Parshas Beshalach
1. After the Jews had left Egypt and arrived at the Sea of Reeds, pursued by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, Moshe Rabbeinu told them: "אל תיראו התיצבו וראו את ישועת ה' אשר יעשה לכם היום, כי אשר ראיתם את מצרים היום לא תוסיפו לראותם עוד עד עולם. ה' ילחם לכם ואתם תחרישון" ("Do not fear; stand firm and see the salvation of G‑d which He will perform for you today, for as you have seen Egypt today, you shall never see them again. G‑d will fight for you, and you shall be silent"). On this the Mechilta says1 that when they came to the shore of the sea, out of fear of the Egyptians the Jews divided into four groups with four different opinions. One group said "ליפול אל הים" ("to throw ourselves into the sea") — that they should cast themselves into the sea (to drown, so long as they would not again become slaves to Pharaoh). Another group said "לשוב למצרים" ("to return to Egypt") — that they should go back to Egypt (and once again become slaves to Pharaoh). Another said "לעשות מלחמה כנגדן" ("to wage war against them") — to do battle with Pharaoh and his army (perhaps the Jews would manage to defeat them). And the fourth group held that none of these things should be done, but rather "נצווח כנגדן" ("let us cry out against them") — to cry out to G‑d that He should help.
And Moshe Rabbeinu answered each of the opinions of the four groups in the two verses cited above. To those who said "to throw ourselves into the sea," the answer was: "התיצבו וראו את ישועת ה'" ("Stand firm and see the salvation of G‑d") — (strengthen yourselves and) stand up and see the salvation of G‑d. To the group that said "to return to Egypt," the answer was: "כי כאשר ראיתם את מצרים גו' עוד עד עולם" ("For as you have seen Egypt… never again") — you will never again look upon them (the Egyptians). Those who said that they should wage war against the Egyptians were answered: "G‑d will fight for you" — G‑d will wage war against Egypt on your behalf. And to the fourth group, which said that they should cry out and beseech G‑d, came the answer: "ואתם תחרישון" ("and you shall be silent") — you are to be silent and not pray.
What, then, should be done? "דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו" ("Speak to the Children of Israel, that they go forward"): continue onward in the direction that leads to Mount Sinai, to receive the Torah there, which is the purpose of leaving Egypt.
This needs to be understood: How is it that the answers to all four groups mentioned above — whose reasonings are seemingly very far from one another — are all included together in one and the same statement2? The reasoning of "returning to Egypt," going back into the exile of Egypt (which is the complete opposite of the Exodus), is entirely different from the reasoning of "throwing ourselves into the sea" — for that group, returning to Egypt was so utterly rejected that they were ready for self-sacrifice, to drown themselves in the sea; self-sacrifice in the spiritual sense too, since one may not take one's own life3 — it was a stance of self-sacrifice, just so as not to fall into Pharaoh's hands. In terms of the soul's inner stances, the reasoning of returning to Egypt stands even more in contradiction to the reasoning of the group that demanded waging war against Pharaoh and his army: a stance of servitude, as against a stance of rebellion and, on the contrary, defeating the master. In feeling and in one's inner attitude, the first reasoning is all the more opposed to those who said one should cry out and pray to G‑d: an attitude of despair, as against the attitude that everything depends on G‑d alone. And as is known, beseeching G‑d for all one's needs, and especially in a time of distress, is the root and essence of the mitzvah4 — an exceedingly lofty mitzvah, for through it is expressed faith in G‑d and His ability, etc. — to the extent that (according to several opinions), because it is a general mitzvah, it is not counted among the 613 mitzvos5.
(Although at that time it was still before the Giving of the Torah, before prayer could be called a mitzvah at all6, nevertheless, from the fact that after the Giving of the Torah it is an exceedingly lofty mitzvah, it is understood that even earlier it was a lofty matter.)
So how is it that the directives to the four different, opposing groups were given in a single answer?
We must also understand the order in which the Torah enumerates (through the answers that negated them) the reasonings of the four groups: first the reasoning "to throw ourselves into the sea," and afterwards "to return to Egypt." Seemingly, the very first to be negated should have been "to return to Egypt," the very lowest kind of reasoning, and only afterwards should the progressively higher kinds have been negated: "to throw ourselves into the sea," "to wage war," up to "let us cry out against them."
