[Riga]
Many people mistakenly think that
avodah shebalev, "the service of the heart," is a kind of optional embellishment to a
mitzvah, a mark of unusual piety. Accordingly, they defer it to some undefined stage in the future, as in the phrase, "When I have free time I will study." This amounts to saying that one will devote time to "the service of the heart"
after he has been provided with all his necessities; i.e., after he has been provided with whatever -- in his own estimation -- he deserves to be provided with.
There is considerable human error in such an estimation, because self-love and self-admiration blind a man's eyes from seeing the truth. So when he has finished contemplating how much he needs and how much he deserves to be provided with, he then starts thinking about avodah. On Monday or Thursday, or on Shabbos morning after coffee, he goes to shul and converses his fill with everyone around him. Then, when the congregation has completed the prayers, he starts thinking about avodah, about davenen at length. By this time the prayers do not well forth spontaneously, so he mouths the words and that's that. The reason is simply that he is lacking the entire preparation required for prayer. To begin with, he is lacking the basic prelude stipulated by the Sages: "One should not stand up to pray except in an earnest frame of mind." This Rashi defines as humble submissiveness.
If one is to attain
truly humble submissiveness, then this in turn demands due preparation (as is well known with relation to the Reading of
Shema before retiring at night and
Tikkun Chatzos). However, even the merely basic preparation of becoming humbly submissive requires at least that one meditate a little upon the few words involved -- to consider who is praying, and to Whom he is praying. Even such a meditation would suffice to engender a little vitality in one's
davenen.
If, instead, one's prayers are preceded by conversation, so that one misses the cue for any of the congregational responses -- an Amen, or an Amen, yehei shmei rabba..., or the Barchu recited by a fellow worshiper over the Reading of the Law -- this is the absolute antithesis of davenen. Obviously, therefore, when one finally begins to daven, his prayers are not warmly spontaneous. He still deludes himself, nonetheless, that his prolonged endeavors constitute avodah and that this is what makes a chassid....
As I was taught,
avodah shebalev ("the service of the heart") signifies serving G-d
in one's heart and
with one's heart. The relevant verse in the Written Law says, "and to serve Him with all your heart." The
Gemara [i.e., the Oral Law] thereupon asks, "What is this service of the heart?" And it answers its own question: "We may understand this as referring to prayer."
The Written Law embodies the Sefirah of Chochmah; the Oral Law embodies the Sefirah of Binah.
In the Grace After Meals we express gratitude "for Your Torah which You have taught us." Chassidus, citing the kavanos of the AriZal, explains that "Your Torah" refers to the Torah as it exists in the World of Atzilus; "which You have taught us" means "which You have taught us in the World of Beriah."
Chochmah is described as a point, the quintessence of a concept; Binah, in contrast, has the length and breadth of expansive comprehension. The Sefirah of Chochmah is therefore called a wellspring, which yields its life-giving waters drop by drop; the Sefirah of Binah is called a river.
The Written Law, which is the Sefirah of Chochmah, says that one should "serve [G-d] with all your heart." The Oral Law, which is the Sefirah of Binah that explains the seminal point of Chochmah, asks: "What is this service of the heart?" I.e., What kind of avodah is this which takes place in one's heart and with one's heart? And it answers its own question: "We may understand that this refers to prayer."
Since the avodah of davenen takes place in a man's heart and with his heart, it follows that if the davenen was done as it ought to be done, then it leaves its imprint on every aspect of his conduct throughout the entire day. If he davens with all his heart, then his whole day thereafter is utterly transformed: he sees the positive side of everything and everyone he encounters; moreover, he makes earnest endeavors to upgrade all of his character traits and behavior patterns.
It is taught in the
Mishnah: "Therefore every man is obliged to say, 'For me was the world created.'" The word "therefore" connects with the preceding statement: Since G-d created every individual with a distinctive face, which means that the nature of each individual is unique,
"therefore every man is obliged to say, 'For me was the world created.'" Now, in the Holy Tongue the word for "world"
(olam) shares a root with the word meaning "obscurity"
(he'elem). [Hence: "For my sake was the obscurity created."] The obscuring of the Divine light [i.e., the obscuring of the Divine creative and life-giving energy] stems from the First
Tzimtzum, the purpose of which was that ultimately the Divine light should be revealed. This may be learned
a fortiori by comparison with the
tzimtzumim that comprise
Seder Hishtalshelus [which is the chainlike scheme whereby the Divine light progressively screens itself on its way "down"]. If even the latter
tzimtzumim, which merely limit the Divine light, exist for the sake of eventual revelation, then it is obvious that the First
Tzimtzum, which entails the utter removal of the light, took place for the sake of the eventual revelation of light.
The tzimtzumim that comprise Seder Hishtalshelus intensify by gradual stages, for if Divine light is to be elicited or bestowed from a higher source to a lower recipient, it must first be adjusted to the recipient's absorptive capacity by a process of self-concealment. Hence, it is because of His loving desire that the recipient be granted a revelation of light that the mashpia, the Bestower of light, screens His own Intellect in this way.
