In the previous section we dwelt at length on the superiority of Torah over the mitzvos: the mitzvos too effect a union with the Creator, but it is a lower level of union, what is called "the limbs of the King" (eivarim d'malka), whereas in Torah, "a word spoken in its proper way," the union is on an incomparably higher level. Now the Alter Rebbe goes on to describe the sheer power of the Divine will that is revealed in Torah.
"והיא היא רצונו יתברך הנקרא סובב כל עלמין" - "And this is His blessed will, which is called sovev kol almin." The Divine will found in Torah is called sovev kol almin, "encompassing all worlds," in relation to the worlds: they are incapable of containing it within themselves, for it is utterly beyond anything they can hold. A human being, however, with his mind, does contain it internally, through his understanding. When a small child says "Torah tzivah lanu Moshe," at that very moment, in those combinations of letters formed by the power of speech in his mouth, the Creator Himself is present more than in all the worlds put together, for this is a revelation of His very will.
"שהיא בחינת מה שאינו יכול להתלבש בתוך עלמין" - "which is that aspect which cannot be clothed within the worlds." That wondrous Divine level found in Torah cannot be clothed within the worlds, because the worlds cannot contain such power; "רק מחיה ומאיר למעלה בבחינת מקיף" - "it only animates and illuminates them from above, in an encompassing manner." (In chapter 48 it will be explained at length exactly how the Divine power called sovev kol almin affects the worlds and gives them life; here we note briefly that it animates them only in an encompassing way, bechinas makif.)
As far as the upper worlds are concerned, there is no possibility of receiving it internally, only in the manner of sovev. But a human being, a small physical creature, who takes the words of Torah into his mind, takes them in internally: "והיא היא המתלבשת בנפש ולבושיה" - "and it is this that is clothed in the soul and its garments," in thought and in speech, and not in a concealed way but "בבחינת גילוי ממש" - "in a state of actual revelation." When a person is engaged in words of Torah, the Creator is present with him in actual revelation.
"ואף על גב דאיהו לא חזי כו'" - "even though he does not see it." The one learning does not see what he has, and does not feel the immense power taking place within him at that moment. And as was mentioned earlier, it is precisely because he does not see it that he is able to bear it. "Bear" here is in the sense of carrying a load: he is able to carry all this power upon himself only because he does not know and does not see what he has.
Not so in the upper worlds. Whatever revelation they have, they see it, and therefore they can receive only a small amount, as much as their capacity allows. Precisely the lower, physical creatures, by virtue of their inability to see what they have, merit a revelation that the upper worlds cannot bear.
This is why, on the one occasion when the Jewish people did see what they had, at Mattan Torah, their souls flew out of them. And of the future it is written that the Holy One will grant a special strength to remain standing at the time of the revelation. But the revelation itself is taking place at every single moment: the same power present in the commandments at which their souls flew out was present in the commandments that followed, at which their souls did not fly out. The difference is that then the Holy One said to them, as it were: see and feel what this is. Afterwards, "lo chazi," a person does not see. But as far as the intensity of the thing itself, it happens at every moment, every second that a Jew brings words of Torah out of his mouth.
It makes no difference what kind of words of Torah they are: combinations of letters, verses of Tanach, the study of halachah. Whatever falls within the definition of Torah is the Creator Himself. And for this reason it is the same at every level, at every age, in every degree of learning: even a small child who has just begun to speak, whose father teaches him the words "Torah tzivah lanu Moshe" and who knows how to repeat the letter combinations, with him the very same thing is taking place.
If so, someone will come and ask: why do we need to delve deeply into our learning at all? Let us simply recite letter combinations of Tanach and fulfill our obligation.
The answer is that a person who is capable of pondering, thinking and delving deeply, and who contents himself with reciting letter combinations, is guilty of bittul Torah, neglect of Torah study, for every person is required to do the maximum he is capable of. But every person has his states and his times. It is brought in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that a person who is learning Torah with great concentration and becomes exhausted from intellectual exertion, to the point that he cannot continue and wants to rest a bit, should not sit idle during that rest, but should say the names of the Torah portions (Bereishis, Noach, Lech Lecha, Vayeira), or recite verses of Tehillim, things said easily that demand no effort of him. In this too he is learning Torah, for this is what he is capable of at that moment and no more.
Every person, on his own level and in the manner he is capable of, when he says words of Torah becomes united with the Creator more completely than all the upper worlds. And one who does not do what is incumbent upon him to the full measure of his ability lacks the intensity demanded of him, and he even transgresses bittul Torah, but the union itself takes place with him as well.
"ובזה יובן למה גדלה מאד מעלת העסק בתורה יותר מכל המצוות" - "With this we can understand why the virtue of engaging in Torah is so much greater than that of all the mitzvos," as is brought in many places in the Gemara and the Midrashim:
In the Mishnah we say every morning: "and the study of Torah is equal to them all."