It is also not understood: Why indeed were all the reasonings of the groups rejected? Wanting to return to Egypt — it is understandable why that was negated, for it is the complete opposite of the Exodus. Throwing oneself into the sea also has no place — a Jew may never fall into despair, G‑d forbid, and certainly not act upon it himself7. But waging war against Pharaoh and his army is seemingly a straightforward thing8; and needless to say "let us cry out against them," beseeching G‑d, is surely the best course — one gives oneself over entirely to G‑d. Even the path of "ויסעו," going onward, does not express one's surrender to G‑d as much as prayer does, for "going forward" can also come from fear of Pharaoh, or from other causes.
2. With the splitting of the Sea of Reeds the Exodus from Egypt was completed. Until then the Jews still had a connection to Egypt. For we see that even after the Jews, on their way out of Egypt, had reached Pi HaChiros — and according to the custom of Egypt, every slave became a free man upon reaching Pi HaChiros9 — they were still pursued by Pharaoh and his army, who, by the course of nature, were bound to defeat the Jews10. The departure from the exile of Egypt was completed entirely only at the time of the splitting of the sea11. Therefore the Tosefta states12 that one must mention the splitting of the sea every day, just as one must mention the Exodus every day; for as long as one has not yet reached the splitting of the sea, one is not secure even with the departure from Egypt (and the same applies to the daily spiritual service of the Exodus and of the splitting of the sea).
From the fact that the splitting of the sea, the completion of the Exodus, could take place only after the opinions of all four groups had been rejected and the command of the Holy One, blessed be He, "ויסעו" ("go forward") was obeyed, it is understood that also in the spiritual Exodus of "בכל דור ודור וכל יום ויום" ("in every generation and every day")13, there must be the conduct of "go forward"; and if one conducts oneself according to the opinion of one of the four groups — even the conduct of "let us cry out against them" — one cannot fully leave Egypt.
3. In the spiritual service of the Exodus there must, in general, be both things: the beginning of the Exodus, and its completion — the splitting of the sea.
First one must go out of the constraints and limitations (meitzarim) of the animal soul, which confine the G‑dly soul. A Jew must know that although he finds himself in this world, the world of kelipos, where the wicked have the upper hand14, nobody is master over him. He is not subjugated to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. A Jew serves only G‑d: "עבדי הם — ולא עבדים לעבדים" ("They are My servants — and not servants to servants")15. Although the evil inclination and the animal soul — Pharaoh in Egypt — strive to limit, with their constraints and boundaries, the powers of the G‑dly soul, and to enslave them, and seek to take away a Jew's delight in Torah and mitzvos16, the Jew stands in a stance of kabbalas ol: he accepts upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, to serve only G‑d and not Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in everything that pertains to actual deed. Through this he goes out of servitude to Egypt and finds himself at Pi HaChiros.
However, as mentioned, the departure from Egypt is still not complete. Since he has no delight in G‑dliness, but does everything only with kabbalas ol17, Pharaoh and his army consequently still pursue him to enslave him again. That is, the constraints and limitations of the evil inclination and the animal soul, and the concealment of the world, still fight to limit and obscure the light of the G‑dly soul. Therefore there must also be the service that brings about the complete departure from Egypt — the splitting of the sea: "הפך ים ליבשה" ("He turned the sea into dry land")18. This means that the G‑dly force that is concealed in creation — "sea" (like the sea, which covers everything within it) — comes out into revelation — "dry land." And when, through his service, he achieves seeing openly the G‑dliness of every thing, he leaves Egypt entirely, for the world no longer conceals the G‑dly light from him; on the contrary, in the world itself he sees G‑dliness.
4. Since all the reasonings of the four groups were voiced after the beginning of the Exodus, we must say that none of these reasonings interfere with the actual observance of Torah and mitzvos — (for if a Jew holds a reasoning that runs contrary to the Shulchan Aruch, that is proof that he has not yet left Egypt at all) — it is only that he is still before the splitting of the sea. For him the concealment and hiddenness of the world still obscures, and therefore Pharaoh and his army have a foothold with him and produce the reasonings of the four groups. And in order to bring about the splitting of the sea, through which the army of Egypt will be drowned and all constraints and limitations will be removed, one must first reject every mode of conduct that follows the reasonings of the four groups.
