English translation — נצבים ב

Talk^*

On<pg>173</pg>

A.

"For¹

This commandment which I command you today is not too wonderful for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven... nor is it beyond the sea... but the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it."

And behold, according to the simple meaning of the verses it is understood,

that this that "the matter is very close to you, etc." is a novelty,

that there is a possibility to think

(according to Torah)

that "this commandment"

(the Torah and the commandments&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;)

is "wondrous" and "distant",

and the verse innovates that "the matter is very close to you, etc."

And the main novelty is regarding "and in your heart",

and as our master the Elder writes

(in the Tanya&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;),

"that at first glance it is..

against our sense..

that it is not very close for the matter to turn his heart from the lusts of this world to the love of G-d in truth,

and as it is said in the Gemara&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;

Is fear a small thing,

and all the more so love."

And this is the novelty in the verse,

that this matter

("and in your heart")

is "close to you..

very much",

and as explained at length in the Tanya⁵,

how the matter is "very close" to every person to attain love of G‑d⁶,

for there is a natural love hidden in the heart of every Jew,

"which is an inheritance for us from our forefathers",

and therefore a person does not need to generate and renew the love for G‑d in his heart,

but only to reveal the love that exists in his heart inwardly, naturally from his birth.

But at first glance this is not a sufficient explanation,

for it is difficult to say that the main novelty of "for it is close etc." is only in the detail of "and in your heart",

for from the fact that the verse continues and specifies "in your mouth..

to do it" it is understood,

that there is a novelty also regarding the speech and action of a person.

And on the contrary: from the fact that the verse precedes "in your mouth" to "and in your heart"⁷

it implies,

that there is a special novelty

(not in the detail of "and in your heart",

but)

in the detail of "in your mouth..

to do it".

2.

And one must say the point of the explanation in this:

Our master, the elder, writes at the beginning of the book Tanya

(in the "gate" of the book⁸),

that it is "founded on the verse: 'For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it,'

to explain well how it is very near, in a long and short way, with the help of the Almighty."

And it can be said,

that the intention of the Alter Rebbe is not two&lt;pg&gt;174&lt;/pg&gt;

ways,

a long way and a short way&lt;sup&gt;9&lt;/sup&gt;,

but rather one way that is "long and short",

— And as we find in the story of Chazal&lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;

that this expression

("a long way and a short way")

means one way — "Said Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya..

Once I was walking on the road and I saw a child sitting at a crossroads,

and I said to him: Which way shall we go to the city,

he said to me: This one is short and long and this one is long and short&lt;sup&gt;11&lt;/sup&gt;,

And I went on the short and long, when I reached the city I found that gardens and orchards surround it, I turned back, I said to him: My son, did you not tell me short,

he said to me: Did I not tell you long" —

That is, the service of G-d "in your mouth and in your heart to do it" is a "long way"

(and as explained at length in Tanya how to attain love of G-d until it brings a person to actual deed — "to do it"),

but it is also a short way,

since through this one arrives at the "city of our G-d"&lt;sup&gt;12&lt;/sup&gt;

without hindrances and delays.

Explanation of the matter: Even though there is a natural love in the heart of every Jew,

and it is very close to arousing and revealing this love that exists in his heart inwardly, by his nature from his birth,

nevertheless,

since it is hidden from the intellect,

great work and effort is required for this love to penetrate the entire existence of the person

(until "in your mouth..

to do it"),

and as long as the love has not penetrated the entire existence of the person, the person is "distant" from fulfilling the Torah and mitzvot&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;,

for there may be obstacles and delays etc. — like the above example of "the short and long way",

which is such a way,

that walking in it

(in quantity)

is short,

but regarding reaching his desired destination,

the entrance into the city,

it is long,

for even though he is actually very close to the city,

there are things that prevent and delay his entry;

And only when there is also "in your mouth etc. to do it" is this "a long and short way",

that there are no obstacles and delays to enter the "city of our God",

therefore only then does he become "close" to fulfilling the Torah and mitzvot.

&lt;pg&gt;175&lt;/pg&gt;

3.

And behold, it is known that love of G-d depends on knowledge of G-d,

and in the language of the Rambam¹⁴

"One does not love the Holy One, blessed be He, except through knowledge by which he knows Him,

and according to the knowledge, so will be the love — if little, little, and if much, much"¹⁵.

