English translation — עשי"ת

Sicha 1<pg>200</pg>

A.

The Rambam wrote in the Laws of Repentance<sup>1</sup>

: "Although repentance and crying out are good always,

during the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur it is especially good and is accepted immediately, as it is said<sup>2</sup>

Seek the Lord when He is found"<sup>3</sup>,

and its source is in the exposition of the Gemara<sup>4</sup>

on this verse

("Seek the Lord when He is found")

— that the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, is "found to him"<sup>5</sup>

(to every individual of Israel)

— "these are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur."

However,

In the Gemara this was brought regarding the cry and prayer to annul the decree — that "the decree of the community..

even though it was sealed, is torn up" forever

(through crying),

"whenever we call to Him"<sup>6</sup>,

but for an individual it is only<sup>7</sup>

"when He is found" — "these are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur";

But the Rambam did not mention here the matter of "decree"<sup>8</sup>,

and brought this regarding the virtue of repentance<sup>9</sup>

— that in these ten days "it is most beautiful and is accepted immediately",

namely, besides that "it is accepted

(by the Holy One, blessed be He)

immediately",

the repentance itself "is most beautiful"<sup>10</sup>.

And it implies from this,

that the main benefit from this "drawing near" of the Holy One, blessed be He, in these ten days,

is specifically in the matter of repentance.

And we need to understand: This that the Holy One Blessed be He is "present" to each one of Israel,

must bring about an additional arousal in all matters of service of G-d,

and especially in the service of prayer to the Holy One Blessed be He,

that when the Holy One Blessed be He is "present" to him, certainly his prayers — in whatever matter it is — are accepted immediately etc.; but what is the special connection of this closeness to the matter of repentance?

B.

And it can be said that this will be understood by prefacing an explanation of the <pg>201</pg>

Verse "Seek the Lord when He is to be found, call upon Him when He is near" — at first glance one must understand the duplication of language

(a)

Seek the Lord when He is to be found,

(b)

call upon Him when He is near?

According to the simple explanation, one can say that the duplication is

(only)

for the beauty of the rhetoric¹¹.

But according to the law and the homiletical interpretation

(and especially according to the inner dimension of the matters),

it is reasonable to say that they are two distinct matters — each one of them has a unique content and novelty¹².

And one should add: In the two parts of the verse there are two differences:

(a)

In the manner of man's action — "seek" or "call Him",

(b)

In the manner of the revelation of the Holy One, blessed be He, to man — "while He is found" or "while He is near".

And according to the above that they are two distinct matters in content,

it is logical,

that both depend on each other: From the aspect that the Holy One, blessed be He, is "while He is found" — "found to him" — there must be in Israel the matter of "seeking"

("seek")

; and the result of "while He is near"

(the drawing near of the Holy One, blessed be He, to the people of Israel)

is — "call Him".

[And according to the simple interpretation of this verse,

that what is said "when He is found"

(and "when He is near")

is not a result of "seek the Lord"

(and "call Him")

(as it is said¹³

"And you shall seek etc. the Lord your God and you shall find when you seek Him etc."),

but on the contrary,

that man's seeking of the Lord is a result of the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, is "when He is found"¹⁴].

3.

And one can say the explanation of this:

"בהמצאו" is from the term "מציאה"¹⁵,

that the definition of "מציאה" is that it comes with absence of attention¹⁶,

without any effort on his part

(for it is not possible to say that a person would trouble to search for a found object,

since the definition of "מציאה" is,

that he finds it,

without his knowledge).

And from this it is understood,

that this that the drawing near and revelation of the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel that in this verse is described with the word "בהמצאו",

this is because the revelation is

(also)

to one who is not worthy of it from his own side, but rather it comes "with absence of attention",

and this is one who needs the work of repentance.

And this is the special connection of this verse to the "Ten Days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur" and the matter of repentance:

At the beginning of the year,

when a person makes a reckoning of righteousness according to his own soul of his deeds, words, and thoughts during the past year,

and a person knows in his soul that his spiritual state is far from what is desired,

and certainly from what he ought to do¹⁷,

he could fall into despair, G-d forbid,

thinking who am I and what am I that I can draw near to G-d.

And in response to this, the verse says,

that in these ten days — "Seek G-d when He is to be found",

the Holy One, blessed be He, "is found to him" in a manner of finding,

that it is not at all dependent on the service and preparation of the person; and therefore his spiritual state does not matter in this,

whether his service during the year was as it should be and he is worthy of this closeness or not; and moreover — even if the person did not trouble to "seek" G-d

(as it is written¹³

"And you will seek from there the L-rd your G-d and you will find"),

behold, since the closeness comes in a manner of "finding",

behold it is for all Israel equally¹⁸.

<pg>202</pg>

And the reason for this — "For Israel is a youth and I love him"¹⁹,

and as it is brought in the Midrash²⁰

"Just as when a person's son is a small infant, if he sins, his father does not dismiss him because he is small..

so too Israel, even if they sin etc., 'For Israel is a youth and I love him'",

That is,

that the love of the Holy One, blessed be He, for Israel is like the love of a father for his small son,

which is an intrinsic love²¹

and not dependent on the conduct of the son,

therefore,

even when his small son behaves contrary to his father's will — "his father does not dismiss him".