5. The four groups, as they are alluded to in the verses, are arranged in order from below upward. The easiest conduct in divine service is "to throw oneself into the sea": since this is a world in which Pharaoh and his army can, G‑d forbid, have a victory, he wants to have nothing at all to do with the world. He will shut himself off and throw himself into the "sea" — into a "sea" that purifies: the sea of Torah, the sea of prayer, the sea of teshuvah — and thereby bind himself to G‑d. And what will be with the world, with another Jew — doing something so that Pharaoh should not be the sole ruler? He evades it: first, let someone else do it; and in general, "בהדי כבשי דרחמנא למה לך" ("Why do you involve yourself in the hidden matters of the Merciful One?")19 — it is G‑d's affair; I am not obligated to look after the world. His task, he says, is to protect himself: he will throw himself into the sea and separate himself from the world.
Such conduct used to be called "a tzaddik in a fur coat." He puts on a fur coat so that he will be warm. That a bitter cold reigns in the world — what can he do about it? He is not able to warm the whole world. Yet he could warm another Jew, two more Jews, warm one corner of the world — but for him that is not worth bothering with. In keeping with his greatness, only great things come into consideration: warming an entire world. And since that is beyond his powers, he puts on a "fur coat" and has thereby fulfilled his obligation.
A higher mode of service is "to return to Egypt." He knows that the intent is "לא תהו בראה לשבת יצרה" ("He did not create it to be desolate; He formed it to be inhabited")20; he is told to act within the world, so he must, poor fellow, do so. "ועל כרחך אתה חי" ("Against your will you live")21 — he must be found in this world, in a body and an animal soul; that is what G‑d wanted. Therefore, when he receives a directive, a clear instruction to perform a certain good deed in the world, he will have to do it. For him, however, it is hard labor — without vitality and without feeling. And certainly he will not go seeking, and will not exert himself, to illuminate his body and his portion in the world, since he has no vitality in it; he acts only when, and because, he must follow a directive.
In general he stands in a stance of despair. He holds that he will accomplish nothing in any case — not with the world, and not even with himself. He will not manage to avoid "returning to Egypt"; he will have to be a slave to Egypt — the world; that is his lot and destiny. Only because he must fulfill what is written in the Shulchan Aruch does he do it, but in the manner of "hard labor": the sun rises, so he prays at sunrise; the time for Minchah comes, so he prays Minchah; he needs to eat, so he makes a blessing before and after; he meets a Jew who asks him for a favor, so he does him the favor — and even when people come and tell him that not far away there is a Jew to whom he could do a favor, materially or spiritually, and whom by the law of "ואהבת לרעך כמוך" ("Love your fellow as yourself") he is obligated to help, he does it. But everything he does is without desire, without pleasure, without vitality and without any energy. With him it is done in the manner of hard labor, because he is already past despair: he will remain in Egypt in any case.
Kabbalas ol and the service of a servant are indeed the beginning of divine service, but no more than the beginning22; after that there must and has to be vitality and joy. When a Jew learns Torah and knows that through Torah study he becomes bound with G‑d, this knowledge must arouse vitality in him — to the point that even another person passing by should see that he does it not merely with kabbalas ol but also with joy. And so too regarding the fulfillment of the other mitzvos: knowing that when one takes the hide of an animal and writes upon it the four portions, one thereby makes the animal's hide into a vessel for G‑dliness, and afterwards, when he puts on the tefillin on the left arm and on the head, he carries out the Supernal Will23 — this must arouse in him the greatest joy. A Jew must feel how, through every word of Torah that he learns and through every mitzvah that he fulfills, he conquers the entire world24, diminishing the constraints of the world. But when he stands in a stance of despair, G‑d forbid, and feels Torah and mitzvos as a burden that he must, poor fellow, drag along day after day, without joy and without vitality, that is the hard labor of Egypt.
A still higher mode is "to wage war against them." Unable to tolerate the concealment and hiddenness that Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his army produce in the world, he fights against them. Such service is higher than "returning to Egypt," for he does not stand in a stance of despair; on the contrary, he feels the strength of the forces of holiness, that they can overcome all the forces of impurity, and consequently he does his service — the war against Pharaoh and his army — with vitality. The shortcoming in this is that every mode of service has its time. When G‑d commands to go toward "תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה" ("You shall serve G‑d upon this mountain"), toward the Giving of the Torah, one must not stop and occupy oneself with other things. When his service at that set time is to illuminate the world with the light of Torah, there is no place to stop and begin fighting with Egypt. For him, now is the time of "go forward," of going a step closer to the Giving of the Torah and mitzvos — not to "לעשות" (make, initiate) a war with Egypt.