And from this it is understood,

that the details mentioned above regarding "and in your heart" —

(a)

that the essence of love is very close to every person,

for every Jewish person has a natural love for G-d,

(b)

on the other hand, there must be work to reveal this love so that it is drawn into all the details of a person's faculties,

until actual deed

("in your mouth..

to do it"),

(c)

and on the contrary,

specifically then a person becomes "close" to the commandments,

in the manner of "a long way and a short way",

for even though it is "long" from the aspect of effort,

nevertheless its end is that it is short,

that one enters the city of our G-d without hindrances and delays — in this manner and similar to this, it exists regarding knowledge of G-d.

And this will be understood with an introduction that knowledge of Hashem,

is through simple faith,

or from compulsion and understanding of man's intellect,

the way of investigation — and there is in this what is not in this:

For behold "the truth of His existence"¹⁶

of the Holy One, blessed be He, is above the category of comprehension of a created being,

as the Rambam said¹⁷

"that there is no power in the intellect of a living man, who is composed of body and soul, to grasp the truth of this matter in its clarity",

rather he believes in the truth of His existence.

And this is the advantage of faith over investigation of the intellect,

that faith is in the "truth of His existence" of the Holy One, blessed be He,

whereas man's intellect can comprehend knowledge of his Maker only in a limited manner,

"according to the power that a man has to understand and comprehend"¹⁸,

which is not the "truth of His existence" as it is; but on the other hand,

since this knowledge comes from compulsion and investigation of the intellect,

it is more internal,

because it comes from the man himself and his own intellect,

unlike the matter of faith

(which comes from the aspect of "Hashem is One" that shines in his soul)

it can be in a manner of encompassing,

in the manner of our Rabbis, of blessed memory,¹⁹

"a thief at the entrance of the tunnel calls out to the Merciful One",

that even the thief believes in Hashem,

therefore he prays to the Holy One, blessed be He, that He help him succeed in his theft,

nevertheless at the same time he does an act contrary to the command of Hashem.

4.

And perhaps one could say that in this the Rambam and the Ra'avad differ,

that according to the Rambam the main matter of knowledge of G-d is the knowledge that comes through investigation of the intellect,

and according to the Ra'avad — the matter of faith:

On the words of the Rambam²⁰

"At forty years of age Abraham recognized his Creator" the Ra'avad wrote "There is an Aggadah²¹

at three years of age, as it is said²²

because Abraham hearkened to My voice,

the numerical value of 'because'.

And one must explain the reason of the Rambam who brings specifically that at forty he recognized his Creator,

because in his opinion,

the main recognition of the Creator is when it comes from the side of man's intellect,

and so with Av­raham,

that this that Abraham recognized his Creator was his recognition from "his sound intellect"²³

[As he elaborated there that "he began to roam in his mind and he is small&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt;

and he began to think by day&lt;pg&gt;176&lt;/pg&gt;

and by night and it was an amazement how it is possible that this sphere always conducts itself and has no leader and who will cause it to revolve etc. and he had no teacher nor informer etc. and his heart roamed and understood until he grasped

(when he was forty years old)

the way of truth and understood the line of justice from his correct understanding and knew that there is one God and He leads the sphere etc."]

— and therefore brought

(in his book the hand)

the opinion that "at the age of forty Abraham recognized his Creator"²⁴,

that at forty is understanding²⁵

; but according to the opinion of the Ra'avad, the main knowledge of the Creator of Abraham was in the way of faith through a revelation from the Holy One, blessed be He,

therefore he brought that he was "three years old",

that simply a three-year-old is not in the category to recognize his Creator in a manner of comprehension and full recognition.

Similarly we find regarding the comprehension of Moses our teacher, peace be upon him: the Rambam wrote²⁶

"What is this that Moses our teacher sought to comprehend when he said²⁷

Show me, please, Your glory,

he sought to know the truth of the existence of the Holy One, blessed be He, until it would be known in his heart like the knowledge of one of the people who saw his face and his image was engraved in his heart, so that that person is found separate in his mind from other people,

so Moses our teacher sought that the existence of the Holy One, blessed be He, be separate in his heart from all other existences until he would know the truth of His existence as it is,

and the Blessed One answered him that there is no power in the mind of a living human being, who is composed of body and soul, to comprehend the truth of this matter in its clarity."

And in Kesef Mishneh there he quotes the objection of the Ra'avad: "My mind is not at ease with this, for he saw at Sinai during the forty days of the tablets what no prophet ever saw, to the point that the angels were jealous of him and sought to push him away, until he grabbed hold of the throne; and what further need was there?"

