Chapter 47

In the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe taught us another straight path to love. Hashem, which consists of thinking about the incredible love He showed for us when He brought us out of Egypt and gave us the Torah, etc. and we unite with Him, like the king uniting with the simple person.

But there's a problem: we live thousands of years after the Exodus from Egypt, so why would thinking about something that happened so long ago awaken love for it? Hashem in our hearts?

The answer, explains the Alter Rebbe, is that the exodus from Egypt is something that happens every day and something that happens to everyone, not just something that happened thousands of years ago to a group of people who are no longer here.

Our body is like Egypt, and the Divine Soul is imprisoned within the body. When we study Torah and we fulfilled Mitzvot In general, the Divine Soul leaves that prison and joins with Hashem (like the king joining the simple person from the previous chapter).

But there is a much deeper way to join Hashem: when we pray and recite¹ he Shema Israel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem ejad (Hear, O Israel, God our Lord, God is one), we are accepting that Hashem He is the One who commands; we are nullifying ourselves and uniting with Him.

Let's analyze that sentence: What does it mean that Hashem is “our Lord” (Elokeinu)? He is like “our personal God,” like the God of Abraham (explained in chapter 46). Abraham came to join Hashem through their own merits, but we received this ability to join Hashem as a legacy from our patriarchs and a gift from Hashem.

What, then, is the gift of HashemThe gift is the Torah, But our wise men² They explain that when Hashem handed it over Torah, he introduced himself into the Torah, as if to say that He gave Himself: then, the gift is Hashem same!

With this idea, the Alter Rebbe explains that, since Hashem is inside the Torah and the Mitzvot, The only thing that prevents us from being with Him is actually longing to be with Him. Because as soon as we want to, and accept that Hashem He is the one in charge, and as soon as we say “Shema Israel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem ejad”, we will automatically be linked to Hashem. And that is our daily and personal way out of Egypt: to accept that Hashem He is the One who commands, and we long to be united with Him. Thus our Divine Soul is freed from the prison of the body.

For this reason, our wise men³ They instituted that we mention the Exodus from Egypt when we recite the Shema Israel, even though there are two Mitzvot independent, they have the same meaning: to free the Divine Soul from the body and unite it with Hashem.

In summary: Why will thinking about the exodus from Egypt, which happened so long ago, awaken love for Hashem in our hearts? Because that event (which signified the union of the Jewish people with Hashem) we relive it every day (accepting that Hashem He is the one in charge, and saying the Shema Israel), then, every day we can think about the ideas from the previous chapter (the king who takes the simple person out of the garbage and joins him, etc.) to awaken love for Hashem in our hearts.