Purim

1. Everyone1 asks himself sometimes, “Who am I?” – because a defining characteristic of a human being is an awareness of who he is. That is what makes him a thinking person.2

We ought to ask ourselves likewise, “Who are we?”

We are part of the clan of Chabad chassidim – but in order to answer that question more fundamentally, we first need to consider, “What is Chabad?”

2. Chabad signifies mochin, intellection,3 which in its broadest sense includes also the middos, the emotive attributes4 which it evokes. The nucleus of intellection, however, is Chochmah, and it is from this basic and unchanging principle that various ramifications are derived, just as steam power is harnessed to grind grain or to propel a train.

3. Nothing can sprout without a preparatory introduction.

After speaking briefly at a Purim farbrengen in 5637 (1877), my grandfather, the Rebbe Maharash, returned to his study and told his sons that he had heard a teaching from his [great-]uncle, R. Chayim Avraham,5 who in turn had heard it from [his brother] R. Moshe, who had heard it as a child from the Alter Rebbe.

The Alter Rebbe had then said: “I heard from the Rebbe, the Maggid of Mezritch, that everything needs a preparatory introduction.

“The introduction to the Written Torah6 is the white space of four lines in the sefer Torah. That white space is a light from the Unknowable Essence of Elokus7 that cannot be revealed in letters.

“The introduction to the Oral Torah8 is Mei’eimasai korin es Shema [be’arvin].9 [The plain (pshat) meaning of this phrase is, ‘From what time can one discharge his obligation to read Shema in the evening?’ On the level of derush], in the first word (מֵאֵימָתַי) the Alter Rebbe detected the noun אֵימָה, which means ‘awe,’ and taught: It is awe that enables one to say Shema. It is awe that elicits [the perception of Elokus which is expressed by the verse that begins with the words,] Shema Yisrael. And the word for ‘in the evening’ is בְּעַרְבִין,10 whose three root-letters mean both ‘evening’ and ‘sweetness.’ This teaches that one should bring about a ‘transformation from bitterness to sweetness.’11

“To accomplish this, one’s direction must undergo a shift. This is hinted at in the next word in the above-quoted mishnah (בְּשָׁעָה – ‘from the time’), which answers its own question by saying that one can say Shema ‘from the time that the kohanim [who had just now regained their state of spiritual purity shifted their direction and] entered the Beis HaMikdash to eat their terumah. And the root-letters of בְּשָׁעָה hint at the word וַיִּשַׁע, as in the verse that says that G‑d ‘turned his attention to Hevel.’12 The service of the kohanim is holy; ‘eating’ suggests ‘internalizing’; and the word תְּרוּמָה (terumah – lit., ‘tithe’) derives from a root meaning ‘elevation,’ because this sanctified food is separate from them and higher than them. And their challenge is to internalize it.

“The introduction to the Gemara is[…].”13

[The Rebbe Rayatz concluded by saying:] The Rebbe R. Zusya [of Hanipoli] used to repeat the above teaching of the Maggid of Mezritch wherever he went, and by doing so, he unveiled the innate hidden love of G‑d14 in scores of fellow Jews.

4. Both Rambam and Pardes [Rimonim] speak of self-awareness. In Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 3:9, Rambam writes: “The [celestial spheres known as] galgalim know themselves and the angels that are superior to themselves. The mind of the stars and the spheres is inferior to the mind of the angels, and superior to the mind of mortals.”

Here we see three statements: (a) The galgalim know themselves. (b) Since he writes that their mind is superior to the mind of mortals, this means that they consider that which is lower than themselves as having real existence,15 because one cannot speak of being superior to nothing. (c) They are aware of that which is superior to themselves.

Those who study the Pessach Shaar in Imrei Binah16understand another very profound concept.

[The Rebbe Rayatz here analyzes the modes in which spiritual energy is diffused and communicated between the Sefiros in worlds that exist at various levels – as explained by his father, the Rebbe Rashab, and as seen in the contrasting conceptions of Rambam and the author of Pardes Rimonim. The entire discussion is couched in the mystical code language of Kabbalah and Chassidus, in terms that do not lend themselves to intelligible translation.]

