1st day of Kislev

In the Tanya, Part I, chs. 39 and 40, the Alter Rebbe spoke of the various worlds to which souls ascend as a result of their Torah study and spiritual service. Their level in each case is determined by the individual’s intention at the time: If the study and prayer were accompanied by love and awe generated by the contemplation of G‑d’s greatness, they rise to the World of Beriah, the world of comprehension; if the love and fear are merely instinctive (inasmuch as they are inherent within every Jew), then the study and prayer ascend to the World of Yetzirah, the world of the spiritual emotions.

The Alter Rebbe also stated there that the Torah and spiritual service itself ascends to the sefirot, which are the G‑dliness of the worlds.

All this, however, applies only when the Torah study and the spiritual service are motivated by a kavanah lishmah, a pure intent born of a love or awe of G‑d. If, however, this intent is lacking, such as when one studies Torah out of habit, this Torah study does not ascend to the sefirot of the worlds. For the sefirot are the G‑dliness of the world, and “without love and fear, they cannot [ascend and] stand before G‑d.” Such a grade of Torah study ascends only as far as the chitzoniyut (the “external” aspect) of the worlds, where the angels abide.

Concerning this, the Alter Rebbe quoted R. Chaim Vital, who states1 that Torah study that is uninspired by proper intent (kavanah) creates angels in the World of Yetzirah while commandments fulfilled without proper intent create angels in the World of Asiyah.

(“Without intent” here means without an intent that stems from love or fear of G‑d; it does not mean that there was no intent at all. For, as explained by R. Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, the saintly father of the Rebbe, since angels comprise both form and matter, as the Alter Rebbe stated above, we must say that the Torah study that creates them has form and matter likewise. These are speech and intent, respectively.)

In any event, we see that Torah even without proper intent creates angels in the World of Yetzirah—and this it can do only by having risen to that world.

Now, why should this be different from prayer? For prayer without proper intent remains mired below in this world. Why is it that when Torah study and prayer are performed with proper intent, they both rise to the same world (whether Beriah or Yetzirah) while when they lack the proper intent, the Torah rises to Yetzirah and creates angels there while the prayers remain below in this world?

This is the central question addressed in the following essay.

The Rebbe remarked in a talk2 that Shaar Hayichudim3 contains several She’arim (Shaar Hanevuah, Shaar Ruach Hakodesh, and Shaar Tikkun Avonot). The Rebbe then noted the precision of the Alter Rebbe’s writings: In ch. 40 of the Tanya, he quotes a passage from Shaar Hayichudim and specifies that its source is Shaar Hanevuah while with regard to another passage, he simply cites Shaar Hayichudim.

In light of the above, clarification is needed as to why in ch. 40, when speaking of the angels that are created in the World of Yetzirah by Torah that is not studied lishmah (“for its own sake”), the Alter Rebbe cites Shaar Hanevuah while here, he cites Shaar Hayichudim.

Considering the results of one’s intent in avodah, then, prayer and Torah are thus similar: they both ascend to the same level, the World of Beriah.

When prayer is not “as it should be,” i.e., when it is without proper intent, it is banished “into the lowest [of the heavens that govern the world].”

Thus, prayer ascends only when it is propelled by a proper intent. If so, then since Torah and prayer are similar when they are performed with the proper intent, why when the proper intent is lacking is Torah still able to create angels in the World of Yetzirah while prayer without proper intent is repelled into the lowest heaven?

The Zohar states there that the verse, “What profit is there for man from all the toil that he toils under the sun,”5 does not refer to one’s toil in Torah study, for Torah is “loftier than the sun”; however, if this toil is undertaken “for self-aggrandizement,” it is also considered to be “under the sun,” for it does not ascend aloft.

The ulterior motive that derives from the kelipot thus encumbers his words of Torah.

He is, after all, in a state of prayer, except that alien thoughts interpose.

