English translation — ואתחנן א

A.

In the current generation, there are two verses whose subject is the faith and knowledge of "that Hashem is the God"¹

(a)

"You have been shown to know that Hashem is the God, there is none else besides Him."

(b)

"And you shall know today and take to your heart that Hashem is the God in heaven above and on the earth below, there is none else" — in the first verse it simply says "that Hashem is the God",

in the second verse it says in detail "Hashem is the God in heaven above and on the earth below".

Simply, the difference between the two verses²

The first verse "You have been shown to know" speaks,

according to its simple interpretation,

about the knowledge that was revealed to Jews at the time of the Giving of the Torah.

Then the Almighty revealed Himself to Jews "and they saw that He is unique"³

; and because the Jews then saw the truth of His unity, blessed be He, as it is from the perspective of the Almighty,

that regarding Him, blessed be He, there is no difference between heaven and earth,

therefore there is no place to specify in the knowledge — "in heaven above and on the earth beneath."

However, the verse "And you shall know etc. and you shall return etc." is a command to man⁴,

that he must toil to understand and know

(and bring down "to your heart")

"that the Lord is God",

it is the knowledge and recognition of His unity, blessed be He, that comes through man's toil — and from the perspective of man's knowledge there is a difference between heaven and earth,

in a manner that each detail,

"in heaven above and on the earth beneath" is a separate knowledge.

And as it is stated in the Midrash⁵

on the verse "And you shall know etc.",

and this is its language: Jethro gave substance to idolatry, as it is said⁶

Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods

(implying that they are great but He is greater than them.

From the Mechilta),

Naaman admitted to part of it, as it is said⁷

Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel

(thus he testified about the earth but not about the heavens.

From the Mechilta).

Rahab placed Him in the heavens and on the earth, as it is said⁸

For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath

(not only on earth but also in heaven,

"that your eyes have not seen⁹

— but nevertheless "a remnant in the void of the world"¹⁰),

Moses placed Him even in the void of the world, as it is said: For the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is none else — "there is none else" even in the void of the world.

D.

H.

So the knowledge "that Hashem is the G‑d" — as it comes through the toil and comprehension of man — is divided in general into three:

(a)

In the heavens above

And upon the earth below

(c)

There is none else — even in the void of the world.

(b)

B.

One must, however, have an explanation:

From the fact that Toras Emes states the three details in the commandment of "Veyadata" etc.,

it is understood,

that the distinctions of knowledge mentioned above are not

(only)

to prevent an error due to the deficiency in man,

rather this demonstrates that regarding the matter "Hashem is the Elokim" there are distinctions between heaven,

earth and the void of the world,

when the person is at the stage of "veyadata"

(i.

e.

a contemplation and knowledge based on true intellect),

there is a particular novelty in each of the three knowledges.

One must understand: what place is there in intellect to say,

that "Hashem is the Elokim" is, heaven forbid, only "in the heavens above",

and because of this one needs an explicit statement "and on the earth below",

and yet a third novelty — "there is none else even in the void of the world"?

Seemingly one could answer based on the known

(In the explanation of the verse

"High above all nations is Hashem")

— that what "nations" assume that "Hashem has forsaken the earth"

stems from that they think that in this consists the exaltation of the Supreme One; they hold that it is a degradation for the Supreme One to occupy Himself with creations below on earth — and therefore He gave the governance and control

also of the host of heaven into the hands of stars and constellations.

And therefore the verse must say "And you shall know etc. that Hashem He is the God etc. and upon the earth beneath there is none" — that the Supreme One is the ruler also upon the earth.

— But the Alter Rebbe says,

that the verse "And you shall know etc. and upon the earth beneath" comes to negate

(not the aforementioned error,

that "Hashem has forsaken the earth",

but)

an error of "a god dwells in the waters beneath the earth"

(i.e.

that is

a god that

(a)

is located*

(b)

"in the waters beneath the earth" - water literally).

and with "You have been shown to know that the Lord is God" are warned the contradictory things over which the Torah warns

(earlier in the verse¹⁸)

"Lest you become corrupt etc. the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth and lest etc." — it is therefore understood,

that that which the verse says afterwards,

in continuation to this "And you shall know etc. that the Lord is God etc. and upon the earth beneath" comes to negate the same thing — that there is no deity "in the water beneath the earth"].

3.

This aforementioned question asks the Alter Rebbe¹⁷

— "And could it enter your mind that there is a deity dwelling in the water beneath the earth that it is necessary to warn thus? And you shall return it to your heart",

And he explains¹⁹,

that the command "And you shall know etc. that Hashem is the G-d" means to say

(not that there is no other deity G-d forbid,

that there is no other existence besides the Almighty,

because "everything is nullified in existence before Him"²⁰.