It is understood that, besides the fact that at that time the command was to go toward "you shall serve G‑d," it is in general a pity to give away time and strength to war if one could use them to go forward and come a step closer to Mount Sinai. Also, in a war there is damage and harm even to the victorious side. Besides this, one cannot know where his notion to perform such service comes from: since he did not ask G‑d and Moshe His servant what to do, but acts this way because that is how it seems to him in his intellect, and he lays out his own war strategy according to his human intellect, it may very well be that his strength and energy in the war come not from the side of holiness, but because he is by nature inclined to gevurah, etc.25 And in the line of gevurah, the principle of "ואם לאו — לא הפסיד" ("and if not, he has lost nothing")26 does not apply.
The highest of the four modes is "let us cry out against them" — prayer. He is attached27 and bound to G‑d, and wants to carry out G‑d's will. Therefore he does not have the stance of "throwing oneself into the sea," protecting oneself by separating from the world, because the Supernal Will is that the world should be a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He; nor "returning to Egypt," a stance of despair, G‑d forbid, because he has complete trust, without any doubts, that G‑d's will shall certainly be carried out; nor "waging war against them" through his own strategies, because he is attached and completely nullified to G‑d, so it is not relevant that he should have desires of his own. Therefore his service is not to involve himself in the ordering of the world's affairs; he hands everything over to G‑d. He only prays and beseeches Him that G‑d should help the world with everything that needs to be accomplished, and he hopes to G‑d that He will fulfill his request and that G‑d will uplift the world.
Although this is a stance of self-nullification, to the point of nullification of one's very existence, nevertheless, since he has decided within himself that he, the one who prays, does nothing in this, that is not the path. There must be avodah — active service.
6. Although a Jew is required not to be an independent entity unto himself, and to recognize that everything he does is not by his own strength and the might of his hand, but "הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל" ("It is He Who gives you strength to achieve success")28 — G‑d gives the strength for it — nevertheless, together with this, a Jew is required to serve, to act with the powers he has been given.
A Jew is bound with G‑d, and just as G‑d is the bearer of opposites, so too two opposites are required of a Jew: nullification of his existence, knowing that G‑d does everything; and nevertheless he must have service and toil by his own strength specifically.
Similarly, regarding a Jew's material needs, two opposites are required of him. On the one hand, he must have simple faith that everything comes from G‑d, and since it comes from G‑d, Who is the ultimate good, everything is utterly good. And if to physical eyes it appears, G‑d forbid, as the opposite of good, on the contrary, that itself indicates a very high level of good (the good of the hidden world), which cannot be revealed below29. And together with this, a Jew is required to have complete trust, without any doubts, that it will be good with visible and revealed good. For the meaning of trust is not that he trusts that G‑d will do something that only G‑d knows to be good, but that he trusts that G‑d will benefit him with visible and revealed good, such that the person too will see that it is good. And this trust one must have even at a time when, naturally, there appears to be no prospect of it whatsoever, G‑d forbid30; nevertheless he trusts that G‑d will certainly help him, because G‑d is not limited, G‑d forbid, and it is in His power to change nature.
If sufferings, G‑d forbid, have already come upon him, he must accept them with joy31, believing with complete faith that it is entirely good. But as long as the sufferings have not come, even when the circumstances are such that by nature there is no prospect of averting them, he must be in complete trust that G‑d will benefit him with visible and revealed good. Both things are required of a Jew, because he is bound with G‑d, Who is the bearer of opposites.
Therefore trust is no contradiction to faith. And in general, on the contrary, trust is among the foundations and principles of faith.
And so too regarding spiritual service. Together with the knowledge that "הכל בידי שמים" ("Everything is in the hands of Heaven")32, that everything comes from G‑d — and even the matter of fear of Heaven, about which the saying concludes "חוץ מיראת שמים" ("except for the fear of Heaven"), meaning that this has been handed over to man — even in this one cannot accomplish anything by oneself, as mentioned above; nevertheless, together with this, service by one's own strength is specifically required. And since both stances come from the G‑dly soul, which is truly a part of G‑d above, the bearer of opposites, the two stances are in truth not in contradiction; on the contrary, they complement each other.
7. The command from Above through Moshe Rabbeinu was: "Speak to the Children of Israel, that they go forward." The service must be to go closer in the direction of Mount Sinai: not to shut oneself off entirely from the world; not to work without any desire and vitality; not to cast aside one's service and mission and wage a war with the world; and not to fold one's hands and leave everything to G‑d (as in the reasonings of the four groups) — but rather to act within the world, to illuminate and bring oneself and the world closer to Torah: "go forward."