And this is the reason that even when the conduct of a Jewish person is not as it should be,

nevertheless, when these ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur arrive,

the Holy One, blessed be He, "is found by him" — in the manner of a find,

and does not "dismiss him"²².

4.

However, one can still ask:

Help and assistance from above can come in a way of "finding" not according to the value of his service,

but the assistance is in a manner that the person does not feel the closeness of the Holy One, blessed be He.

[And regarding the giving of charity of flesh and blood, to distinguish,

that there is the essence of the giving of the charity itself,

and a second matter added to this, one must say "the one who appeases him"<sup>23</sup>

— to give the charity with a pleasant countenance<sup>24</sup>

in a way that the poor person will feel the closeness of the giver of charity,

that "he laments with him over his trouble..

and speaks to him words of..

consolation etc.'"<sup>25</sup>].

And therefore a person can say,

that it is true that because of the essential love of the Holy One, blessed be He, for His close people, He does not "remove Himself from them" even when they sin,

and He is "found to him" in a manner of finding — nevertheless perhaps there is no closeness,

that the person will feel the closeness of the Holy One, blessed be He, to him,

because for this there must be a suitable preparation of the person,

that there be a suitable "vessel"

(and it is not applicable that there be a vessel worthy of the "closeness" of the Holy One, blessed be He, without proper effort).

And according to the above parable of the love of the father for his young son,

that even though the father does not "remove himself from him" even when the son sins against his father,

nevertheless, ostensibly it is not applicable to say that in such a situation the father's love for the son will be revealed in a way that the son feels his father's closeness to him.

And this is what the verse continues "

(Seek the Lord when He is found)

(and adds)

call upon Him when He is near" — in addition to this that the Holy One, blessed be He, is "found to him",

and helps him and assists him to return to Him,

He is "near" to every Jewish person,

without regard to his standing and his spiritual state,

in a way that in these days he feels in a revealed manner His love and His closeness to Israel.

5.

Two matters these in the drawing-near of the Name to His people Israel

(in the ten days these),

their purpose is to arouse Israel to draw near to Him, blessed be He,

"As water face to face"²⁶.

And based on this it is understood,

that the manner of the drawing-near of the person to the Name,

is corresponding to the manner of His drawing-near of the Holy One, blessed be He, to him:<pg>203</pg>

This that the Holy One, blessed be He, is "found" to each one of Israel,

in the manner of a find

(without any effort on the part of the person)

— arouses the person,

that in exchange for this that his relation to matters of Torah and mitzvos was in a manner of "find"

(that was lacking by him the effort and toil in the service of the Name),

he needs to exert and toil to draw near to the Name.

And this is what the verse says — "Seek Hashem when He is found",

that the state of "when He is found" arouses the person to seek Hashem,

and therefore the verse used "Seek" specifically

(and not "Search"²⁷

and the like)

— because the term "Seek" indicates a request and search that is very strong²⁸,

to the extent — seeking in the sense of "demand"²⁹.

[In the manner of the words of our Sages, may their memory be blessed,³⁰

"We make a remembrance for the Temple..

Zion..

requires seeking" — that the precision in this is seeking specifically,

that a mere request for the redemption is insufficient,

but there must be seeking and demand

(constant³¹),

and as the words of our Sages, may their memory be blessed,³²

(which were brought to halacha³³)

that this that we pray three times a day for the redemption,

is because Israel needs to demand the redemption from the Holy One, blessed be He,

and in this itself — in the manner of "The shoot of David Your servant may You speedily cause to flourish",

seeking and demand that the Messiah our righteousness come speedily³⁴,

immediately, literally].

And the second matter that is in the verse — "when he was close",

that is, the assistance from Heaven in a way that a person can feel His closeness and the revealed love of the Holy One, blessed be He, for His people Israel — brings a person to a state and service that is similar — measure for measure — that his service is in a manner of "they called him",

And as is known that "calling"

(with voice and speech)

indicates the matter of revelation

(like a person's speech that "reveals...

what was hidden and concealed in his thought"&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;),

that is, that he is not satisfied with seeking

(that is from the inwardness of his soul),

but does all that is in his power so that the Divine Presence will shine for him in revelation,

with all the powers of his soul.

6.

In many years they read on Shabbat Shuvah — the Shabbat of the Ten Days of Repentance&lt;sup&gt;36&lt;/sup&gt;

— the portion of Haazinu.

And according to the well-known words of the Shelah&lt;sup&gt;37&lt;/sup&gt;,

that the content of each portion is related to the time when they read it,

it is understood,

that there is a hint in the portion of Haazinu to the above-mentioned matters of the Ten Days of Repentance.

And indeed we find that the above matter of the Ten Days of Repentance is hinted at in the beginning of the portion³⁸

:

On the verse "Give ear, O heavens, etc. and hear, O earth, etc." it is stated in the Sifri: "Because Moses was close to the heavens, therefore he said 'Give ear, O heavens' etc.<pg>204</pg>

Water,

And because it was far from the land, therefore it says "and the land heard".

