1. On the first night of Rosh HaShanah, people customarily wish each other, “Gut Yom-Tov! Leshanah tovah tikasev veseichaseim!”1 This comes after saying [the two paragraphs that are together known as] Aleinu. According to Rashal,2 Aleinu is followed by the verse beginning Ach tzaddikim,3 and immediately after that comes the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael, the obligation to love every fellow Jew, [by wishing him the above warm blessing].
The primary avodah of Rosh HaShanah is kabbalas ol, accepting the yoke of Heaven, especially during the Maariv service on that night. True, one feels crestfallen, because after all, this day is “a decree for the Jewish People, a time of judgment [by the G‑d of Yaakov],”4 and being “inscribed and sealed for a good year” is proportionate to one’s avodah in the course of the bygone year. Moreover, as the Sages teach,5 and as is explained in Tanya,6 even a tzaddik should not regard himself as a tzaddik. Nevertheless,7 as soon as one takes leave of the davenen – rather: as soon as one takes a break from the davenen – every individual wishes another, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year!”
My revered father revealed8 that Yud-Tes Kislev is the Rosh HaShanah of Chassidus. However, there can’t be a Rosh HaShanah unless it is preceded by an erev Rosh HaShanah; and erev Rosh HaShanah is preceded by the Days of Selichos; and they in turn are preceded by the avodah of Ani leDodi veDodi Li during the month of Elul, especially during the last twelve days before Rosh HaShanah.9 The month of Nissan has twelve days [of preparation before Pesach] that correspond to the Twelve Nesi’im of the Tribes, and the twelve days before Rosh HaShanah correspond to the twelve months of the bygone year. During each of those days every individual should make a stock-taking, within his soul, of the corresponding month of the past year.
Yud-Tes Kislev, the Rosh HaShanah of Chassidus, likewise has its erev Rosh HaShanah and so forth. Its twelve preceding days are [represented by] the twelve daily readings in Tanya,10 as they are apportioned in HaYom Yom.11
The last passage in Tanya, which begins with the words הוֹכֵחַ תּוֹכִיחַ (“You shall surely admonish [your comrade]”), prepares one for the beginning of Tanya.12 That closing passage highlights three obligations: the service (avodah) of the heart, the study of Torah, and the observance of Shabbos. At the outset, the Alter Rebbe adds [the comment of the Sages on the obligation to admonish] “even a hundred times.”13 Those who study Chassidus know that the number “100” (me’ah) is a code term for Chochmah and Binah, and the number “101” (me’ah ve’echad) alludes to the drawing down of [the transcendent Sefirah of] Keser into Chochmah and Binah, so that the [Divine] Echad will light up one’s “100,” one’s Chochmah and Binah.
In the above-mentioned passage, after saying that the study of “the entire Shas14 should be completed [every year],15 the Alter Rebbe goes on to say that “each of those studying it should individually read the whole of the eightfold Psalm 119 every week.”16 Now, what possible connection is there between that psalm and the study of the Shas? The Book of Tehillim, after all,is part of Torah shebich’sav, the Written Torah, whose main requirement is that its letters be actually articulated, whereas the main requirement of Gemara, [as part of Torah shebe’al peh, the Oral Torah,] is that it should be understood. So how is Gemara connected to “Ashrei semimei darech?”17
From this we see that the two obligations are interdependent: the study of Gemara becomes complete only when it is accompanied by the reading of Tehillim, and conversely, the reading of Tehillim must be accompanied by the study of Gemara.
In Chassidus,18 this is explained in terms of the following pairs of concepts: הָבֵן בְּחָכְמָה, וַחֲכַם בְּבִינָה;19Torah shebe’al peh and Torah shebich’sav; mussar avicha (lit., “the ethical teaching of your father”) and Toras imecha (lit., “the instruction of your mother”).20 Mussar avicha implies Torah shebich’sav (the Written Torah) and Toras imecha implies Torah shebe’al peh (the Oral Torah).
