We are in the middle of chapter 38. We stopped on page 50b (page 100), about two thirds of the way down, at the line that begins with the words «בו יתברך», in the passage that opens «ולא שדבקות המחשבה». Before we continue in the Alter Rebbe's own words, let us briefly review the points we learned in the last few lessons, which serve as the groundwork for the passage that follows.
The Alter Rebbe's question:
On the one hand, the essential thing in a mitzvah is the deed. That is why the halachah rules that a person who performed a mitzvah physically, with no kavanah at all, has fulfilled his obligation, while someone who had every lofty intention in mind but never performed the act has not fulfilled his obligation. On the other hand, we find that a prayer (and likewise a blessing or a mitzvah) without kavanah is like a body without a soul. But if the deed is what is essential, how can kavanah be given such an exalted description, to the point that it is compared to the soul and the deed to the body?
To explain this, the Alter Rebbe first examines the analogy itself. Chazal compared the relationship between kavanah and deed to the relationship between soul and body. Once we understand properly what distinguishes a body from a soul, we will be able to translate that understanding into the relationship between the physical performance of the mitzvah and its kavanah.
The difference between body and soul: two that are really four:
When we speak of «body» and «soul» with regard to created beings in the world, they are two that are really four, because each of the two categories includes two types:
Body: the inanimate (domem) and the vegetative (tzomeach) in creation. Both of them together belong to the definition of body.
Soul: the animal (chai) and the speaker (medaber), which are included in the definition of soul.
Between body and soul there is a point in which they are identical and a point in which they differ. To understand this we need two concepts in chassidus that must not be confused with one another: «gilui and helem» (revelation and concealment) on the one hand, and «tzimtzum and hispashtus» (contraction and expansion) on the other.
Gilui and helem: is the Creator present in the world in a revealed way, or is He concealing Himself? In this world the Holy One is in total concealment: «אכן אתה אל מסתתר», «Indeed, You are a God who hides Himself.» In this respect all the levels of creation are equal to one another. There is no difference between a stone, which belongs to the inanimate, and a human being, who belongs to the category of speaker. For all of them the Creator is in concealment. (The revelations that occurred from time to time, such as at the giving of the Torah, as we learned in chapters 36 and 37, do not change the general state of the world, which is concealment. The subject of angels we will take up in chapter 39.)
Tzimtzum and hispashtus: although the Holy One conceals Himself from creation, He nevertheless enlivens it and invests life force in it. The question is to what degree that life force is present in the created being: in tzimtzum (contracted) or in hispashtus (expanded). Here the categories do differ from one another. In physical things the life force is present in far greater contraction, and in soul-like things in far greater expansion. This is the general difference between body and soul.
From the analogy to its lesson:
According to the language of Chazal, that kavanah and deed are like soul and body, the body in the analogy corresponds to the physical performance of the mitzvos, and the soul corresponds to the kavanah. Here too there is a point of similarity and a point of difference, except that the point of similarity is the reverse of what it was in the analogy:
The point of similarity: in the analogy, what is equal across all levels of creation is the concealment; in the lesson, what is equal is precisely the revelation. In the physical performance of a mitzvah the will of the Holy One is openly revealed, and in the kavanah as well, since the Shulchan Aruch rules that one must have kavanah, His will is revealed. On this point there is complete equality between kavanah and deed: in both of them the Divine will is present in a revealed way.
The point of difference: tzimtzum and hispashtus. When a Jew performs a mitzvah as a dry physical act, the Divine will is indeed present in a revealed way, but it does not shine within his soul; he does not feel it and does not experience it. The kavanah does not add any Divine will that was not there before, since the will was present in the physical act as well. What it adds is that in kavanah the matter is not in tzimtzum but in hispashtus, and the awareness of G-dliness spreads through the person's soul to a far greater degree.
Kavanah and deed: what brings a person close to the Creator:
There is a further point we introduced at the end of the previous lesson, and it follows from what has been said. In truth there is no difference at all between the physical performance and the kavanos. Had the Torah nowhere written that one must have kavanah, there would be no concept of kavanah in Torah at all. The human capacity to concentrate would still exist in nature, but it would have no significance in Torah, and there would be no closeness to the Creator in it whatsoever, because His will would not be in it.
Does kavanah bring a person closer to the Creator than the deed does?
One might have thought so: kavanah is something spiritual and the deed is something physical, so the more a person concentrates, the closer he is to the Creator. But this is certainly not the case. In the previous lesson we mentioned the words of David Hamelech in Tehillim, that the nations think of the Holy One as «על השמים כבודו», «His glory is above the heavens,» and from this they assume that the more spiritual, heavenly and mystical a person is, the more G-dly he is, while in practical matters there is no point.
The true belief of a Jew is that the Creator is elevated above everything, and that as far as He is concerned spiritual and physical are equal. Our feelings do not determine what is close to Him and what is far from Him; He alone determines that. And once the Holy One has determined that through performing a mitzvah in deed a person connects to Him, then he genuinely connects to Him. A person is not closer to Him through kavanah than through the deed, for the point they share is the revelation of the Divine will. A Jew is not called closer because of his kavanos; he is close when he does His will, and that will finds expression both in the kavanah and in the deed.
In summary: in this portion we reviewed the Alter Rebbe's question about the relationship between deed and kavanah, and the analogy of body and soul: inanimate and vegetative are included in the definition of body, and animal and speaker in the definition of soul. In terms of gilui and helem all levels of creation are equal in concealment, and what differentiates them is the tzimtzum or hispashtus of the Divine life force. In the lesson the matter is reversed: in both kavanah and deed the revelation of the Divine will is equal, and the difference lies in the extent to which the awareness of G-dliness spreads within the soul. We also established that kavanah does not bring a person closer to the Creator than the deed does, since closeness is measured solely by the doing of His will.
In the next portion we will review all of this in the Alter Rebbe's own words in the Tanya, at greater length, and we will look in more detail at the differences between the four categories of creation: domem, tzomeach, chai and medaber.