The First Tzimtzum, in which G-d (so to speak) removed His great light, was thus intended to benefit the recipient by enabling him to accommodate a greater irradiation of light than otherwise, namely, an irradiation of the Ein Sof-light that preceded the Tzimtzum. Moreover, it was G-d's desire that this revelation be called forth by the avodah of its mortal recipients.
In this area there is an innovative teaching of my father on the concept of "illuminating afresh." (For ten years now my father's body is not here. We should cherish the sanctity of his physical remains, for the physical remains of a tzaddik are different from the remains of other people.) The term "innovative teaching" is actually not appropriate to a Rebbe, for the function of a Rebbe is to reveal down here below what he has heard in Gan Eden. What is appropriate to a Rebbe is the verse that speaks of Moshe Rabbeinu [at Mount Sinai]: "I stood between G-d and yourselves at that time, to tell you the word of G-d." Now, the root of l'hagid, here translated "to tell," also means [in Aramaic] "to elicit" or "to draw out." The verse thus implies that Moshe Rabbeinu drew forth the word of G-d to the people. And this is the function of a Rebbe -- to draw forth a revelation of light in the Torah in a way that reflects the manner in which the Torah is studied in Gan Eden.
The kind of innovative achievement that does characterize a Rebbe is the role described in the verse, "He turned many away from iniquity." A Rebbe directs a glance at someone who has stumbled in sin (G-d forbid). That individual knows what he has done and the Rebbe perceives it too -- and by his glance the Rebbe elevates him. Healing him, the Rebbe invests him with the requisite strength to enable the good within him to overpower whatever is not good within him.
For even when a man has sinned, the Jew within him remains. This is the inner meaning of the teaching of the Sages, af al pi shechata, Yisroel hu -- "Even though he has sinned, he is a Jew": the essential he within him is Jewish. Overtly he may be not good; he may be a sinner, a sick man. His head and hands are ailing -- he does not put on tefillin -- and similarly with other organs. Nevertheless, the essential he within him is a Jew.
The word "he", in the indirect third person, implies something that is hidden from view. Since the essential hidden "he" in every Jew remains healthy, a glance from a tzaddik invests an ailing man with strength, enabling his healthy side to overpower his unhealthy side.
There are two basic approaches to healing:
- treating the ailment by medication, and
- strengthening the healthy organs so that they will be able to win the battle against the affected ones.
This is also true in the spiritual sphere. If someone is ill with relation to
tefillin or
Shabbos or Family Purity or the dietary code or whatever, there are two basic approaches --
- treating these ailments, and
- invigorating the individual's healthy side. True healing combines both.
This is implied in the verse,
p'ulas tzaddik l'chaim -- "The deed of a
tzaddik brings life." A glance from a
tzaddik lends strength to the essential
he within him, which remains Jewish: "even though he has sinned, [his]
he is a Jew." That glance arouses the sinner's innermost self, transforming him to a penitent.
Actually, to gaze upon someone who has evil within him is an act of considerable self-sacrifice; how much more so if one is to look upon him benevolently. There is another kind of look which can turn someone into a heap of bones. This kind of approach is in place only where it is necessary to nullify the forces of evil by means of rejection. Even regarding those whose lives are utterly off track, the Divine intention is that "the evil man should return from his path and live." As G-d declares, "I do not desire the death of the one deserving death." Because He desires repentance, the glance of a tzaddik must be benevolent.
Occasionally there may be an intense look accompanied by a few stern words which penetrate the listener through and through. Though they prickle and cauterize like the words of the Passages of Rebuke in the Torah, the ultimate intent of such words is benevolent. (This is discussed in Likkutei Torah, in the maamar beginning, BeShivri Lachem Mateh Lechem.) Generally, though, the way a tzaddik looks upon a sinner springs from self-sacrifice.
The sin of the Tree of Knowledge lay in the fact that Adam gazed upon the place of the kelippos, the forces of evil. Before the sin, the kelippos and the unholy Other Side of the universe were situated below all the worlds. Evil is a created entity (as in the phrase u'vorei ra -- "Who creates evil"); it was below all the worlds and unconnected with the world. However, when Chavah (Eve) transgressed G-d's command, evil became dominant and all created things came to contain a mixture of good and evil. Intending to rectify her misdeed, Adam gazed upon the place of the kelippos. (This was his sin, because he was not a Rebbe.) [...]
Nevertheless, the [infinite] Ein Sof-light that preceded the Tzimtzum illuminated afresh. Concerning this the Etz Chayim poses a powerful query. The whole function of the First Tzimtzum was to block the radiation of that light and thereby make it possible for a material world to come into being. Now if, after the material world came into being, that light illuminated afresh, what purpose was served by the Tzimtzum?
In fact, the Tzimtzum served a monumental purpose: it gave rise to the role of avodah. By means of avodah one can elicit and draw down the essence of the [infinite] Ein Sof- light that preceded the Tzimtzum.
While walking down the street one's mind should be engaged in words of Torah--a verse of
Chumash, a little
Tehillim -- either articulated in speech, if the cleanliness of the location permits that, or else in thought. If one does not think about words of Torah, the cobblestone on which he steps cries out to him: "Clod! Who are
you to tread on
me? Who are
you? By virtue of what are you more elevated than me? Why should
I not be treading on
you?"
