Studying Halacha Cleanses the Mind

"Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your gates" (Devarim 16:18)

Our Rebbe says in Torah 280: "The essence of the pleasure of the Garden of Eden is the attainment of Divinity, meaning the Higher Wisdom and the Lower Wisdom, which are the aspect of the Garden of Eden as mentioned above. However, to merit this is impossible except through the gates, for there are gates, meaning the aspect of the gates of the Garden of Eden, through which one merits to enter the Garden of Eden... but these gates are hidden and concealed in the earth, the aspect of 'Her gates have sunk into the ground,' and for this, one needs a master over the land, who will rule over the land, so that he can bring out, establish, and set up the gates that have sunk into the earth: And know that by studying the Poskim (halachic authorities), one merits to be a king and ruler over the land, and then one can set up and establish the gates that have sunk into the earth."

"By studying the Poskim, one merits to be a ruler over the land"

When we reach Parshat Shoftim, it is possible to merit entering the Garden of Eden, and the pleasure of the Garden of Eden is the attainment of Divine wisdom, to see Hashem eye to eye, to know that there is nothing else besides Him, and it is impossible to reach any attainment of Divinity except through the study of the Poskim, the study of the Halachot. The Rebbe explains in Torah 280 that one must be persistent in the study of the Poskim. If we want the gates that have sunk to be revealed, if we want to merit the attainment of Divinity, to enter into the Garden of Eden, then we must be persistent in the study of the Poskim. "Her gates have sunk into the ground" – one must raise up the gates of Halacha; one must be an expert in Halacha with depth and analysis. By studying the Poskim, one merits to be a ruler over the land, one merits to be among the "judges and officers," and this is what is written, "Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your gates" – you must build the gates, you must know the gates of Halacha, you must build the gates yourself, for there are gates which are the gates of the Garden of Eden through which one enters into the Garden of Eden, enters into the attainments of Divinity, and after the destruction of the Holy Temple, they are hidden and concealed in the earth. So how does one raise the gates? Establishing the gates is only possible if a person studies the depth of Halacha, studies the Poskim, studies the Rambam, the Tur, the Beit Yosef, and all the commentators.

"Emunah (faith) is when a person focuses on every word in prayer"

The Rebbe says in Torah 62 – When a person does not focus in prayer, it is a sign that he has no Emunah at all; it is heresy. Every word that a person says quickly, without focus, is heresy. When a person knows with a whole heart that the whole earth is filled with His glory and he feels Hashem, and feels that Hashem is standing over him and seeing him during prayer, this is called Emunah, and then he prays calmly, saying the letters slowly, one by one. If a person focused on one word in the Amidah prayer and said it slowly and calmly, then he is truly called a tzaddik and deserves all the rewards in the world. But, our Rebbe says, that you focused on one word is very nice, it is very good that you focused! But do not think that you are a Jew with complete Emunah. You focused, it is wonderful, it is marvelous, but it is still not called Emunah. Emunah is only when you focus on every word in prayer; Emunah is when you can speak with Hashem at least as you speak with a friend.

"The work is with the heresy within us"

A person hates heretics; he wants to throw stones at them, he is ready to go out against them with sword and spear, in fire and water. Our Rebbe reveals to us in Torah 62 that all our work is with ourselves, with the heresy in our hearts, because if a person does not pray with focus, it is called heresy! There is enough heresy within myself – I do not need to rectify the heresy of the secularists. If we rectify the heresy within us, then there will be no secularists in the world; everyone will return in teshuvah. It is told of one tzaddik who said in prayer, "Give thanks to Hashem, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the nations," and after the prayer, he grabbed his bag, all his belongings, everything he had, and said to everyone, "I am now going to fulfill this verse. I am now going and shouting to the whole world, 'Make known His deeds among the nations!' I will shout in the streets: Know that there is a God in the world! I will fulfill this verse!" He walked a few steps and quickly returned. Everyone asked him, "Why are you returning? Why did you come back?" That tzaddik said, "I remembered that there is enough heresy within me. I need to inform my 248 limbs and 365 sinews that Hashem is God. I have enough work with myself, so how can I inform the world of the essence of Emunah when the Emunah is not yet burning within me?"

When a person speaks with a friend, he does not just speak into the air; he focuses on every letter, every word. He does not even need to try to focus because he sees that he is speaking to someone. He can talk for 10 hours! Because he sees before him a face, hands, feet, and especially when he speaks before a king or an important person, he is extremely careful not to be caught in some mistake, in some illogical thing that he might say – and Hashem is alive and existing and is present before us, and we do not feel Him. This simply shows that we have no intellect, we have no mind; it shows that we have heresy in our hearts.

The Rebbe revealed that when Mashiach comes, the heresy will drip from the sleeves of the "Chassidim." If a person cannot stand in prayer before Hashem, it shows that heresy is dripping from his sleeves. We do not see Hashem because we simply have no intellect; the intellect is hidden from us, the intellect is not developed. If we had intellect, we would not miss a prayer, we would not miss a word, not even a letter. And this is what the Rebbe says in Torah 62, "And know what to answer the heretic" – the heresy in your heart. If you want to answer the heretic in your heart, it is only through the study of the Poskim. The Rebbe says 'Shalom' (peace) is an acronym for 'Da Mah Shetashiv La'Apikoros' (Know what to answer the heretic) – because by studying a halachic ruling, which is the decision and the peace, one merits to know how to answer the heresy in his heart. One must study definitive Halachot every day! A person will see that the moment he studies the Poskim, the evil inclination in his heart will be nullified, and the heresy will be nullified for him. By studying Halacha, the gates of the intellect are simply opened, and therefore our Rebbe says it is a great mitzvah to sharpen the intellect. Only by studying Gemara and Poskim does one sharpen the intellect; only this purifies the mind, only this cleanses the mind. A person cannot reach anything in the world, he cannot reach Emunah or prayer with focus, except through the study of Gemara and Poskim, because all the sharpening of the intellect is only so that we can reach Emunah and pray with focus.