At first glance, their dispute is — what is the essence of perfection in knowledge of the Creator that a person needs to attain,

whether the knowledge that comes through intellectual comprehension or the knowledge through faith

(which cannot be attained through comprehension,

but comes from above)

: according to the Ra'avad, the greatest perfection in Moses' attainment is what he attained at the time of the Giving of the Torah,

"he saw at Sinai" what came from above; but according to the Rambam,

the essence of perfection of knowledge is what one understands and comprehends with his intellect,

and therefore Moses was not satisfied with what he saw at Sinai, but sought to know and comprehend²⁸.

5.

And perhaps one could say,

that the approach of the Rambam

(in the Book of the Hand&lt;sup&gt;29&lt;/sup&gt;)

is not

(only)

like the approach of the philosophers that there must also be intellectual investigation,

but rather it is a middle approach.

For here in the Laws of Repentance, the Rambam explains at length the foundation of free choice,

"Permission&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;

is given to every person: if he wishes to incline himself to a good path and be righteous, the permission is in his hand; and if he wishes to incline himself to an evil path and be wicked, the permission is in his hand",

and he elaborates in explaining and necessitating the matter,

and at the end of the chapter&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;

he asks: "Perhaps you will say, 'But&lt;pg&gt;177&lt;/pg&gt;

The Holy One, blessed be He, knows whether this one will be righteous or wicked or does not know,

If He knows that he will be righteous, it is impossible that he will not be righteous; and if you say that He knows that he will be righteous and it is possible that he will be wicked, behold He does not know the matter thoroughly,

Know that the answer to this question is long³²

from the earth in measure and broader than the sea, and many great principles and lofty mountains depend upon it, but you need to know and understand this matter that I am saying,

We have already explained..

that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not know with a knowledge that is outside of Him, like human beings, who are two—they and their knowledge,

but He, may He be exalted, and His knowledge are one, and the knowledge of man cannot grasp this matter thoroughly, and just as man has no power to grasp and find the true essence of the Creator, as it is said³³

For no man shall see Me and live, so man has no power to grasp and find the knowledge of the Creator,

It is that the prophet said³⁴

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,

And since this is so, we have no power to know how the Holy One, blessed be He, knows all creatures and deeds, but we know without doubt that man's action is in man's hand, and the Holy One, blessed be He, does not pull him nor decree upon him to do so,

And not only from acceptance of the tradition is this matter known, but with clear proofs from words of wisdom."

And in the comprehension of the Ra'avad there: "This author did not conduct himself in the manner of the wise, for a person does not begin a matter and not know to complete it, and he began with questions and difficulties and left the matter in difficulty and returned it to faith,

And it would have been better for him to leave the matter in the simplicity of the simple..

And although there is no conclusive answer to this, it is good to attach a bit of an answer to it, and I say: If man's righteousness and wickedness were dependent on the decree of the Creator, may He be exalted, we would say that His knowledge is His decree, and the question would be very difficult for us,

But now that the Creator removed this authority from His hand and handed it over into man's own hand, His knowledge is not a decree, but it is like the knowledge of astrologers who know from another power what this one's ways will be, etc.'"

And it seems to me in the view of the Rambam,

that in his opinion, what requires intellectual investigation,

is only regarding matters that the intellect has the power to comprehend thoroughly,

but also regarding matters "that we have no power to know",

there is an obligation to toil and to attain this very thing—that this matter is beyond his comprehension.

And this is the dispute between the Rambam and the Ra'avad: also the Ra'avad writes there "it is good to append to it some answer",

except that according to the Ra'avad "the simplicity of the simple ones" and comprehension are two matters,

and one should not mix them together,

for faith is something that is above human intellect,

by virtue of the nature of a Jew,

whereas intellect is something connected with the reality and intellect of man,

therefore the "some answer" that the Ra'avad appended is something that settles in human intellect&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;

— and in matters where the aspect of faith is required,

one should not mix in the aspect of intellect;

But according to the Rambam, the obligation of effort to grasp and know and comprehend is not only in matters that a person is capable of absorbing with his intellect,

but also in matters that are above the grasp of his intellect and simple reason and understanding,

and even these matters must be placed and absorbed in his intellect,

and therefore the Rambam wrote that also the manner of knowledge of the Holy One, blessed be He, that "there is no power in man to grasp and find the knowledge of the Creator..

we have no power to know how the Holy One, blessed be He, knows, etc." — a person must "know and understand this matter",

and through this he will understand and recognize that the knowledge of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not in contradiction to the free will of man.