Mussar avicha corresponds to havein beChochmah. This means that when engaging in the Written Torah, even if one has no grasp of its inner meaning, by means of the Zohar and Kabbalah one can have some grasp there, too. Likewise, if one is engaged in the Oral Torah, it is quite possible that even if one is studying Gemara and even innovating ways of understanding it, one can quite possibly forget the central point – that while studying Torah he should not forget the Giver of the Torah. What is therefore needed is chacham bevinah – [to keep Chochmah in mind while involved in Binah,] in order to vigilantly safeguard that critical point, [namely, Chochmah].
We can now appreciate the above-mentioned connection between reading Tehillim and studying the Shas. When a person is reading Tehillim, then even though he may not understand what he is saying, his soul does understand. And when he is studying Gemara, then even if he thinks that he understands it, in fact he does not [fully] understand it – whereas the Divine intent is that he should do so.
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The above-mentioned passage in Tanya proceeds to discuss the teaching of the Sages that “whoever observes Shabbos according to its law is forgiven all his sins.”21
Like every other mitzvah, so too Shabbos has its pnimiyus, its inner dimension, and its chitzoniyus, its outer dimension. The chitzoniyus of Shabbos is refraining from work, and resting.
Comes Friday, so a fellow goes to the local bathhouse, puts on a white shirt, comes home, goes off to shul, comes home, [welcomes the ministering angels] expansively with his Shalom Aleichem, washes his hands for his two big challos, and goes to sleep, to get as much rest as he needs. Getting up in the morning, he hurries off to shul in the hope of being given an aliyah, eats his midday Shabbos meal, lies down for a rest, goes off to shul for Minchah, says the psalms of Shir HaMaalos,22 and eats his Shaleshudess, the Third Meal.
That’s his rest – but in that, he and an animal are identical.
After all, it is written, “…in order that [on Shabbos] your ox and your donkey should rest.” This fellow’s Shabbos rest is chitzoniyus shebechitzoniyus, the ultimate degree of soulless externality.
In fact, of course, the mitzvah of Shabbos also has its pnimiyus, its internal dimension – though as to explaining it in depth, you’ll no doubt lend me the time to do so on another occasion…
2.The mood onYud-Tes Kislev in 5588 (1827) was heavy.23 At the big farbrengen that was held onYud-Tes Kislev a year later, my great-grandfather, [the Tzemach Tzedek,] said that Yud-Tes Kislev is Simchas Torah, and Yud Kislev is the First Day of Sukkos.
The latter concept, that Yud Kislev is the First Day of Sukkos, the chassidim at the time possibly derived from the implication of the statement of the Rebbe (i.e., the Tzemach Tzedek) that Yud-Tes Kislev is Simchas Torah. But those latter words – that Yud-Tes Kislev is Simchas Torah – were actually spoken by him.
The concept that was then expounded was that in the Future Era the reasons underlying the Torah would be revealed, but not that there would be a new Giving of the Torah, because [the entire Torah] had already been drawn down at the Giving of the Torah [at Sinai], except that not everything had been revealed. That will take place in the Future Era.
On Simchas Torah one completes – and begins – the Reading of the Torah.
The Alter Rebbe begins Tanya with the words, “An oath24 is administered to him.” Now, since the object of that oath is the soul of a [not-yet-born] child, who does not yet exist as such, the above takes place when the child is first formed.25 Since at that stage he has no obligations, this oath is also addressed to his father and mother. This means to say that when the One Above blesses parents with a pregnancy, they ought to conduct themselves from the outset in such a manner that the child will be born as a Jew worthy of the name.
Another point – and at the moment I am not elaborating on these points – is that the Alter Rebbe teaches that the verb מַשְׁבִּיעִים, here translated “an oath is administered,” also implies satiation.26
3. There is a widely-known teaching of the Alter Rebbe27 that “one should live with the times,” that is, with the weekly parshah.28 Now, everyone here knows how tough the year 5666 (1906) was.29 And at that time, the undercover scheming exceeded even the overt activities.
[Soon after,] on Yud-Tes Kislev 5667 (1906), my father was in Wurzburg,30 Germany. (Yud-Tes Kislev that year fell on a Thursday, like this year.) Among the chassidim who had already arrived there in honor of Yud Kislev were R. Zalke31 Persitz and R. Melech32 Stolberg.
