Igrot Kodesh · Letter 799 — Faith & Bitachon

By the grace of Hashem,
15 Mar-Cheshvan 5711,
Brooklyn,

To the president, the officers and the members of the
synagogue following the rite of the Arizal*, in Montreal,
may Hashem grant you long life [1],

Greetings and blessings,

I learned with pleasure from the Chassid* who fears Hashem, Rav Moshe Chaim Sapatchinski, of the success of the Mishnah class he gives in your synagogue and of the conclusion of Seder Moed [2], which you will, with Hashem's help, hold next Sunday.

I address to you herewith my blessing that the success surpass what it has been until now, that this class develop, like everything that is alive, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Thus, a greater number of people will participate, and the enthusiasm will be increased during the time of study, as will clarity and understanding.

Our Torah was given to us by Hashem, who is infinite. It is therefore infinite as well, and applies, with the same force, in every place, in every era. Just as it presented itself with the greatest power when Hashem gave it, through the intermediary of Moshe Rabbeinu*, on Mount Sinai, it preserves this character in the present era, in this dark exile, at every point of the globe.

The infinite character of the Torah is also marked by the fact that each of its concepts receives an infinity of explanations, which are usually classified into four categories — Pshat*, the literal sense; Remez*, the allusive sense; Drash*, the analytical sense; Sod*, the esoteric sense [3].

* * *

The Mishnah of Seder Moed concludes, with tractate Chagigah, with the following halachah. The golden altar and the bronze altar cannot contract impurity, for they are assimilated to the earth. Such are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. The Sages say: because they are coated.

The simple meaning is the following. These two altars were both in the Temple and could not contract impurity. Rabbi Eliezer explains the reason. The Torah, indeed, has assimilated them to the earth, which cannot become impure. But, for the Sages, these altars do not contract impurity because they are only coated with gold or bronze. It is therefore the part that has been coated which must be taken into account, in this case the part that cannot contract impurity.

One can draw from this Mishnah, concluding Seder Moed, a moral teaching applying to our daily existence.

Each person, in the city where he is and according to his situation, is a Mikdash* in which the Shechinah* dwells, as it is said: "I shall dwell among them." There were various vessels in the Mikdash, and likewise a Jew possesses an intellect, emotions. In one of them could intervene a self-interested motivation, a profane thought, foreign to holiness. Moreover, the latter could even be impure, linked to a transgression, chas v'shalom*, going against the Will of Hashem, opposite to Torah and mitzvot.

In other words, the vessels available to man — his intellect, his thought, or any other faculty — then become impure, and one must find the means to purify them, to make them rejoin the Mikdash. Indeed, the Mikdash that each Jew, man or woman, constitutes, must be pure.

Physically or morally, men are rich or poor. The first possess gold [4], while the second have only bronze coinage [5].

There is, nevertheless, an exception in every Jew. Whatever his deep situation, his outer aspect and his feelings, the deep essence of the Jewishness he carries within him remains whole. My father-in-law the Rebbe says that a Jew does not want and cannot detach himself from Divinity. Now, this is to what the altar corresponds, on which sacrifices are offered to Hashem.

The Mishnah affirms that rich Jews, comparable to the gold altar, and the poor, similar to the bronze altar, have a common character. When one reminds both that they are an altar, the deep part of their personality expresses itself. They then sincerely want to sacrifice their yetzer hara*, to put into practice the Will of Hashem.

From then on, they cannot contract impurity, and the reason is given here. They are, indeed, assimilable to the earth, on which all walk, and we ourselves ask: "May my soul be like dust to all." They thus lose all will of their own and know only that which has been revealed to us by Hashem in His holy Torah.

Such are the words of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanos, also called Rabbi Eliezer the Great, who was considered, by himself alone, like all the Sages of Israel [6]. Despite his immense qualities, he had no importance in his own eyes, and the Gemara emphasizes [7], "he never said a word that he had not received from his masters."

He knew, then, how to discern the deep aspect of the personality of each one, the inner essence of Jewishness, concerning which it is said: "Israel, the Torah, and the Holy One blessed be He are one" [8] — the fact that Torah and mitzvot are at the very basis of Jewish existence. He showed his disciples how to combine an immense intelligence with a deep submission, as his personal conception expresses, according to which "he never said a word that he had not received from his masters."

The other Sages, by contrast, considered that such a path is too strict for the majority. Very few are those who can adopt such conduct. They therefore took into account also the outer aspect of a Jew. For he can, at times, stumble, chas v'shalom, especially if he is a gold altar, thus frequently in contact with gold, which can momentarily distance him from the Will of Hashem.

