Chapter 1
“There will be no women who will miscarry or who will be barren in your land, I will grant you the full count of your days.” (Shemos 23:26)
The following idea is known: There is a supernal “Land of Life” on High, Malchus of Atzilus, from which flows life and sustenance to the collective Jewish people, thereby producing within them a Love for Hashem, inspiring us to perform all His commandments “which man must do and live through them” (Vayikra 18:5), which is the ultimate, true life.
As is the case with the physical Earth which produces all kinds of enjoyable foods providing life -- physical life -- to every living creature.
And without it there is no sustainable life to all those dwelling on Earth, for all the wealth and richness of gold and silver will not sustain without produce from the earth, Heaven forbid.
Similarly, the spiritual life that is provided to man for his study of Torah and service of Hashem is all produced from the “Land of Life” on High, Malchus of Atzilus, as it states in the verse “[I shall walk before Hashem] in the Lands of Life.” (Tehillim 116:9)
Since the verse uses the plural expression “Lands of Life,” this shows that there are two “Lands of Life” that are corresponding to each other, as the Rebbe will explain:
Two Lands of Life
The intention of the verse using the plural term “Lands (of Life)” is to represent the levels of the “Land on High” and the “Land Below”: These are the inner aspect of Malchus of Atzilus, called “Keneses Yisrael” as they exist Above, and the Jewish People that live on the physical earth who are called “Keneses Yisrael” down here. Since, the “Keneses Yisrael-Collective Jewish People” also exist Above in the world of Atzilus, as in the teaching: “Yisrael arose in His thought (before He actually created the physical world, i.e., in Atzilus).” (See Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 1:4)
Resultantly, there are two “Lands:” The physical land, where the physical Jewish People live, which was created in the merit of the Jewish People so they can learn Torah and fulfill Mitzvos. This physical land produces vegetation that all physical life depends on.
Then there is the spiritual “Land” of Malchus of Atzilus. The inner dimension of this level is how it is the collective source of the souls of the Jewish People. From this level comes all spiritual life of love and fear of Hashem and ability to connect to Hashem [which all spiritual existence depends on].
The term “Land” in this context is precise: Just as it is regarding the physical earth (land), that its ability to produce does not come from it itself, rather through a combination of planting and the power of growth that Hashem put in it, allowing it to produce and sprout all kinds of plants; the same is true with the spiritual life that is provided to us from the heavenly “Land of Life:” the ability it has to produce and sprout (within us) spiritual life comes from the Source of Life, Hashem Himself, for He provides the ability for the heavenly “Land” to produce spiritual life in us.
However, one’s divine service of sewing and planting the Supernal “Land” is necessary as well.
This is the meaning of the verse “a light is planted for the Tzadik (Righteous person).” (Tehillim 97:11)
For the word Tzadik in this verse is not referring only to one who is indeed at the spiritual level of a Tzadik, [as explained elsewhere], rather it refers to any decent person who is not intentionally a sinner. As it states in the verse, “and all of your nation are Tzadikim.” (Yeshaya 60:21) Rather, the meaning of “Tzadik” in this verse is the same meaning as in the phrase “Hashem doesn’t decide before someone is born whether he will be a Tzadik or a Rasha (wicked person)” (Sota 2a), which obviously just means that Hashem doesn’t predetermine if someone will do Mitzvos or Aveiros (sins), not referring to the “level” of a true “Tzadik.”
In the beginning of Tanya, it explains the essential level of Tzadik-Righteous, Beinoni-Average, and Rasha-Wicked. The level of a true Tzadik is someone who has completely eradicated his evil inclination, his Yetzer Hara. However, anyone who still has desires for unholy things is not on the level of a Tzadik; he can only aspire to be a Beinoni, one who was total self-control and always uses his thought, speech and action in the way that Hashem wants.
When the verse says that “light is planted for a Tzadik” it is not referring to that sublime level of a Tzadik that has no Yetzer Hara. It simply means that every single Jew, who is called a Tzadik in the sense of one who wants to do the right thing, plants Light in the Land of Life Above through every Mitzvah he performs.
