LESSON 1

This lesson is designed for you to deliver in approximately an hour and fif-
teen minutes.

LESSON OVERVIEW
SECTION ONE ‫מבוא‬ III 8 MINUTES
This maamar fleshes out the idea of mesirus nefesh according to Chasidus. It is
based on a mamaar from the Frierdiker Rebbe that was said under conditions
of extreme mesirus nefesh.
A. Learning Exercise ||| 4 minutes
B. Historical Background of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s maamer ||| 4 minutes

SECTION TWO ?‫מתי קבלו בני ישראל את התורה‬ III 12 MINUTES

At Har Sinai, the nation was in an ascendant state both spiritually and physi-
cally. Nevertheless, their reception of the Torah at that time was not authentic
and absolute. The true acceptance of the Torah occurred when Jews were under
threat of annihilation in the Persian Empire during the story of Purim.
A. The Purim Acceptance ||| 4 minutes
B. Why Purim ||| 8 minutes

SECTION THREE ‫כוחה של מסירת נפש‬ III 8 MINUTES

The time of Purim was indeed a challenging period, but because it brought out
the power of mesirus nefesh, it gave the Jews an edge they did not have at Har
Sinai. Mesirus nefesh is an activation of the etzem haneshamah and when that
comes out, every obstacle can be overcome.
A. A National Moment of Mesirus Nefesh ||| 5 minutes
B. Mesirus Nefesh In the Historical Account ||| 3 minutes

SECTION FOUR ?‫וחי בהם או שימות בהם‬ III 10 MINUTES

Why is mesirus nefesh necessary to accept the mitzvos authentically? Isn’t me-
sirus nefesh a last resort when it comes to mitzvos? Aren’t we supposed to avoid
dying for Hashem in most circumstances?
A. Live By Them ||| 2 minutes
B. Willingness To Die ||| 6 minutes
C. Potential Versus Actual ||| 2 minutes

4 | LESSON 1
SECTION FIVE
?‫מה נתחדש בהר סיני‬
A. TORAH BEFORE HAR SINAI
We are accustomed to thinking that Hashem gave us the Torah at Har Sinai.
After all, that is what the words Matan Torah mean.
The truth is that Jews, dating all the way back to Avraham Avinu, learned
Torah and observed mitzvos. And not just some of the mitzvos, but all
the mitzvos.

TALMUD, YUMA 28B

Rav taught: Avraham Avinu ‫ ִקיֵ ים ַא ְב ָר ָהם‬:‫ָא ַמר ַרב‬

fulfilled the entire Torah, as , ‫ָא ִבינ ּו ָּכל ַה ּתוֹ ָרה כּ וּלָ ּה‬
the Torah states, “because ‫"ע ֶקב ֲא ׁ ֶשר ׁ ָש ַמע‬ ֵ :‫ׁ ֶשנֶ ֱא ַמר‬
Avraham listened to my call” "' ֹ‫ַא ְב ָר ָהם ְ ּבקוֹ לִ י וְ גו‬
[i.e., my mitzvos].22

If indeed the Jewish people had practiced Torah and mitzvos long before
Matan Torah, what happened at Matan Torah? What was lacking in the
sphere of Torah and mitzvos until that point, that Matan Torah came
to complete?

THE REBBE, SEFER HAMAAMARIM MELUKAT 3, P. 70

The difference between the ‫שהחידוש דמתן תורה‬

Torah and mitzvos as they were ‫לגבי התורה ומצוות שהיו‬
practiced before Matan Torah ‫ הוא‬,‫קודם מתן תורה‬
and the Torah and mitzvos as ‫שהמצוות של האבות‬

22 The Gemara goes on to demonstrate that Avraham Avinu even kept mitzvos derabanan such as
eruv tavshilin. This Gemara infers this from the fact that the Torah says Avraham observed ‫—תורותי‬
my Torahs, in the plural. This refers to two Torahs. The Torah Shebichsav and the Torah Sheb’al Peh.
The Torah Sheb’al Peh includes all the rabbinic decrees that had not yet been promulgated in the days
of Avraham Avinu. Yet, the Gemara tells us that Avraham Avinu knew and kept all the future gezeiros
derabanan.