In the Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Peah, Rabbi Berachyah and Rabbi Chiya of Kfar Chumin disagree in explaining the verse "and all desirable things cannot be compared to her" - that is, which "desirable things" are said to have no value compared with Torah. One said: even the entire world is not worth one word of Torah, for the power of a single word of Torah is so great that the whole world has no value next to it. And one said more than that: even all the mitzvos of the Torah are not worth one word of Torah, that even the mitzvos have no comparable value next to Torah.
And the Alter Rebbe adds: "ואפילו מתפלה" - "and even greater than prayer." The virtue of Torah is greater even than the virtue of tefillah. An example of this is found in the Gemara in tractate Shabbos, where Rava saw Rav Hamnuna prolonging his prayer at the expense of his learning, and said: "They abandon eternal life and occupy themselves with temporal life." Learning is eternal life, and prayer is temporal life. We see that Rava attributed to Torah a virtue greater even than prayer.
Based on what we have learned here, we can understand why. Even prayer, "שהיא יחוד עולמות עליונים" - "which effects the union of the upper worlds" (for a person's prayer brings about the union "for the sake of the unification of the Holy One blessed be He and His Shechinah," and all the unification in the upper worlds is accomplished through it) - still, in all the upper worlds only a constricted Divine light shines, whereas in Torah the Creator Himself is present.
The Alter Rebbe immediately clarifies in parentheses that one must not conclude from this that instead of davening Shacharis, Minchah and Maariv a person should sit and learn. What is said in the Gemara in Rava's words to Rav Hamnuna, and likewise the principle that Torah's virtue is greater than prayer and even overrides it, was said specifically regarding one whose Torah is his occupation, toraso umnaso. So the Gemara says about Rabbi Yehudah, that he would pray once in thirty days, and all those days he was engaged in Torah: his Torah was his occupation. For one whose Torah is his occupation, Torah is at its maximum level and he does not interrupt for anything, not for any personal matter, and therefore he genuinely will not interrupt even for prayer.)
But "והא דמי שאין תורתו אומנותו צריך להפסיק" - "as for the fact that one whose Torah is not his occupation must interrupt." Why should that be? At this moment he has the opportunity either to pray or to learn, and by all opinions there is a higher Divine revelation in learning than in prayer. To this the Alter Rebbe says: "היינו מאחר דמפסיק ומבטל בלאו הכי" - "this is because he interrupts and ceases in any case." He interrupts anyway for various personal matters, matters for which he would stop even if he were not praying. And since he interrupts for personal things, at that very moment the obligation of prayer also falls upon him, and so he must pray. But one who does not interrupt at all, not even for his personal affairs, simply has no such hour into which the obligation of prayer could be inserted, for his whole being is Torah.
At the close of the chapter the Alter Rebbe writes: "ומזה יוכל המשכיל להמשיך עליו יראה גדולה בעסקו בתורה" - "From this the thoughtful person can draw upon himself a great awe while he is engaged in Torah." One who has grasped and understood what takes place during Torah study, on what level his soul becomes united with the Holy One, even though he does not see it or feel it but only knows it, can draw upon himself during his learning a very high level of yiras shamayim, for at that moment the Creator is within him and he is united with Him.
"כשיתבונן איך שנפשו ולבושיה שבמוחו ובפיו" - "when he contemplates how his soul and its garments in his mind and mouth" - when he reflects on what is happening in his mind and his mouth as he learns, with his soul invested in the learning - "הם מיוחדים ממש בתכלית היחוד ברצון העליון" - "are literally united in the ultimate union with the Supernal Will," the maximal, highest union with the will of the Holy One, which takes place when a person is engaged in Torah; "ואור אין סוף ברוך הוא ממש המתגלה בהם" - "and the actual Ohr Ein Sof, blessed be He, which is revealed in them" - at that very moment the actual infinite light is revealed in his soul; "מה שכל העולמות עליונים ותחתונים כלא חשיבי קמיה וכאין ואפס ממש" - "before which all the worlds, upper and lower, are as nothing, literally null and void," as we learned at length in chapters 20 and 21, that all the worlds are nullified as nothing before the Creator. And the Torah is the Creator Himself, so that all the worlds are nullified before it, and He Himself is present with the one who learns at that moment.
For the same reason, "עד שאינו מתלבש בתוכם ממש" - "to the point that He is not literally clothed within them." The Creator is not clothed in the worlds with an inner revelation, for if they received even a little revelation beyond their capacity they would be nullified out of existence entirely. "אלא סובב כל עלמין בבחינת מקיף להחיותם עיקר חיותם" - "rather He encompasses all worlds in an encompassing manner, to give them the main part of their vitality" (and in chapter 48 it will be explained what "the main part of their vitality" that comes from the sovev is, and what comes from the memalei, the immanent light), "רק איזו הארה מתלבשת בתוכם מה שיכולים לסבול שלא יתבטלו במציאות לגמרי" - "only a certain radiance is clothed within them, as much as they can bear so that they will not be nullified out of existence altogether." That is the situation in the worlds, whereas in the mind of the one learning the Creator Himself is present. Now we can appreciate what a great yiras shamayim the thoughtful person can draw upon himself while learning Torah.
