Prayer Empowers Torah study

The first verse of Parshas Haazinu states, “The Heavens should listen and I will speak, and the Earth should hear the words of my mouth. My teachings should flow like rain, and my words should drip like dew, like the wind blowing on the plants and like the rain-drops on the grass.” (Devarim 32:1–2)

Moshe Rabbeinu is asking Hashem that his teachings should affect growth in the Jewish People, just like rain and dew, which cause plants to grow.

Now, in the Parsha before this one, (Parshas Nitzavim), it says, (Devarim 30:19) “I bring the Heaven and Earth as witnesses against you today.”

The Heaven and the Earth are witnesses to the conduct of the Jewish People wherever and whenever they are. They can be rewarded for serving Hashem, and, G-d forbid, punished for not keeping the Torah and Mitzvos.

We see that the Heavens and Earth are used to help the Jewish People serve Hashem. Therefore, we need to understand the spiritual significance of “the Heavens and the Earth.”

The Heavens and Earth represent the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.

The Written Torah is referred to as “שמים-the Heavens,” since one of the explanations of the word “שמים-the Heavens” is that it is a combination of two words, “שם-מים-there is water,” and the Torah is compared to water.

As it is written, (Yeshaya 55:1) “Whoever is thirsty to connect to Hashem, should go to learn Torah, which will quench that thirst like water.”

And like it is written regarding Moshe, (Shemos 2:10) “Because his soul was drawn forth from the water of Hashem’s Wisdom,” he (Moshe) is destined to teach the Torah.

The Torah is compared to water that does not have any natural color to itself. Rather, its color changes according to the color of the vessel that it is in; if it is in a red vessel, it will look red, or, if it is in a different color vessel, it will look like the color of the vessel it is in.

So too, the source of the Torah is from Hashem’s Exalted Wisdom, which is “a Wisdom that cannot be grasped by the finite wisdom of created beings,” since it is beyond the realm of what we can grasp and comprehend.

Just like water has no taste or color, so too, the Written Torah is essentially plain, meaning it is beyond our intellectual grasp. Therefore, the entire Torah is only written as stories of events, without expressing the knowledge of the deep secrets of wisdom contained in the stories.

And even the laws that are written in the Torah were not clearly explained in full detail until the Sages of the Talmud explained them, like it says, (Shemos 13:3) “And Moshe told the Jewish People,” to keep the Mitzvos of eating Matzah and not eating chametz (leavened bread) on Pesach, and, like it says, (Shemos 12:10) “And Hashem told Moshe” to tell the Jewish People to bring the Korban Pesach.

And the Oral Torah is called “the Earth.” Just like the earth takes an inedible seed and produces an entire plant or tree with fruit, so too, the Oral Torah takes the incomprehensible stories of the Written Torah and produces practical laws and ideas that we can understand and follow.

These (the Written and Oral Torah, which correspond to the Heaven and Earth) are the “witnesses” before Hashem on the Jewish People, since through [the Written and Oral Torah] it can be recognized whether the Jewish People are fulfilling the Torah and Mitzvos properly.

This is because each Mitzva draws forth a revelation of Hashem’s Infinite Light into the Torah, meaning that it causes Hashem’s Infinite Light to dwell within His Exalted Wisdom. Since Hashem’s Infinite Light is essentially exalted and removed from the category of Wisdom (even Hashem’s Exalted Wisdom), by infinitely many levels, like it says in the Zohar that “no thought can grasp Hashem at all.”

The only way to have any “grasp” of Hashem is through grasping the Torah, and it is the fulfillment of the Mitzvos that causes Hashem’s Light to be revealed, so that it should dwell and become invested in the Torah. Like it says, (Bamidbar 27:34 and Vayikra 18:5) “These are the Mitzvos that a person should fulfill and live in them.” “In them” refers to the Mitzvos, and the energy that Hashem invests in the Mitzvos, meaning that through fulfilling the Mitzvos, one draws down the Infinite Light of Hashem (Who is the Source of All Life), so that it should settle within the Mitzvos.

Similarly, through the Mitzvos, the Light of Hashem is revealed also into the Torah that one studies, causing this Light to dwell within his/her Torah study. Therefore, our Sages said that the meaning of the verse, “ועשיתם אתם-and you shall fulfill them (the Mitzvos),” is written in such a way that it could be read “ועשיתם אתם-and you should make them.” Meaning that it is as if the Mitzvos and the Torah study are saying that by us fulfilling the Mitzvos “it is as if you made me,” since by revealing the Light of Hashem in the Mitzvos, we are giving them spiritual life.

