English translation — יתרו ג

Sicha Gimmel<pg>96</pg>

A.

At the end of our portion the Scripture relates,

that after the giving of the Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses<sup>1</sup>

"Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: You have seen that from the heavens I spoke with you; you shall not make with Me gods of silver and gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves."

And the Ramban wrote<sup>2</sup>

in explanation of the words "after you saw with your eyes that from the heavens I spoke with you and I am the Lord in heaven and on earth, do not associate<sup>3</sup>

with Me gods of silver and gods of gold, for you have no need with Me of any other help",

and explains<sup>4</sup>

the content of the two prohibitions in the verse "You shall not make with Me gods of silver etc. You shall not make for yourselves" that "he warned about belief in them and repeated and warned about the making alone, as the matter of 'and a graven image<sup>5</sup>

and a standing stone you shall not set up for yourselves"<sup>6</sup>.

And already the commentators questioned<sup>7</sup>

on the Ramban,

that it is forced to say that he came to warn about belief in another deity

(for already it was said in the Ten Commandments "You shall have no other gods etc."<sup>8</sup>),

and they wrote<sup>7</sup>

another explanation,

that here he came "to command them that with the belief in His divinity they should not place in their prayers intermediaries between themselves and their God, and they should not make forms to draw down the influence of the stars to succeed their possessions, because they have no need of them, since God is close to them whenever they call Him, and He will hear them and answer them not through an angel nor through a star nor any other intermediary who would plead for them..

And he brought a proof from the chosen assembly that they heard from Hashem the Ten Commandments without any intermediary between Him and them, and therefore they should not make with Me, meaning intermediaries between Him and them, gods of silver and gods of gold, and they are the talismans that the ancients would make to draw down the spirituality of the stars for the success of imaginary things,

and He said 'You shall not make with Me' and repeated and said 'You shall not make for yourselves' to tell that it is unfitting from His side and from their side,

if from His side, because He spoke with you from the heavens without an intermediary<sup>9</sup>,

and if from their side, that they are from His providence and guidance, may He be blessed, not from the guidance of the heavenly constellations".

And requires explanation,

that even regarding making a means,

at first glance,

there is no need to warn them immediately after the Giving of the Torah,

for this matter is also in the category of idolatry,

and as the Rambam elaborated in the Laws of Idolatry<sup>10</sup>,

and at the Giving of the Torah all of Israel saw "that Hashem is God, there is none else besides Him — and they saw that He is unique"<sup>11</sup>,

that there is no other existence besides Him, blessed be He.

And how could it enter their minds to make a means between themselves and their God<sup>12</sup>?

And it appears to explain,

that the command of "You shall not make with Me" is not

(only)

a particular warning

(about idolatry or partnership or a means and the like),

but rather in it is<pg>97</pg>

to expression the generality of the matter of Matan Torah,

as follows.

2.

And the explanation in this:

The first verse said in the Torah after the Giving of the Torah is¹³

"And all the people saw the voices and the torches and the voice of the shofar..

And the people saw and they moved and they stood from afar",

that at the Giving of the Torah there was made in Israel a complete nullification

[And furthermore,

at the time of the Giving of the Torah there was made a nullification in the entire creation,

as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said¹⁴

"When the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah, a bird did not chirp, a fowl did not fly, an ox did not low, ofanim did not fly, seraphim did not say Holy, Holy, the sea did not stir, the creatures did not speak, but the world was silent and hushed, and the voice went forth 'I am the L-rd your G-d, etc.' when the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke on Mount Sinai He silenced the entire world so that the creatures should know that there is nothing besides Him",

meaning that the Giving of the Torah made a nullification not only in Israel but in the entire creation].

And the meaning of the matter,

that at the Giving of the Torah there were two matters: a)

that Israel received the Torah and the commandments,

b)

the nullification that was made in Israel

(and in the entire creation).

And both come from the two matters that were at the Giving of the Torah: a)

the voices and lightning etc. and the totality of the revelation of the Divine Presence and the entire chariot made a nullification in Israel

(and in the entire creation),

b)

the word of G-d in the Ten Commandments,

it is the giving of the Torah and its commandments to Israel.