When a person walks down the street and does not think about words of Torah, he is thereby holding back the approach of the Redemption; if he does think about words of Torah, he is making the Redemption come sooner.
Chassidishe businessmen should have a Chumash, a Tanya or a Tehillim in their stores, and study in their spare moments. To be sure, one has to sign a promissory note without making any mistakes, and one has to draw up an account for a client, too, but before and after every such thing one should learn a verse of Chumash or read a chapter of Tehillim. The affairs of people who do this will prosper.
This, then, is the great purpose served by the Tzimtzum. Thanks to the Tzimtzum there exists a world with a material street and physical people, with stores and with promissory notes--in order that a person should walk down the street and think or speak words of Torah, or sit in his physical store and study Torah.
All of this was said just by the way, for regular householders. Real avodah should focus on refining one's character traits. [For example:] It is a mistake to think that to "love your fellowman as yourself" means that you should love him as much as you love yourself; it means that you should love yourself as much as you love him.
LeChaim! May our sweet Father grant that the good year which He has granted us should come down to us in the kind of actual good which is visible and manifest. May the promises of the Torah be fulfilled in the year. It is true that the verse spells the verb with a
hei, but we want it to be spelled with an
alef.
This year may all our brethren in Russia who have been imprisoned and exiled be freed! When Moshe Rabbeinu fled from Pharaoh, miracles were wrought for him: his neck miraculously hardened and defied the sword, and so on. Is that a great feat?! Those who sacrificed themselves for the dissemination of Yiddishkeit were exiled to Siberia! It is hard to endure any more. Enough! We want the Torah's promises to be fulfilled in the year. May all the obstacles and obstructions be removed! May they not even see the chadarim! And if they want to harm Torah scholars, may they be left without hands.
When a grown son pleads, "Father, haven't you punished enough?!" -- the father is obliged to heed him. The Torah forbids a father to hit his grown son, for [by causing the son to react disrespectfully] he would thereby "place a stumbling block before the blind."
So we want to see salvation this very year. All Jews hope that Mashiach will come, but I think we should hope for this year. One has to prepare oneself, and the way to do this is by studying Torah, which "shields and saves."
The Rebbe Rayatz then asked the leaders of the local branch of Tzeirei Agudas Yisrael to step forward, and he addressed them as follows:
The day after tomorrow will be three years since I arrived here. Why I had to leave that other place I do not know. With all those angels around that protect all Jews from harm and distress, weren't there enough of them available over there to watch over me, too, as part of the entire House of Israel, so that I should not be shot?! There are plenty of angels for all kinds of tasks; was there a shortage of angels only for this?! Could I not have stood three handsbreadths above the ground?! So, why I had to leave that place I do not know. The purpose for which I came here, however, is understandable: the people before me have changed a great deal from what they were.
I don't at all agree with your Torah outlook and conduct, nor with your course of study. That, however, isn't your concern. You have to establish your chadarim, according to the ideology of "Torah with derech eretz," and your [educational] gardens and orchards. True, they may not be the orchards that Avraham Avinu planted. They will follow your understanding, the path along which you were guided -- so that will certainly be good.
Of course you yourselves must always seek to improve. One ought to have an untrimmed beard and peyos. Your tzitzis are no doubt kosher, and with G-d's help you certainly have the ability to become everything you ought to become. That is as far as you yourselves are concerned. What you have to do with other Jews, however, must be done energetically. Let the schools be [called] gardens and orchards, so long as the children attending them will remain Jews.
If I were to know of a child who wanted to study in an old-style cheder, I would exert every effort to ensure that he did not find his way into your school; I would save him from your influence and see to it that he should be taught by an Old World melamed. However, when it comes to children who could (G-d forbid) fall into the hands of those other chadarim which are Jewish only in superficial appearance, then one must exert every effort to ensure that they should find their way to you. You should be given every kind of help and support so that you will be able to cater for more children.
You have so much work to do. Why are you silent? I don't begin to understand you. You yourselves should be active, and you should also influence others. You should be taking up positions on the sidewalks and persuading fellow Jews to step into shul and study a page of Gemara and the like. Money should never be an obstacle; arouse the men of means, and so on. In earlier days there was no need to even speak to young people such as yourselves; today, you are the ones who must undertake the task of arousing fellow Jews and buttressing the study and observance of the Torah.
People complain that I am too kind, and look at everyone with a kindly eye. The fact is that the ability to regard everyone with a kindly eye was given to me.
When I was for years old I once asked my father why G-d created people with two eyes, whereas He created them with only one mouth and one nose.
In reply, my father asked me, "Do you know the alef- beis?"
"Yes," I answered.
So he asked further: "Do you know that there's a shin and a sin, and what the difference is between them?"
"A shin has the dot at the right," I explained, "and a sin has the dot at the left."
My father then said: "There are things that one should look at with one's right eye, and there are things that one should look at with one's left eye. One should look at a Siddur and at a fellow Jew with one's right eye, and one should look at a candy and a toy with one's left eye."
And from that time on, this struck roots within me: upon a fellow Jew, whoever he may be and in whatever state he may be, one should look with a kindly eye.