When on one day, one passage of the prayers was read with proper intent, and on another day another passage, and so on, and then all these passages are gathered together, thus constituting one complete prayer from the prayers of a whole year, then all one’s prayers throughout the year are elevated.8

We thus see that in one sense, Torah without proper intent is superior to prayer without proper intent, for such Torah study creates angels in the World of Yetzirah while prayer without proper intent is repulsed. On the other hand, when the lack of proper intent in Torah study is such that it prevents it from ascending, as in the case of studying for the sake of self-aggrandizement, then this is lower than prayer without proper intent.

For one proper prayer, or even a compilation of different prayers that add up to one prayer with proper intent, elevates all the other prayers of that year. With regard to Torah study, by contrast, even if one later studies with proper intent, this does not elevate his previous study; actual repentance is required. Until such time, one’s Torah study is in exile within the kelipah which spawned his ulterior motive.

Nevertheless, since all Jews will eventually repent, for “No one of them will be rejected,”9 our Sages advise that “one should always study Torah and perform mitzvot even when they are not done for their own sake”10—and, indeed, even if they involve an ulterior motive—for eventually, he will achieve the state of lishmah, when he repents. This is explained by the Alter Rebbe at the end of the Tanya, ch. 39.

How does this latter passage accord with the previously quoted statement in Pekudei that even when the prayer is without proper intent, it still ascends, at least, to the lowest firmament?

It could be argued that the above question presupposed that the “lower heaven” of Pekudei was of the same level as the “heaven above” of Vayakhel, for the “lower heaven” too is “above the sun.”

By the same token, the answer refers to two distinct levels of “heaven.” Pekudei refers to malchut of Asiyah while Vayakhel refers to za of Asiyah, to which prayers ascend when they are “seemly.” From this level, they ascend yet further, to the G‑dliness of the ten sefirot of Yetzirah and Beriah.

The main point here is, however, that when a prayer is not “seemly,” it is not elevated even to za of Asiyah but merely to malchut of Asiyah.

It could be explained that when prayer without proper intent is elevated to the “lower heaven,” its elevation does not bring about that which prayer should effect. For in order for a prayer to have its proper effect, such as the fulfillment of its requests, there must be drawn down into this world a degree of Divine influence that transcends the world, thereby healing the sick, or providing the year’s blessings, and so on. When, however, a prayer is repelled to malchut of Asiyah, i.e., to that level from which all worldly things derive their life-force, then this level obviously cannot provide for whatever the world is lacking.

However, when a properly motivated prayer reaches up to za of Asiyah, from there, an efflux can be drawn down into the world to provide whatever the world lacks, thereby fulfilling the individual’s petitions.

It would thus seem that even an invalid prayer is at first elevated to za of Beriah.

The elevation of good actions means that they are actually uplifted to higher degrees of holiness, where they accomplish whatever they are intended to accomplish. With regard to sins, however, their “elevation” to the higher worlds brings about a blemish there. So, too, when we say that an “invalid prayer” ascends to the First Chamber, we are not at all speaking of the kind of elevation that takes place when a prayer is offered with the proper intent.

Unconsciously, it is this love of G‑d that motivates even one’s merely habitual study of the Torah.

In the same way, an adult whose study is of neutral intent is not tainted by sin (which it would be if he had studied for an ulterior motive). It therefore ascends heavenward.

Addendum

In its primary meaning, the term “breath untainted by sin” signifies that the breath of the Torah study of school children is untainted because it proceeds from individuals who at this age are incapable of sin.

As the Gemara states in Shabbat,18 “Resh Lakish said in the name of R. Yehudah Nesiah, ‘The world exists solely by virtue of the breath of the mouths of school children [who study Torah].’ Said R. Papa to Abbaye: ‘And what of my Torah study and yours?’ He replied: ‘There is no comparison between breath that knows sin and breath that is free of sin.’” This means that children are not in the category of those who sin.

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, once recalled19 that when his father, Rabbi Shalom DovBer, taught him the above text, he first explained that the angels’ elevation of the Torah study of these children to Atzilut, as cited above from the Zohar by the Alter Rebbe, relates to the same rarefied level as the supernal unions that are accomplished by those who refine their bodies according to the secrets of the Kabbalah.