25 | LESSON 1
 they are practiced after Matan )‫(ובכלל קודם מתן תורה‬
Torah: The mitzvos of the avos ‫ דנוסף‬.‫היו רק ברוחניות‬
(and all Jews before Matan ‫לזה שכמה וכמה מצוות‬
Torah) were spiritual. Some ‫קיימו רק ברוחניות‬
of the mitzvos were practiced ‫(כמו תפילין שנזכר בהם‬
in a spiritual manner [through ‫יציאת מצרים ואז עדיין‬
meditation and the like]. ‫ הנה‬,)‫לא הי' גלות מצרים‬
(For example, the Mitzvah of ‫גם בהמצוות שקיימו‬
tefilin could not be fulfilled in ‫ היתה המשכת‬,‫בגשמיות‬
the ordinary manner since it ‫הקדושה רק ברוחניות‬
contains mention of the Exodus ‫ולא בדבר הגשמי שבו‬
from Egypt, which had not yet .‫קיימו המצוה‬
occurred.) Even the mitzvos
that they practiced in a physical manner, could only draw
holiness into the spiritual realm. The physical item with
which they performed the Mitzvah, remained unholy.

Let’s unpack what we just read:

Every mitzvah consists of two components:
1. The physical performance of the Mitzvah.
2. Our kavanah while performing the Mitzvah.

Discussion Group
If I was only able to either: (a) contemplate the spiritual
significance of the Mitzvah, or (b) do the action mindlessly
without any focus; which one should I choose?
Which is more essential?

Allow your students to discuss this, but guide the conversation to the
following conclusion.

26 | LESSON 1
The answer is, it depends on the era in which you live—pre or post
Matan Torah.
Before Matan Torah, mitzvos were entirely kavanah oriented. While the
avos practiced all the mitzvos, many were not performed with physical
items as they are today, but rather through meditating upon the spiritual
significance of the Mitzvah. Tefilin is but one example, there were surely
many others.
So, how did they fulfill these mitzvos? Through deep hisbonanus into
the spiritual properties represented by the Mitzvah. This elevated their
consciousness and attached it to the divine attributes upon which they
meditated.
The Zohar (I p. 162a) tells us that Yaakov fulfilled the Mitzvah of tefilin with
physical items: not the leather boxes that we use, but rather wooden sticks.
However, after performing the mitzvah, Yaakov would throw away the
sticks because they had not become holy. Can you imagine throwing away a
pair of tefilin when they grow old? We would never throw them away.
That is because physical items that are used for a Mitzvah after Matan To-
rah, become holy, but when Jews used physical items for a Mitzvah before
Matan Torah, the item remained mundane.
Before Matan Torah, the purpose of the Mitzvah was not to influence the
physical. This is why many mitzvos were performed at that time through
meditation and without physical action. For those mitzvos that required
physical action, the action was just a tool to allow their minds and hearts to
access the spiritual energies associated with the Mitzvah.23

B. TORAH AFTER HAR SINAI

Then came Matan Torah. At that time, an important shift occurred:

23 The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya, that the bodies of the avos were so refined that they became a
merkavah to Hashem. Doesn’t this imply that their avoidah did, in fact, permeate their bodies? The
answer is that only the kedushah that could be reached in the lower realm permeated their bodies,
but they had no access to the higher realms of kedusha that are available to us after Matan Torah.
However, precisely because the kedushah that we access after Matan Torah is so lofty, there is less
visible impact upon our bodies. When Mashiach comes, we will be able to see this impact. For more
on this, see Likutei Sichos 15, p. 77.