That is: at the giving of the Torah there was a Divine revelation,

which brought about recognition and feeling in all created beings

(and especially in Israel)

that there is no existence in themselves at all and they exist only from the truth of His existence¹⁵.

And added to this was the matter of the saying of the Ten Commandments and the giving of the Torah to Israel.

And according to its simple meaning they are two different matters.

And this is the innovation in the speech after the giving of the Torah — "You have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you: You shall not make with Me" — that these two matters are not two different things¹⁶,

but rather the content of the giving of the Torah is the nullification of the existence of man,

that he should feel and recognize that "You shall not make with Me",

that there is no existence "with Me".

3.

The explanation of this:

In the nature of the emotion of self-nullification in a person, there are generally two modes¹⁷

: a)

that the person humbles and lowers himself,

and in this itself it is possible that his humility is only in one particular or several,

or that he humbles and nullifies himself completely,

like the nullification of a slave before his master,

who humbles and nullifies himself completely before his master,

to listen to his voice for everything that he commands him.

b)

Through a most elevated revelation, the nullification occurs in a spontaneous manner,

and analogous to the nullification of a simple person before a great sage,

that it is not in a manner that the simple person nullifies and humbles himself¹⁸,

but rather his existence is nullified spontaneously before the greatness of the sage's virtue.

And the advantage of the second manner over the first manner is in two things:

(a)

In the first manner, the nullification is from the side of the one being nullified,

and consequently it is understood,

that

(b)

even after he nullifies himself,

even when he is nullified in all his details,

he still remains an entity like a servant who is nullified before his master; unlike the second

manner,

(a)

since the nullification is not from his side,

that he humbles himself,

but rather through the revelation,

he is nullified in a spontaneous way,

and therefore

(b)

no entity remains here at all,

namely that it is not "that he

has for himself some entity only that he is nullified",

but rather "that he is not in existence at all".

And this is the innovation that occurred in the giving of the Torah to Israel:

The ultimate level in the recognition and feeling of nullification of existence that created beings could reach before the Giving of the Torah,

is the level of nullification of the chariot,

that the chariot is completely nullified to the rider,

and nevertheless there is an existence of "chariot",

therefore even though "the Patriarchs themselves are the chariot"²⁰,

"that all their limbs were holy and separated from the matters of this world and they were a chariot only to the supernal will alone all their days"²¹,

the definition of "chariot" is,

that it is nullified to the rider; there are here two things,

the rider and the chariot that is nullified to him²².

And the innovation of the Giving of the Torah is,

that the nullification is not only a result of the submission of the Children of Israel to the Holy One, blessed be He,

but rather through and from the side of the revelation of G-d,

for since the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one²³,

therefore,

when "you yourselves saw that from the heavens I spoke with you",

there is no place for existence without Him,

not even an existence that is nullified to Him, blessed be He.

D.

And it may be said that this is the content of the teaching of the Alter Rebbe, which his honorable holiness, my master and father, the Rebbe, brought²⁴,

that the first negative commandment after the receiving of the Torah is "You shall not make with Me etc.",

and the first positive commandment is "An altar of earth you shall make for Me and you shall slaughter upon it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings",

and he continues,

that this that the negative commandment here precedes the positive commandment is because absence precedes existence and decay precedes growth,

"and according to the measure of the greatness of the decay, according to this measure is the growth in sowing and planting".

That is: the content of the first command is the concept of "absence"

(that precedes existence)

— the concept of self-nullification.

And in this is expressed the entire content of the concept of the Giving of the Torah,

that the purpose of Torah is to bring a person to a state of "You shall not make with Me" — that his feeling of self-nullification is in a manner of "absence",

that there is no existence whatsoever,

even not in a way of "with Me" — something secondary²⁵

and nullified to the Holy One, blessed be He,

that is,

not

(only)

the self-nullification hinted at in the verse "There is none besides Him"²⁶,

that besides Him there is no existence but with Him there is existence,

but rather as it is said "There is none else"²⁷,

that there is no existence at all²⁸

(even not an existence of "else" and secondary²⁹).

