English translation — תולדות א

Sicha 1 <pg>101</pg>

A.

The Chida in the book Midbar Kedamos<sup>1</sup>

(In the name of R. Yehuda HaChasid)

"The fathers of the world, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, saw each other and fifteen years<sup>2</sup>

they learned the Torah

[Together<sup>3</sup>]

each day and each night fifteen hours,

and Ben<sup>4</sup>

fifteen for study"

(And enumerates several matters that are in the number fifteen).

And the Chida explains there the calculation of "15 hours"

(specifically),

for "9 hours for sleep and to eat and to do his needs and 15 for Torah and prayer",

and a hint to this — "All the soul shall praise Yah<sup>5</sup>,

that he will learn Torah and pray..

Praise Yah in 24 hours".

And in Sefer Chasidim<sup>6</sup>

it is stated: "And why did the Holy One, blessed be He, love the Patriarchs? Because all the day and all the night their heart did not turn from meditating on the matters of Heaven..

And Jacob awoke from his sleep<sup>7</sup>

And our Sages said<sup>8</sup>

Jacob awoke from his learning

[for even at the time of sleep he was occupied and reviewed Torah<sup>9</sup>],

24 verses Abraham Isaac Jacob in one verse in order..

for all 24 hours were in one order, that they had no leisure from the matters of Heaven even in a dream".

And the Chida explains in his commentary on Sefer Chasidim there,

that according to this it is impossible to say that what R. Yehuda HaChasid stated that "they learned the Torah..

(only)

fifteen hours" is because during the other nine hours they were occupied with bodily needs

(as written in Midbar Kadmos there),

since "our Rebbe himself wrote that all twenty-four hours, even in sleep, they were in heavenly matters",

rather "the meaning is that fifteen hours they would study Torah and nine hours they would direct their hearts to the Omnipresent to think of His fear and His exaltation and His love and His attachment"

[namely the occupation with prayer,

and as our Sages, of blessed memory,¹⁰

that the early chassidim would occupy themselves with prayer and its intention nine hours a day].

And one may add,

that this interpretation

(that the number "fifteen hours" refers only to the study of Torah)

is apparently forced in the words of R. Yehuda HaChasid himself

(whom the Chida brought),

who wrote "and fifteen years they learned the Torah..

fifteen hours and at fifteen for study",

from which it implies,

that the hours of the work of prayer are not included in this count¹¹.

And it requires explanation:

From this that the Patriarchs "saw each other" only fifteen years,

as the R"i HaChasid says "fifteen years they learned etc. fifteen hours"

[because the birth of Yitzchak was when Avraham Avinu was one hundred years old¹²,

and Yaakov was born when Yitzchak was <pg>102</pg>

Sixty years¹³,

when Avraham was one hundred and sixty years old,

and the years of Avraham's life were 175¹⁴,

behold that only 15¹⁵

years

(which were at the end of Avraham's life)

were all three Patriarchs together]

— it is understood,

that there is a special superiority in these fifteen hours that they studied Torah together

(corresponding to the fifteen years that they saw each other)

relative to the rest of the hours of the day.

And now according to the explanation of the Chida in Midbar Kadmos,

that fifteen hours are hours of Torah and prayer and the remaining nine hours were for bodily needs,

the superiority in these fifteen hours is understood.

For although it is simple that also their material needs of the Patriarchs were done for the sake of Heaven with utmost perfection

[and as the Alter Rebbe writes in the Tanya¹⁶

"that the Patriarchs..

all their days never ceased even one hour from binding their minds and souls to the Master of the worlds",

and elsewhere¹⁷

details and explains that they were "in the aspect of a chariot in all their deeds even in their sleep"],

nevertheless,

this is not comparable to the superiority of the occupation with Torah and prayer itself.

But for his explanation in his commentary on Sefer Chasidim,

that the nine remaining hours are the time for engaging in prayer,

it is not understood,

why should they differ, and so much, the fifteen hours of Torah study from the nine hours of engaging in prayer,

so that therefore "they saw each other" only fifteen years

(corresponding to the number fifteen hours of the day and night that they studied Torah together)?

B.

And one can say the explanation in this according to the way of Chassidus:

It is known¹⁸,

that the three Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob correspond to the three pillars upon which the world stands¹⁹,

Torah, service and acts of kindness: the main service of Abraham was acts of kindness,

Isaac — service

(and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said²⁰

that Isaac was "a perfect burnt-offering"),

and Jacob his matter is Torah,

as it is said²¹

"and Jacob was a simple man, dwelling in tents".