And this is the idea of “learning Torah לשמה-for its own sake,” meaning for the sake of the Torah itself, since through the combination of fulfilling the Mitzvos and learning the Torah, one calls forth and draws down a revelation of the Infinite Light of Hashem into the Torah.

This is also the idea of what is written, (Yeshaya 43:7) “Everything that is called by My Name (of Hashem) and exists for My Honor, I have created, formed, and made.” “Everything that is called by My Name” is a reference to all of the Jewish souls that He created for His Glory.

And, “There is no true glory (of Hashem) except for the Torah,” (Pirkei Avos 6:3) since the Torah is Hashem’s ‘garments,’ like it says, (Tehilim 104:2) “He wraps Himself in the Light (of the Torah) as with a garment.” This is also like our Sages say, (Shabbos 113a) “Rabbi Yochanan would call his garments ‘those that honor me.’”

Just like, by way of analogy, a king may not be seen while he is naked, only when he is wearing the royal garments. However, the king does not usually get himself dressed in the royal garments. Rather, a servant dresses him. So too, regarding the King of kings, the Holy One Blessed be He: The way He is by Himself is something that cannot be grasped or revealed to the created beings, since “no thought can grasp Him at all.”

The only way He is revealed is through investing Himself into the Torah, which is His wisdom and will. And it is only the Jewish People who are able to cause Hashem to “dress Himself” in the Torah so that we can perceive Him, just like it is only the personal servant of a king who dresses him in the royal garments so that the rest of the nation can see him.

This is the meaning of the verse, “Everything that is called by My name, I created for My glory;” the Jewish People, who are called by Hashem’s name, were created in order to bring a revelation of Hashem into the Torah, so that His glory would be revealed.

This is also the meaning of “ודברת בם-and you shall speak of them (the words of Torah).” (Devarim 6:7) The word “ודברת,” which usually means, “You should speak,” could also mean, “And you should guide and move something from one place to another,” like we find the meaning of the word in the verse, (Tehilim 47:4) “ידבר עמים-may He (Hashem) cause the nations to follow our instructions.”

Thus, the inner meaning of “ודברת בם” is: “ודברת-you should draw down” “בם-into them (into the words of the Torah),” meaning to drawn down the Infinite Light of Hashem into the Torah.

This is connected to the previous verse that says, (Devarim 6:6) “And these words (of the Torah) that I (Hashem) command you today should be on your heart.” The meaning of “That I command you” is a reference to “I, Who I really am”- the essence of Hashem Himself- is not just “commanding us,” but also connecting to us. This interpretation is derived from the word “מצוך,” which usually means “command you,” could also mean “connect to you.”

Therefore, the inner meaning of the verse is, “And into these words of the Torah, you should express the essential connection that I have with you.” And the power that exists in our soul to cause this revelation of Hashem through the Torah comes to us through the prayers that come before the Torah study.

Like our Sages say, (Yevamos 109b) “Whoever says that he only has (time and interest in) Torah study (and doesn’t have time or interest in prayer), then he doesn’t have (real) Torah study either,” because he needs to first “love Hashem” through reciting the Shema, where he gives himself over to Hashem when he says the word “אחד-Hashem is One.”

The idea of giving ourselves over to Hashem does not mean (like some people think) that it means to yell out with great passion the word “אחד,” intending to thereby show his dedication to Hashem. Rather, the meaning is like it is written, (Tehilim 25:1) “I lift up my soul to You Hashem.” Meaning that one does not want to have any ego or feel himself as something separate from Hashem. Instead, he wants feel that he has no independent importance compared to Hashem, and he wants to turn his whole soul over to Hashem, Who is the Source of All Life, before Whom nothing has any separate importance.

This concept is expressed in the following part of the davening (orig. Divrei Hayamim I 29:11): “To You, Hashem, is the greatness, the might, the splendor, the victory, and the majesty, since everything on heaven and earth belongs to You, to You Hashem is the kingship, and You are exalted above all rulers.”

The idea of saying that “the greatness” belongs “to You, Hashem,” means that the idea of “greatness,” which refers to the expression of His Kindness, which gives life to “a great amount of” worlds, like it says, (Daniel 7:10) “There are millions of levels of angels that serve Him,” showing that Hashem’s Kindness is expressed in creating a “great” number of worlds and levels. This “great” number of worlds and levels belong “to You Hashem,” meaning that they have no independent importance, since everything before Him is like nothing important.

When is His “greatness” expressed in creating worlds? When He invests His power “in the city of our G-d,” (Tehilim 48:2) which is a reference to the different combinations of the Letters of the Ten Statements of Creation, which Hashem uses to give life to the worlds and to the created beings. On that level of creation, Hashem’s greatness and the expression of His creative power is revealed.