And the conduct of "go forward" brings about the splitting of the sea — "He turned the sea into dry land"33. The world indeed remains an entity, but within it the "sea"33 is revealed — the G‑dly force hidden within it, the power of the Creator within the created.
This brings about the revelation of the Giving of the Torah34, which is a foretaste of the revelation of the Future35, when the intent of creation will be fulfilled — a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He, in the lower realms.
8. All matters of the world depend on the Jewish people. Through a Jew accomplishing something within himself, the same is accomplished in the world as well36. From this it is understood that what "go forward" accomplishes over the reasonings of the four groups is not only on account of the superiority of the service, but also on account of the superiority of the person serving. Through the service of "go forward" specifically, the splitting of the sea takes place within his soul — the hidden G‑dliness of his soul comes out into revelation — and consequently the splitting of the sea is accomplished in the world as well.
The difference between the conduct of the four reasonings and the conduct of "go forward" lies also in this: the four reasonings came from the intellect of the members of the groups, whereas nobody arrived at the idea of "go forward" until Moshe Rabbeinu said it in G‑d's name. (A proof of this is also that the Mechilta speaks of only four groups; had the idea of "go forward" occurred to anyone, there would have been a fifth group as well.)
This, too, is a directive for all generations, on how in practice [OCR unclear] to know what accords with the true Supernal Will. When a Jew hears of a mode of service that had not occurred to him — on the contrary, it is altogether contrary to his nature and contrary to his will, and therefore it also does not sit well with his intellect — it is close to certain that this is the order of service that G‑d wants of him, which is why Divine Providence arranged for him to hear and learn of such a kind of service.
An order of service that requires no strenuous effort of his intellect, and in which he has vitality — one cannot be sure whether it comes from the G‑dly soul or from the nature of the animal soul37. But when he hears of a service that is contrary to his nature, this implies that it comes to him from Above.
And the less he wants this kind of service, the greater the proof that this is the service that concerns him in particular, which is why the evil inclination makes all sorts of efforts so that this service should come to him [OCR unclear]38.
9. There is a common denominator to all the reasonings of the four different groups, and therefore the verse joins them together: all the reasonings came from nature and intellect, and all of them lacked complete self-nullification and the dedication to align oneself with the true Supernal Will. And since complete self-nullification was lacking — a shortcoming in the person serving — the service, too, was consequently not as desired; it lacked the service of "go forward," which was the Supernal Will. When there is true self-nullification, when one wants to align oneself with the Supernal Will, then G‑d arranges and places into the person's mind that he should hear the true Supernal Will — which does not come from his nature at all, and sometimes is even contrary to his nature.
10. This is the explanation of why, through the service of "go forward," the splitting of the sea takes place in his soul. Every Jew, in the innermost part of his soul, possesses nullification to the Supernal Will; it is only that human nature, habits and intellect obscure it. And when he moves ever further away from his Egypt, does not take his own concerns into account, and nullifies himself to the Supernal Will, then the innermost part of his soul is revealed (the splitting of the sea within his soul), and through this the G‑dliness hidden in the world is also revealed (the splitting of the sea in the world), until "ונגלה כבוד הוי' וראו כל בשר יחדו כי פי הוי' דיבר" ("The glory of G‑d shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see that the mouth of G‑d has spoken")39.
11. In most years, Yud Shevat (the day of the hilula of my father-in-law, the Rebbe) falls in the week of Parshas Beshalach. All matters are by Divine Providence. One sees, then, how the conduct of the Rebbe whose hilula it is, and the directives he issued to his Chassidim and those bound to him, follow the order of "go forward."
The Rebbe demanded: not to shut oneself off from the world; not to act with a feeling of hard labor, of compulsion; not to be immersed solely in waging war; and not to discharge one's duty merely with prayer and trust — but to act with energy and vitality to illuminate the world, to bring it a step closer to the Giving of the Torah, up to the revelation of the reasons of the Torah, the inner dimension of the Torah*, which will be revealed in their fullness with the coming of Moshiach.
And this can be attained only through the splitting of the sea — the revelation of what is hidden in one's soul. If he has acted once and again and still does not see that he has accomplished anything to make the world brighter, he must know that the shortcoming is in him: he has not yet revealed the innermost part of his soul; he has not yet used his hidden powers, which are given to every Jew to illuminate himself and the world.