The Rebbe Rayatz now addressed R. M[ordechai] D[ubin] and R. A[vigdor] V[olshanak]:
You ought to deepen your endeavors to support Torah study in this country, so that the requisite means will not be lacking. I am an agent to pass this obligation on to you.
All you fellow Jews present here are witnesses that I have passed on my shlichus.
Why don't you take notice of your good neighbors, Poland and Lithuania? Nu, about Poland you might answer that it is a big country -- but Lithuania, with the same number of Jews as Latvia (May they all increase!), has a number of large yeshivos. Every township has a junior yeshivah, as well as Talmud Torah schools and chadarim in which devout melamdim teach Torah authentically, as in bygone years. Every Lithuanian Jew and Jewess cherishes Torah study; a yeshivah bachur is precious in their eyes, and highly esteemed. And what is there in Latvia? A barren wasteland! Where are your yeshivos? Where are your Talmud Torah schools? Where are your chadarim?
The people of Riga and of Latvia at large certainly contribute generously for tzedakah to support yeshivos and many other causes. May G-d indeed bless them. But they alone have nothing. True, Riga used to be an isolated city and that is why it did not become a Torah center. But over the last ten years, since Latvia became an independent state, you should have thought of how to turn it into a Torah center. It is the obligation of all of you, well-established and wealthy householders, to raise funds for the dissemination of Torah study.
Set up chadarim and yeshivos, but make sure that the funds are directed to support the genuine study of Torah. Little children, for example, should be taught to read by the old method: kometz-alef -- o; kometz-beis -- bo; pasach-alef, and so on. The letters and the vowel signs of the Torah are sacred -- kometz signifies Keser, pasach signifies the Sefirah of Chochmah -- and the sanctity of these consonants and vowels shines into the souls of toddlers and ensures that they remain pious Jews.
Fathers and mothers should be told that their children should learn to read by this method; it has an actual effect on their lives. There has arisen a generation that seeks to tear away from Jews this sanctity of the letters and the vowels. They make an impression of being great lovers of their brother Jews and caring for the welfare of little children, whereas in fact they use this approach to uproot the sanctity of the letters and the vowels.
I am telling you, these people are your worst enemies; they turn children into disbelievers. May G-d grant all Jews long and healthy years. But mortals don't live forever -- and no children taught by these people are ever going to be Kaddish-sayers. Keep in mind that your whole life, your concern that your child should grow up a Jew, depends on how you choose a cheder and a style of education.
It was the custom in bygone years that if G-d granted someone a generous income, he would maintain a learned friend who could help him along with his Torah studies, and he would attend the daily group study session in
Gemara. Even unlettered folk used to go to the
beis midrash to listen in to some
Ein Yaakov, to hear a teaching of the Talmudic Sages, or perhaps a story about praiseworthy conduct involving the love of Torah and the
mitzvos or about the fear of heaven, or about refining one's character traits. Every teaching that such a Jew heard poured light into his life and into the way he related to his family.
As the Gemara recounts, King Yannai told his wife to fear neither the Torah scholars (even though they were far from being his friends), nor the unobservant; rather, she should fear hypocrites, because through their words (and sometimes through their conduct as well) they outwardly resemble Torah scholars, whereas inwardly they are evil.
When someone heard a teaching such as this, he knew that there exist people who to all external appearances seem to be quite pious and scholarly; they say nice things and they word them cleverly. They claim that their only concern is the good of the children. To make learning better and easier for them, they propose that they be taught exactly as children of other nations (lehavdil) are taught. Why, they ask, should children learn by saying kometz alef, like old-fashioned Jews used to learn? With their smooth talk they want to (G-d forbid) uproot the customs of those old- fashioned Jews.
They call themselves m[askilim]. There is a certain country [i.e., America] in which I saw -- and saw through, but really and truly saw through -- comparable people. They bear the same name, but over there they are truly G-d-fearing folk, who indeed would like people to observe the Torah and the mitzvos as in the old days. Over there, this name is only tacked on. Despite their name, they would like to see chadarim and yeshivos in all their towns, just as in the Old Country.
The general impression one gains from the various towns and people over there is reinforced by particular instances. It is gratifying to see how people, without exception, feel warmly towards the Old Country. Engraved in their hearts and in their memories are the townlets, with their aged grandfathers making their way to the local beis midrash at daybreak and again for Minchah and Maariv. They have fond memories of their childhood cheder with its old-fashioned melamed. Everyone boasts about his hometown, with its renowned rabbanim and melamdim, its chadarim and its yeshivos. They preserve precious memories of its artless and deeply-entrenched fear of heaven, and describe it with ardent and reverent awe. This is the case even with people who have been dimmed by the dust of life. And as I now recall them, my heart is gladdened.
In contrast [to America], here [in Europe] one has to be wary and fearful of people who carry the name [of maskilim]. It would be far better for the Jews if they did not have their current appearance. From the way the Sages extol those who bring merit upon the community, one may deduce what they had to say about the opposite case. However, there is a verse that says, yitamu chataim min ha'aretz. [Actually this means, "May sinners cease from the earth."] In its non-literal interpretation this means, "May sins cease from the earth"; as for the sinners, let them return to G-d in teshuvah.