And so they are divided in the service of the attributes,

for the attribute of Abraham is the attribute of kindness and love,

the attribute of Isaac — might and fear,

and of Jacob — beauty and mercy.

And according to this,

this that the Patriarchs "saw each other" and were together fifteen years,

indicates a connection of all of them together,

for although each of the three modes in service is separate from its fellow,

the three Patriarchs were joined together to serve God,

that this is not a physical connection alone,

but a connection of the modes of service of God together.

And therefore their connection was only regarding the study of Torah,

because this connection of three distinct services together,

is only in the level of the study of Torah,

as the matters and services are in the level of Torah²²,

in which "these²³

and those are words of the living God"; but not so in actual service,

in the service of the emotions,

and all the more so and certainly in actual deed,

it is impossible that there be equality of all these types and modes of service.

And this is also the reason for the difference,

that the Patriarchs studied Torah together fifteen hours a day,

in<pg>103</pg>

expressed in the lives of the Patriarchs in physicality,

who lived together for fifteen years,

while that they served G‑d all twenty-four hours of the day is hinted only in that there are "twenty-four verses Abraham Isaac Jacob in one verse in order" — because the matter of connection

(service)

of the three Patriarchs together in the degree of Torah study was in actuality; but their connection together in serving G‑d throughout all twenty-four hours of the day,

is only as it is in Torah

("twenty-four verses Abraham Isaac Jacob in one verse in order"),

but in actual deed,

that they served G‑d twenty-four hours of the day,

the service of one of them is not similar to his fellow etc.²⁴.

3.

Explanation of the matter:

Torah,

even when given below,

it is His wisdom, blessed be He, as it is above,

and just as with Him, blessed be He,

all the attributes dwell together in complete unity,

for all of them are a detail in the revelation of His perfection, blessed be He,

and He "includes them together",

so likewise in His Torah, blessed be He,

there is no contradiction between all types of service,

for His wisdom, blessed be He, necessitates all of them

(these and those are words of the living God)

; but not so in actual service,

from the side of man,

for every created being is limited existence,

so every service

(and attribute)

is opposite to its counterpart,

and therefore there is a contradiction between types of service.

And so it is also from the side of man himself,

for in the intellect of man there is not as much division as in the emotions of the heart.

And as we see,

that it is difficult for a person to feel closeness

(love)

and distance

(fear)

toward one thing simultaneously,

but not so from the side of the intellect,

it is possible that one person can grasp opposite reasonings in one matter simultaneously,

both the reasonings for obligation and the reasonings for merit.

And likewise in service,

that when a person is occupied with understanding the distinctions of the modes of service,

it is possible that there will be "placed" in his mind the understanding of services that are completely divided from each other,

but when it comes to action, he is limited to one line specifically.

And in more detail:

It is known that the intellects are called "nothing" in relation to the emotions which are "something,"

And this is because the matter of the intellect is — the grasp and comprehension of the concept as it is in its truth,

without admixture of the existence and state of the comprehending person,

but the content of the matter of the emotions is the opposite — his relation to the thing outside of him,

namely the effect of the thing upon the feeling person,

whether to draw close to it

(love)

or to distance from it

(awe).

And so it is in the service of G-d: the service of the middot is — the feeling of man,

that he loves G-d because "nearness of G-d is good for me"²⁵,

and therefore he wants to draw near to Him, blessed be He,

(and likewise with fear and the like)

; but the service of the intellect is that which "goes out" from the boundaries of his own existence and grasps and comprehends His wisdom, blessed be He, as it is.

Therefore,

in the middot of man which are connected with his "existence",

there is the matter of division in intensity,

but in the intellect,

in which man comprehends according to what His wisdom, blessed be He, necessitates,

it is possible for there to be a joining of all types of services together.

4.

And it can be said,

That this that the unification of the services of the three Patriarchs together is only in their study of Torah

(intellect),

is because they were before the Giving of the Torah,

before the nullification of the decree between "upper ones" and "lower ones",

as explained in the Midrash²⁶

that before the Giving of the Torah there was a decree that "The heavens are the heavens of the L-rd and the earth He gave to the children of man"²⁷,

that upper ones<pg>104</pg>

would not descend to lower ones and lower ones would not ascend to upper ones,

and at the time of the Giving of the Torah the decree was nullified and the possibility was given to connect "upper ones" and "lower ones",

Divinity with the physicality of the world.