12. The matters of the soul are revealed through the Torah. The hidden powers of the soul are revealed through the hidden matters of the Torah. Therefore, in the last…
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Notes
1) Shemos 14:13.
2) See the statements of our Sages on the verse Shemos 3:14; Esther 7:5.
3) For even before the Giving of the Torah they were commanded concerning this (Bava Kamma 91b; Bereishis Rabbah 34:13; Rambam, Laws of Murder 2:3).
4) See Sefer HaChinuch, mitzvah 433; Sefer HaMitzvos, the root of the mitzvah of prayer.
5) See Likkutei Torah, Balak (70d).
6) See Rambam, Laws of Kings, beginning of ch. 9: "Avraham came… and was commanded… regarding circumcision… and he prayed Shacharis."
7) See Parashas Derachim, Derush 13, s.v. "Ach kefi."
8) For the Children of Israel went up from the land of Egypt "chamushim" — armed (Mechilta and Rashi, beginning of Parshas Beshalach).
9) Lekach Tov, Shemos 14:2; Chizkuni there (citing a Midrash).
10) See Tanchuma, Devarim 12:29: Pharaoh took… thirty men went out against each and every one of Israel.
11) Also the refinement of the sparks — the "great wealth," which is a principal aspect of the Exodus (as explained above, Parshas Vayigash) — took place mainly at the time of the splitting of the sea. For in addition to what our Sages said (Mechilta, Bo 12:36; Rashi, Shemos 15:22), "The spoils at the sea were greater than the spoils of Egypt," the spoils of Egypt too were initially in their possession only as a loan, and were acquired completely only when the Egyptians drowned at the splitting of the sea. So too the purpose of the Exodus, the Giving of the Torah (Shemos 3:12), came about specifically through the preparation of the splitting of the sea, as explained in Torah Or, beginning of the discourse "Ashirah," and Likkutei Torah, end of Parshas Tzav; and in the statement of our Sages, Pesachim 118a.
12) Cited in Torah Or, beginning of the discourse "Az Yashir." It is at the beginning of ch. 2 of [Tosefta] Berachos. Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, siman 66, se'if 12.
13) Pesachim 116b; Tanya, beginning of ch. 47.
14) Tanya, ch. 6.
15) Kiddushin 22b, and the sources cited there; quoted in Rashi, Shemos 21:6.
16) As it is written, "וימררו את חייהם" ("They embittered their lives") — this refers to the Torah, for it is our life (see תנ"א [as printed in the OCR], beginning of Parshas Shemos).
17) See Tanya, end of ch. 31.
18) Tehillim 66:6.
19) Berachos 10a.
20) Yeshayahu 45:18.
21) Avos 4:22.
22) Tanya, ch. 41; Kuntres HaAvodah, ch. 3 and onward.
23) See Sha'arei Orah, discourse "Yavi'u Levush Malchus," ch. 7 and סע"ג.
24) See Rambam, Laws of Teshuvah 3:4.
25) See Derech Mitzvosecha 89b.
26) See Tanya, ch. 32.
27) "Tefillah" is an expression of joining, as in "התופל כלי חרס" ("one who joins together an earthenware vessel") (see Kuntres HaAvodah, at its beginning, and elsewhere).
28) Devarim 8:18.
29) Tanya, ch. 26.
30) See the letter of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, dated 3 Elul 5702* (Igros Kodesh, vol. 6, p. 398).