All of the worlds and creatures that were created by Hashem (His “greatness”) are “to You,” meaning they all have no independent importance before Hashem. Their only importance is that they express some minute amount of the greatness of Hashem’s creative power, but on their own, they have no importance, whatsoever.

Therefore, for us to recognize this concept, the Sages of the Great Assembly established that prior to the Amida prayer, we say the two blessings before the Shema and Pesukei Dezimra (Verses of Singing Praise to Hashem), which the word זמרה-Zimra (of Pesukei Dezimra), which means to sing praise to Hashem, is related to the word זמר-Zameir, which means to cut down, as in the phrase, (Yeshaya 25:5) “To cut down the arrogant.” This cutting down of ego is accomplished through “exalting Hashem with the praises we say from our throats,” (Tehilim 149:6). So, this process of praising Hashem is like a sword that cuts down our egos.

Through contemplating on the fact that the Ofanim Angels and Chayos Angels praise Hashem by saying “Blessed be the glory of Hashem,” and the Serafim Angels praise Hashem by saying “Holy, Holy, Holy, is Hashem, the whole world is full of His glory,” and that reason for this praise is that they realize that He is their source of life, and it is only from the expression of Hashem’s words that they live and exist. Therefore, it is fitting for every creature to yearn for Him. The result of this awareness is that one’s soul should get excited and have a flaming feeling of love for Hashem.

Even though Jewish souls are higher than angels, we need to think about the awareness of Hashem that the angels have to get excited about Hashem. Why is this? The answer is that notwithstanding the superiority of souls over angels, we need to reflect on the love and fear of Hashem that the angels have, since these ideas will cause our human intellect to gain insight into Hashem’s greatness, so that it should also get excited about Hashem, in addition to our G-dly soul, which is anyways excited about Hashem on a higher level than the angels.

And this is the deeper meaning of what it says in the Shema prayer, “And I (Hashem) will give grass in your fields for your animals.” Meaning that Hashem will give spiritual awareness to the animal soul, whose spiritual nourishment comes through the angels called “grass,” since these angels are recreated every day, just like grass gets cut down and regrows on a constant basis.

Thought and intellect of the Torah is called “creation,” since they come from the subconscious, like something that comes from something else that is not similar and seemingly not connected. This is likened to the creation of the world as something-from-nothing. As it says in the verse, (Iyov 28:12) “And wisdom will be found from a level which is not comparable.”

Speech of Torah study is the aspect of formation, like when someone forms clay into a certain shape, he is just revealing the form that existed in potential within the clay, but he is not making anything essentially new. So too, speech is only revealing the intellect that was already there, but was concealed from other people.

Action is the aspect of performing the Mitzvos. Just like regarding a human king, the main recognition of his kingship is when people actually do what he says, and they follow his commands without changing anything, so too, regarding Hashem’s Kingship, like we see in the verse in Tehilim (93:1) that Hashem is called a King, “Hashem is the King, He ‘wears the garment’ of majesty.”

And this is also expressed in the saying of the Sages, (Sifra on Vayikra 20:26) “A person shouldn’t say that he does not eat pig just because he personally finds it repulsive. Rather, he should say that theoretically he could eat it, except for the fact that Hashem decreed on him that he is not allowed to eat pig.”

This is the idea of “Accepting the Yoke of the Heavenly Kingdom,” meaning that just like an ox takes a yoke that directs it where to go even though the ox doesn’t understand why it needs to go there, so too, we need to accept upon ourselves to fulfill Hashem’s decrees even if we don’t understand it at all.

This level of serving Hashem with total obedience seems to be a very low level, since it is not connected to understanding and feeling. However, this is only from a superficial glance. In truth, this obedience and dedication to Hashem is connected to the highest level of connecting to Hashem, which refers to the connection to Hashem that transcends logic or understanding. Since “no thought can grasp Hashem at all,” the truest type of connection to Hashem isn’t based on logic and understanding. Rather, this deeper level of connection to Hashem is expressed in the simple obedience of fulfilling Hashem’s decrees even if we don’t understand them. And like it says, (Sefer Yetzira 1:6) “The end level (of simple obedience) is connected to the highest level (of super-rational connection to Hashem).”

This is the idea of what the Sages instituted in the prayers before Krias Shema, called Yotzer Or and Ahavas Olam: “וְיַחֵד לְבָבֵינו-and unify our hearts,” the word for our heart used is לְבָבֵינו, which is the word “לב-heart,” spelled with the letter ב twice, to give the meaning of two “hearts,” meaning two levels of our heart, since these two “hearts” refer to the inner and outer dimensions of the heart.