5. Rambam writes that the angels know the Creator and know themselves.17 Here, unlike what he writes about the spheres, he does not write that “their mind is superior to the mind of mortals,” because angels differ from spheres. The spheres have a relationship with the world, whereas the angels do not,18 unless they have been dispatched on a particular mission in the world, because their role is essentially to sing praises and to recognize their Creator.

Let me tell you of an encounter between two chassidim, whom I prefer not to name.

An old chassid once observed a young chassid singing as he davened and remarked: “You’re not an angel!”

“What do you mean?” asked the young man. “Of course I’m not an angel!”

The elder chassid explained: “Angels know what to sing, and they grasp before Whom they are singing. You don’t know what you are singing, nor before Whom you are singing! So why are you singing…?”

6. The above statement that “the mind of the spheres is superior to the mind of mortals” relates only to mundane intellect, not19 to the intellect of the soul, which is Divine intellect.

“Whatever we are, we are – but we are chassidim!”20 So we ought to take a drop of mashke and say LeChayim!

7. We ought to know each of the above-discussed subjects in the mode in which it exists Above, in its Source.

About 49 or 50 years ago, in 5654 or 5655 (1894-1895), the medical experts discovered a conduit in the brain that serves both memory and concentration. Someone in the family21 told this excitedly to my father at the table, who listened but did not comment. After the Grace after Meals, my father asked those at the table to wait a moment, while he brought from his study a little notebook handwritten by the Mitteler Rebbe, and showed it to them. There, in six or seven lines, he writes that the back-and forth motion of this vein, which is filled with vapor, benefits memory and concentration. When it moves towards the brain of Chochmah and Binah,22 it benefits memory, and when it moves towards the brain23 of Daas, it benefits profound concentration. Hence, as we observe, when a person wants to recall a memory, he spontaneously raises his head, and when he wants to concentrate on something, he spontaneously lowers his head.

Hearing this, someone asked: “So the Mitteler Rebbe was an eminent medical expert?”

My father replied: “He knew this because that’s the way things are Above, in Adam HaElyon, so it must certainly be the same down here below, in mortal man.”

8. Intellection (mochin) is characterized by a measured frame of mind (mesinus) and a patient frame of mind (savlanus).

One’s response in any situation ought to be measured. That is mesinus. And savlanus implies that a person [such as a mashpia who seeks to admonish his disciple] should not shake his head violently from side to side. A mere glance ought to be more effective than speech, and ought to elicit a spontaneous response. Thus, concerning David HaMelech it is written that “G‑d told [Shim’i ben Gera], ‘Curse!’“24 And the ultimate purpose of such an experience is to summon forth one’s deepest self, just as with “a rose among the thorns.”25 The thorns that prick its petals elicit an aroma so powerful that it destroys the thorns.26 That dynamic characterizes a person who stands his ground for a principle so staunchly, that all the winds and all the forces in the world cannot make him budge.

Now, one might well point out that intellection allows room for changes. The answer: Such changes stem only from logical argumentation, because every argument has a counter-argument, but once the argument is expressed in thought and speech and action, they limit the intellection and disallow changes. Every instance of intellection must give rise to an action, in the spirit of the [anonymous] aphorism that “there is none so wise as the man of experience.” An exercise in intellection that does not produce a practical result is not intellection worthy of the name. When it does produce a practical result in thought and speech and action, they encompass it so completely that it cannot undergo change.

It is written, “Wisdom animates the one who possesses it.”27 In the present context, “the one who possesses it” is a person’s thought and speech and action, because they encompass it so completely that there is no room for an opposite concept, and the original concept remains as unshakable as a firmly-entrenched tent-peg.

9. Everyone knows the commentary on the first verse in the Torah, which begins,בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים– “In the beginning, G‑d created [heaven and earth].” [Noting that the first of those words in the Holy Tongue comprises the letter בּ, whose numerical value is 2, and the word רֵאשִׁית, which means “the beginning,” the Sages comment that G‑d created the world for the sake of two entities that are called רֵאשִׁית] – “for the sake of the Torah, [which is referred to as ‘the beginning of G‑d’s path,’28] and for the sake of the Jewish People,29 [who are referred to as ‘the beginning of His harvest’].”30

Those two entities were the ultimate purpose for which the entire world was created.