&lt;pg&gt;178&lt;/pg&gt;

And based on this, it can be said,

that this is also one of the explanations of the two expressions

(according to the version of several commentators)

that the Rambam wrote regarding the first commandment — that in the Sefer HaMitzvos&lt;sup&gt;36&lt;/sup&gt;

he wrote that it is a commandment to believe, and in the Book of the Hand&lt;sup&gt;37&lt;/sup&gt;

he used "to know" — that the foundation of the matter is in faith,

because in the "truth of His existence" it is impossible to have comprehension in its clarity, only the matter of faith,

but on the other hand,

in this very thing, knowledge is necessary

("to know"),

that a person must contemplate as far as his intellect reaches to understand and know also in these matters that are above intellectual necessity&lt;sup&gt;38&lt;/sup&gt;.

And this is also the intention of the Rambam regarding the request of Moshe

(the aforementioned)²⁶

"He requested to know the truth of the existence of the Holy One, blessed be He..

And the Holy One, blessed be He, informed him of what no man knew before him etc. until he comprehended the truth of His existence etc.",

that this was in a manner of comprehension,

namely not only sight and faith,

but it came into his comprehension of Moshe,

and this came specifically after the request of Moshe³⁹

to know the truth of the Holy One, blessed be He.

6.

And according to this it is found,

that also in the matter of knowledge of G‑dliness which brings to love, there exist those same modes mentioned above in the matter of love:

At first one must have simple faith,

"to believe" in the truth of His existence,

that this matter is very close to every person,

for the concept of faith exists in the nature of every Jewish person,

that they are believers&lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;

children of believers&lt;sup&gt;41&lt;/sup&gt;.

But faith alone is "a short and long path",

that it still does not entirely negate things that prevent and delay etc.,

for faith in itself is like something wondrous and distant from the conduct of man

(and as above regarding the matter "a thief at the opening of the tunnel etc.").

And therefore it must also be the toil in the intellect of a person,

also in matters "that we have no power to know",

for although the matter of comprehension

(and especially in these matters)

requires great toil and it is a "long way",

nevertheless specifically then it is a "short way",

that they enter the city of our God without hindrances and delays,

for knowledge and comprehension affect the heart of a person,

"Know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart"⁴².

7.

Just as it is in the matter of the commandment of knowing God in general,

and the service of the heart

("and serve Him with a whole heart")

— so it is regarding the revelation of the Torah of Chassidus,

that "everything He made beautiful in its time"⁴³,

and when the time came — and "the Lord bared His holy arm"⁴⁴,

and "a new [teaching] from heaven descended"⁴⁵,

our teacher the Baal Shem Tov, may his soul rest in Eden,

through whom the Torah of Chassidus was revealed,

namely that the secrets of the Torah,

which from the perspective of the boundaries of the Torah are of the aspect of secret and hidden,

were drawn down and revealed through the Baal Shem Tov and the righteous of the world,

his disciples and the disciples of his disciples⁴⁶,

and through this was drawn down the revelation of the Hidden One of the Holy One Blessed be He as He is, blessed be He, above the boundary of human intellect.

And the order of this revelation is,

that first the faith in the inner dimension of Torah was revealed,

which in general is the way of "the righteous shall live by his faith"⁴⁷,

"Do not read 'shall live' but 'shall live'",

through the revelation of the soul of each and every Jew⁴⁸

; but the completeness of the revelation of Chassidus,

in a manner that it will be "a long and short way"

(so that then they enter the city of our G-d without hindrances and delays etc.),

is when faith penetrates into the intellect of the person,

in a manner that his intellect understands and knows G-d in accordance with the faith,

and likewise also in his emotions,

that not only according to the measure of the intellect and contemplation does it generate in his heart love of G-d and fear of G-d

(not only vitality in the heart in a general way),

but also this love and fear is connected with the Holy One, blessed be He,

which is above time and space.

And this way is "a long and short way" in the service of G-d,

for this matter, that the faith that comes from the essence of the soul will penetrate into all the powers of the soul in an internal manner,

this is "a long way",

but it is the short and secure way to enter the "city of our G-d",

for no things remain that hinder and delay that could cause stumbling in his entry into the city of our G-d,

for all the powers of his soul,

Chabad in the soul and Chagat in it,

and likewise the aspects of Nahi in it,

all of them are permeated in an internal manner with vitality in the service of G-d,

and thus the entire person, in general and in particular, enters the city of our G-d.

And the completeness of this matter will be "At that&lt;sup&gt;49&lt;/sup&gt;

time..

(as)

Israel will be great sages and know hidden things and will attain knowledge of their Creator according to human capacity, as it is said&lt;sup&gt;50&lt;/sup&gt;

For the earth shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

(From sichos of Shabbos Parshas Tazria-Metzora and Shabbos Parshas Emor 5742)