The “inner dimension” of the heart is the level of the deep desire of the heart, with a true desire and yearning to connect to Hashem, since we are like “a son who is like his father’s leg,” meaning an inseparable part of the father. So too, we are inseparably connected to Hashem, which is why we have such a deep yearning to experience our connection with Him. And, like we say, that “Hashem is our G-d,” meaning that He is literally “ours,” in the sense that He is truly connected to us, personally. Because of our deep intrinsic connection to Hashem, there exists this deep love for Hashem, and there is no need for any contemplation to create this love, since it exists inherently and automatically.

However, the “outer dimension” of the heart is the love for Hashem that comes because of the need to remove the concealment of the animal soul, this is expressed in the verse, (Devarim 10:16) “You should remove the covering of your hearts,” this being the concealment of the animal soul’s desires that cover over the Light of Hashem’s Holiness. Regarding this, it is written, (ibid.) “You should remove the covering of your hearts,” meaning that we need to remove this covering, namely, the animal soul’s desires, which act as a barrier, blocking out our feeling for holiness.

This is accomplished through the contemplation of Hashem’s Greatness in everything described in Pesueki Dezimra and the Blessings on the Shema, where we describe how the angels get excited about Hashem, like we say, “And the [angels called] Ofanim and Holy Chayos, with great excitement, lift themselves up to face the Serafim and praise Hashem by saying, Blessed be the Glory of Hashem from His place.” Since the animal soul has its spiritual source in the angels, by describing the great excitement of the angels in their praise of Hashem, we are able to arouse the animal soul to also love Hashem.

However, regarding the Future Time (after Moshiach comes) it is written, (Devarim 30:6) “And Hashem will uncover your heart, and the hearts of your children, so that you may love Hashem with all of your heart and with all of your soul, in order that you may have true life.” Only when Hashem helps us to uncover our hearts will we be able to truly and consistently experience the deeper level of love for Hashem that is in the essence of the Divine soul, called “the inner dimension” of the heart.

Through this combination of our own efforts in contemplation during prayer and Hashem helping us from above to remove the covering of the animal soul’s desires, we are able to have “וְיַחֵד לְבָבֵינו-and unify our hearts,” meaning that we can experience both the outer dimension and the inner dimension of the heart’s love for Hashem. This process of needing to go through the outer dimension of the heart in order to reach the inner dimension of the heart is the usual order of service throughout the year.

However, regarding the Ten Days of Teshuva, it is written, (Tehillim 130:1) “From the depths I call out to you Hashem,” meaning that from the depths of the heart, from the “inner dimension” of the heart, and like we say in Tehillim (27:8) during Shacharis and Mincha of Elul and Tishrei, “[Hashem says:] seek my פני-countenance, [and man responds:] Your פני-countenance Hashem I seek,” the word פני-countenance is connected to the word פנימיות-inwardness, implying that the person is seeking the innermost aspect and connection to Hashem.

Since also Above in Divinity there is an “inner” and “outer” aspect, which is how Hashem’s revelation “סובב-encompasses” all worlds and how His revelation “ממלא-permeates” all worlds. The level of “ממלא-permeates” is the “outer” aspect, since it reflects the way in which Hashem creates and guides all the worlds directly. So, on that level we only see how “everything is ‘like’ nothing before Him.” But it is only ‘like’ nothing, and not “actual” nothingness, since at this level, the worlds still have some existence, just incomparably lower than the existence of Divinity.

However, through the “awakening from [us Jewish People] below [in this world]” in arousing the innermost aspect of our hearts for Hashem, this arouses the “inner” aspect of Hashem’s revelation, how it is “סובב-encompasses all worlds.” Specifically in Elul and Tishrei, and especially in the Ten Days of Teshuva, we have the power to arouse the innermost aspect of our hearts. This arousal then reveals the innermost aspect of Divinity. At that level, the worlds not only are “like” nothing before Hashem, but they are literally nothing, since at that level, all living things can sense that there is nothing separate from Hashem at all.

The verses of chapter 27 from Tehillim, recited in Elul and Tishrei, continue (in verse 9): “Do not cast away your servant in anger,” meaning that there is a level down here [in this world] referred to as being “servants” to Hashem, like it says, (Vayikra 25:55) “For the Children of Yisrael are servants to Me [Hashem].” And there is another level similar to what is referred to in the verse, (Yeshaya 41:8) “Avraham [the forefather of the Jewish People] loved Me [Hashem].” This level of the love for Hashem of Avraham Avinu is higher than the level of being just a “servant” of Hashem. This level is like the son of the king who connects to his father, the king, also out of love, in addition to the awe that all the regular citizens have for the king.