Why does the Alter Rebbe introduce the subject of yirah specifically here? It is not an aside, but the direct continuation of the theme of the chapter: the superiority of Torah over mitzvos. Until now it has been explained that in mitzvos there is indeed a union with the Creator, but it does not reach the level of union found in Torah. Here the Alter Rebbe adds a deeper and more powerful dimension: what is the entire purpose of the mitzvos and of the Jewish people's distinction in having them? As it says in parshas Vaeschanan, "וזהו שכתוב ויצונו ה' את כל החוקים האלה ליראה את ה' וגו'" - "this is the meaning of the verse, 'And Hashem commanded us to perform all these statutes, to fear Hashem,'" the purpose of all the statutes is yirah.
At first glance this is difficult. We normally understand that yiras shamayim is what brings a person to fulfill the mitzvos, whereas the verse implies the opposite, that the mitzvos bring one to yirah, that yirah comes after them. The answer is that there are two levels in yirah, and with this the two expressions of our Sages are reconciled as well:
"If there is no yirah there is no chochmah" - a basic yirah, without which a person would never come to learning at all. This yirah precedes learning and is what brings a person to fulfill the mitzvos.
"If there is no chochmah there is no yirah" - the higher level of yirah, which a person reaches precisely through learning, when he understands, as is explained here in Tanya, the sheer power of Torah study.
It emerges that the purpose of the mitzvos is yirah, and that a person does not reach that yirah through the mitzvos alone, but specifically through Torah study, and especially through the study of Tanya, from which he comes to understand what Torah study really is, and through this the thoughtful person draws a great awe upon himself. From here we see the superiority of Torah over mitzvos: the purpose of the mitzvos is to bring one to yirah, and the way to arrive at it is Torah study.
"ועל יראה גדולה זו אמרו אם אין חכמה אין יראה" - "and it is of this great yirah that they said, 'if there is no chochmah there is no yirah,'" for without learning Torah in the proper way one will not reach it. And with regard to this yirah, "והתורה נקראת אצלה תרעא לדרתא כמ"ש במ"א" - "Torah is called in relation to it 'the gateway to the courtyard,' as explained elsewhere." Tarah is the entrance, the door, and darta is the dwelling. Torah is the doorway to the dwelling: the dwelling is the essential thing, and through the doorway a person arrives at yirah, which is the dwelling itself.
"אלא דלאו כל מוחא סביל דא" - "however, not every mind can bear this." Not every mind is able to contain and sustain such a yirah, and not every person is the "thoughtful person" being spoken of here. "ומאן דלא סביל מוחו כלל יראה זו לא מינה ולא מקצתה" - "and as for one whose mind cannot bear this yirah at all, neither it nor any part of it," there are those who do not arrive at this yirah whatsoever, not even a type of it or a fraction of it, "מפני פחיתות ערך נפשו בשרשה ומקורה במדרגות תחתונות דעשר ספירות דעשיה" - "because of the lowliness of his soul in its root and source, in the lower levels of the ten sefiros of Asiyah." His soul's root and source are in lower levels, and he simply cannot arouse so lofty a level. Even so, "אין יראה זו מעכבת בו למעשה" - "this yirah is not indispensable for him in practice." The Torah in all its power takes place whether he feels it or not. If he feels it, he will have a great yirah; if not, it happens regardless, "כמו שכתוב לקמן" - "as will be explained later on," in chapter 41, where the levels of yirah are explained, and that even if a person does not arrive at yirah, this does not hold him back in practice.
In summary: In this section we learned that the Divine will in Torah is sovev kol almin: the worlds cannot contain it internally and it animates them only in an encompassing manner, whereas a person draws it into his innermost being, into his mind and mouth, in actual revelation. It is precisely because "lo chazi," he does not see, that he is able to bear this revelation, unlike the upper worlds which see every revelation; and that is why at Mattan Torah, when the Jewish people did see what they had, their souls flew out of them. We saw that this is the same at every level of Torah and at every stage, yet every person is required to give the maximum of his ability. We examined the superiority of engaging in Torah over all the mitzvos and even over prayer, since in the worlds only a constricted light shines while in Torah the Creator Himself is present, and the qualification regarding one whose Torah is his occupation. Finally we learned how the thoughtful person can draw a great yirah upon himself while learning, and that the purpose of the mitzvos is yirah, which is reached by way of Torah study, "the gateway to the courtyard."
In the next section we will move on, with God's help, to chapter 24, and continue studying the precise words of the Alter Rebbe.