There were many German Jews among the numerous arrivals for the farbrengen of Yud-Tes Kislev, at which my father spoke of the fact that this date always falls in the week of Parshas Vayishlach or Vayeishev.
Yud-Tes Kislev is linked to Parshas Vayishlach via the verse, “And these are the kings who reigned [in the Land of Edom, before a king reigned over the Children of Israel”],33 because Yud-Tes Kislev rectifies the Breaking of the Vessels of the World of Tohu,34 the primeval “World of Chaos.” [In the Kabbalah, the “World of Chaos” is personified by that disjointed sequence of kings.]
My father then linked Yud-Tes Kislev to Parshas Vayeishev by expounding the verse, “And Yaakov dwelt (vayeishev Yaakov) in the land in which his father had lived (be’eretz megurei aviv).”35 Now, the word megurei (מְגוּרֵי), which means “had lived,” shares a root with magor (מָגוֹר), which means “intense fear,” and the word vayeishev (וַיֵּשֶׁב), which means “dwelt,” shares a root with hisyashvus (הִתְיַשְׁבוּת), which signifies a mellow and settled state of mind. In this verse, therefore, my father perceived the following subtext: The level at which Yitzchak experienced as fear, Yaakov accommodated in a settled manner.
Yitzchak personifies the Gevurah of Atik. [However,] “there is no Left Side [i.e., there is no Gevurah, but only Chessed] in [the level of Elokus called] Atik [Yomin]!”36 [What, then, is the meaning of that teaching from the Zohar?]
[At this point the Rebbe Rashab gave an explanation of the above, but the shorthand summary of it that appears in our Yiddish text presupposes a familiarity with classic mystical concepts such as the Gevurah of Atik, and Yaakov Avinu’s avodah of beirurim with the flocks of Lavan.]
My father’s orderly explanation enabled even the German Jews, [who were unfamiliar with the above terms,] to grasp it.
4. It will soon be four years since we arrived in this country. Until now there have been three years of orlah. We are now into the time of the fruits of neta reva’i37 and, thank G‑d, we are beginning to see [the fruits of] His vineyard.38Much has been accomplished during this time, but one must recognize the purpose for which Divine Providence brought us here. Not by virtue of our wisdom or our awe of Heaven were we saved from over there: many sages and G‑d-fearing tzaddikim are being killed and slaughtered (May no one know of such things!), yet us G‑d brought here. That is an act of Divine Providence – in order that we “toil [in His vineyard] and watch over it.”39
I was most reluctant to come here. People also tried to scare me away from the idea, arguing that nothing can be accomplished here – but time has proved otherwise.
We came here by Divine Providence.40 Thus, it is said of Avraham Avinu that “he set out on his journeys,” a phrase in which the Sages perceive a hint – that Avraham set out on His journeys, the journey of the Holy One, blessed be He.41 A Jew does not go anywhere alone, but only where G‑d ordains that he should go. In this there is no free will – just as concerning the descent of a soul into a body we learn that “against your will you live.”42 No one asks the soul if it wants to descend down here below. Only after it is vested in a body can it exercise free will, as to whether it will fulfill the Divine intent for which it descended to This World. So, too, with one’s journeys. It is G‑d Who dispatches a person to his destined spot, and only after he arrives at his destination is there room for free choice, as to whether he will fulfill the mission for which he was positioned there – whereas the journey itself is an instance of Divine Providence.43
Even when one travels because he must distance himself from a certain predicament, his salvation could have come about by arriving at a different destination – but the fact that he is in his present location was determined by Divine Providence.
5. While the Jews were in Egypt they were called bnei Yisrael, the Children of Israel, but after leaving Egypt they are called tzivos HaShem, G‑d’s army.
For any minor indiscipline, a soldier is punished severely. If he is caught not wearing his uniform he can be shot, and if he gets drunk he can be hanged.
Today we are soldiers, and we must conduct ourselves like soldiers. Just as in an earthly regime, where now all men and women are engaged in the war effort, all men and women ought to be engaging in educational work. The claim that nothing can be accomplished is simply not true. Let me tell you of a certain incident.
