In the previous section we examined the Alter Rebbe's words on «ve'ahavta» and the lofty attachment between the spirit of a person and the Divine spirit. Immediately afterward the Alter Rebbe continues, opening with the word «אך» (but). Had we stopped the chapter at that point, one might have drawn conclusions of flight from the world and detachment from it; so the Alter Rebbe comes to clarify how expressions of love find their proper, practical expression.
«אך איך היא בחינת אתדבקות רוחא ברוחא» (But how does this attachment of spirit to spirit actually come about?) How does one actually implement the clinging of a Jew's spirit to the Divine spirit? How does this attachment play itself out in reality? On this the Alter Rebbe says: «לזה אמר» (for this reason it says), that is, for this reason the Torah says, immediately after «ve'ahavta» with all its exalted words of elevated attachment, returning us to practical reality: «והיו הדברים האלה כו' על לבבך ודברת בם וכו'» (And these words... shall be upon your heart, and you shall speak of them...). «These words» are the words of Torah, and two things are said about them: «upon your heart» and «you shall speak of them».
[A technical note: the luach hatikun at the end of the Tanya indicates that in place of the «וכו'» printed in the text, it should read «וגו'» here. The rule is that when one cites a verse and does not complete it, the abbreviation is «וגו'», whereas when one cites a statement of Chazal and alludes to its continuation, the abbreviation is «וכו'». Since a verse is being quoted here, the correct form is «וגו'».]
Now, there are two parts to Torah:
The part of iyun, in-depth study: the give and take, the reasoning and the pilpul, the way one studies Gemara. When a Jew learns a page of Gemara and works through the questions and answers of the Tannaim and Amoraim, he is contemplating the wisdom of the Creator as it has come down and been revealed to us. This part is called in the language of the Tanya «chochmas Hashem», the wisdom of G-d, or «ruach Hashem», the spirit of G-d.
The part of halachah: the practical side, what the law actually is and what applies in practice. For not everything learned on a page of Gemara is relevant in practice, and one may not even rule practical halachah out of the study of the sugya itself. This part is called «dvar Hashem», as Chazal say, «dvar Hashem, this is halachah», an expression that has already appeared in the Tanya in earlier chapters.
In the manner of study itself there are likewise two possibilities. One person sits and learns an entire page of Gemara or an entire tractate, reads it with his eyes, turns it over in his mind, understands and probes very deeply, and knows the pilpul and the halachah thoroughly, yet he does not utter a word of it aloud. Another person studies both the iyun and the halachah and also brings the words out of his mouth in actual speech.
On this the Torah says: if you truly wish to cleave to the Creator, let «these words» be with you in both ways. «Upon your heart»: iyun and contemplation in the heart and the mind. And that is not enough; there must also be «and you shall speak of them»: bringing the words out in speech, with the mouth.
Why is the iyun of the heart not sufficient?
The Alter Rebbe explains two reasons in this passage. The first is the concept of a kiss. Within a kiss itself, two elements must be distinguished:
The essential bond: the inner connection that takes place between the two, an attachment of spirit to spirit.
The revelation of that bond: the actual kiss with the mouth. This is not a merely external, technical act, but the revelation of the inner connection that is taking place.
So too in relation to the Holy One, blessed be He. When a person loves Hashem and seeks, as it were, to kiss Him, he must first be bound to Him in spirit and in his innermost self, which is the essence of a kiss, and then reveal this in actual deed. When a person learns Torah with iyun and with his heart, that is the inner connection; and when he brings the words of Torah out of his mouth, those are the kisses of the mouth.
In other words, love cannot remain an abstract, purely spiritual matter. A person must bring it down into focused, defined dimensions: to cleave to the Creator with an attachment of spirit to spirit, and also to reveal this through the kiss in actual practice. This is «והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי מצוך היום על לבבך», the inner expression, the essence of the kiss, and «ודברת בם», the kiss in practice, speech.
Let us look at the language of the Tanya. «אך איך היא בחינת אתדבקות רוחא ברוחא»: how, in actual practice, does the attachment of a Jew's spirit to the inner spirit of the Creator take place? «לזה אמר והיו הדברים האלה כו' על לבבך ודברת בם כו'»: «upon your heart» is the inner attachment of iyun, and «you shall speak of them» is the revelation through speech. On this the Alter Rebbe cites the language of the Eitz Chaim: «וכמו שכתוב בעץ חיים שיחוד הנשיקין עיקרו הוא יחוד חב"ד בחב"ד והוא עיון התורה, והפה הוא מוצא הרוח וגילויו בבחינת גילוי» (As is written in the Eitz Chaim, that the essence of the union of kisses is the union of ChaBaD with ChaBaD, which is the in-depth study of Torah, while the mouth is the outlet of the spirit and its revelation in a state of actual revelation).
«The union of ChaBaD with ChaBaD» means the union of a person's chochmah, binah and daas with the chochmah, binah and daas of the Torah, and that is iyun haTorah, in-depth study. The moment a person delves into the reasoning, the pilpul and the give and take, grasps them with his mind and contemplates them in his heart, the inner bond is formed, and that is the essence of the union, the essence of the kiss. Yet it is still not the expression of the kiss with the mouth.
«And the mouth is the outlet of the spirit and its revelation»: in bringing the words of Torah out of his mouth, a person reveals both parts at once. «The spirit» is the Divine spirit found in the iyun and the pilpul, and «its revelation» refers to the halachos. Both of them a person brings out with his actual mouth, in a state of revelation. «והיינו בחינת הדיבור בדברי תורה» (and this is the aspect of speech in words of Torah), for «words of Torah» are not merely speech: the «words» of the Torah are the halachos, halachah lema'aseh, the practical ruling, while the pilpul and the iyun are the aspect of the ChaBaD of the Torah.
To summarize: with the word «but» the Alter Rebbe clarifies how the attachment of rucha b'ruchah, spirit to spirit, expresses itself in practice: «And these words... shall be upon your heart, and you shall speak of them». The Torah has two parts, iyun haTorah, which is «chochmas Hashem», and halachah, «dvar Hashem, this is halachah», and in studying them both the iyun of the heart and the bringing of the words out with the mouth are required. Just as with a kiss, whose essence is the inner bond and whose revelation is with the mouth, so the union of a person's ChaBaD with the ChaBaD of the Torah is the essence of the union, and the mouth is «the outlet of the spirit and its revelation» through speaking words of Torah.
In the next section we will learn the second reason the Alter Rebbe gives for the need for speech specifically, and we will continue with the explanation of the rest of the chapter.