Chapter 34

In the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe explained that, through faith in the oneness of Hashem, We can be very happy and have a lot of enthusiasm in observing the Torah and the Mitzvot. In this chapter, the Alter Rebbe takes this idea a step further.

Our patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, including Moses, the most important of all the prophets, thought about faith in the oneness of Hashem All their lives, every day, even all day long. They always felt the presence of Hashem in their lives and did everything that Hashem wanted to.

In fact, the entire Jewish people felt the same way when Hashem handed it over Torah. But it was such a strong feeling that they couldn't bear it.¹. That's why Hashem He ordered the construction of a portable Temple (the mishkan, (in Hebrew) where His presence is revealed, so that one can experience His presence only in that place, and be able to endure it. There was also a revelation of Hashem, In other words, one could feel the uniqueness of Hashem, in the Great Temple in Jerusalem (beit hamikdashThe Alter Rebbe explains this matter in detail in the last three chapters of the book.

But… today, where can you feel the presence of HashemWe have neither a mobile temple nor a fixed temple… Where is the “house” of HashemOur wise men² They say that nowadays Hashem resides in the Torah, particularly in the laws of the Torah (halakha). Because the laws of the Torah are the Will of Hashem, that He wants the law to be in such a way in such a case, then we can feel the presence of Hashem in that very thing we study. It's different when we study, for example, a history of the Torah, where one doesn't feel Hashem revealed clearly, because it seems like just a story. But when we study “what Hashem wants,” obviously, we feel that’s directly related to Hashem.

All this is fine, that is, our patriarchs were a “house” for Hashem all the time, because they always felt the uniqueness of Hashem, And they understood it, but our intellect is too small to understand such a matter and we will never become a "home" for Hashem like Abraham or Moses.

So, says the Alter Rebbe, we need to know that we can also become a “home” for HashemHow? By studying laws of the Torah according to the free time we have regularly, every day.

This should bring us enormous joy, and we should be very grateful, because we become hosts of Hashem every time we study Torah.

And even more so, including the rest of the time we're not studying Torah, We can also be a “home” for Hashem. For example, a person who works and earns money, when they help another person with that money (tzedakah), he is sanctifying not only the money he gave to the other person, but also the rest of the money he earned that he uses for his needs (eating, buying clothes, and so on), because he earned all that money (the money he gave and the money he kept) with the goal of helping another.

Similarly, in the study of Torah, Since we really study as much as we can, and the rest of the time we have to do other things to live, like eating, sleeping, etc., Hashem He considers us "his home" all the time, not just when we're studying.

These ideas that the Alter Rebbe mentioned in the last chapters should bring us great joy and inspire us to be very enthusiastic in our studies. Torah and the observance of Mitzvot. But even so, we must never forget that the Animal Body and Soul are still crude, unrefined, and need much work to continue progressing, and that the way to work with them is with bitterness, as the Alter Rebbe explained in chapter 29.

It is not a problem to have joy and bitterness at the same time, because joy is due to the Divine Soul and bitterness, to the Animal Soul.