Letter & Spirit: Basic Points in Chassidus

In this week’s edition of Letter and Spirit, in honor of Chof Daled Teves – the Alter Rebbe’s Yahrtzeit, we present a letter of the Rebbe in which he briefly explains a few basic points of chassidus. The letter was written in English through the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel, and was made available by the latter’s son-in-law, Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro.

It is interesting to note that this letter, written in the early years of the Rebbe’s leadership, as with some other letters of the early years, reflects a more elaborate answer to the writer’s inquiries in matters of learning and such. Once the Rebbe’s correspondence began to take on greater scope and a greater number of people – such letters became less common, if at all, due to time constraints.

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By the Grace of G-d

29^th of Tammuz, 5713

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Mr.

Brooklyn, 13, N.Y.

Shalom u’Brocho:

Your two letters reached me.

Referring to your questions regarding several points in Chassidus,

• Re the five faculties of the Soul (nun, reish, nun, ches, yud) which you find difficult to grasp, I will endeavor to throw some light on the subject with the aid of analogy, but such explanation must, of necessity, be somewhat sketchy in the course of a letter. Nevertheless, I hope it may be helpful to you.

The soul, as a “part” of G-d above, is essentially unknowable. We do not know what it is, but it manifests itself in various ways, and it is in the revealed area of the soul that we distinguish five “faculties”:

Nefesh is that faculty of the soul which manifests itself in natural life, similar to the life spirit manifested in every living thing. Reason or emotion do not enter here, except in a rudimentary way, and not only higher emotions born of the intellect, but even the lower emotions born of the “heart”, play no part.

Ruach corresponds to the manifestation of life where in addition to the above, emotional aspects of the soul are manifested.

Neshomo (in a particular sense, as different from the meaning of “soul” in general) is a still higher faculty of the soul, where the influence of the intellect is in evidence.

These three aspects of the souls are clearly reflected in the early life of a human being at successive stages: in the first few years after birth the nefesh (“Sensitive”, i.e. of the senses, aspect of the soul) predominates. From the age of 2 or 3, the emotional faculties begin to develop manifestly, and in due course the intellect begins to play an ever growing part in human life.

The other two aspects of the soul are termed makifin (“transcendental”) and are seldom revealed.

Chaya is associated with ecstasy, after one has bent all three aspects (N.R.N.) of the soul to Divine worship. It was much in evidence with our prophets of old, and now find expression in the worshipper who has attained closest communion with G-d (dveikus), especially in prayer. Something of this nature is experienced by the artist in expressing his art (painting, acting, etc), and in the sacred part of life it is the area of Chaya which expresses itself in Divine service.

Yechido is even more rarely found in evidence, when the very core of the soul, the Divine “spark” comes out into the open, diffusing throughout one’s being and permeating every fiber of the soul, to the exclusion of all else. It finds expression in Mesiras Nefesh in actu, in sacrificing one’s life for Kiddush Hashem.

The above is a very brief explanation, and as you learn more Chasidus in the Kuntresim and Maamorim, you will be able to grasp it more fully.

• Re Tzimtzum. You do not specify what aspects of it are not clear to you. But inasmuch as you mention the Derech Mitzvosecho, you will surely find a great deal on the subject, as included in the index, and in my notes at the end.

An illustration can be found in the following: Imagine a mathematician engaged in the highest department of maths, who is to instruct a beginner in the four arithmetical fundamentals (addition, subtraction, etc.). Inasmuch as the mathematician has spent his life in higher mathematics, it would require a tremendous effort on his part to take his mind off the higher analytical studies, in order to concentrate on instructing the beginner in the elementary arithmetical rules. It would also require special efforts on his part to find the suitable terms and ways and means to make his instructions simple enough for the beginner to understand, for to him the simple rules and terms which he is to convey to the beginner are a gross approximation which does not convey the profound science of mathematics. The difficulty arises not from the fact that the advanced mathematician does not know the elementary rules of arithmetic, but in the fact that in the profound analytical studies, the elementary arithmetical rules are completely submerged. The transition, therefore, from the most sublime to the most elementary, even in the human being, where there is no distinction between infinite and finite, but only a distinction of degree, requires a withdrawal as well as a “contraction” of “forces”; how much more so in the case of creation yesh me’ayin or in the transition of the Light before the tzimtzum to the Light after the Tzimtzum.

• Re the Four Worlds, which you regard not as actual worlds, but different levels attainable by a person, is not so. They are actual worlds, but not in the sense of being in different localities, but they penetrate each other, so that the Jew, even during life on this earth of soul in body, can, through appropriate efforts, attain and live his life in the world of spiritual Asiya, in the world of Yetziro and even higher still.

By way of illustration: When we observe a second person with any of our senses (sight, hearing, etc.) we notice and see him as a complex of physical phenomena. This immediate sense perception is then analyzed by us intellectually, when we realize that each physical phenomenon has a corresponding spiritual and psychological movement in the heart or brain, e.g. when we see a person put on tefillin, we are immediately aware of the movement of one hand in regard to the other, but intellectually we understand that behind that movement there is a will and knowledge of the mitzvah and that these inner aspects motivate the outer physical movement. Thus we see two worlds which penetrate the human being in the course of an action, closely knit together. And as in the case of the action, on closer reflection we understand that behind that movement there is a will and knowledge of the mitzvah and that these inner aspects motivate the outer physical movement. Thus we conclude that there exists a second “man” – a complex of spiritual phenomena, which is the cause of and which permeates the “physical” complex. And as in the case of the human being, the microcosm (“small world”), so we can get an idea of the macrocosm (“big world”).

For further reference see Likutei Torah Devorim (Biur) Sois Tosis, 49a. There is also a letter from my father-in-law of saintly memory, on the subject of the Four Worlds, which is to be found in copy among the Yeshivah students.

• With regard to what you call the “hierarchy” of the worlds, we refer to the illustration mentioned earlier concerning the influence of the “inner” human world on his outer phenomena, showing the action of cause and effect. It should be added that, as often happens, the effect subsequently reacts upon the cause, as we see, for example, in the case of prayer, where the very reciting of the words fans the inner inspiration and warmth to a greater degree. In a similar way is the action and counteraction of the worlds reciprocal, where the lower worlds receive influence from the upper worlds, but in return also contribute light to the higher worlds.

In the Index of Derech Mitzvosech, as well as in the index of Sefer Hamaamorim 5710, etc., you will surely find further elaboration on the above subjects from different angles.

Wishing you hatzlocho in understanding the teachings of Chasidus, which chiefly depends upon the student himself, as it is written, “It is not removed from thee… but very nigh unto thee.” (Deut. 30:11, 14).

With blessing,

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The above letter is from the forthcoming volume III of The Letter and the Spirit by Nissan Mindel Publications. The letters are from the archives of Rabbi Dr. Nissan Mindel, a personal secretary to the Previous Rebbe and The Rebbe, whose responsibilities included the Rebbe’s correspondence in English.

We thank Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro, director of Nissan Mindel Publications and the one entrusted by Rabbi Mindel, his father-in-law, with his archives, for making these letters available to the wider public. May the merit of the many stand him in good stead.