Rabbi Shalom DovBer then added that the Alter Rebbe’s emphasis that this study comprised “breath untainted by sin” can be explained as follows: This is the breath of Torah words spoken by little children in artless simplicity. When they say, for example, “kametz alef: ah,” and they believe with a simple and ingrained faith that these and likewise all the other vowels and consonants of the Torah were transmitted to Moses on Sinai, then the very breath that emanates from their hearts is utterly pure and untainted by sin.

(This commentary, continued Rabbi Shalom DovBer, comes as an addition to the plain and primary meaning of “breath untainted by sin”—that these children are still pure from the taint of sin.)

Moreover, the above interpretation of breath being untainted by sin, inasmuch as it emanates from uttering words of Torah with simple faith, applies not only to children but to adults as well. They, too, can effect sublime supernal unions.

Rabbi Shalom DovBer based this interpretation on a story he heard from the Baal Shem Tov when he visited his holy resting place at Mezhibuzh. At that time, the Baal Shem Tov related that on his 16th birthday (18 Elul 5474 (1714)), he had found himself in a small village. The local innkeeper was a very simple person who hardly knew how to read the prayers, let alone understand what they meant. He was, however, a very G‑d-fearing individual. On all matters and at all times, he would quote the same phrase in the Holy Tongue, “Blessed be He; may He be blessed forever.” His wife too would always say in Yiddish, “Praised be His holy Name.”

That day, in accordance with the age-old custom of meditating in solitude for some time on one’s birthday, the Baal Shem Tov went off by himself to the fields. He recited chapters of Psalms and engaged in unifying the Divine Names that emanate from its holy verses.

“As I was immersed in this,” the Baal Shem Tov related, “and unaware of my surroundings, I suddenly saw Elijah the Prophet. There was a smile on his lips. I was taken aback. For when I had been with the tzaddik R. Meir, and also when I had been in the company of the hidden tzaddikim, I had merited to see Elijah, but this was the first time that I had merited his appearance while all alone. I wondered about it. And besides, why was he smiling?

“Elijah said to me: ‘You are toiling so mightily to have the proper mystical intentions in bringing about the supernal unions of the Divine Names that emanate from the verses of Psalms. And Aharon Shlomo the innkeeper and his wife Zlata Rivkah know nothing of the unifications that result from his “Blessed be He; may He be blessed forever” and from her “Praised be His holy Name.” Yet the Divine harmonies they create resonate in all the heavens more than all the unifications of the Holy Name that are effected by the mystical intentions of the greatest tzaddikim.’

“Elijah described to me,” continued the Baal Shem Tov, “the great pleasure, as it were, that results in heaven from the words of praise and adoration uttered by men, women, and children. Especially so, when they come from the mouths of simple folk. And most especially, when these praises are offered consistently, for then, these people are constantly united with G‑d in pure faith and with an undivided heart.”

Having recounted this episode, Rabbi Shalom DovBer added that it served as the basis for his additional interpretation of “breath untainted by sin”—that it applies not only to children but also to adults who act with pure faith and heartfelt simplicity and who are thereby constantly united with G‑d at all times and in all places.

The Rebbe stresses that this applies equally to adults only with respect to effecting supernal unions. With regard to maintaining the world’s existence, however, it is clear from the above-quoted teaching in Shabbat that this is accomplished only by the “breath of the mouths of school children,” for this breath possesses as well the first quality of “breath untainted by sin”: it proceeds from those for whom sin is a virtual impossibility.

With regard to the refinement of the world, this is accomplished by those adults to whom the second exposition of “breath untainted by sin” applies—that the breath itself is untainted. In a sense, indeed, their breath has an even greater effect than the “breath of the mouths of school children.” For as Rabbi Shalom DovBer further explains, children do not relate to the corporeality of this world but only to its atmosphere. Since adults have a relationship with the corporeality of this world as well, the supernal unions that they effect refine its very crassness and corporeality.