The Baal Shem Tov famously wrote about a vision he had where he had an interaction with the neshama of Moshiach. The Baal Shem Tov asked Moshiach when he will come, and was told “when your wellsprings (i.e. Torah teachings) spread outwards.”
Or at least that’s the part we sing in the song. The rest of the answer was “v’yasu yichudim kamocha — and they (the Jewish people) will make yichudim like you do.”
But how can we possibly do yichudim on par with the heiligeh Baal Shem Tov?! Some might suggest that it doesn’t mean to do yichudim on par with the way the Baal Shem Tov did, but rather it means kamocha — just as the Baal Shem Tov did yichudim, we also do yichudim, every Yid on their own level.
But let’s zoom out for a second. What are yichudim? What does it mean to do yichudim on our own level — aren’t yichudim an avodah for great tzadikim or mekubalim?
But on the other hand, if yichudim are not for the ‘regular Jew’, why do we so often make a “l’shem yichud” before doing a mitzvah? Are we just paying a lip service when we see לשם יחוד קוב”ה ושכנתיה — with the intention to unify the Blessed One with the Shechina?
There is obviously value in saying a l’shem yichud even if our intention is just to focus our mind on the fact that we are about to do a mitzvah, and this helps us ensure that our mitzvah is not just being done out of habit (unless we say the l’shem yichud out of habit and without intention too, that is).
But there is an avodah of yichud when we do a mitzvah, and the B’yam Darkecha (in the sefer on Tu B’shvat) explains what this means in the most simple way, demonstrating clearly how this is a relatable avodah for every Yid.
Let’s look another look at the words: לשם יחוד קוב”ה ושכנתיה — with the intention to unify the Blessed One with the Shechina.
The Blessed One obviously refers to Hashem. But what is the Shechina, which is usually translated as Divine Presence? And more importantly, what is the difference between Hashem and the Shechina, and what is the unity we are trying to bring between the two?
There are obviously many levels of this, but the B’yam Darkecha teaches a very simple understanding of this concept that we can all use.
Hashem is well beyond the grasp of His creations, as it is written (Tikunei Zohar, second hakdamah): לֵית מַחְשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵּיהּ כְּלָל — “No thought can grasp Him at all.”
But Hashem wants us to have a relationship with Him, and to connect to Him, so He constricted His Essence so that it could be infused into our world in a way that we can “handle” (in a process called tzimtzum). The form of Hashem that we can interact with is called His Shechina.
The world is filled with Hashem’s Presence, but it does not look that way. It looks like it’s filled with nature, cause and effect, coincidence, and so on. When we use the physical world to connect to Hashem, we are showing that the physical world is just the outer layer, and that within every single thing, or occurrence, is the Presence of Hashem, Who is giving that thing its existence at every moment.
This is called “bringing unity.” We are saying that there is one unified existence, that the entire world and everything in it is nothing more than the Presence of Hashem, even though on the surface level, it may not appear so.
When a Yid does a mitzvah, he is tuning out of the illusion of nature and showing that Hashem is found here too. This brings unity, uniting the upper worlds and the truth of reality with the lower worlds. With every mitzvah, a Yid is declaring: “It’s not true that the physical world maintains its own existence! There is no separation between Hashem and the world He created! It is all one. Hashem is right here, and I am connecting with Him through the physical world by doing this mitzvah and demonstrating that He is right here too.”
Taking a moment to have this intention, by thinking about the unity you are bringing and saying l’shem yichud elevates the mitzvah tremendously. Before you do a mitzvah, you are essentially saying out loud what you are really about to do. When a Yid pulls away from his focus on physicality and does a mitzvah he is declaring Hashem’s unity to the world.
It’s really as simple as that. Let’s bring the “yichud” back into “l’shem yichud!”
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 81.