Tanya Shaar Hayichud Perek 1

Translate the Posuk the Alter Rebbe quotes from פרשת ואתחנן:

וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם וַהֲשֵׁבוֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶךָ, כִּי ה' הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת – אֵין עוֹד"

• “Know this day and take to your heart that Hashem is the G-d in the heavens above and the earth below, there is no other”

• “Know this day and take to your heart that Hashem took you out of Egypt and redeemed you with great wonders, there is no other”

• “Know this day and take to your heart that Hashem chose you from all other people to be His chosen nation, there is no other”

What is puzzling abut this Posuk?

וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם וַהֲשֵׁבוֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶךָ, כִּי ה' הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת – אֵין עוֹד"

• Why does Hashem need to warn so much "take to your heart!".

  Would we think there's another god in the water under the earth?

• This same Posuk is already written in the Torah, in פרשת כי תשא?

  Why repeat it here, if Torah is precise with every letter?

• Why does it say "take to your heart" and not "take to your mind", which is where we think?

Translate the Posuk the Alter Rebbe quotes from תהלים:

לְעוֹלָם, ה', דְּבָרְךָ נִצָּב בַּשָּׁמָיִם

• Forever Hashem Your word stands in the Heaven

• Hashem created the Heavens and Earth with His thoughts

• The words of Hashem are always as bright as the Heavens

What does the בעל-שם-טוב explain is the meaning of “Your word” that is in the שמים?

• The words יהי רקיע... that Hashem created the Heavens with

• The words of Torah uttered by children, תינוקות של בית רבן

• The עשרת הדברות said on Har Sinai

What is the Posuk telling us about those words that created the שמים?

• Those words are always in the Heavens, giving them existence

• Those words changed the course of history, by making Heavens that we can look up to inspiration

• Those words are spoken by prophets, and also by Torah scholars throughout the generations

What is the Hebrew word for "letters"?

• אותיות

• תיבות

• כתיב

• מלובשות

What is the Hebrew word for "words"?

• תיבות

• כתיב

• אותיות

• מלובשות

What would happen if those letters would depart from the Heavens for an instant, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם?

• The heavens would cease to exist, as though they never were

• The earth would cease to exist, as though it never was

• The heavens would deteriorate rapidly and eventually disappear, as though they never were

• The universe would cease to exist, as though it never was

The Posuk in Tehilim only mentioned the Heavens contain Hashem's words, which keep them existing.

What else does the Alter Rebbe say this includes?

Select all correct answers

• All the creations in the higher [spiritual] worlds

• All the creations in the lower [spiritual] worlds

• All the creations in this physical world

• Even things that are inanimate

What are the עֲשָׂרוֹת מַאֲמָרוֹת?

• The 10 Utterances that Hashem created the world with

• The 10 Commandments that Hashem said on Har Sinai

• The 10 Plagues

• The 10 Tribes of Israel