Nevertheless, we see that it took about 2000 years until the first Jew, Avraham Avinu, was born. It is true that the Sages perceived that the letters that spell בְּהִבָּרְאָם (“when they were created”)31 also spell the word בְּאַבְרָהָם.32 The fact remains, however, that for 2000 years, people who thought that the whole world existed for the sake of themselves and their material affairs bungled their way along, knowing nothing of what was above themselves – until Avraham arrived on the scene. The Sages teach that “when he was three years old he recognized his Creator,”33 or, according to [other opinions], at a later age.34 Whatever those differences, the Giving of the Torah did not take place until the year 2448 after Creation. Although ultimately the world was created for the sake of the Jewish People and for the sake of the Torah, that long period intervened. And that delay begs to be pondered upon.

Discussing this paradox, Chassidus points out basically that if something brings about the desired result, time is not of the essence. This may also be seen in the revelation of Chassidus, which had originally been known only by a select few, until the advent of the Baal Shem Tov, who opened it up to everyone.

[With the Torah, likewise, stage by stage:] The Jewish People are the glorious crown of the world; the Torah is the glorious crown of the Jewish people; and Chassidus is the glorious crown of those who study Torah.

10. The Baal Shem Tov proposed a novel perspective on the world: he taught that the eye deceives. The Gemara (in Pesachim 50a) [cites one of the Sages who had been given a glimpse of the World to Come]: “I saw a world that is upside-down. There, [in the World of Truth,] those who are elevated [in This World] are cast down below, and those who are lowly [in This World] are elevated.”

[Through the eyes of the Baal Shem Tov], this paradox can also be observed in This World, in which it is possible that a person who is elevated is in fact not worthy of esteem, and a person who is lowly is in fact not at all lowly.

The Alter Rebbe contributed the principle that the elevated person should absorb the positive attributes of the lowly person, and the lowly person should strive to attain the positive attributes of the elevated person. Although he cannot exactly resemble him, he should at least strive to attain one of his positive attributes.

11. In a teaching that the Baal Shem Tov once delivered on Motzaei Yom Kippur,he said that “Yom Kippurim resembles Purim.”35 Both Yom Kippur and Purim involve the casting of lots. In the Beis HaMikdash, lots were cast on Yom Kippur,36 and with regard to Purim, “lots were cast [before Haman].”37

Despite the difference between them, for Yom Kippur represents the avodah of tzaddikim, in both cases there was a casting of lots. However, if the people of that generation “fulfilled the will of the Omnipresent,”38 the lot which was marked “For G‑d” came up in the right hand of the Kohen Gadol. Either way, lots were always cast, and [the Kohen Gadol declared that] the goat which received that lot was LaShem chatas – [i.e., it was to be sacrificed as] “a sin-offering for G‑d.”39

The lots relating to Purim were cast in order to implement malicious decrees against Jews – [though the Divine purpose underlying this dynamic was] to induce them to do teshuvah. Accordingly, the avodah of Purim wells forth from the depths of the heart, bringing people to the point of self-sacrifice.

(The present time, too,40 is a time when lots – the evil decrees against our people – are being cast. This hidden expression of G‑d’s love ought to arouse a response of teshuvah.)

Now, over the years there was Moshe Rabbeinu, and there were the kohanim who performed the avodah in the Beis HaMikdash, and there were all the nevi’im. Nevertheless, from the time of the first Yom Kippur, which was in the year 2449 after Creation, until Purim –

(If we had [said LeChayim!] to the point of “not knowing,”41 we would not know exactly in which year the events of Purim occurred – but even though we did not drink, I don’t want to make that calculation now, though it seems to me that the first Purim took place in the year 3404 after Creation.)