And just as there is a matter of nullification of the "decree" in the world in general,

so too is there also in man himself,

and not only between his soul and his body

(spirituality and physicality within him),

but also within the soul of man itself:

The service of the intellect,

understanding and comprehension,

in which the truth shines as it is from the aspect of His wisdom, blessed be He,

is the aspect of "upper ones" in man; and the service of the emotions,

man's feeling,

which is connected with his existence,

is the aspect of "lower ones"

(in his soul itself).

And this is the matter of "nullification of the decree" in the soul of man: before the Giving of the Torah it was not possible for there to be the true connection between "intellect" and "emotions",

that the "nullification" that comes from the work of the intellect will be drawn and felt also in the emotions of man; and only after the nullification of the decree of the Giving of the Torah was the power given,

that that nullification which is in the intellect,

that from this nullification it is possible for there to be connection and inclusion of opposite services

(as above),

will be drawn also into the emotions,

in a manner that also in actual service he can serve God in all types of services

(and as it is brought in the Sifri on the verse²⁸

And you shall love the Lord your God,

that it is demanded from man both love and fear,

even though "you have no love in a place of fear and fear in a place of love except in the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, alone",

that is to say,

that man was given the power to connect two opposites of love and fear together,

"love in the place of fear and fear in the place of love").

5.

And based on this, one can explain in greater depth the difference between the two explanations in the Chida — whether the nine hours are the hours of occupation with bodily needs or whether they are the hours of the service of prayer — that they are two modes in the service of the Patriarchs,

whether the entirety of their service

(both in soul and in body),

or only their spiritual service

(the service of the soul itself)

:

The first explanation that the nine hours are the hours of bodily needs,

applies to the service of the Patriarchs in general,

that the service of the Patriarchs

(together)

was only fifteen hours in the day,

this is because being before the Giving of the Torah,

therefore their main service was only in spirituality and not in physicality

(as explained in Kuntres Maamar&lt;sup&gt;29&lt;/sup&gt;).

For although it is simple

(as above)

that also their bodily needs were done with utmost perfection

(to the point of nullification of the "Chariot"),

nevertheless,

this is not at all comparable to the level of their service from the aspect of their spirituality,

that their intense attachment to G‑d from the aspect of their spirituality,

could not be drawn down in a revealed and actual way into their physicality.

And this is that "they studied Torah every day...

(only)

fifteen hours",

that according to this explanation this means Torah and prayer

(as above in section 1),

which is the spiritual service of the Patriarchs,

"awe and love that are in the intellect and heart"&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;

(and as is known&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;

that they are the aspects of Yud-Hei

(fifteen)

in the Name)

;

But the second explanation that the nine remaining hours are the hours of the service of prayer,

applies to the spiritual service itself of the Patriarchs,

that the difference between upper and lower is "intellect" and "heart",

Torah and prayer,

and the unification of all the Patriarchs together is only in the level of the intellects and not in the emotions of the heart,

and as above at length.

6.

And behold, the portion of Toldos

(in which is recounted about the beginning of the life of Yaakov,

which is the time in which&lt;pg&gt;105&lt;/pg&gt;

the Patriarchs "saw one another"&lt;sup&gt;32&lt;/sup&gt;)

occurred at the beginning of the month of Kislev or on the Shabbat of blessing the month of Kislev — the month that belongs

(especially)

to the revelation of the teachings of Chassidus,

and as is known&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;

that the month of Sivan,

the third month&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;

of the summer months, is the time of the revelation of the teachings of the revealed [Torah],

and the month of Kislev,

the third month of the winter months, belongs to the revelation of the teachings of Chassidus

[That in this month there are several days that are special in the annals of Chassidut,

such as: the yahrtzeit of the Maggid

(19 Kislev)

; the festival of redemption of the Alter Rebbe

(19 Kislev)

and the Mitteler Rebbe

(10 Kislev)

; the birthday and yahrtzeit of the Mitteler Rebbe

(9 Kislev)

and more.

And also the days of Chanukah at the end of the month,

belong also to the inner dimension of the Torah,

for the main miracle of Chanukah is the miracle of the flask of oil,

and behold "oil" in the Torah refers to the deepest secrets of the Torah&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;].