Because²¹

since creations were brought into being

(not "from something",

but)

but)

by way of creation "something from nothing",

therefore the creations must constantly receive from the power of the Creator so that they remain in existence,

and if²²

the power of the Creator would be removed from the creation for a moment G-d forbid,

then from the creation would immediately become

(automatically)

"nothing²³

and naught literally as before the six days of creation literally".

And with this it is also understandable why the verse says a special "and upon the earth from below" — to protect,

that "also the earth*²³

the material that appears as a complete reality to the eyes of all is nothing and naught in relation to the Holy One, blessed be He"²⁴.

But seemingly there should be an additional explanation in this: true indeed,

that since the matter of "upon the earth from below there is none else"

(that also "the material earth that appears as a complete reality ..

is nothing and naught in reality")

is contrary to the senses,

therefore a special warning is required "and you shall return to your heart"²⁵,

that the matter should penetrate the heart of man -

But the verse begins with "Veyadata",

from which it is understood,

that

(also)

the intellectual knowledge in relation to "on the earth below" must have a special .

warning.

It is not understood: the intellectual explanation on the matter of "Ein Od"

(that there is no existence besides Him because "everything is nullified in existence before Him")

— does indeed necessitate the same matter

(of "Ein Od")

regarding all creations equally,

without any distinction at all between the host of heaven and the host of earth.

Because for every creation which is yesh me'ayin,

"the power of the actor must be in the acted-upon constantly to enliven it and sustain it"²⁶

— so how can one distinguish from the aspect of "Veyadata etc.

(the intellectual knowledge that)

Ein Od" — between "in the heavens above" and "on the earth below"?

4.

Another proof,

that the difference between "heavens above" and "upon the earth below" is not only to prevent an error of the created man

(which comes because the "material earth" appears

to him as a "complete yesh"),

rather the difference has a place in intellect

("and you shall know")

On this matter,

that creations must constantly connect to the power of the Creator to sustain their existence,

the Alter Rebbe brings¹⁷

the interpretation of the Baal Shem Tov²⁷

on the verse²⁸

"Forever, O Lord, Your word stands firm in the heavens" — that "Your word which You spoke²⁹

Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, etc., these words and letters stand forever within the firmament of the heavens...

to give them life";

And he continues,

that this is so not only regarding "heavens,"

but "and likewise with all creations in all worlds, upper and lower, and even this physical earth and the category of completely inanimate matter,"

their entire existence is constantly dependent on the "letters of speech from the Ten Utterances which give life and bring into existence the inanimate as being from nothing and naught";

(he continues)

— that also the creations,

which are not mentioned in the "ten utterances that are in the Torah"³⁰,

receive their vitality in a continuation from the ten utterances

(which is drawn down to them through descent from level to level,

as he brings there several manners in this),

which is "His name which is called upon them in the Holy Tongue" which is a "vessel for the vitality that is contracted in the letters of this name that descended from the ten utterances that are in the Torah"].

And from this that the verse speaks; to say "Forever, O Lord, Your word stands firm in the heavens",

distinguishing "heavens" from all other creations

(and — that in the verse it is not speaking at all in relation to the knowledge and feeling of man)

— it is understandable,

that the difference between heavens and earth is not only from the perspective of man³¹,

but that also according to the truth it is

(in the manner in which "Your word" is found in them³²)

there is a difference of heavens and all other creations

(which is why in the verse specifically "heavens" is mentioned).

And from the perspective of this difference there is a novelty in

(the matter of "The Lord He is God etc.

on the earth below" regarding "in the heavens above".

5.

And one can say the explanation in this:

The innovation of the Baal Shem Tov is³³

not only in the generality of the matter,

that the existence of all creations is dependent on the power of the Creator which constantly brings them into being and gives them life and sustains them,

but also in the particular content within this,

that "Your word which You said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, etc.' — these words and letters stand forever within the firmament of the heavens and are clothed within all the firmaments, etc."

(And likewise with all creations,

that in each one of them there exists the "clothing of the letters of the speech of the Ten Utterances").

That is: the matter is not that the created being must arrive

(also to his existence)

to the power of the Creator,

but afterwards the created being is separated from the power that brings him into existence and sustains him

(in the manner of the light of the sun that comes and becomes and is dependent on the luminary of the sun — and the proof: as soon as there is an intervening thing between the light and the luminary, the light becomes nullified — and nevertheless the light is a separate thing from the body of the sun)

— rather the power of the Creator is invested in the created being itself.

Because since the word of G‑d is clothed in the created being itself

(in the "place" of the created being),

it turns out,

that the created being is not at all separated from the "word of G‑d",

so that the life-force

(and soul)

of every particular created being is the word of G‑d that is clothed in it,

and consequently it is understood,

that "every created being and entity is truly considered as nothing and absolute naught"³⁴].