As we were saying: Throughout all the years until then, it had never been sensed that “Yom Kippurim resembles Purim,” and even then it was sensed only by a few lofty souls – until the Baal Shem Tov appeared and revealed it to everyone.

From this we see that time is not critical,42 because the innermost essence of anything, its pnimiyus, accords with the truth, and truth is not time-dependent.

12. Today we are occupied with the needs of the public – and in fact everyone should beoccupied with the needs of the public, whether by saving fellow Jews physically, or by fortifying institutions of Torah study. With regard to the mitzvah to study Torah, there are no distinctions – a pauper and someone who is ailing43 are also obligated to set aside fixed times for study sessions. In the same way, when it comes to the mitzvah to support Torah scholars, everyone is obligated. Even a person who is penniless should take action and motivate others to take action, so that Torah scholars will be able to study without financial worries. All Jews are obligated to support the kosher Talmud Torah schools and the kosher yeshivos, and the children who are enrolled at treife Talmud Torah schools and at non-kosher yeshivos should be saved from them. Educational institutions whose teachers do not observe Shabbos are (G‑d forbid) houses of apostasy, and children should be saved from them.

Efforts must be made to fortify regular sessions of public Torah study and to motivate people to attend them. When people do so, they will recognize the weighty status of the various laws – that transgressing the laws of family purity44 entails (G‑d forbid) punishment by kares,45and desecrating Shabbos entails capital punishment or, [if the desecration was unintentional,] a sin-offering. Speaking about these subjects underlines their seriousness.

13. It is said that it was the custom of Yaavetz46 to hold gold and silver coins in his hand while studying Torah.47 On this the Tzemach Tzedek commented that chassidim also hold in their hands coins of silver and gold, which represent ahavah, the love of G‑d and yir’ah, the awe of G‑d,48 for when they invest their head in their studies, their heart experiences delight.

14. One should retain a mental picture of how things were in earlier times, of how people lived their lives fifty years ago, and doing so will produce an effect today. This is a distinctive characteristic of sight – that even though a long period may have elapsed, what one visualizes appears as if it happened just now.

Let me tell you a teaching of the Alter Rebbe on the phrase, וְאַתָּה תְּצַוֶּה – “And you shall command [the Children of Israel concerning the pure olive oil for the Menorah].”49 The word וְאַתָּה (“and you…”) is linked to the earlier verses, in which we read, “according to everything that I am showing you – the form of the Mishkan and the shape of all of its vessels – and thus you shall do.”50 To the words “that I am showing you” (אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מַרְאֶה אוֹתְךָ), Ibn Ezra adds a comment: “with the sight of the eye” – because the visions of Yechezkel, [by contrast,] came as prophetic dreams. [Thus,] although the prophet Yechezkel beheld the Third Beis HaMikdash in all its details (May we be privileged to see it in the near future!), that vision appeared to him as a prophetic dream, whereas Moshe Rabbeinu was shown [the Mishkan] literally, “with the sight of the eye.”

(On the phrase, “vertical beams of acacia wood,”51 the Midrash cites [a phrase from a vision of Yechezkel], “fiery angels stand…”52)

The faculty of sight produces an image in all the faculties of the soul.53 The faculty of hearing produces an image only in the “brain of memory,”54 whereas sight is envisaged in the mind, impressed in the heart, and engraved in all the faculties of the soul.

That is why, as we observe, something that is heard becomes hazy with time and in fact may be utterly forgotten, whereas when a sight is recalled, it is recalled in full. Moreover, the faculty of sight affects one’s faculty of hearing. For example, it can happen that a person repeating a teaching that he once heard from his rosh yeshivah recalls only the subject that was discussed, and may be in doubt about its details – whereas if at the time he had also seen the delivery of the teaching, he would now recall it in full.

The faculty of sight is superior in yet another way, in that it promotes bittul, self-effacement. For example, when a householder55 repeats a teaching that he once heard from his rosh yeshivah, his ego surfaces – it was he who heard that teaching, whereas if he also sees his mentor at the time [he repeats the teaching], his ego is no longer prominent.

