Daily Tanya 16th Nissan-Chapter 41 -Serving G-d for the purpose of unifying the Shechinah with G-d

(LY) 16th Nissan

1.     Yichud Kudsha Berich Hu Ushichintei-Serving G-d for the purpose of unifying the Shechinah with G-d:

·      Intending to attach the general souls of Israel to G-d: Our sages teach us that a person should never remove himself from the general public. Accordingly, [the intent of one’s Divine service should not only be for personal reasons, such as for personal love and fear of G-d but] one should also intend in his Divine service to unify and attach the source of his G-dly soul and the source of the general souls of all Israel to G-d.

·      The general souls of Israel refer to the Divine presence, the Shechinah: The source of the dgeneral souls of Israel is the breath of G-d and is called by the name Shechinah.

·      What is the Divine presence? The reason it is called by this name is because the term Shechinah means to reside, as this Divine revelation resides and is invested within all of the worlds in order to give them life and existence.

·      The energy to speak and perform action comes from the Divine presence: Now, a human’s ability to speak words of Torah or to perform actions of a specific Mitzvah comes from this Divine revelation of the Shechinah which gives him the energy to do so.

·      Unifying the Divine presence with G-d Himself: Now, this unification between the Divine presence and G-d Himself is accomplished through drawing down the infinite light of G-d below. This itself is accomplished through the study of Torah and fulfilling the Mitzvah’s which contain the infinite light of G-d within them.

·      The intent: Accordingly, upon studying Torah or performing a Mitzvah one should [also] intend to draw down the light of G-d onto the source of his soul and to the source of the souls of all the Jewish people in order to unify it with G-d, as will be explained in length in chapters 46 and 52 the essence of this unity.

·      Lisheim Yichud Kudsha Berich Hu Ushichintei: Based on the above, one can now understand the meaning of the statement [that is recited prior to the fulfillment of a Mitzvah] “for the sake of unifying G-d with his Divine presence in the name of all Israel,” [as it refers exactly to that which we explained above that one is to intent to draw down the infinite light of G-d onto the Divine presence in order to unite them together.

·      Gloss-Unifying the side of severity with the side of kindness: Through performing the above unification of the Divine presence with G-d, one also consequently accomplishes the sweetening of the severities with the side of kindness, through incorporation of the character traits and their unification. This is accomplished through revealing the supernal will of G-d which is revealed above through the arousal that comes from below, as through the study of Torah and Mitzvah performance below one reveals the will of G-d here below which is reciprocated with a revelation also above. This follows the teaching of the Zohar that the 613 commands of the Torah are drawn from the level of whiteness of Erech Anpin, which is the supernal will and the source of all kindness.

21st Nissan

2.     Only a true Tzadik can serve G-d for the sole purpose of unifying Him:

·      Only relevant for one who reaches the level of Ahava Raba: In order for the above intent of one’s Divine service [that his sole purpose of serving G-d is simply to unite the Divine presence with G-d] to be absolutely true within one’s heart, that his heart truly desires this Divine unification, it is necessary for one’s heart to reach the level of Ahava Raba for Hashem alone.

·      Serving G-d simply to give Him satisfaction and not for satiating one’s passion: A person who serves G-d with the level of Ahava Raba serves G-d’s solely for the sake of giving Him satisfaction and not in order to quench one’s soul which is thirsting for G-d. He serves G-d like a son who desires to give satisfaction to his mother and father whom he loves more than his own body and soul, as explained above in chapter 10 in the name of the Zohar. [Only such a person can truly serve G-d with the sole intent of unifying the Divine presence with G-d, however, one cannot expect from others to truly do so, as their service of G-d will naturally contain a selfish aspect of quenching their own thirst and passion for G-d.]

3.     Every Jew has ability to truly desire G-d’s unity:

·      Now, although as stated that the above intent of serving G-d for the sake of unifying Him is only truly relevant to a very high level Tzadik, nonetheless every single person should accustom himself to having this intent.

·      A true desire of some level: As, although this intent will not be completely honest and true within his heart, that he truly desire it with all of his heart, nonetheless, his heart truly does desire this to some level. [Meaning, that although he also has other more self-serving intentions in his heart upon serving G-d, nonetheless, this is not negating the fact that he can also desire to do so for G-d’s unity.]

