do not recite tachanun, one who considers himself a chossid should not recite tachanun even if he knows that unfortunately he is lacking the proper feeling. (Of course, he should do everything possible to prepare for such days so that he will indeed experience the appropriate feeling when they arrive.)

4. I have heard some say that personal “hergeshim” (conduct based on strong feelings), are all very well, but they should be kept in private. I find it significant that the written response above was addressed to a chazan. When the chazan does not recite tachanun, then the minyan should go along, and the minyan in this case was clearly not necessarily feeling this way. Despite this, the Rebbe implies that if the chazan feels this way, it is legitimate not only for him to abstain from reciting tachanun, but also for the entire minyan to follow his lead. I am not drawing any practical conclusions from this, as that would be the province of a Rov moreh hora’ah, which I do not presume to be; I simply note it as significant.

5. This is just one example of the concept of “tolui behergesh,” but there are numerous other applications. One such instance can be found in connection with singing the Alter Rebbe’s niggun, which chassidim are careful only to sing at certain prescribed times. The Rebbe was asked (Igros Kodesh, Vol. 16, p. 222) whether one may sing this niggun on a certain day of rejoicing—the Rebbe does not specify which—that was not a day in which the niggun was traditionally sung. The Rebbe responded that if the questioner feels that for him, the day in question has the same significance as the days in which this niggun was permitted to be sung, then it would be appropriate for him to sing it. As a precedent for this, the Rebbe mentioned that some chassidim would sing the Alter Rebbe’s niggun on Yud-Beis Tammuz, the day in which they celebrated the release of the Previous Rebbe from exile, because they considered it an extension of the liberation of Yud-Tes Kislev.

Holy vs. unholy kindness

Holy vs. unholy kindness

Rabbi Y. Oliver

According to Chassidus, no emotion is inherently good or bad. Not all severity is bad, and not all kindness is good (see here). This article will discuss Chessed (kindness), and show how to differentiate between Chessed of holiness and Chessed of Kelipah.

Chessed of Kelipah is driven by self-interest. It may stem from a lust for honor, power, influence, fame, or praise. Yishmael epitomized this kind of Chessed.

In contrast, Chessed of holiness stems from a feeling of bittul (humility). A humble person feels completely unworthy of his prosperity, and thus feels an urge to give away his possessions to others, whom he regards as far more notable and deserving of having such resources than he.



Hence Avraham, who epitomized Chessed of holiness (see here), declared of himself, “I am but dust and ashes.”[1] It was this feeling that drove him to be kind to everyone, even the primitive pagan desert nomads.

This difference also manifests itself in the source of the kindness. Since Chessed of Kelipah is selfish, it will only motivate one to give when it is convenient. Once all one’s own needs and desires have been provided for, if excess funds remain, the person may be willing to donate them to charitable causes instead of using the money to indulge in a life of luxury (and even then, only with a selfish intent, as mentioned).

In contrast, one who operates according to the Chessed of Kedushah is not only willing to forgo luxuries; he is even willing to give up his own necessities, if he sees that others desperately need them.

One should constantly introspect and examine one’s motives in sharing with others to determine whether they are truly worthy, and stem from Kedushah, or they are spurred by self-interest, and stem from Kelipah.

Charity need not involve the physical; one can also give spiritual charity, as our sages say: “The only rich person is one wealthy in [Torah] knowledge; the only poor person is one poor in [Torah] knowledge.”[2]This is when the more spiritually “wealthy” and blessed person shares his or her knowledge of Torah and Mitzvos, Chassidus, and proper conduct with others.

But unfortunately, spiritual charity can also be driven by ulterior motives. Although one is conveying spirituality, one may be motivated, at least on the external, conscious level, by an unworthy desire. 


Likewise, one can give in a selfish manner, with a feeling of superiority to the recipient, and/or with the intent of some kind of personal gain. Or one can give in the opposite way, out of a sense of humility and unworthiness, and a sense that others deserve this wisdom more than oneself.

Here, too, one’s motives will be reflected in the way in which one gives. A selfish giver of the spiritual will only ever be willing to share with others once he has satisfied his own legitimate spiritual needs. If he then finds that some time and energy remain that he can devote to assisting others, he is willing to do so. However, he will never help others at the expense of his personal growth.

Needless to say, it is foolish to take this concept to an extreme and completely neglect one’s personal growth because one is so preoccupied with helping others. This is analogous to a philanthropist who gives away all his money to charity and must then turn to becoming a beggar. Rather, it means that the person is willing, from time to time, as needed and appropriate under the circumstances, to forgo his own spiritual necessities when he sees that others desperately need his guidance.

_________________

[1] Bereishis 18:27.
[2] Nedarim 41a.

Based on Toras Menachem 5712, Vol. 4, pp. 183-185.

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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.