This, then, is what underlies the words of Ibn Ezra, “with the sight of the eye”: the form of the Mishkan became firmly internalized in the mind of Moshe Rabbeinu by virtue of “the sight of the eye.” And this is the inner meaning of the word [וְאַתָּה [תְּצַוֶּה – the letter vav of וְאַתָּה gave rise to אַתָּה.56

(The above teaching recalls the comment of my great-grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, in the year 5598 (1838), on the phrase, Echad hayah Avraham – (lit.,) “Avraham was one.”57 [In those words, at the level of derush, the Tzemach Tzedek perceived an additional message: “Avraham was an echad-person.”58 That is to say that the principle of echad – the Unity of the Creator [as articulated in the daily declaration of Shema Yisrael] – lit up every aspect of his life to the point that he became an echad-person.)

[To resume the above thought on the role of Moshe Rabbeinu, as explained in footnote 56:] It is written, Ve’atah tetzaveh es Bnei Yisrael – “And you shall command the Children of Israel…”: Moshe Rabbeinu was commanded to draw down and empower them with the ability to fulfill their task, namely, veyik’chu eilecha [i.e., “they shall bring you pure olive oil” for the Menorah (Shmos 27:20)]. The Gemara (Menachos 86b) notes that the verse says eilecha (“they shall bring you pure olive oil”) and not li (which would mean that “they shall bring Me pure olive oil”).

The Alter Rebbe now explains that statement [in terms of one’s personal avodah]. The term eilecha (“to you”) signifies the Sefirah of Chochmah, [which was personified by Moshe Rabbeinu]. Specifically, that term signifies the level of Chochmah that is called re’iah deChochmah – thefaculty of sight that Chochmah possesses,59 [and it is specifically rei’ah deChochmah, thefaculty of sight that Chochmah possesses, that enables the hidden love60 of G‑d that is innate in every Jew to surface]. The term li (“to Me”), [in contrast to the term eilecha,] signifies the transcendent level of Elokus called Kesser.61

The above-quoted verse continues with the phrase, shemen zayis zach, kasis (“pure olive oil, crushed”). [The Alter Rebbe now concludes his interpretation:] Only after a person is likewise humble (lit., “crushed”) in his own estimation can he become “a luminary, to kindle (lit., ‘to raise up’) a lamp regularly.”62 Only then can he summon up the love of G‑d that is latent within every Jew (even if his conduct is not as it ought to be), so that he becomes a constant lamp.63

15. One ought to remind himself of how people lived their lives in the shtetl, in their hometown in the Old Country. In Khaslavitch, [for example,] making a point of davenen with a minyan was taken for granted – and that included being in shul three times a day, studying Ein Yaakov between Minchah and Maariv, and a shiur in Gemara after Maariv. Over there, everyone had his environment, whereas here, “city life is difficult.”64

When a chassid by the name of R. Zalman Manyevitch65 moved from Polotzk to Moscow, he took along several fellow chassidim with him. In the shul in which he davened in Moscow, there were minyanim that followed all of the various nus’chaos – our nusach, Nusach Sepharad, and Nusach Ashkenaz. R. Zalman used to daven in our minyan, and in every regard he conducted himself just as he used to do in his former hometown. The local misnagdim enjoyed their scholarly discussions with him, and the feeling was mutual.

One day, in the course of one of those discussions, he sighed, and when they asked him why, he sighed again and just said, “City life is difficult.”

They asked: “But how does that apply to you? After all, from shul you go home, and from home you go to shul! In fact here in Moscow, everything is so much more convenient. Where you used to live there were kerosene lamps, and here you have gas!”

He answered: “Here, for example, Zaratzai St. is paved with wooden blocks, Barbaike St. is paved with cobblestones, and Melievke St. is paved with asphalt. Now, for a horse that’s dragging a heavy wagon, the choice of streets makes a difference: his task is easier on the street that’s paved with asphalt – but (lehavdil!66) for a neshamah, city life is difficult, because what’s lacking is the [Old World’s] environment.”

And that is why, when a person recalls how life was lived in the Old Country, even though at the time he was a child, the recollection impacts him now, as he recalls that over there he was a different man. That is why one needs the power of sight and the ability to visualize, for they drag him out of the mire and wash him clean.