*) For the benefit of readers, an excerpt from the letter is copied here: "Complete trust in G‑d is when there is not even a shadow of an indication of a physical place and source from which help will come. As the popular saying goes, a drowning man, G‑d forbid, grabs even onto a straw; but at a time when there is still a straw to hold onto — that is, there is still a shadow of an indication in physical terms of being saved, even with a physical and partial salvation — that is not yet complete trust in G‑d. When there is a shadow of an indication, that is the matter of hope (tikvah), as it is written, 'את תקות חוט השני' ('this cord of scarlet thread'). The scarlet thread was the sign for the house of Rachav, by which sign the army of Israel would know that they must save the residents of this house; and it is called the 'hope' of the scarlet thread, for although it is a visible and revealed sign, there can nevertheless be various occurrences — the scarlet thread may be cut, or a wind may carry it away, or other happenings — and this is the hope that the cord will be intact and the scarlet thread will remain in its place. For the term 'hope' indicates something that has actual existence, like the straw for one drowning in the great sea. But trust in G‑d is when he has not even a shadow of an indication of being saved, when there is not even a straw to hold onto, and he has nothing but the trust with which he trusts in G‑d. And although he trusts in G‑d, his soul is very bitter, he is sad, a silent grief is spread over his face, and all who see him recognize that great worry presses upon his heart. Now, one who trusts in G‑d yet his soul is bitter within him, and he worries and complains — this is not yet complete trust in G‑d according to the approach of our master the Baal Shem Tov. For one who trusts in G‑d with complete trust — his not-good situation, or, G‑d forbid, even a bad one, need not touch his heart to pain him, nor even to grieve him. Rather, he must do all that is in his ability to do according to the Torah and human intellect, and trust in G‑d, and not be even in a remote doubt that G‑d, blessed be He, will help him — since His Providence, blessed be He, is over each and every creature; all their matters and their very slightest movements are all under His individual Providence, and His Providence, blessed be He, is what gives life and strength to all that lives in heaven and on earth."
31) See Berachos 60b.
32) Berachos 33b, and the sources cited there.
33) Note the precise wording of the verse: "the sea into dry land," and not "dry land into sea." Therefore the revelation of the splitting of the sea is not drawn down through the modes of service of the four groups, for they are the opposite of "He turned the sea into dry land." "To throw ourselves into the sea" — its essence is separation from the world. "To return to Egypt" — kabbalas ol alone, without revelation of light. "To wage war against them" — fighting against the world and the world's concealment (to nullify it, rather than to refine and purify it). "Let us cry out against them" (prayer to the Holy One, blessed be He, that He, blessed be He, illuminate the world) — refinement from the side of the One Above, and not from the side of the service and refinement of the one below; consequently the lower beings (in terms of their own matter and service) do not become a dwelling place, etc. Only the service of "go forward" (to illuminate the world through service with the light of Torah and mitzvos) draws down the matter of "He turned the sea into dry land," the revelation of the power of the Creator within the created.
34) See above, note 11. — Accordingly, one may possibly explain all the above categories in Torah study as well. The Torah study of young schoolchildren is not out of a feeling for the preciousness of the Torah, nor out of a feeling of kabbalas ol, but out of fear of the strap; consequently the study negates and nullifies his entire existence — "to throw ourselves into the sea" (negation of the existence of the one who falls). When he grows older, his study is out of kabbalas ol — "to return to Egypt." When he grows older still, his study is in order to refine the sparks from the kelipos and weaken the power of the kelipos (Iggeres HaKodesh, ch. 26) — "to wage war against them." When he grows older still, his study is in order to bind and unite himself through the Torah with the Holy One, blessed be He (Tanya, ch. 5; ch. 32[?]–53 [as printed in the OCR]) — "let us cry out against them" (and the essence of prayer is binding, as mentioned above). — All these four modes of study are caused by the intellect and will of the person studying. The ultimate desired aim of Torah study is to fulfill the will of the Creator — "go forward" (a directive from Above, as below, section 8). — According to this, the connection between the splitting of the sea and the Giving of the Torah is explained all the more sweetly: through study in the four above modes one draws down the Torah as it is in the four worlds of Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, while through study in order to fulfill the will of the Creator one draws down the Torah as it is united with His Essence. This power was given at the time of the Giving of the Torah — to draw down the level of "שמן תורק" ("poured-out oil"), and not merely fragrances (Shir HaShirim Rabbah, ch. 1, on "לריח שמניך" ("for the fragrance of your oils"); Likkutei Torah there).
35) Tanya, ch. 36.
36) See Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar, discourse "VeHayah Mispar Bnei Yisrael."
37) See Toldos [OCR reads "תניא תולדות"] 19, end of column 2.
38) See above, Parshas Bereishis.
39) Yeshayahu 40:5.
*) [The text of this starred note does not appear in the source for this page; it presumably appears on the next page.]
Key Lesson
Withdrawing from the world, serving with grudging resignation, fighting on one's own terms, or leaving everything to prayer alone all fall short; G‑d's directive is "go forward" — to actively illuminate oneself and the world and bring it a step closer to Torah. A path of service that runs against one's own nature is often the very one G‑d wants, and following it reveals the hidden G‑dliness of the soul, which in turn reveals the G‑dliness hidden in the world.