This “Light” which is planted in the “Land of Life” Above refers to the sprouting of Love for Hashem within the person, which creates a yearning for Hashem and a pull to connect to Him. This “Light” of love is “planted” in the “Land of Life” Above (Malchus) for the purpose of making the person into a Tzadik, meaning to be able to truly connect to Hashem, similar to a Tzadik.
This is the meaning of the verse: “אוֹר-Light (of love of Hashem) זָרוּ עַ -was planted (in Malchus of Atzilus) קיִּּדַ צַל-for the purpose of coming down into the soul of a Jew and make him like a Tzadik by experiencing a true love of Hashem.”
A person should take this idea to heart and know well and fully believe in the following: Any love and fear of Hashem that a person has is just a gift from Hashem, Who gives power to the Land Above (Malchus) to make the love and fear of Hashem grow inside the person. These feelings do not come to the person only from his own effort.
Thus, the essence of one’s divine service should not be love of Hashem that is accredited to one’s own efforts, considering himself that he is the dedicated servant and he is the one who has reached the level of love of Hashem,
Rather our service of Hashem should be as it is written in the verse: “and you shall serve Havaya (Hashem) your G-d.” (Shemos 23:25)
Now, according to the simple meaning of the verse it is not understood, for does Hashem need our service? Is he really deficient without us Heaven forbid? Does it not say (Iyov 35:7) “If you are righteous what are you giving him?”
Rather, the idea is: The meaning of the name הֲוָּיָּ''ה-Havaya (Hashem’s name of י -ה -ו -ה) is a combination of three words: היה-Was, הוה-Is, and יהיה-Will be,
This refers to Hashem as He is beyond time and not affected by it, that He always was, presently is, and always will be, without any change.
And as the verse states “I, Havaya have not changed” (Malachi 3:6) through the creation of the world,
And as the Zohar says (vol I, 11b) “before Hashem everything else is completely insignificant,”
Since all the creations are insignificant compared to Hashem, their existence doesn’t change Hashem in any way.
In the continuation of the passage of Zohar quoted, it describes how the true service of Hashem is not for any personal gain, or to avoid suffering. Rather, the true service of Hashem is based on the recognition of the fact that Hashem is the Supreme Master and the Source of all existence, and that compared to Him nothing has any significance.
The Alter Rebbe will give a similar explanation, that the true service of Hashem is based on a realization that Hashem is the One and Only true Existence, Who was, is, and will be, eternally, unchanging.
This lofty recognition of Hashem is described as knowing “Havaya,” knowing Hashem as He is beyond the limits of time and change, which shows that He is the Absolute and True Existence.
A person’s service of Hashem in recognizing the level of Havaya should be so diligent that this level should come to be “אֱלֹהֵּיכֶם-your Elokim,” meaning your life and strength, as if the person feels that this level of Havaya is his ‘Elokim.’
The name “אֱלֹ הִּ ים-Elokim (G-d)” refers to Hashem as He is the source of all power, life, and strength, and that He is All-Powerful. Saying that Havaya should be your Elokim means that a person should feel how his personal life, power and strength truly derive from Hashem as He is on the level of Havaya, beyond all limitation of time, space, or definable levels.
Meaning, that this awareness of Hashem on the level of Havaya should be permanently fixed in his mind and thoughts, and be passionately felt and grasped in his mind in truth, as though he is seeing an actual revelation of Hashem Himself on the level of Havaya.
We explained that the idea of “Havaya is our Elokim” means that Hashem as He is beyond time and space lowers Himself to create us and give us life in our world. Now we will understand that all the meaning of all the other praises of Hashem are describing how He lowers Himself into limited attributes in order to relate to us:
A similar idea applies to the order of all of the praises of Hashem, such as those mentioned in Shemona Esrai “G-d of Avraham..., the Great..., etc.”
For, “Wherever you can find the greatness of Hashem, that is where you are actually finding His humility,” (Megilla 31a).