I once received a letter from one of my yeshivos ketanos44 that had recently accepted a pupil, whose parents had stipulated that their son should not be required to wear tzitzis or cover his head. The parents were of the kind who held that meat and dairy products should not be eaten together – except that this restriction applied only to kosher meat, which was defined as meat that had been bought from a Jewish butcher… After a short time at the yeshivah the boy came home wearing tzitzis and a yarmulke, and informed his parents that if the home would not be kosher, he would not eat there. Those words worked.
When Dasan and Aviram, [who were partners in Korach’s revolt, defied Moshe Rabbeinu, they] said: “Even if you were to gouge out the eyes of those men, we will not go up!”45 Now, what connection is there between their defiance and eyes?
Moshe Rabbeinu told them: Come and see the miracles that G‑d is performing for us! To this they responded, “He is gouging out our eyes!” They did not want to see, and insisted, “We will not go up!” We don’t want to go out!
In today’s exile, likewise, there are many people who say, “We will not go up! We don’t want to go out of exile!”
A person who looks with blinded eyes sees nothing, and a person whose ears are blocked hears nothing.
[In Pirkei Avos we learn: “If a person accepts upon himself the yoke of Heaven, he is relieved of the yoke of the government.”46] We must do what we are obligated today to do, and that is, to work for education, and אֵין נָקִי – “no one is exempt.” That is what those two words mean in their material sense. In a spiritual sense, they can be read as if to say: If a person accepts upon himself the yoke of Heaven – that is, [if he undertakes to be without (אֵין) any other occupation, he is relieved (נָקִי) of the yoke of the government.47
In America, everything involving Yiddishkeit is frigid, and that frigidity must be removed.
“The actions of our forefathers are a signpost for their descendants.”48 Although Avraham Avinu was a wondrous intellectual, he made Elokus known throughout the world, even to the ordinary people amongst whom he lived. And that is how people nowadays ought to devote themselves to the cause of chinuch, Jewish education. For example, businessmen should devote certain regular timeslots to this purpose.
I appeal to all students of all yeshivos – that they should set up committees to work towards filling whatever spaces are available in Torah institutions with Jewish children, thereby saving them from the non-kosher yeshivos and the non-kosher Talmud Torah schools.
I have already made it clear that the yeshivah students should fully observe the set times for the study of nigleh and Chassidus, and their free times should be devoted to working in the cause of chinuch. In the case of the students of the Tomchei Temimim Yeshivah, this works, because they have the power of mesirus nefesh, self-sacrifice, from all the Rebbeim. In the eyes of the world at large, the Alter Rebbe is an ohev Yisrael, a lover of his fellow Jews; for us he is the Rebbe. His power, and the power of all of our Rebbeim, is present in all of our work.
The Sages teach that “whoever sets aside a fixed place for his prayers is helped by the G‑d of Avraham.”49 What is this telling us?
The word for prayer – תְּפִלָּה – shares a root with a verb that means “joining,” or “connecting.”50 If a person dedicates himself to the goal of connecting,51 he is helped by the G‑d of Avraham, because it was Avraham who first opened the conduit of self-sacrifice.
I am confident that with the grace of G‑d everything that is needed will become available, such as the funds needed for the Tomchei Temimim yeshivos, but those fellow Jews who will not help them are to be pitied. Although the Mishkan could have been built by three people, we read that “the men came, with the women.”52 Everyone had a share in making the Mishkan and its vessels.
6. A Jew ought to be told: “Hear me, brother: If you guard Shabbos, Shabbos will guard you, and if you desecrate Shabbos, then, G‑d forbid, [Shabbos will respond in kind].”
Likewise, with regard to the observance of the laws of family purity,53 one should not be bashful but should tell the truth, namely: If people observe those laws – which involve immersion, not in a bath but in a kosher mikveh – their children will be healthy, and will come home safe and sound from the battlefields.54
There is a well-known expression that a positive statement implies its negative counterpart.55 What I desire and what I say is the positive aspect of things – and may the One Above grant us all an abundance of good things, and rouse us in loving-kindness and compassion.
