There is a common saying, “Knowing the ailment is half the cure.” Only when an ailment is recognized and understood can it be treated. Nevertheless, this awareness is only half the cure — there must also be a working therapeutic remedy for healing to occur.
In the first seventeen chapters of Heichaltzu, the Rebbe Rashab identified the ailment, highlighting the problem of yeshus and the baseless hatred that results from it, and explaining how harmful those characteristics can be to a person and to a community. From ch. 18 onward, the Rebbe Rashab spells out the remedy. This he does by following a classic axiom in Chassidus: Every concept in avodah, in hands-on Divine service, has a parallel in haskalah, the abstract comprehension of G‑dliness. A thorough comprehension of the relevant concept in the abstract inspires and guides its practical application in avodah.
After defining yeshus as the antithesis of the oneness of G‑d’s name Havayah, the Rebbe Rashab devotes the following chapters to showing how unity can coexist with diversity. Not only does he call for oneness, he explains the spiritual dynamics that make it possible. In this way, he provides us with guidelines upon which we can model such unity in our Divine service.
G‑d’s name Havayah is identified with G‑dliness of an utterly transcendent nature. By contrast, the name Elokim is identified with the G‑dliness that permeates the world, bringing it into being and granting it life.
Thus, the name Elokim is the source of the plurality that pervades the created realms. To enable a plurality of created beings, the Divine energy filtered through the name Elokim must vary; it must be enclothed within each created being, and adapted to it, according to its specific nature. And because the name Elokim represents the various life-forces within each element of existence, that name appears in a plural form. By contrast, G‑d’s name Havayah is transcendent; it reflects a level of existence at which no distinction between entities is apparent.
Nevertheless, it is the name Havayah that is the ultimate source of all existence. If so, it is clear that diversity also exists — in potentia — within the name Havayah itself. Indeed, each of its four lettersrepresents a distinct spiritual dynamic, and is manifest in one of the four spiritual worlds of Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. Those different levels define the structure of all existence. However, in the name Havayah, all four levels exist in a state of perfect synthesis and unity.
Since the life-energy emanating from G‑d’s name Havayah passes through the name Elokim, the implicit diversity becomes actually revealed. However, because Havayah and Elokim are truly one, even the distinct created beings, whose separate identities stem from the filter of Elokim, are characterized by the absolute oneness of the name Havayah. And by saying Havayah echad in the Shema, we highlight the unity of all created beings — the fact that in essence, they are all permeated by the singularity of G‑d’s Essence.