Hashem’s true greatness is completely beyond our grasp or perception, and Hashem “humbled” Himself to descend and express Himself in a limited manner that we can grasp and appreciate as being “greatness.”
For truthfully, “all of creation in relation to Hashem is of no value,” and his effort in manifesting the attribute of greatness is, as it were, an act of humility, for He infinitely transcends the various attributes as we know them.
This perspective is truly the foundation for one’s genuine divine service, and the foundation of a person starting out his service from below to Above.
The foundation of Divine service is to recognize that Hashem’s existence is beyond all limitations, beyond time, space, and levels, and we request from this Infinite Hashem to place love and fear of Him in our mind and heart.
This itself takes a great deal of work- to enable one’s physical mind to receive and grasp a revelation from Hashem.
The main labor of the person in his prayer and contemplation is to make himself a vessel to be able to receive the revelation from Above so that it should permeate one’s mind and heart.
It is with this attitude that a love and fear of Hashem can be awakened and produced in our prayer and contemplation. Hence, it is referred to as being “born.”
Physical children are born from a mother who receives and gestates the seminal drop from the father. Similarly, the spiritual “children” of love and fear of Hashem are “born” from the Jew’s prayer and contemplation when he receives and “gestates” the inspiration he receives from Above.
For, love of Hashem mystically represents a “son” and fear of Hashem mystically represents a “daughter.”
Love corresponds to a son as it is written (Tehillim 98:3) “זָּכ ר-remember ח סְׁד וֹ-His kindness,”
The root-letters “ז.כ.ר.” can mean “remember” or can mean “a male.” Thus, we can interpret the above verse (nonliterally) to mean “זָכַר-a male child חַסְדּוֹ -is the idea of kindness (love).”
And fear of Hashem corresponds to a daughter.
This is the deeper interpretation of the statement from our Rabbis that “a ‘daughter’ born first is a good sign for ‘sons’ to come.”
Since first one should awaken an awe and fear of Hashem (a “daughter” born first), and “this is the gateway to Hashem,” (Tehillim 118:20) as explained elsewhere.
However, when one does not serve Hashem with this awareness and humility, rather, he serves Hashem with love and fear considering it his own achievement, then he will not succeed in producing a true love and fear, rather a superficial fantasy, a feeling which will only last temporarily.
These “self-made” temporary feelings of love and fear are referred to as written in the opening verse, “מְׁש כ ֵּלָּה-a women who buries her fetus.”
The verse is indicating that there is a type of love and fear of Hashem that does not last.
Another category in the verse is the “עֲקָּרָּ ה-the infertile women,” reminiscent of one who does not produce any type of love and fear altogether.
This is the meaning of the verse: “There shall not be a woman who will miscarry or who is infertile in your land”.
Meaning, the cause for this spiritual experience of a “miscarriage and infertility” is because these feelings of love and fear are produced independently from “your land,” (i.e., from feeling that it comes directly from your own efforts), and are not derived from the “Land Above” (Malchus of Atzilus), therefore they will not be true and everlasting.
The lesson is: In order for us to have the true, lasting spiritual offspring of love and fear of Hashem, then we must recognize that we are completely dependent on Hashem, even in our spiritual efforts. Not only when it comes to physical success we need to know that our efforts are only a vessel to receive Hashem’s blessings of livelihood, but our spiritual ‘livelihood’ works the same way. Even though we need to put in the effort of concentrating in our prayers and contemplation of Hashem during prayer, we cannot think that we are ‘self-made’ servants of Hashem. We need to realize that any true perception of Hashem and true feelings for Him are a gift from Him, in His kindness, to us. When we truly humble ourselves, we will be able to receive lasting inspiration from Hashem during prayer that will produce long lasting feelings for Him.
Chapter 2
However, there is yet another state of “infertility” in one’s divine service.
This is what our Sages say on the verse (Bereishis 11:30) “[and Sarah was a barren woman,] she had no child.” From the double expression (‘barren’ and ‘had no child’) the Sages learned as follows: “Not only did she ...”