Jews must understand that they should flee the distance of a bowshot from the chadarim that [the maskilim] establish. Furthermore, money intended for the support of Torah study should be given only to appropriate places; otherwise it finds its unfortunate way to the payment of tolls and taxes, as in the episode involving R. Yochanan in the Gemara.
Jews of Latvia! Why don't you look at your neighbor, Lithuania? Almost every township boasts a Tiferes Bachurim, an adult education center at which married and not-yet- married businessmen and craftsmen meet and study together, and reinforce their commitment to Yiddishkeit. Why is there nothing in Latvia? Why is there no Tiferes Bachurim? There is a meager handful of young men; is that the Jewish youth of Latvia?! Why are they not being given any help to enable them to study further?
The Jews of Latvia should be thinking about themselves, about how to transform this country into a center of Torah study -- and may G-d grant them His help.
Today is Simchas Torah. The Torah is rejoicing and everyone is rejoicing: all Jews are rejoicing with the Torah. There are people who throughout the year are not Torah-Jews. They have neither the ability nor the desire to study Torah; to be precise, they do not have the ability to study Torah because they have no desire to do so. Nevertheless, when Simchas Torah comes around, they are happy: it's Simchas Torah!
The truth behind this is that in the heavenly worlds Simchas Torah is an auspicious and happy time; that is why on that day everyone is happy in this world below. Similarly, because in the heavenly worlds Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are auspicious and awesome days, in this world below they are called Days of Awe and everyone trembles with a fear of Heaven. This includes even those who throughout the year are so confused by the tumultuous pursuit of their affairs and pleasures and desires that shul and davenen are shunted aside.
However, when Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur arrive, they sober up from the confused morass into which the Evil Inclination has led them. They, too, are shaken up by a touch of awe. After all, it's Rosh HaShanah; it's erev Yom Kippur; it's Yom Kippur! At this time they are reminded that they, too, are Jewish, just like all other Jews -- because at this time the Luminary draws near to the spark, and this makes everyone wake up, just as at the time of the Resurrection of the Dead. At that time, when the Dew of the Torah is revealed, it will serve as the Dew of Resurrection. Similarly, to some degree, when the Luminary draws near to the spark, all those people wake up. Since what takes place in the heavenly worlds at that time is an expression of awe, people down here correspondingly experience awe. And since the auspicious time of Simchas Torah in the heavenly worlds is an expression of joy, there is a corresponding manifestation of joy in the world here below. On that day everybody, but everybody, is in jovial spirits: it's Simchas Torah!
On Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur a Jew can become a baal teshuvah, a penitent. When these days come, and even a Rosh-HaShanah-Jew or a Yom-Kippur-Jew, who throughout the entire year is surrounded on all sides by the gloom of utter evil, goes to shul, he can genuinely repent. (Genuine teshuvah means that instead of returning to one's former foolishness one turns one's back on past misdeeds, pleasures and desires, and henceforth becomes an observer of the Torah and its mitzvos.) On Simchas Torah, likewise, a Simchas-Torah-Jew can come to repent -- in response to his joy, and to the closeness [which is being shown to him from above]. He can take a sip of mashke, warm up his Jewish insides, seize hold of the wooden etz chayim of a sefer Torah, and join in a rollicking dance that celebrates the Torah's rejoicing on that day.
Torah joy is a cure for all ailments. Torah joy opens up a sinner's heart and brain and enables him to regret his past wrongdoings and to undertake to become observant. Torah joy opens up the heart and brain of an observant Jew and enables him to come close to Elokus, to Divinity. And Torah joy helps a chassidisher Yid to cleave to His Maker exuberantly.
A certain great Rebbe, whose soul is now in
Gan Eden, was once given answers to questions which he posed at a
yechidus with
his Rebbe. (Because we are chassidim of the former Rebbe, through him
his Rebbe is also
our Rebbe and we are his chassidim.) In his answer, that Rebbe compared the dancing of Simchas Torah to the case of a father who tells his only son, "Dance before me, for through this you make me completely yours."
When we dance, then, we become completely His. We are dancing in the atmosphere of Gan Eden. This is implied by the inner meaning of the very word Hakkafos, the exultant circuits around the table at which the sefer Torah is publicly read. This word is related to makkif, which signifies a transcendent level of Divine influence. As one circles the bimah one holds a sefer Torah, which comprises the [plain] letters of the Torah. These letters encapsulate the Atzmus, the very Essence, of the Infinite One, of the Higher Chochmah of the World of Atzilus, which remains forever unchanged: exactly as it is above, so it is also here below. And when we encircle the bimah in our Hakkafos, we are accompanied by these holy letters and by this essential light of the Atzmus of the Infinite One. This, then, is the atmosphere in which a Jew dances on Simchas Torah.
In former generations young men were not admitted to hear
maamarim being delivered by the Rebbe of their generation. They first had to be familiar at least with the
Seder Hishtalshelus, at least to know all of its stations. This is what the Mitteler Rebbe's
Shaar HaYichud is all about -- it explains the nature of
hisbonenus and also the themes upon which one should meditate, and this entails knowing the
chassidishe stations. Nowadays, when everyone is admitted, people ought to be grateful and should listen attentively.