16. Theabove is all about one’s obligations to the public67 – but one mustn’t forget his personal avodah, working on himself.

[At this point, the Rebbe turned to address the temimim.]

One must work on oneself, carefully husbanding one’s time and treasuring every moment. Staying awake [and studying] until 3:00 a.m. does not yet bring one closer to the goal. One should sleep when one ought to sleep, in order to have the strength to study, but every waking moment should be taken seriously. It is important to honestly observe the times of the various study sessions in nigleh and in Chassidus, and the same applies to avodah shebalev, “the service of the heart,” that is, the avodah of davenen. Every topic studied should be investigated and understood in depth – not by hoping to discharge one’s obligation by striving to hit upon a chiddush, an [impressively] novel interpretation, but by toiling, without self-delusion.

Likewise with regard to eating, I am not happy in general with current conduct. One ought to eat what is needed in order to have the strength to study. One should consume less even of things that one has been accustomed to eat. One doesn’t have to have everything – though one ought to eat what one should eat.

17. It should not be forgotten that everyone should invest in his personal avodah. To study a maamar once in the course of a week, and to think that one has now done his duty, is far from satisfactory. One should study a maamar that deals with avodah68 – not once, but several times; to review it thoroughly and memorize it; then to have it accompany him when he proceeds to daven; and also to give it practical application in his middos, in refining his character.

18. The passage concerning Amalek appears twice in the Torah, in Parshas Zachor69 and in the paragraph beginning VaYavo Amalek.70 It’s the same Amalek, though with different faces. Now, the Torah is intellective, and it is all arranged in an organized plan. [Accordingly,] on Shabbos Zachor, which comes before Purim, we read the passage which begins, “Remember what Amalek did to you…,” and which proceeds with the commandment, “Erase the memory of Amalek…. Do not forget.” On this the Sages teach: “The commandment to remember is to be fulfilled by word of mouth, and the commandment not to forget is to be fulfilled in the heart.”71

Now, on Purim, [which is always later than Shabbos Zachor,] we read the paragraph beginning VaYavo Amalek (“And Amalek came…”), whereas surely we ought to read it first, and only later read the passage that includes the commandment to remember. That is, first a narration of how murderers and robbers attacked the people, and only after that would it be appropriate to remember (by word of mouth) and not to forget (in the heart). Why is that sequence reversed?

In the Torah, sequence in itself is significant. It is written, “This is the Torah: A man….”72 [The verse goes on to state a certain law, but a traditional interpretation of those quoted words alone, unconnected to their context, reads them as if they teach that] “this is the Torah: a man.” That is to say, “the Torah” and “a man” are one and the same. [The Rebbe Rayatz explains:] Although the Torah is Divine intellect, it is brought down to be graspable by the mortal mind.

It can be brought down either (a) by bringing the thinker (the masig73) closer to the targeted Divine concept (the musag), or (b) by bringing the targeted Divine concept closer to the thinker. The former dynamic entails the elevation of the thinker to the level of the concept, whereas the latter dynamic requires that the concept be brought down to the level of the thinker. (A maskil, however, does not refer to the latter dynamic as a descent, but rather as halbashah, lit., as being “enclothed” in palpable terms.)

These two dynamics – (a) and (b) above – correspond to the terms (a) hasagas hashlilah [which literally means grasping the concept negatively, i.e., understanding only what the concept is not], and (b) hasagas hachiyuv [which literally means grasping a concept positively, i.e., understanding what it is, albeit imperfectly].

The same two dynamics also correspond to the terms (a) hafshatah [lit., “disrobing,” i.e., conceiving of the concept in the abstract], and (b) halbashah [lit., “enclothing” the concept in parables and the like that are within the reach of the mortal thinker’s finite mind].

It is difficult to explain this subject at length, but even more difficult to explain it in brief. We’ll discuss it just insofar as it involves practical application.

