Sicha, 10 Shevat 5734
A. The Greatness of Rabbi Chiya’s Deeds
The Talmud relates that Rabbi Chiya personally trapped deer, prepared parchment from their hides, wrote Torah scrolls on the parchment, and personally taught the children from them (Source 1).
Why did he not simply hire others to do this work? Because when responsibility is delegated to others, there is always the risk that the task will never be completed. Rabbi Chiya took personal responsibility in order to ensure the success of the endeavour.
The same lesson applies today. Every one of us bears personal responsibility for Jewish education and should not assume that someone else will take care of it.
There is another important lesson as well: this work must be done with enthusiasm and genuine passion, not merely out of habit. When others sense that something truly matters to us, our words enter their hearts and have a lasting impact.
B. Cleaving to G-d
In the reading of Eikev, the Torah commands us to “walk in all His ways and to cleave to Him” (Source 2). Our Sages explain that “walking in His ways” means performing acts of kindness by following G-d’s example, while “cleaving to Him” is accomplished by attaching oneself to Torah scholars.
The Alter Rebbe, however, explains that “cleaving to Him” means cleaving to G-d’s attributes. At first glance, this interpretation does not appear to be stated explicitly anywhere in the teachings of our Sages.
C. Two Dimensions of Cleaving to G-d’s Attributes
In the reading of Re’eh, commenting on the verse, “cleave to Him,” Rashi explains that cleaving to G-d means following His ways: “Perform acts of kindness, bury the dead, and visit the sick, just as the Holy One, blessed be He, did” (Source 3). It would therefore appear that this is the source for the Alter Rebbe’s interpretation.
This raises a question. Why do our Sages explain that, since it is impossible to cleave directly to G-d, the verse must refer to cleaving to Torah scholars? We see that there is another way of cleaving to G-d directly—by emulating His attributes?
The explanation is that every mitzvah has two dimensions: the outward act and the inner intention. This is true of Torah study, prayer, and teshuvah. Although these mitzvot are fulfilled through action or speech, their true essence lies in the understanding, feeling, and attachment to G-d that they cultivate.
The same is true of following G-d’s attributes. Walking in His ways refers to the practical act of performing kindness. Cleaving to Him means that those acts of kindness are performed with identification with, and attachment to, G-d’s own attributes. This inner dimension is the essence of the mitzvah.
This is precisely how Rabbi Chiya conducted himself. His burning determination to ensure that Torah would never be forgotten by the Jewish people inspired him to carry out every stage of the work personally. That is why he was so successful.
The same is expected of us. It is not enough simply to do the right thing; we must do it with enthusiasm, passion, and genuine concern, because words that come from the heart enter the heart.
