In the previous section we learned that yirah ila'ah, the higher level of awe, cannot be attained except through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos. Why are they an absolute prerequisite?
The reason is straightforward: those very same two opposites are evident in Torah and mitzvos themselves. On the one hand they are tangible, physical, comprehensible things, and at one and the same time the Unlimited is invested within them:
In mitzvos: the tefillin a person holds in his hand are a physical, finite object that can be measured, and nevertheless, what is invested in them and what do they express? An infinite, unlimited Divine will.
In Torah: a person studies a piece of wisdom and grasps it with his limited intellect, and in that very same act of understanding the infinite Divine wisdom becomes joined to him.
This fusion, the blending of the infinite into the order and framework of the finite, is what the Holy One, blessed be He, in His abundant mercy, gave us in Torah and mitzvos. He made it possible for us to connect to Him through means that are on the one hand limited, yet within that limited means the Unlimited itself is invested.
Accordingly, when a Jew fulfills Torah and mitzvos he is preparing himself for a state in which even his limited soul can be penetrated by the recognition that he is nothing at all, that the only true existence is the existence of G-dliness, and that he is like the light found within the sun itself, which has no independent standing or existence whatsoever. This is what the Alter Rebbe writes: that it is impossible to attain this yirah and this chochmah except through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos.
And how does one arrive at the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos? Through yirah tata'ah, the lower, external awe, which serves as the introduction to the whole matter: one begins with yirah tata'ah, and by its strength one fulfills Torah and mitzvos, and as a result one can arrive at yirah ila'ah.
In Pirkei Avos there appear two statements that look contradictory, two statements that seemingly cannot be reconciled: on the one hand «if there is no chochmah there is no yirah», and on the other hand «if there is no yirah there is no chochmah». Where, then, is a person supposed to begin? Whichever side he starts from, he will be told that he cannot, since he first needs the other one. In this chapter the Alter Rebbe resolves the matter: everything depends on which yirah and which chochmah is being spoken of, וזהו שכתוב אם אין יראה אין חכמה (and this is the meaning of the statement, «if there is no yirah there is no chochmah»):
«If there is no yirah there is no chochmah» - if there is no yirah tata'ah, a person will not be able to fulfill Torah and mitzvos.
«If there is no chochmah there is no yirah» - if he has not fulfilled Torah and mitzvos, he will not be able to arrive at yirah ila'ah.
It emerges that the Mishnah itself contains the entire matter. And as is well known, the Tanya and the teachings of chassidus are not a new Torah that innovates things never given; it is all already written. What chassidus does is shine a spotlight on those very points that are found in the Mishnah, in the Gemara and in other places, and out of that it becomes clear how to approach the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos and avodas Hashem in general.
Having completed the general levels of yirah, the Alter Rebbe writes: והנה באהבה יש גם כן שתי מדרגות (now, in love there are likewise two levels). The words «likewise» teach us that this parallels the two levels we learned in yirah:
Yirah tata'ah: bound up with the world and with existence, with the external dimension of G-dliness, and it comes from contemplating the coming into being of created existence.
Yirah ila'ah: bound up with that which transcends the world, with the bittul of the world and with the inner dimension of G-dliness.
The same applies to the love of G-d: there is a love that results from contemplating those levels of G-dliness that relate to the world, and there is a love incomparably higher than it, which comes from the revelation of a level of G-dliness that transcends the world. Their names: אהבה רבה (ahavah rabbah, the loftier of the two), ואהבת עולם (ahavas olam), whose very name alludes to a love that comes from contemplating matters connected with the world (olam). Both of these expressions are familiar from the text of the siddur as well.
[The terms «ahavah rabbah» and «ahavas olam» appear in various contexts and do not always carry the same meaning, so one has to know each time what is being discussed. Here in Tanya, as we will see explicitly further on, ahavah rabbah is the higher one and ahavas olam is the lower. In Tana d'Vei Eliyahu, by contrast, on the verse «ahavas olam ahavticha, al ken meshachticha chesed», exactly the opposite is stated: that ahavas olam is the loftier level, while the expression «ahavah rabbah» would indicate a lower level. This question comes up in many maamarim of chassidus: how does one reconcile the explanations in Tanya and elsewhere with the words of Tana d'Vei Eliyahu?
Let us bring one of the answers briefly, just to give a taste of it: the expression «ahavas olam» has two entirely different meanings:
Olam in the sense of worlds: a love that results from contemplating the level of G-dliness that is present within, and constricted within, the world. By this reading it is the lower level, and «ahavah rabbah» is incomparably higher than it.
Olam in the sense of eternity: a love that is constant and eternal, without limit. By this reading ahavas olam is higher than ahavah rabbah, since «rabbah» means an abundant love, but not a love that is without limit. This is the intent in Tana d'Vei Eliyahu.
Although the words are identical, the meanings are not, and therefore one should not try to draw connections between the various sources across the board; the pieces will not always line up. In any case, here in Tanya «ahavah rabbah» is an incomparable, unlimited love, which comes from a level of G-dliness that transcends the world and transcends nature.
Likewise, one has to distinguish between these levels and the ahavah mesuteres, the hidden love, explained in chapter 18, which comes to us as an inheritance from our forefathers and is mentioned in Tanya many times: ahavah mesuteres is the inner point of love that exists in every single Jew, and it is the foundation that every person already possesses, which must be fanned into flame and aroused, and from it one can go further. But there the Alter Rebbe does not enter into the different levels within love.]
The Alter Rebbe lists three things that set ahavah rabbah apart from ahavas olam. He does not number them as one, two, three, but states them in a single flow, and it is worth paying attention to them, for further on we will see that ahavas olam too has parallels to all three, only in a different manner:
אהבה רבה היא אהבה בתענוגים (ahavah rabbah is love within delights) - the meaning is not that the person yearns for the delight, but that he is already within it. These are two different things: there is one who knows and senses, with taste and understanding, the goodness of some wondrous thing, and knows that it is not in his grasp, and he yearns for it intensely; and here the person is already inside the delight itself, inside Gan Eden.
והיא שלהבת העולה מאליה (and it is a flame that ascends of its own accord) - the person does not arouse it through contemplation and does not generate it through his gradual avodah; rather, his soul is drawn to it of itself.
ובאה מלמעלה בבחינת מתנה - למי שהוא שלם ביראה (and it comes from Above in the manner of a gift, to one who is complete in yirah).
Let us examine these three from the bottom upward:
First, a person must be complete in yirah: a complete yirah tata'ah, a full and genuine fear of Heaven.
Once he has become complete in that, he is a candidate for the Holy One, blessed be He, to desire to grant him a gift, something not produced by the strength of his own avodah.
And what is the gift? Oneg, delight. A wondrous Divine delight that is entirely beyond his own measure is revealed to him, and not a yearning for delight, but the delight itself, as a gift.
In summary: in this section we learned why the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos is an absolute prerequisite for yirah ila'ah, since in them the Unlimited and the limited are joined together, and by their power the recognition of bittul can penetrate even a person's limited soul. We saw how the Alter Rebbe reconciles the two statements of the Mishnah, «if there is no chochmah there is no yirah» and «if there is no yirah there is no chochmah», and we moved on to the two levels within love, ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam, and to the three things that characterize ahavah rabbah: a love within delights, a flame that ascends of its own accord, and a love that comes from Above as a gift to one who is complete in yirah.
In the next section we will take up ahavas olam, its parallels to these three things, and the various levels contained within it.