And it can be said,

that the content of this explanation is also hinted at in the exposition of the Mechilta

(and brought in Rashi)

on the verse "You shall not make with Me" — "You shall not make..

the likeness of my servants who serve before Me on high,

not the likeness of angels and not the likeness of ofanim and not the likeness of cherubim"³⁰,

that in general it refers to the supernal chariot³¹,

and this is,

that the service of the children of Israel<pg>99</pg>

From now on it is not "like a sun-like [servant]",

the nullification in the manner of "sun-like [servants] who serve before",

the upper chariot,

but beyond this,

nullification to the utmost,

"there is none else".

5.

And behold, a semblance of the above distinction also exists now

(after the Giving of the Torah)

in the service of man,

and it is the difference between the nullification when a person fulfills the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He,

and the nullification in the study of Torah,

as explained by the Alter Rebbe³²,

that a person who fulfills commandments is "like a servant who fulfills the king's command and does his bidding",

but in the study of Torah he is "in the aspect of a king",

as the saying: "Who are kings? The rabbis"³³,

for the words of Torah that he utters from his mouth³⁴

are the word of G-d literally,

and as it is written³⁵

"And I place My words in your mouth,

My words literally,

for the word of G-d, this is the halachah³⁶,

it is that which is revealed in him and it is that which speaks from within his throat".

That is, that although for Torah study to be proper, and particularly in such a manner — that it is the word of G-d itself — this is when a person humbles himself,

nevertheless, man's work in this is only a preparation and vessel,

that through "and let my soul be like dust to all" becomes "open my heart to Your Torah"³⁷,

but the self-nullification in the manner of "and I placed My words in your mouth" is drawn from the Torah itself.

And this is that the above matter of negation and nullification of existence is stated in the language of a command and mitzvah — "You have seen that from the heavens etc. do not make with Me",

to indicate,

that the nullification is not a separate thing that comes and branches off from the revelation at the Giving of the Torah,

but it is connected with the Ten Commandments,

the Torah that was given at the Giving of the Torah.

6.

And based on this will be understood what the Alter Rebbe explains, that the essential self-nullification is that which is said "Do not make with Me" and not "An altar of earth you shall make for Me and you shall slaughter upon it",

as explained by several commentators of the Torah³⁸

that "An altar of earth you shall make for Me" indicates submission,

for according to their explanation the self-nullification is the submission and self-nullification from the side of man's action,

and this matter is an introduction and preparation for the Torah,

and without this it is opposed to G-d and His Torah,

as our Sages said "I and he cannot dwell"³⁹,

"You will not find among the haughty-spirited etc."⁴⁰

(And as they explain⁴¹

that this is the continuation of the verse preceding it "You have seen that from the heavens I spoke with you,

for exalted is the Lord and the lowly He sees⁴²,

and even though My Shechinah is in the heavens, nevertheless from the place of My dwelling I spoke with you, and this is a sign that the Lord has no desire for the high-statured, therefore do not make with Me gods of silver etc. and this is a command about the altar, that he should not make it of silver and gold, but rather an altar of earth you shall make for Me, which indicates the measure of humility").

But according to the Alter Rebbe's explanation, the self-nullification is from the side of the Torah,

which effects self-nullification to the ultimate degree,

the measure of "non-existence",

and therefore he explains it in the language "Do not make with Me" which emphasizes that there is no existence

(even in the manner of "with Me",

"et" the secondary).

7.

And behold, also in the explanation of "An altar of earth you shall make for Me," the Alter Rebbe explains in a deeper way,

that it is not only a command about submission and humility in order to be worthy to receive a command and the like,

but it is in a deeper way,

that comes as a result of nullification&lt;pg&gt;100&lt;/pg&gt;

of the person in the manner of "You shall not make with Me",

the definition of "absence".

And in his language: "Decay precedes growth, and according to the measure of the greatness of the decay, according to this measure is the growth in sowing and planting."

Explanation of the matter:

After the explanation of "You shall not make with Me",

the Alter Rebbe continues

(ibid.)

: "And the positive commandment is: An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall slaughter upon it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,

An altar of earth you shall make: an altar of self-nullification you shall make for yourself.

Your burnt offerings — your elevations,

your peace offerings — your perfections,

you shall slaughter upon the altar to be dust and ashes literally."