Young men, even real insiders, were certainly not admitted to the farbrengens held among chassidim. Nowadays the doors are open for anyone who wishes to join in. The reason for the change is that we are now in the era which can hear the approaching footsteps of Mashiach. We are now living in the time for the fulfillment of the promise [which Mashiach gave in response to the question of the Baal Shem Tov, "Master, when are you coming?" He replied that he would come] "when your wellsprings will be disseminated far afield." This is the era in which the teachings of Chassidus and the avodah which it inspires will (with G-d's help) clean up those elements of the world which are still "far afield."
The time has now arrived for all Torah scholars -- regardless of partisan considerations, and including even those who used to be called
misnagdishe Torah scholars and those who study in the various nonchassidic
yeshivos -- to study the teachings of
Chassidus and to engage in
avodah in the spirit in which
Chassidus demands. Opposition to
Chassidus no longer exists. The epithet
"misnaged" must be made completely out of bounds; with us there is not and there should not be anything divisive.
There is and there should be diversity in nussach, in prayer rites. The various prayer rites are gates which correspond to the Tribes of Israel and to the variety of prostrations in the Beis HaMikdash. These in turn correspond to the thirteen gates in the future Beis HaMikdash (May it be rebuilt speedily and in our own days!). Hence the diversity in nussach -- the nussach of the AriZal, and nussach Ashkenaz (hence the name Ashkenazim), and so on.
When it comes to Torah and mitzvos, however, there are no differences of nussach. All those who are committed to the study and observance of the Torah, regardless of the diversity of their prayer rites, should join together in the avodah of Torah and mitzvos which have become revealed through the teachings of Chassidus. The doors are open for those who study Torah and who observe its commandments; the doors are open for Jews at large, for those whose Jewish spark draws them to wherever Jews are to be found, to wherever Jews rejoice on Simchas Torah.
Shemini Atzeres comes at the culmination of the preparatory plowing, such as fasting, that is undertaken during the month of Elul. Then come the days of
Selichos, when less of the night is spent on sleeping and more is spent on studying. (When a fulltime scholar wants to embark on the study of a new tractate he draws up an account -- as indeed he should, for it is, after all, Elul -- as to how the past eleven months have been spent.) Next comes the stage of sowing, Rosh HaShanah, when every moment is so precious that little time is left for eating and sleeping. Next comes the stage at which the seed rots [before sprouting]: this is the fast of Yom Kippur, with its pleasure of not eating.
Let me recount a little episode that teaches the meaning of education. When I was seven-and-a-quarter years old, my father called for me on erev Yom Kippur and said: "Tonight you may not eat; tomorrow morning until twelve you should not eat; after twelve -- as you like." He then explained me the meaning of eating on Yom Kippur, and added: "But if you want to eat you must ask no one for food; just come to me. I've prepared water and food and syrup for you. If I'm in the middle of Shemoneh Esreh, wait a little. Don't ask anyone for food but me."
That year I fasted, and the next year it was already self- understood.
When in the course of the above story the Rebbe [Rayatz] mentioned the words "my father," he interpolated the following remark:
"Regarding my father I do not say
Nishmaso Eden ('His soul is in [the Garden of] Eden'); firstly, because I am no writer of addresses. Besides, for me my father has not passed away."
Sukkos is the stage at which the winds -- from the heavenly storehouse of winds -- blow upon plants while they are still embedded in the ground. Shemini Atzeres is the stage at which farmers can tell by looking at the tiny stems what kind of harvest awaits them -- not as to quantity, but as to the satiety it grants, for this may be present or otherwise, irrespective of quantity.
We know of the process of sprouting because it is discussed in the Zohar. Moreover, Chassidus explains what this signifies, both in relation to the [time-related] subjects of avodah throughout the year, and in relation to the [ongoing] avodah in the soul of man.
If someone were to ask me how people at large conduct themselves on Rosh HaShanah, I would not know the answer. I only know what took place in Lubavitch, in the "Higher Garden of Eden" and in the "Lower Garden of Eden." I'm sure everyone remembers how we once explained that with the chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, the room in which people waited and prepared themselves before being admitted to meet him at yechidus was known as the "Lower Garden of Eden," while his study was known as the "Higher Garden of Eden." For them, the Rebbe and Chassidus was a fulfillment of the blessing of the Sages, "May you behold your future World in your present life!" This was their life and this was their Gan Eden in this world -- and that is how things are with chassidim who have a true bond of hiskashrus with their Rebbe.
Shemini Atzeres is the time of abundant blessing. By dancing [with the Torah] on Simchas Torah one elicits and draws downward intrinsic and unexpressed Divine delight from its state of latency within the Infinite One. Joy makes a person clap his hands; extreme joy makes him dance. That is, it permeates him and envelops him all the way down to the soles of his feet.
Yesterday at this hour I wasn't sitting idly, and now we've been sitting here for a couple of hours. You probably find this hard to understand. So do I. After all, the need for order applies to sleeping, too. Well, there is a verse that applies in the life of every Torah scholar:
chelki Hashem amrah nafshi -- "G-d is my portion, says my soul." There are times at which the soul speaks. It happens that one toils unsuccessfully to grasp a subject, and then when he is asleep and his soul ascends on high the explanation is revealed to him. To such a time does this verse apply.