27 | LESSON 1
C. THE UNBRIDGEABLE DIVIDE
The pre Matan Torah decree made perfect sense. In fact, annulment of the
decree makes little sense.
When you consider the vast gulf between Hashem and us, you can easily see
why it should be unbridgeable. Hashem is Creator, whereas we and the world
that we live in, are His creations. Hashem is a necessary existence, whereas
we are contingent on Hashem for our existence. Hashem transcends time,
whereas we are temporal and subject to time. Hashem is limitless and form-
less, whereas we are finite and confined to our given form.
How can there be a relationship between us? How can infinite Hashem fit
into a finite vessel? How can we bridge this unending divide?
This is why the pre Matan Torah severance between the higher and lower
realms makes perfect sense.26

Ask them, which is more significant: To do something for Hashem that He instructed you to do or to
do something for Hashem of your own volition without Him requesting it?
The answer is that each is better in its own way. If you volunteer without being asked, it shows that
you are deeply connected to Hashem—you truly care to be close to Him. It is like giving your spouse
a gift for no specific reason but rather—just because I love you. On the other hand, when you give
what your spouse asked for, you provide something he or she wants as opposed to something you feel
like giving.
From your perspective, giving without being asked is higher because it demonstrates a higher degree
of attachment. From your spouse’s perspective, giving after being asked is better because you provide
something your spouse wants. It tells your spouse that his or her wish is your highest priority.
This is especially poignant when it comes to Hashem because there is nothing that we can give to
Hashem that He does not already have. It is akin to giving a king a scarf that you knitted yourself. The
king has many scarves and doesn’t need one more. From his perspective you contributed nothing
that He wants though he appreciates you going to the length of knitting it as a token of your admira-
tion and appreciation. On the other hand, if the king is outdoors without a scarf and asks for one, you
can provide something that the king actually wants.
The same can be said about the pre Matan Torah mitzvos and the post Matan Torah mitzvos. The
avos went all out and devoted their lives to Hashem. They achieved the highest attachment to Hash-
em that one can achieve in this world. But since Hashem did not instruct them to do it, they did not
provide something that He wants. He appreciated them to no end, but they did not give Him some-
thing He wanted. As Iyov said, “If you are righteous, what have you given Him?”
After Matan Torah, we have the chance to give Hashem something He asked for. This means that we
are providing a service that Hashem actually wants.
26 If your students require further clarification, consider using the following analogy:
Suppose Albert Einstein visited a Kindergarten class and delivered a lecture on his special theory of
relativity. The children wouldn’t understand a word he said, which is precisely why Einstein never
lectured to Kindergarteners.
This divide made perfect sense. But suppose Einstein insisted one day on delivering his lecture to his
grandchild’s Kindergarten class, can you imagine any pedagogic technique that Einstein might use to
help them understand?
The answer is likely no.

30 | LESSON 1
Earlier in this section we asked what Matan Torah accomplished if Jews
were practicing mitzvos before Matan Torah. We learned that Matan Torah
enabled a merger between Hashem and the physical world. But now, we have
turned that answer on its head. Is such a merger even possible? If the answer
is yes, what occurred at Matan Torah to make the impossible possible?

Summary
Before Matan Torah, mitzvos were a means to focus the mind on Hashem.
After Matan Torah mitzvos became a means to bring holiness to the world.
This was initiated by Hashem who descended onto Har Sinai and instructed
Moshe to ascend to Hashem.
If Hashem is infinite and the world is finite, how can mitzvos bridge this
divide and bring Hashem into the world?
The Rebbe will answer this question in the next section.

Now keep in mind that the gap between Hashem and our world is infinitely greater than the gap
between Einstein and the Kindergarten students. While Einstein and the children are on different
levels, they both possess wisdom, Einstein just possessed it in greater quantities. The difference be-
tween Hashem and our world is immeasurable even by infinite degrees of magnitude. How can this
divide ever be bridged?

31 | LESSON 1