And seemingly this is in contradiction to what was explained before this: from his language at the beginning that the negative commandment is "You shall not make with Me" and the positive commandment "and you shall slaughter upon it",

and that the negative commandment here is before the positive commandment because "absence precedes existence and decay precedes growth and according to the measure of the greatness of the decay, according to this measure is the growth in sowing and planting",

it is understood,

that the content of the matter of "An altar of earth you shall make for Me and you shall slaughter upon it etc." is growth,

namely the existence and elevation of the person,

not the nullification

("absence"),

and afterwards he continues in explanation of the verse that its entire content is the absence and nullification of the person,

"to make oneself an altar of nullification to slaughter upon it your ascents etc."?

But these are the very things: when the nullification is on the part of the person,

submission and humility that the person himself brought about,

or even nullification in the manner of "a servant who fulfills the king's command and does his words",

behold even when he comes to the level of "altar of earth",

a matter of nullification to the utmost,

there is a matter of ascent and perfection,

and simply, that when the servant fulfills the king's command,

behold it is felt that this is an ascent and perfection that were brought about by him

(and in the manner of a servant&lt;sup&gt;43&lt;/sup&gt;

king king).

And this is what is explained there,

that the matter of "an altar of earth" is a continuation of the prohibition of "You shall not make with Me",

namely the nullification that comes about through the Torah,

that in this there is no existence at all other than the Torah that one learns

(even not the existence of nullification).

And in the verse "An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall slaughter upon it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings" it is explained how this nullification

(of "You shall not make with Me")

penetrates also into the existence of the person,

that even as he is in his own existence outside of the time of Torah study,

his nullification should be in the aforementioned manner,

that there is no existence at all.

And upon this it continues: "An altar of nullification you shall make of yourself,

your burnt offerings — your elevations,

your peace offerings — your completions,

you shall slaughter upon the altar to be dust and ashes literally".

Its explanation,

that his self-nullification is not in a manner that he is an existence in his own right that subdues and nullifies himself to G‑d,

for then the self-nullification is his service and virtue,

but rather the self-nullification is in a manner of sacrifice,

that there is here no existence and “virtue” of self-nullification,

and this is specifically when the ascents and perfections,

i.e., true ascents and perfections that are called so according to the Torah of truth

(for the ultimate ascent and perfection in relation to G‑d and His Torah is in self-nullification itself),

he sacrifices them upon the altar,

i.e., that he does not feel that he has effected and done some lofty thing and ascended to G‑d and become perfect in his service,

but rather he is entirely an altar of self-nullification,

without a feeling of elevation and perfection.

8.

And behold, in the teaching of the Alter Rebbe there he continues “An altar of self-nullification is still nothing at all,

rather one must sacrifice upon it the ascents and perfections.”

And superficially, this is merely a repetition of language.

But it can be said that in this, it adds a more elevated level.

&lt;pg&gt;101&lt;/pg&gt;

For in this language, it adds two things that were not said previously: a)

That the altar of self-nullification "is still not a thing",

that is,

that the main point is not what makes itself an "altar of self-nullification"

(which is separate, "is still not a thing"),

but rather what is sacrificed upon it "your burnt offerings and your peace offerings"⁴⁴.

b)

In this itself, it specifies here "burnt offerings and peace offerings" without qualification

(and not as above "your burnt offerings,

your burnt offerings,

your peace offerings, your peace offerings").

And it can be said the novelty in this,

that not only does he feel that in all his service no ascent was made in him,

and no completeness was made in him,

but rather that there is no ascent and completeness at all,

because he is permeated with the self-nullification of "non-existence",

"there is none else".

And in a simpler style: the service in all matters of Torah and mitzvos must be without the feeling of his own existence,

that is,

that it is not in a manner that he is the one learning Torah and fulfilling mitzvos,

but rather in the manner of "from his soul he yearns"⁴⁵,

that the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos becomes

(like)

by itself,

without his own existence⁴⁶.

That is to say: all his service in Torah and mitzvos is only that the supernal will be fulfilled,

and it does not matter to him that specifically he should be the one fulfilling the will of the Holy One, blessed be He⁴⁷,

because his existence is not felt

(even not as a person fulfilling His will, may He be blessed),

and the thing that exists for him is only — the will of the Holy One, blessed be He.

(From the sicha of Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh,

10 Shevat 5721)