English translation — מאמר וישלח יהושוע תשל"ו

With the help of Heaven.

Shabbos Parshas Shlach,

28 Sivan,

Erev Rosh Chodesh Tammuz,

5736*

"And Yehoshua sent... two men, spies, secretly"1,

and it is explained in Likkutei Torah

(in the discourse beginning "Zeh"2)

the difference between the spies that Yehoshua sent and the spies that Moshe sent,

for regarding the spies that Moshe sent it is written3

"Send for yourself, according to your understanding; I do not command you,"

but the sending of the spies by Yehoshua was

(not according to his own understanding, but rather)

by the command of G-d.

And another difference:

the spies that Yehoshua sent were only to Yericho,

the lock of the Land of Israel4,

and through this they spied out the entire land5,

but the spies that Moshe sent went throughout the entire land, its length and its breadth6.

B)

And the point of the explanation in this matter,

that the command of conquering the land

(in spirituality)

is

(like all the commands of the Torah)

an eternal matter in every generation7.

For each and every Jew must conquer8

all the powers and matters of his body and his animal soul

(the land of Canaan)

and make them into vessels for G-dliness

(the Land of Israel).

And the difference between Yericho and the entirety of the land in the soul of man is9,

that Yericho is the three garments—thought, speech, and action

[for Yericho is from the term "reach" (scent),

and garments are related to scent,

as hinted in the language of the Zohar10

"by the scent of your garments"],

and the entirety of the land

(the land of the seven nations)

are the emotional attributes in man.

And this is why the command

(to Yehoshua)

to send spies was that they should go

(only)

to Yericho,

for thought, speech, and action are in a person's control,

therefore there is a command for each and every one to spy out and examine his thought, speech, and action so that they all be for G-d.

But the emotional attributes of the heart are not in the control of every person,

for only the righteous

(specifically)

have their hearts in their control11,

and therefore regarding the spies that Moshe sent to spy out the entire land

(to examine the emotional attributes,

that they all be for G-d)

it is written "Send for yourself, according to your understanding,"

"I do not command you,"

for the service of conquering the emotional attributes

(in completeness)

is specifically through the revelation of the aspect of Moshe,

and it is not equal for every soul.

3)

And behold, the Torah is eternal.

And from this it is understood,

that what is recounted in the Torah

(also)

the sending of the spies

(by Moshe)

to scout the entire land,

is an eternal lesson for every single Jew.

And this will be understood by prefacing what is explained in Tanya

regarding the matter of Tzaddikim and Beinonim,

that the service of the Beinonim is

(primarily)

in the garments of the soul,

thought, speech and action,

and therefore the level of the Beinoni is the level of every person,

for even when the heart craves and desires some desire, he is able to restrain himself

and rule over the spirit of his desire in his heart so as not to fulfill it in action, speech and thought

(not to think about it with his will),

to the point that he is able to divert his mind from it entirely.

But not so the service of the Tzaddikim, which is primarily in the emotions of the heart

(love and fear),

and not every person merits this.

For in a matter delivered to the heart, a person does not have so much power of choice.

Nevertheless,

they administer an oath

(to every single Jew)

"Be a Tzaddik",

that each one must also strive in the service of the Tzaddikim,

as explained at length in Tanya.

4)

And it can be said,

that this is that the command to kill the seven nations and conquer their land is eternal in every generation,

even though conquering the land of the seven nations is the transformation of the seven attributes of the animal soul to holiness,

for this matter pertains to Tzaddikim,

and not every person merits this,

for every single Jew must do all that is in his power to fulfill the oath administered to him, "Be a Tzaddik".

And this is also that the story of the sending of the spies

(by Moshe)

to scout the entire land is written in the Torah

(from the term "teaching"),

that each Jew must scout and examine his attributes,

that they all be for G-d.

Nevertheless,

regarding the spies of Moshe it is written, "Send for yourself, according to your understanding,"

I do not command you,

for the primary command is concerning thought, speech and action

(the conquest of Jericho),

in which

(specifically)

authority is given to every person,

but not so regarding the emotions of the heart.

5)

And behold, the reason for this

(that thought, speech and action are in a person's domain,

but not so the emotions of the heart)

is,

because thought, speech and action are garments of the soul.

And therefore,

just like the garments of the body,

although a person needs garments

[for the sake of modesty, because they are ashamed,

and also to protect him from cold and heat],

nevertheless, he is able to remove them,

and all the more so he is not compelled to these specific garments

(that he is wearing now)

and he is able to exchange them for other garments,

so too it is with the garments of the soul,

that the garments of speech and action can be removed,

and also thought, which is constant,

can be exchanged for another thought.

But not so intellect and emotions, which are the essence of the soul,

and therefore,

in order to change them,

effort is required,

to the point of receiving special power from above.

6)

And it can be said,

that this matter

(that thought, speech, and action are garments)

is also one of the reasons why the matter of thought, speech, and action is more impactful than the emotions.

That is,

that the main thing demanded from each person is the service in thought, speech, and action,

is

(not only because they are in his domain as mentioned above,

but also)

because this is more impactful.

And this will be understood by prefacing what is explained in many places

regarding the garments,

that the root of the garments is above the root of the person who is clothed in them.

And this superiority that stems from their root

is discernible in them even after they have been drawn downward.

For this is why the garments encompass the person,

and add to him beauty and glory,

"Rabbi Yochanan called his garments 'my honorers,'"

because in their root they are above the person.

And similarly, it is also with the garments of the soul—thought, speech, and action—

that the root of the garments is above the soul.

Therefore,

through thought, speech, and action of the 613 mitzvos,

which are the garments of the Nefesh HaElokis,

an elevation occurs in the soul,

higher than it is in its own essence

[This is also why the mitzvos are garments for the soul, through which specifically it can enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah,

as explained at length in many places

and also in Likkutei Torah, the discourse beginning "Zeh,"

And through thought, speech, and action in worldly matters not for the sake of Heaven,

the garments of the Nefesh HaBahamis,

a descent occurs in the Nefesh HaBahamis, lower than it is in its own essence.

And since the Nefesh HaElokis is clothed in the Nefesh HaBahamis,

through the descent in the Nefesh HaBahamis,

a descent also occurs in the Nefesh HaElokis,

for the Nefesh HaBahamis brings down even the Nefesh HaElokis

(which is clothed within it)

downward, very low.

And this is why the main service of man is to turn from evil and do good in actual deed, in thought, speech, and action,

for the purpose of the soul's descent below is that through its service below it may ascend higher than it is in its own essence

(as it was before its descent),

and this ascent is specifically achieved through service in the garments of thought, speech, and action,

analogous to physical garments, through which specifically beauty and glory are added to the person who wears them, etc.

And this is also why Jericho is the lock of Eretz Yisrael,

that through the service of turning from evil and doing good in thought, speech, and action

[and all the more so when there is also the service of sending the spies to Jericho,

to scout and examine the thought, speech, and action so that they are all for G-d],

through this one reaches

the refinement and transformation of the emotions—the conquest of the land of the seven nations,

and even to "when the L-rd your G-d will expand your border,"

the conquest of the land of the Kenite, Kenizite, and Kadmonite as well

—the three intellects,

with the coming of Mashiach Tzidkeinu,

very soon.