There Walks a Chossid

8 Iyar 5782

“For through the union of the soul with, and its absorption into, the light of the Ein Sof, it attains the quality and the degree of holiness of the blessed Ein Sof Himself since it unites itself with Him and is integrated into Him, and they become truly one.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 46)

Tanya describes how a mitzvah elevates a Jew to the lofty level of the Divine energy too high to be contained by any created being. This transcendent level is deemed sovev kol almin, encompassing all worlds, because it cannot descend to clothe itself within any of the worlds, except in a Jew momentarily elevated through his performance of mitzvot.

“And the L‑rd spoke to Moses, saying” (Vayikra 21:16)

This classic phrase in the Torah states and restates that all Hashem’s commandments were given directly to the Jewish people through Moses. This explains why a Jew is able to effect such a sublime union through his simple performance of the mitzvot. Because they were given directly from Hashem, one who carries them out becomes His emissary, fulfilling the express will of G‑d Himself, and “an emissary is one with his sender.”

As today’s Hayom Yom explains, “An emissary is one with his sender. This concept is similar to that of an angel acting as a Divine emissary, when he is actually called by G‑d’s name. If this is so with an angel it is certainly true of the soul; in fact with the soul the quality of this oneness is of a higher order, as explained elsewhere.”

“Walk around Zion, encircle her, count her towers.” (Tehillim 48:13)

The simple act of walking can be done with great cleaving to Hashem. As the Hayom Yom continues, “Now chassidim are emissaries of the Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe. So if the chassid actively discharges his mission, he is bound up with his Rebbe, bound up in his entire being - there walks a chassid, there eats a chassid, there sleeps a chassid.”