Continuing from what we learned about the mitzvos being the רמ"ח איברין דמלכא, the 248 limbs of the King, the Alter Rebbe explains that every limb of the body, from top to bottom, from the hand and the foot to the brain, the mouth and the tongue, becomes a merkavah (a chariot) at the moment it takes part in fulfilling the will of the Creator. Even the literal, physical flesh becomes a chariot at that moment: it "travels" to wherever the Divine will directs it.
With this the Alter Rebbe concludes the section dealing with mitzvos, and he adds: "וזהו שאמרו רז"ל האבות הן הן המרכבה" ("and this is the meaning of what our Sages said, that the Patriarchs are themselves the merkavah").
At first glance, according to everything explained above, one does not need to reach the level of Avraham Avinu in order to be a merkavah. Any Jew who drops a coin into a charity box, his hand is a chariot at that moment; he walks to shul, and his foot is a chariot for the will of the Creator.
What, then, is unique about the Avos?
With the Avos there is a twofold distinction:
All the limbs: "שכל אבריהם כולם היו קדושים ומובדלים מענייני עולם הזה" ("for all their limbs were holy and separated from the affairs of this world"). With the Avos there was no such thing as one limb being occupied, at that very moment, with something else.
All the time: "ולא נעשו מרכבה רק לרצון העליון לבדו כל ימיהם" ("and they became a chariot for nothing but the Supreme Will alone, all the days of their lives"). Not momentarily, but constantly.
With each of us, both components are missing: not all the limbs, and not all the time. The hand that put the coin in the box is indeed a chariot at that moment, but what about the foot, the head, the mouth and the tongue? They may well be busy with other things. A person can be speaking lashon hara and dropping a coin into the charity box at one and the same time, so that his hand is a merkavah while his tongue and his brain are not. And the same regarding time: a person can decide that a particular limb will be a chariot for the Divine will at this moment, but what about the next moment, and what about the rest of his limbs in the meantime? This is a whole avodah, a lifetime's work, whereas with the Avos it was "all the days of their lives."
In one of his maamarim the Alter Rebbe adds a phrase to this line: "ואפילו בעת שנתם", "and even while they slept." Even in their sleep they had complete mastery over all their limbs at every moment. This is an absolute bittul, a self-nullification with no fluctuations whatsoever, as opposed to every other person, whose avodah is subject to ups and downs. That is why this level is said specifically of the Avos: "האבות הן הן המרכבה."
It is worth noting that this does not mean this is the highest of all levels. There are levels higher even than the Avos, such as Moshe Rabbeinu and others like him, each one with the distinction unique to him.
Let us summarize the points that have been explained regarding mitzvos:
The Tikkunei Zohar says of the mitzvos that the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King. The reason the mitzvos are called "limbs" is that they are the inner, true Divine will in everything, whereas all the worlds are no more than the external will.
And why are they called specifically "the limbs of the King"? By way of the analogy of the limbs of the human body, which are called limbs because they are utterly nullified to the will of the soul. So too, the vitality and energy invested in performing a mitzvah are, at the moment of the deed, nullified to the Divine will, like a limb that is batel to the soul.
And even a person's actual physical limbs are nullified at that moment with the bittul of a merkavah.
What is bittul? Even though a thing may look large and significant, since it is nullified it is as though it does not exist at all. An example can be found in the laws of Shabbos. One of the forbidden labors of Shabbos is hotzaah, carrying out, and it is forbidden on Shabbos to carry from a private domain to a public domain or from a public domain to a private domain. The rule is that in order to be liable for hotzaah, the object carried out must have a certain measure and a certain importance, and the Mishnah and Gemara bring a long list of items and their measures: how much of a given thing one must carry for it to be considered useful, in which case one who carries it out on Shabbos is liable.
Regarding a vessel the law is different: one who carries out a vessel on Shabbos is liable, even a tiny cup, and all the more so a barrel, which is a large vessel. And nevertheless, it is possible for a person to carry out an enormous barrel on Shabbos and be exempt.
How so? A person wanted to carry out a food for which the Sages fixed a minimum measure (the size of a dried fig), and the piece of food in his hand is less than that measure. It was not convenient for him to hold it in his hand, and he found no other container except a barrel, so he put the food in the barrel and carried it out from a private domain to a public domain. The act is forbidden on Shabbos, but he is exempt. The reason: had he carried out the barrel empty he would have been liable, since he carried out a vessel. Here, however, he has no need for the barrel at all; he needs what is inside it, and what is inside it is less than the measure the Sages fixed. It turns out that the large vessel is nullified to the small piece of food inside it, and therefore he is exempt even for the vessel.
This halachah helps us understand our subject. The Divine will is the essence and the purpose, and everything else, the limb, the energy, the faculties, and even the entire world, since it is nullified to that essence, takes up no space at all and is as though it does not exist. The purpose is the essence and the goal, and everything else is nothing but a vessel and a means. A person has a hand, faculties and energy, and all of them are limbs and vessels, nullified in complete bittul to the Divine will.
To summarize: in this section we learned that when the limbs of the body take part in fulfilling the will of the Creator, even the physical flesh becomes a merkavah for the Supreme Will. We saw what is unique about the Avos: with them this was true of all the limbs and all the time, "and even while they slept," and therefore it is said of them, "The Patriarchs are themselves the merkavah." We also explained the meaning of the brief statement of the Tikkunei Zohar, "רמ"ח פיקודין אינון רמ"ח איברין דמלכא" ("the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King"): just as the limbs of the body are nullified to the will of the soul, so the mitzvos are nullified to the Supreme Will. And in the halachah of the barrel that is nullified to the food inside it we saw a tangible illustration of what bittul means.
In the next section we will continue, with G-d's help, further in the words of the Alter Rebbe.