And it can be said that this is also the reason why every created being must have a particular devar Hashem

(as the Alter Rebbe elaborates⁷

that "even in inanimate matter itself ..

there is ..

a soul and spiritual vitality"),

because in order for the enclothing of the power of the Creator in the particular created being to be possible,

the divine power must lower itself, as it were, from its level and be contracted according to the measure of the created being,

in each and every created being according to its particulars.

If the divine power will remain in its level

(a power that is unlimited),

then it is above

(incomparable)

from being enclothed in the created being³⁵.

that the created beings should be able to have an understanding and comprehension

(as much as possible — according to the limitation that He wanted to limit them)

in the order and manner of creation; and therefore He created the created beings not in a manner that is completely beyond comparison to the limited created being

(from the aspect of "omnipotent"),

but specifically with an order and gradation

(in the famous expression: order of chain-like descent),

that the Almighty contracts His influence and vitality until it should be according to the measure

(— to come down through enclothements into)

the created being].

6.

Based on this, we can explain the novelty that the concept of "Hashem is the Elokim" is divided into three distinct knowledges — in the heavens above,

and on the earth below,

there is none else

(even in the void of the world)

Since the concept of "there is none else" is connected with that the power of the Creator is enclothed in the created being — there would be a place to distinguish: In what case is this said

(that the word of G-d is found enclothed in created beings)

— in the host of heaven,

and which are higher created beings³⁶

and are therefore a vessel for the divine power and life-force*³⁶.

But not so "upon the earth below" — in earthly and material created beings,

which are not a vessel for G-dliness,

one might think that the word of G-d is in them not in a manner of enclothement

(they must constantly receive the power of the Creator to maintain their existence,

but the power of the agent is not in a manner that it is found in them in enclothement).

or even the creations that are not mentioned "in the ten utterances of the Torah" — that is, such creations of lesser importance that cannot receive their vitality from the ten utterances of the Torah themselves³⁷,

but the vitality must descend from level to level "until it can contract and clothe itself and from it a particular creation comes into being"* — there too "Hashem is the Elokim etc."].

7.

Every matter also exists in the service of each individual

(for man is a "small world"³⁸,

in whom are reflected the matters that occur in the "great world")

The purpose of every matter of serving Hashem is — that it should come down into actual deed,

and the deed is the main thing.

One must however know,

that in order to reach "Eretz" — to be able to permeate earthly matters with G‑dliness and holiness — one must go through a "order of descent (Hishtalshelus)".

Which in general there are in this three stages — the three divisions in the verse "And you shall know etc.":

In the heavens above,

And on the earth below,

There is none besides even in the void of the world

(a)

(a)

Forever, Hashem, Your word stands firm in the heavens ..

within the expanse of the heavens,

(b)

(b)

"And likewise in all the created beings ..

and even this physical earth",

(c)

(c)

even the lowliest creatures which are not mentioned "in the ten utterances of the Torah"<sup>39</sup>]

So that the daily service of a Jew should be proper,

there must be the preparation for this — his sleep

(as part of divine service)

at night,

when the soul ascends on high

(in the heavens)

and draws life<sup>40</sup>.

And it can be said that therefore it is — immediately upon awakening,

immediately when he wakes up from sleep he begins the order of the day with the recitation of "Modeh ani lefanecha etc. shehechezarta bi nishmati",

a Modeh ani lefanecha

(to the Above)

who has returned to him the soul with "refreshed" powers from its source "in the heavens";

Afterwards begins the service of Jews,

to effect that his soul should spread itself in his body

(which is accomplished through the service of prayer etc.⁴¹)

— the soul should take hold in the

(physicality — body)

earthliness of the person,

And in this itself there are two levels:

a)

The service of prayer in the synagogue,

and "from the synagogue to the study hall"⁴²

— that is, that the light of the soul spreads itself into the body in its details and matters,

but still in the realm of holiness

(like the creations which receive their vitality in a direct manner from the "ten utterances in the Torah")

b)

the service "in the void of the world" — "conduct them in the manner of the land"⁴³,

and in general — what a Jew occupies himself with matters of the permitted

(like the details of the creations which are not mentioned

(in the Ten Utterances)

in the Torah)

that through the correct

preparation of his service "in the heavens above and on the earth below",

it is possible to actualize G‑dliness also in the matters of the permitted of his,

until in a manner that for him the materiality of the world does not occupy space at all,

nor existence — he reveals

(also)

"in the void of the world" as it is "there is none else".

<b>And the sicha of the second day of Chol HaMoed Sukkos 5745)</b>