Everyone needs to know that in addition to the Amalek of Refidim,74 there also exists an Amalek even among Torah scholars. First of all, therefore, there is the command, “Remember what Amalek did to you!” There is an Amalek, and it is Amalek “who encountered you (אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ) on your way” [out of Egypt]. On the non-literal level of interpretation known as derush, the root of that verb in the Holy Tongue allows an additional meaning: the characteristic kelipah of Amalek is frigidity: Amalek “cools down” the ardor of hands that want to serve their Maker.75 It cools down one’s ardor to study Torah or one’s attachment to the spiritual lifestyle of Chassidus. It begins by cooling down one’s ardor in any sphere of kedushah, in anything holy, until it even reaches the stage at which it weakens the hands of those who study Torah.

As everyone knows, many mitzvos can be fulfilled at either of two levels: (a) lechat’chilah (lit., “from the outset”), i.e., in the optimum manner, or (b) bediavad,76 i.e., passable “after the event.” Knowing this, a Torah scholar [who is in the sorry spiritual state described above] can decide to make do with discharging his spiritual obligations in the latter manner, minimally. He arrives at shul halfway through the morning davenen and does what the law prescribes for emergent situations – he says Baruch SheAmar, Ashrei, Vayevarech David and Yishtabach. He doesn’t feel obligated to say the prayers and readings that precede Hodu,77 nor does he see the need to say Tachanun twice in the same day [so surely once at Minchah will suffice]. Later in the day, his head is so preoccupied with finding a scholarly solution to a seemingly problematic statement by Rashba that he misses the time for Minchah with a minyan. However, he reassures himself that after all, he was preoccupied with a Torah topic, and anyway, at Maariv time he’ll repeat Shemoneh Esreh in recompense for the missed Minchah, and thereby discharge his obligation bediavad, as a [preplanned] “after the event….” Comes time for Maariv – but doesn’t the Gemara cite an opinion that “the Maariv prayer is optional”?78 So Maariv, too, can be dispensed with. Finally, from the manner in which he is going to say Kerias Shema before retiring for the night, one can guess what kind of sleep he sleeps. And so on and on, until he arrives at the stage at which “their hands were weakened from the study of Torah.”

One might well ask: Why do the Sages use the idiom that “their hands were weakened from the study of Torah?” After all, the Words of the Sages are chosen precisely, and Torah is studied [not with the hands but] with the mind. So would it not be more appropriate to say that their minds and their hearts loosened their hold [on the words of the Torah]? The message here is that “their hands” alludes to the application of the Torah – the actual, hands-on performance of the practical mitzvos.79 The aim of [the kelipah of] Amalek is not to prevent the study of the Torah. That “Amalek” would say, “Study Torah as much as you like” – but that kelipah distances a person from its practical observance. And that is what is intended by the idiom that “their hands were weakened.”80

The solution to this challenge appears in the response of Moshe Rabbeinu to the attack by Amalek: “When Moshe raised his hands [in prayer, Israel prevailed].”81 On this verse the Sages teach: “As long as the Children of Israel looked upwards and subjugated their hearts to their Father in Heaven, they were mightier…”82 – which means, when they were in awe of Heaven.83

19. For various reasons, one cannot reveal everything that ought to be revealed, but I will convey one thought that is most relevant to everyone.

In the state in which our People now find themselves, what is called for is ahavas Yisrael, loving every single fellow Jew. Everyone must learn to seek the positive side of every fellow Jew. There must not be any controversy. As the Sages teach, “Do not judge your fellow until you have stood in his situation.”84 It could be that he is not your friend, but he must be judged favorably. No one is saying that one should not reprimand him, but that should be done only in a spirit of friendship, without painful words.

In the present era, heeding the above is critical.

20. The present state of our People at large is very sad. It’s hard to wait any longer, while again and again, Jews are being dragged into the mire.

[The Rebbe Rayatz wept bitterly. He then said:] The obligation to make the brain rule the heart85 applies to one’s own suffering, not to the suffering of others.

Our Father in Heaven! Accept our prayers! Look at our woes and avert Your gaze from our [Evil] Inclination!

[The Rebbe concluded:] May G‑d hear our entreaty!