This is what King David meant in Tehillim, (ibid.) “I should not be only on the lower level of a plain servant who only has awe for the king, rather, I should be on the higher level of the servant” who also has love for this king (like the son of the king). Regarding this level (of being Hashem’s servant with love also), we find the truly righteous are called “servants,” like “Moshe, my servant,” (Yeshoshua 1:2) and “David my servant” (Shmuel II 3:18), and they certainly also had love for Hashem.

And this is the implication of the verse, “Do not cast away באף-with anger, your servant.” The term “באף,” which can mean “with anger,” can also mean, “with ‘also,’” as in the verse, “אף-also I [Hashem] have עשיתיו-made it,” meaning the level of service of Hashem involving only dry action, without any knowledge or feeling, like a servant who serves his master and fulfills his will even though he doesn’t understand the reason behind each thing he does.

We find that the verse connects the word “אף,” which can mean either ‘anger’ or ‘also,’ with the word “עשיתיו-I have made it/done it,” which implies action. The connection between these two words is that there is a level of service of Hashem involving only action, without love and an inner feeling. This level is connected to ‘anger,’ since the master is upset that the servant has no knowledge or feeling behind what he is doing. Likewise, it is connected to ‘also,’ since this type of service (of only action) is like something added on to the real, inner nature of the person, it is ‘also’ something he does, even though it is not who identifies himself as. This is what King David is requesting from Hashem: “Do not cast me down to the lower level of service that involves dry action, without love and feeling.”

Through uniting both levels of the heart, the inner and outer aspects of the heart, in Krias Shema, there will then be the revelation of Hashem in the Torah that one studies after prayer, which is referred to in the verse, (Yeshaya 43:7) “Whatever is called by My Name, [i.e. the Torah which is called ‘Hashem’s Names’], for My honor [i.e. for Hashem’s revelation] I have created it, formed it, and made it.”

Therefore, the two aspects of the Written and Oral Torah are called ‘two witnesses,” as it says, “[Moshe says,] I call upon you to testify [as witnesses],” and he was speaking to the Torah, as it says, “Listen ‘Heavens’- [meaning the Written Torah]- and I will speak, and the ‘Earth’- [meaning the Oral Torah]- to the words of my mouth, let my teachings [of Torah] flow like rain and my words should drip like dew, etc.”

The fact that Moshe starts off by talking to the “Heavens and Earth” and immediately continues discussing his teaching of Torah, shows us that even the “Heavens and Earth” mentioned above were also referring to two levels of Torah. This is because there are two levels of the Torah: One level [i.e., the Oral Torah] is “study that brings to action,” which is when someone learns in order to know the halacha of what to actually do if he should come to a certain situation involving those halachos. This type of learning requires that he not only understand the information, but he must know it well enough that it should be engraved in his mind and heart, to know right away what to do in that situation according to halacha.

Regarding this level, it is written, “Let my teachings flow like rain,” comparing this level of Torah study to ‘rain.’ We find regarding rain that it is written, (Yeshaya 55:10-11) “Just like the rain… comes down from heaven and fulfills My [Hashem’s] desire for its descent… and does not return to heaven until it saturates the ground and gives it the power to produce and grow [vegetation]…” This shows that rain gives the ground the ability to actually produce vegetation, which a person can actually eat and derive energy from, and from that energy one can pray and say, “And you shall love Hashem with all of your heart etc.”

So too, this level of [the laws of the Oral] Torah is called “strength,” meaning that it gives the person the power to pray and say [and experience in his heart] “And you shall love Hashem.” Just like rain saturates the earth and gives it the power to produce nourishing vegetation, so too, when a person understands and fully absorbs the knowledge of the Torah laws from the Oral Torah, to the extent that he knows how to fulfill the halacha right away, in any situation, this ‘Torah rain’ gives him the power to produce a love for Hashem through his contemplation in prayer, just like rain enables the ground to produce vegetation.

Now, the Alter Rebbe continues to explain that this works both ways: Not only does this ‘Torah rain’ empower him to love Hashem in prayer, but the love of Hashem during prayer empowers him to full internalize and absorb the message and ideas of his Torah learning, similar to how rain is absorbed into the ground. However, for his learning to become like energizing ‘rain’ for him, he first needs to experience the totally selfless dedication to Hashem described in the contemplation of Krias Shema, as explained above. This is similar to how rain comes with thunder [and lightning] produced by clouds, so too, the Torah that is a spiritually “energizing rain” comes together with intense feelings for Hashem during prayer, where one’s contemplation of Hashem hits him like thunder and lightning.