And the connection of this matter to the Ten Days of Repentance is simple — since then the Holy One, blessed be He, is "when He is found..

near" to each and every one of Israel,

behold it is within the ability of every Jewish man to be "near to heaven",

to feel himself near to the Holy One, blessed be He

("heaven"),

and automatically — "far from the land"&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;

(earthly and material matters).

And according to what was explained above at length,

that in this verse — "Seek the Lord when He is found, call upon Him when He is near" — are hinted two modes in the closeness of the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel,

and correspondingly — two modes in the approach of man to God — one must say,

that these two modes are also hinted in the above-mentioned statement of the Sifri.

7.

And this will be understood by prefacing an additional explanation in the words of the Sifri "Because Moshe was close to heaven..

far from the earth":

The Alter Rebbe⁴⁰

explains the verse "Give ear, O heavens... and hear, O earth..." — that the two concepts of "heavens" and "earth" exist in the service of G-d: "heavens" refers to the Torah,

"that the Torah is from the heavens"

("From the heavens I spoke..."⁴¹),

"and the earth is..

commandments..

practical actions in actual reality"

(since most of the commandments, their fulfillment is in physical and earthly matters)⁴²

; and at first glance,

according to this, an explanation is needed: how is it possible to explain the statement of the aforementioned Sifri,

that Moshe was "far from the earth",

according to the Alter Rebbe's interpretation that "earth" refers to the commandments?

And one can explain the explanation in this:

According to the simple interpretation,

that "heavens" indicates spiritual matters and "earth" indicates earthly matters — behold, the distance from the earth is a matter of negation alone,

that the person is distant and negated from earthly matters; but according to the interpretation of the Alter Rebbe that also "earth" indicates spiritual matters,

one must say,

that also the matter of "distance" its content is not negation and disconnection,

but this itself is a way in the service of God,

that is,

that the service of God in matters of "earth"

(commandments)

is in the aspect of "distance".

Explanation of the concept:

The service in the aspect of "closeness" — its meaning is that a person feels his closeness to G-d,

And this is when he understands and grasps in his intellect the greatness of the G-d,

And also feels in his soul love of G-d etc.; and the service in the aspect of "distance" is acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven,

That even when there is lacking in the service of the intellect and emotions

(That his mind is too short to understand the greatness of the G-d and he has not yet reached that his heart will be aroused with love for G-d etc.,

So that he feels himself "distant" from G-d),

Nevertheless,

He performs his service out of acceptance of the yoke of His kingship, blessed be He.

And this is the explanation

(the inner)

of "close to heaven

(Torah)..

far from the earth

(commandments)

" — in the service of God itself:

Through the study of Torah is made&lt;sup&gt;43&lt;/sup&gt;

"a wondrous unity" of the human intellect and His wisdom, blessed be He,

until they become "as one and truly unified from every side and angle",

for when a person understands and grasps&lt;pg&gt;205&lt;/pg&gt;

Words of Torah as is proper,

behold the words of Torah that he learns become unified with his intellect and become one — and this is "close to heaven",

that regarding "heaven" — Torah — a person must be "close",

that the grasping of words of Torah is in a manner of "closeness";

But not so commandments,

behold the primary intention is — acceptance of the yoke of commandments,

"Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us."

Therefore the main essence of commandments is

(not the intention of the commandments — through which a person feels his connection to the commandment and the benefit etc. that there is in its performance — but rather)

— the deed of the commandments,

for specifically in the actual deed is expressed the doer because of "and commanded us",

the nullification of the person to the Holy One, blessed be He, and acceptance of His yoke, blessed be He.

And this is the explanation of "far from the land" according to the explanation that it refers to commandments — that the service of "land",

the fulfillment of the commandments,

must be in a manner of "distance",

the service of acceptance of the yoke⁴⁴.

8.

And according to this, one may say further,

that these two ways correspond to the two matters that are hinted at in the verse "Seek the Lord when He is to be found, call upon Him when He is near":

"Seek the Lord when He is to be found" — which is the seeking of man when the Holy One, blessed be He, is

(only)

"found to him",

but there is not yet a feeling of closeness and revelation to man⁴⁵

— it is in the manner of the service of acceptance of the yoke,

that man feels himself "distant" from God,

but accepts upon himself His yoke, blessed be He.

However, "call Him while He is near" — this is the service in a manner of "nearness" and revelation,

that a person toils with his intellect to understand G‑d's wisdom,

until there is made a "wondrous union" as above; and as is also explained in Tanya&lt;sup&gt;46&lt;/sup&gt;

in the reason that "the occupation of Torah is called by the language of calling..

that through the occupation of Torah one calls the Holy One, blessed be He, to come to him, as it were, like a person who calls his friend that he should come to him, and like a small child who calls his father to come to him to be with him in togetherness"

(And as is explained there that this "calling" is specifically through Torah&lt;sup&gt;47&lt;/sup&gt;)

— in the manner of what is explained above in the explanation of "near to heaven."

(From sichos of 6 Tishrei 5747,

year of

(Haazinu)

5727)