At a loftier level than this, when a person is asleep and his soul ascends on high and replenishes itself with life, he is made aware of the innermost depths of the subjects that he has studied and the G-dly concepts on which he has meditated during davenen and the like. This, however, is granted to him as a kind of reward.
Have you ever been at a near-deserted railway station on a dark night? The stationmaster walks around and dispatches each carriage to its destination, one to this province, one to that. Now, since "the World Above resembles the world below," when people are asleep at night and their souls ascend, angels are to be found all over the place, and the Angel Michael dispatches each soul to its appropriate palace. If someone meets a friend in the course of the day and suggests that they go out together to collect a few rubles for a needy acquaintance, and they carry out their plan, the angels at night bring those two souls together and send them off to the Palace of Tzedakah.
Likewise, if someone studied Torah in the course of the day, they send him off to the Palace of Torah. To this time, as was explained above, the verse applies: "G-d is my portion, says my soul." That is to say, a formerly obscure concept is now clarified for this person. An example in the Gemara involves an exposition by Rava on the verse, "Will you set your eyes upon it?" (This is explained in the maamar of Shemini Atzeres, 5691 [1930].)
At any rate, as we were saying, yesterday I wasn't sitting idly. So if we're spending time sitting here today, then let's conclude with brass tacks.
What are you counting on? On whom are you relying? Chassidim have to do their own work: everyone has to toil for himself. There has to be the "service of the heart" -- the avodah of davenen. The preparation for this is three or four hours of concentrated study, and those who are involved in in-depth study know that in order to have three such hours you have to study at least five or six hours.
The renowned
tzaddik, Reb Nachum of Chernobyl, became fat from [his sheer delight in saying the response]
Amen, yehei shmei rabbah.... This we see with our own eyes: when one observes a Jew studying Torah, the very sight does good for one's physical heart and body. If I were to sit in the midst of a hundred Torah scholars, then if a person normally needs, say, a pound of bread a day, I would need no more than a quarter, and if a person normally needs half a pound, then for me an eighth would suffice.
I would like to be a simple Jew -- but in the sense that our forebears, the Rebbeim, understood the term. Michl Tcherbiner, for example, was an unsophisticated yishuvnik who used to visit Lubavitch from his nearby village. Once, as he was standing at Selichos not far from where my father [the Rebbe Rashab] stood, tears gushed from his eyes as he prayed for Divine forgiveness. My father envied him. My father was a handsome man, yet his cheeks sagged from envy when he later remarked that he envied the way Michl out there in his lone cottage gets up at two o'clock in the morning to say Tehillim.
My brother Jews, listen! One can still seize the opportunity and return to G-d in
teshuvah! The inscription in the Heavenly Book is made on Rosh HaShanah; it is signed and sealed on Yom Kippur; the Records of Life are taken out on Hoshana Rabbah; but they are not removed from the Divine Palace until
Shabbos Bereishis.
The Rebbe Rayatz now turned to address the great multitude that had meanwhile assembled:
Let it be known that if there are people present who (G-d forbid) do not put on
tefillin and do not observe the laws of family purity, let them not take part in my
Hakkafos. Adam was driven out of the Garden of Eden after the Sin -- because the soil of
Gan Eden and the air of
Gan Eden cannot bear any sin. Our Sages teach that "When ten Jews sit together and engage in the study of Torah, the Divine Presence is to be found among them." Likewise, where there is a group of chassidim whose souls are bound with [the Rebbeim,] the fathers of the world, they constitute the air of
Gan Eden. People who do not observe
taharas hamishpachah and who do not put on
tefillin are not to participate in my
Hakkafos -- they cannot share my
makkif -- unless they undertake to observe these
mitzvos from this day on.
It is written, keitz sam lachoshech -- "[G-d] has set a limit to darkness!" Even darkness has a limit. You young men who are swept along with the storms of this world, as you run after worldly things you forget about practicing Yiddishkeit. You forget about tefillin, Shabbos, and taharas hamishpachah. Your minds are preoccupied in the anxious pursuit of a livelihood. Life's tempests drive you off course; they blind your eyes. And that is how you allow a slice of your lives to pass by!
Stop a moment, young men, and think a while. You are going to be older one day. What will come of you? What will come of your children? You are without scholarship; you are ignorant of basic laws; you and your wives do not know what may be done and what may not be done. People's heads are engrossed in their everyday lives. People are running after creature comforts, and forgetting about their souls.
Surely every man should look ahead and consider what will happen ultimately. Ultimately things will no doubt turn out well; so are we promised, ki lo yidach mimenu nidach -- "For none of them shall be thrust away." Ultimately everyone will return to G-d in teshuvah. However, this can happen in either of two ways. Either G-d grants a man an abundance of good things, or (Heaven forfend!) suffering. Even when a man is thankfully young, he should keep in mind that people reach their final resting place at a variety of ages. May G-d grant all our people everywhere long days and years -- but, after all, our days are "like a passing shadow." People are obliged to put on tefillin and observe the laws of family purity. When people observe Yiddishkeit they have kosher and healthy children. If you enrol them in proper chadarim where they are taught kometz-alef -- o, they will bring you endless joy. You yourselves too will enjoy long life, and you will know that after your lengthy days you will be survived by kosher Kaddeishim and kosher grandchildren.