But the poor, bronze altars, who have difficulty earning their living, can also at times transgress the Will of Hashem. Despite this, the Sages specify, the inner essence of Jewishness, "the altar," never becomes impure, for all this is only a superficial layer.

Gold only outwardly covers the rich, and bronze only surrounds the poor. The deep aspect of their personality is pure and cannot contract impurity. And it is sufficiently strong to subdue the outer aspect. In the end, it is certain that a Jew will come to teshuvah*, will discover the truth, the fact that his existence is nothing but Divinity. It is only by studying Torah and practicing mitzvot that he will arrive there.

It is thus that one forges the material vessels containing the blessings that Hashem grants in His Torah: "If you walk in My decrees and observe My commandments, the earth will furnish its agricultural produce and the trees of the orchard will give their fruits."

With my blessing for success and all the good for all those who participate in this class,
Menachem Schneerson

N.B.: Very briefly, it is possible to deepen what has just been said. You will consult the Sefer HaMitzvot of the Tzemach Tzedek*, on the mitzvah of building the Mikdash, chapter 2, which enumerates the four principal vessels of the Mikdash — the Menorah, the Table, the inner altar [9] and the outer altar [10] — corresponding to the Attributes of kindness, Chesed, severity, Gevurah, harmony, Tiferet, and royalty, Malchut.

One can thus understand the beginning of this Mishnah, which says that the Menorah and the Table can contract impurity [11], but not the two altars, which are on the middle line [12], which rises up to Keter, the crown surmounting the chain of the worlds. You will also consult the Likkutei Torah Bamidbar, pages 60a and 51a.

The Holy Ark was hidden, for it is excluded that anyone could become master of it, chas v'shalom. It was found in the Holy of Holies, and the Tablets of the Law were placed in it.

However, here we are dealing with particular Attributes [13], even though they are on the middle line, and a reason must therefore be given [14]. It is, in this case, the following. The altars are assimilable to the earth, that is to say to the deepest submission emanating from Keter, according to the additions of the Torah Or, at the beginning of Megillat Esther.

Nevertheless, the verse explicitly compares only the outer altar to earth, which corresponds to Malchut, as it is said "you shall make for Me an altar of earth." Indeed, "the beginning of a process is bound to its end and the end to its beginning." Moreover, in the breaking of the vessels [15], only the earth was touched.

The inner altar, which evokes Tiferet, is "rich" relative to the outer altar, for "the Attribute of Malchut possesses nothing of itself."

Ritual immersion, Tevilah, an anagram of Bitul*, submission, is therefore unnecessary. For the altars are intrinsically submitted, being assimilable to the earth or possessing an outer aspect that is submitted to the deep dimension.

Rabbi Eliezer alludes to the Essence of Hashem. The Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah, chapter 19, paragraph 7, finds, indeed, the etymology of this name in the verse "the God of my father came to my aid." He was called "great" and "there is where his greatness is..." [16]. He thus perceived the deep aspect through outward appearance and did not require that the latter be submitted to the inwardness. In fact, outward appearance is itself submitted from the moment that "there is nothing other than Him."

It is not so for the Sages, whose opinion is retained by halachah, for "the Torah is not in heaven" and one must adopt the conduct that prevails in the chain of worlds. From this point of view, the outer covering can contract impurity. One preserves it, then, by submitting it to the deep content.

This analysis will not be developed here. It will suffice for one familiar with these notions.

Notes
(1) The text of this letter was reviewed by the Rebbe for its publication in Likkutei Sichot.
(2) Treating the laws relating to the festivals.
(3) The Rebbe notes at the bottom of the page: "See on this subject the seventeenth introduction of Shaar HaGilgulim."
(4) The Rebbe notes: "Tractate Bava Batra 25b says that gold comes from the north and one who wishes to possess it must turn toward this direction during prayer."
(5) The Rebbe notes: "See the Mishnah at the beginning of the fourth chapter of Bava Metzia, which defines three categories of coins — those of gold, silver, and bronze."
(6) The Rebbe notes: "Tractate Avot, chapter 2, Mishnah 9."
(7) The Rebbe notes: "Tractate Sukkah 27b and 28a."
(8) The Rebbe notes: "See Zohar, volume 3, page 73a."
(9) Of gold.
(10) Of bronze.
(11) Kindness and severity do not exclude excesses.
(12) Which operates the synthesis between opposite Attributes, thus rendering excesses impossible.
(13) Tiferet and Malchut.
(14) Justifying that they do not contract impurity.
(15) Of the system of Tohu, preceding that of Tikun, of repair.
(16) Where his humility is marked.