And here we see a wondrous thing,

that just as the patriarchs of the world,

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

were together in this world for fifteen years — so it is with the "patriarchs of Chassidut",

the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid, and the Alter Rebbe&lt;sup&gt;36&lt;/sup&gt;,

who were in this world together for fifteen years

(for our Rebbe the Alter Rebbe was born in the year 5505

(5505),

and the passing of the Baal Shem Tov was in the year 5520).

And one may add further a wonder:

It was mentioned above that in the Forefathers there were two matters — the fifteen hours that they studied Torah

(hinted at in the fifteen years that they saw each other),

and this that they served G‑d all twenty-four hours of the day

(hinted at in the "twenty-four verses

(that are said)

Abraham Isaac and Jacob in one verse in order"),

And an example of this we find in the "fathers of Chassidus" — that the fathers of the general Chassidus were together in this world for fifteen years

(as above)

; whereas the "fathers" of the Chassidic teachings of Chabad,

the Alter Rebbe³⁷

and the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek,

were together in this world for twenty-four years

(for the Tzemach Tzedek was born in the year 5549,

and the passing of the Alter Rebbe was in the year 5573).

And according to what we have learned regarding the service of the Patriarchs

(before the Giving of the Torah),

we can also explain the content of the matter,

and with an introduction from the words of the Rebbe

(the Rebbe Rashab)

of blessed memory³⁸

in explaining the order of the revelation of the teachings of Chassidus,

that just as before the Giving of the Torah there had to be the preface of the service of the Patriarchs,

in spiritual service,

but "nevertheless this is not the actual drawing down of the Torah..

And afterwards the Torah was given at the Giving of the Torah in a garbing, through which the aspect of the Essence was drawn down..

The Torah that was garbed in matters below — in this the Essence is drawn down" — so it is in the revelation of the teachings of Chassidus,

that at first there was "the revelation of the Baal Shem Tov

[and the Maggid of Mezritch]..

the revelation of the inner dimension of the Torah..

not in the aspect of garbing..

and the world was unable to receive,

and it was<pg>106</pg>

Avodah that is lofty and very high, but this is not the revelation of the essence of the pnimiyut of the Torah,

And it comes through our Rebbe, n"a, in an enclothing in comprehension, and with this is drawn the aspect of the essence etc."

And the matter is explained in many places³⁹,

that this is the main innovation of the Torah of Chassidus Chabad,

that through the matters of the Torah of Chassidus being explained in the Torah of Chabad in a manner that they are grasped in his intellect and understanding,

through this the light of Chassidus is drawn into his pnimiyut,

in clarification and refinement of his animal soul and his portion in the world,

until it penetrates all his affairs,

also in his physical affairs

[in the manner of the innovation of Matan Torah,

connection of upper and lower realms].

And this is hinted in that,

that the fathers of general Chassidus were together fifteen years,

while the fathers of Chabad Chassidus were together twenty-four years:

The Torah of general Chassidus,

which is "revelation not in the manner of enclothing",

in the manner of makif⁴⁰,

is primarily spiritual service

(in the manner of the service of the Patriarchs before the Giving of the Torah),

"dchilu urechimu d'vemocha ul'va",

the aspect of Yud-Hei

(fifteen)

that is in the soul;

Not so by Chabad Chassidus, the light of Chassidus is drawn into all parts of man

(And as the saying of the Rebbe, my father-in-law, the Rebbe⁴¹

that even the heel of the foot should be "a Chassidic heel"),

to the extent that it penetrates all his affairs,

even his material affairs

(as above)

— and through this the power is given to live a life of Chassidus throughout all 24 hours of the day,

to the extent that even during sleep⁴²

it will be noticeable on him "that a Chassid sleeps".

And so it is regarding the general "form of stature" of all of Israel throughout all generations,

that through the Torah of Chabad Chassidus the power is drawn that the light of Chassidus will penetrate also the darkness of the generation of the heels of Mashiach,

specifically the aspect of legs and heels⁴³,

And through this they merit to "And it will be, because you will listen... and the L-rd your G-d will keep for you the covenant..."&lt;sup&gt;44&lt;/sup&gt;,

for when also in the aspect of "heel",

the generation of the footsteps of Mashiach&lt;sup&gt;45&lt;/sup&gt;,

there is the "you will listen" — the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills "the covenant and the kindness which He swore to your fathers",

the true and complete redemption through our righteous Mashiach,

and immediately and at once.

(From the talk of 19 Kislev 5722)