תַּעֲנִית אֶסְתֵר מוּקְדָם. סְלִיחוֹת, אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ. מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל.

[This year (5703/1943), exceptionally,] the Fast of Esther is observed [on this date,] before its usual time.1

[In any year, the Morning Service for the Fast of Esther includes] Selichos2 and Avinu Malkeinu,3 and the [contribution of three coins of] half a shekel4 [is made at Minchah time].

חֲסִידוּת כּוֹלֶלֶת שְׁנֵי עִנְיָנִים עִקָּרִים: א) הֲבָנַת כָּל הֲלָכָה בְּשָׁרְשָׁהּ וּמְקוֹרָהּ הָעַצְמִי בְּרוּחָנִיּוּת, הַיְינוּ בִּסְפִירוֹת וּמַדְרֵגוֹת בְּכָל עוֹלָם וְעוֹלָם לְפִי עִנְיָנוֹ כִּמְבוֹאָר בְּדִבְרֵי אֱלֹקִים חַיִּים. ב) הֲבָנַת עִנְיַן כָּל הֲלָכָה בַּעֲבוֹדָה, הַיְינוּ שֶׁהֲגַם שֶׁהִיא חָכְמָה וְשֵׂכֶל אֱלֹקִי וְדִין הַתּוֹרָה, מִכָּל מָקוֹם צָרִיךְ לִמְצוֹא בָּזֶה עִנְיָן בַּעֲבוֹדָה בְּהַנְהָגַת הָאָדָם בְּחַיֵּי עוֹלָם זֶה.

[The study of halachah through the eyes of] Chassidus comprises two fundamental approaches:

(a) Understanding every halachah at its essential, spiritual root and source in the various Sefiros and rungs within each of the spiritual worlds. The distinctive nature of each world is explained in the teachings of Chassidus.

(b) Understanding what each halachah signifies in an individual’s Divine service. Although [the halachah] represents Divine wisdom and intelligence and is Torah law, one should [seek and] discover an element within it that affects his avodah and his conduct, as he lives his life in this physical world.5

Living as a Chassid

The relationship between nigleh, the revealed dimension of Torah, and pnimiyus haTorah, its inner, mystical dimension, is often described by means of the analogy of body and soul.6 This implies that a correspondence exists between the two levels, that every revealed law is the tangible manifestation of a corresponding spiritual dimension. When one studies with this awareness, the knowledge of the details of the laws endows him with sensitivity to the spiritual intricacies involved.

As the Rebbe Rayatz intimates in the above teaching, that sensitivity produces two different, almost opposite thrusts. On the one hand, it leads to haskalah, anabstract understanding of how everything in this world is rooted in a higher spiritual reality. On the other hand, it calls forth avodah, palpable Divine service. For spiritual awareness must not remain on lofty, ethereal planes: it demands practical application in our lives. Our everyday actions in this hands-on realm should yearn to express the higher reality Above.