·      The natural love a Jew has for G-d also desires G-d’s unity: The reason that every Jew desires this unity of G-d to some level is due to the natural love of G-d that is found in every single Jew, in which he desires to fulfill everything that is the will of G-d. Now, since the true desire of G-d is this unity of Him with His Divine presence, therefore every Jew truly desires this as well.

4.     How one affects the Divine unity of G-d with his Shechinah through Torah and Mitzvah’s:

·      Unification in the world of Atzilus: This unification of G-d and His Divine presence is the unification that is affected in the world of Atzilus as a result of the Divine service of those below.

·      Unifying one’s soul with G-d through Torah study and Mitzvahs: This is accomplished through unifying his G-dly soul and incorporating it within the light of G-d which is invested in the Torah and Mitzvah’s that one is studying and performing. When one studies Torah and performs a Mitzvah, one completely unifies his soul with G-d, as explained in chapter 35. Furthermore, one unifies not just his soul below but also the source of his soul above with G-d, as explained next.

·      How it causes a unification of G-d and his Divine presence: When a person studies Torah and performs a Mitzvah one also unifies the source of the Torah and Mitzvah’s which is G-d, with the source of his G-dly soul which is referred to as the Shechinah, and is the Divine light which fills all the worlds and encompasses all the worlds, as explained in length elsewhere.

22nd Nissan

5.     Every Jew truly desires to unite his own soul with G-d:

·      The above inability of a regular Jew to serve G-d solely and completely for the sake of unifying G-d with His Divine presence, is only limited to this specific intent. However, every single Jew truly and completely desires with a full heart and the entirety of his soul to unify his own soul and unify it within the light of G-d, so he and G-d be completely one.

·      Derives from the hidden love: This true and complete desire to attach to G-d derives from the natural love which is hidden in the heart of every single Jew.

6.     Every Jew truly desires to hand his soul to G-d to the point of self-sacrifice:

·      Included in this natural hidden love is a desire to never be separated, and cut off and divided, G-d forbid, from the unity and oneness of G-d in any which way, to the point that one is willing to actually give up his life for this purpose.

·      During Divine service one hands his soul to G-d: The study of Torah and prayer and performance of the Mitzvah’s is also considered an actual self-sacrifice of his soul similar to that which will be experienced when his soul leaves his body at the completion of 70 years. During this time of Divine service, one’s mind does not think about the needs of his body and rather his mind is unified and invested within the letters of Torah and prayer which is the speech and thought of G-d and are absolutely united with Him. [Meaning, the true intent of self-sacrifice is for one to hand over his soul to G-d, which is only fully accomplished after death. However, one can similarly intend on doing so even during one’s lifetime through studying Torah, prayer, and Mitzvah fulfillment for the purpose of handing over one’s soul to G-d.]

·      The occupation and pleasure of souls in the garden of Eden: This studying of Torah for the sake of handing one’s soul over to G-d is indeed the entire purpose and occupation of the souls in the garden of Eden, in which they study Torah as they did in this world, but with experiencing the handing over of the soul to G-d. Unlike in this world where one does not feel and experience any spiritual pleasure in his Torah study, when one studies Torah in the garden of Eden, one experiences the pleasure in his comprehension of Torah and in his incorporation within the light of G-d.

7.     The morning prayer of Elokaiy Neshama expresses the desire to hand one’s soul to G-d:

·      It is for the above reason that the sages instituted for one to recite in the start of the morning blessings which is recited prior to prayer, the prayer of “Elokaiy Neshama..Veata Nafachta…Veata Asid Litla Mimeni..”

·      The meaning of the prayer, based on the explanation above, is as follows: Being that You G-d have blown the soul into me and You will take it from me in the future, therefore, even now I will hand it and return it to You in order to unify it in Your unity.

·      This is also the meaning of the verse in Psalms “To You G-d do I raise my soul”

·      How I will accomplish this elevation and incorporation: I will accomplish the handing over of my soul to G-d through connecting my mind with the thoughts of G-d, and my speech with the speech of G-d, in the letters of Torah and prayer.

·      Baruch Ata Hashem: The best time for one to make this resolve to hand over one’s soul to G-d is upon saying the words Baruch Ata Hashem in a blessing and the like, in which one is speaking directly to G-d who is present before him.