Chapter 25

In this chapter, the Alter Rebbe finishes the explanation he began in chapter 18. There he quoted the same verse.¹ of the Torah that on the cover: “Because this thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it” and, after explaining how to awaken love to Hashem At its heart, in the first 17 chapters, it's suggested that it doesn't seem "very close" nor is it so easy…

Then, between chapters 18 and 25, the Alter Rebbe explained how it is “very close” to have love for Hashem in the heart. And the key to the explanation is that every Jew, even without knowing it, already has that love by nature (the “Hidden Love”).

Now the Alter Rebbe will teach how to use that “hidden love.” In the previous chapter, he explained that a Jew only transgresses the Torah If he becomes a fool, it's because that foolishness makes him forget that, when he transgresses, he is separating himself from Hashem.

So, the key to not transgressing the Torah It is to remember and keep in mind that the nature of the Jew is that he neither wants nor can be separated from Hashem and that he is ready to give his life for Him (because there is a light of Hashem which is always at the level of Wisdom of the soul).

This works for both Mitzvot prohibitive as well as positive: if a Jew is always ready to sacrifice his life for Hashem, And even if he had to endure great suffering, he would not separate himself from Him; surely he would be ready to leave behind all the passions and foolishness that inevitably separate him from Him as well. Hashem. Because, after all, quitting nonsense doesn't require suffering... like stopping talking badly about a friend, or getting angry. tefillin eating every day, or eating a little less, clearly does not represent any suffering.

With this same idea we can overcome any difficulty to achieve Mitzvot. It's true that sometimes they seem difficult to fulfill, and sometimes we just don't feel like it... but if we remember that we would do anything to avoid being separated from... Hashem, we awaken in the heart the “hidden love” for Hashem which will give us the strength to overcome that difficulty.

At the end of the chapter, the Alter Rebbe explains a story about the Torah². Before he died, Moshe told the Jews who were about to enter the Land of Israel that they should recite the Shema Israel Twice a day, to remember the sacrifice of life for Hashem, at all times.

However, Hashem Moses himself had promised the Jews, before they entered the Land of Israel, that they had nothing to fear from the peoples who lived there, and that they would not need to sacrifice their lives to conquer the land. So why did Moses tell them that they should remember the sacrifice of life for Hashem twice a day, if that wasn't going to be necessary?

The Alter Rebbe explains that Moshe was actually saying to the Jewish people: “Gentlemen! All the observance of Torah y Mitzvot It depends on you remembering at all times the incredible sacrifice you are ready to make for Hashem”"That is, even if it wasn't going to be necessary to give one's life, because Hashem It would help them conquer the land miraculously; it was necessary to remember the "Hidden Love" for Hashem in the hearts of each one to fulfill the Torah with enthusiasm once settled on the land.

That's why the Torah says³ that is “very close to you”: fulfilling Torah y Mitzvot, because it only requires remembering our connection with Hashem, And to know that this bond is so deep, that we would do anything to avoid losing it. And anything that isn't Torah y Mitzvot, It makes us lose that connection…

In other words, to serve Hashem with desire and enthusiasm, feeling love for Hashem in the heart, it is “very close to you”!, just as it says Torah.