Love is not enough; relationship with the Rebbe

We learn from today’s — both Wednesday’s and Thursday’s — Tanya (in the Chitas cycle) that love of Hashem is not enough to make a dwelling for Shechinah, Hashem’s Presence. Because when A loves B, there are two elements: A and B. When a Jew (even a tzaddik) loves Hashem, he is still a “someone” who loves Hashem.

And, as we know from earlier chapters (starting with chapter 6), Shechinah rests only on something which is completely nullified to Hashem. So, when a person is in a state of love or fear of G-d, even though it is a great state, he is not completely nullified to G-d.

On the other hand, when someone does a mitzva, he is fulfilling the Will of Hashem (which is one with His Essence), being an instrument for the expression of Hashem’s desire. At that moment, he is completely nullified, and as a result can be said to have Shechinah rest on him.

In Friday’s Tanya, Alter Rebbe explains that when a person does a mitzva in speech and thought, he is only using his G-dly soul. When he is doing a mitzva in action, he is also using his animal soul, utilizing its energy and making it a vessel for G-dliness. This is why doing mitzvos in action is the ultimate level of making a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower worlds.

(The same is true regarding a love of a husband to his wife. What use is his love if it’s only in his heart? He has to express it. But if he tells her how much he loves her and brings her roses, but doesn’t take out garbage, does he really love her? As they say, love starts not in the bedroom, but in the [vacuumed] living room.)

This can be translated to our relationship with the Rebbe and Chassidus in general. It is not enough to be a chossid “on paper” — i.e., to learn and understand Chassidus and to love the Rebbe. I cannot say that it is completely useless, G-d forbid, but if a person says that’s all he ever wants to be, it seems to me to be a mockery of what Chassidus is all about. One must also do what the Rebbe wants, in the realm of speech and thought, but especially in the realm of action.

This has to do with both the realm of Chassidus (e.g., mivtzoim) and the realm of nigleh — including fulfillment of Halacha, starting from living according to Shulchan Aruch and ending with following even specific minhogim of Chabad (whose significance one sometimes does not understand, thinking it’s just a “shtick” — which for many people it is, but this does not detract from their value and importance).