Those who undertake to put on tefillin and observe the laws of family purity may remain here for Hakkafos, and together we will rejoice in the Torah's joy. May G-d grant all of us, together with the entire House of Israel, a healthy and successful year both materially and spiritually.
The Rebbe Rayatz then stood up and said aloud:
"There is an extension of Moshe in every generation." Moshe Rabbeinu loved his fellow Jews. He cherished not only a Jew's
nefesh, ruach and
neshamah, which goes without saying, but his body as well.
The body of every Jew is precious to me, and for that reason I hereby announce again: If there are people here who do not observe the laws of family purity, or who do not put on tefillin, let them not be present at my Hakkafos, because it can put them in jeopardy, and one doesn't play games with life-threatening situations.
Those who switched off the electricity and turned it on again evidently follow the opinion of those who argue that this is permissible on Yom-Tov. This opinion is utterly mistaken: to do this is forbidden. What they intended by their action is of no interest. As to their real, deep intention in doing what they did, I am (with G-d's help) not afraid of it. Jews are under the jurisdiction of the Holy One, Blessed be He; they are not dependent on the whims of flesh and blood.
Even to those who think that they believe in nothing whatever (G-d forbid!), I am obliged to say that they should be careful. One shouldn't take life-threatening situations lightly. Better to take heed and to leave safe and sound. As to those who are staying here for the Hakkafos, no doubt they are now making a commitment to conduct themselves as they should.
Many of those present thereupon assured [the Rebbe] that they now undertook to do this. He then resumed his seat and [turning to his chassidim] said:
All these young men should now please be treated to a drop of
mashke with a bite of refreshments. We are now brothers.
The verses commanding the
Kohanim to bless the people conclude with the Divine promise,
va'ani avoracheim -- "And I shall bless them." This is explained in two ways:
- G-d promises to fulfill the blessing which the Kohanim give the people [i.e., "And I shall bless them"];
- G-d promises to bless the Kohanim [i.e., "And I shall bless them"].
I am the son of my father, the grandson of my grandfather, and the greatgrandson of my greatgrandfather. (In all cases a person's posterity is an extension of his own essence, as was recently discussed [in the
maamar of Rosh HaShanah]; how much more is this true of holy seed.) In this capacity, I give my blessings to you all, and to all Jews all over the world, for a good and a sweet year.
Here, I am entering into a covenant with you. Everyone of you should participate in a public study session and should endeavor to set up public shiurim. Everyone should have a fixed time every day for study.
Let me tell you a little secret about what is called for this year. Everyone should memorize, letter perfect, the first twelve chapters of Tanya, preceded by the Compiler's Foreword which begins, "To you, [worthy] men, do I call." Then, when one is preparing to retire for the night, and when one rises in the morning, and wherever one goes about, one should review them in speech and in thought.
At this point Reb M[ordechai Cheifetz] the shochet walked in, and told the Rebbe Rayatz that he brought a message from the women who were waiting for Hakkafos. They had heard everything that had been said, including all the warnings, and they testified that they were permitted to be present during the Hakkafos. In response, the Rebbe Rayatz relayed his blessing:
May those who have sons and daughters bring them up, together with their husbands, to the Torah, to the wedding canopy, and to a life of good deeds. As to those who have not yet been blessed with children, may G-d gladden their hearts and the hearts of their husbands with healthy, good children. The women should organize a society to strengthen the observance of the laws of family purity. And may G-d bless His people Israel with every kind of material and spiritual good.
The Eve of Simchas Torah: The above record of the
farbrengen is based on notes later made by one of those present.
The service of the heart: Tractate Taanis 2a.
A kind of optional embellishment to a mitzvah: In the original, k'ein hiddur mitzvah.
A mark of unusual piety: In the original, middas Chassidus.
When I have free time: Tractate Avos 2:4.
The prayers do not well forth spontaneously: In the Yid. original, davent-zich nit.
And that's that: In the Heb./Yid. original, un yotzei -- (lit.:) "and with that he has formally discharged his obligation."
One should not stand up to pray: Tractate Berachos 5:1.
His prayers are not warmly spontaneous: In the Yid. original, davent-zich nit.
The Written Law: In the original, Torah shebichsav.
And to serve Him: In the original, u'l'avdo b'chol l'vavchem (Deut. 11:13).
The Oral Law: In the original, Torah shebe'al peh.
For the Torah which You have taught us: In the original, v'al toras'cha shelimad'tanu (Siddur, p. 89).
For me was the world created: In the original, bishvili nivra ha'olam (Tractate Sanhedrin 4:5).
"World" shares a root with... "obscurity": Likkutei Torah on Parshas Shlach, p. 37d.
Tzimtzum: On this concept from the writings of the AriZal, see Lessons In Tanya (Kehot, N.Y.), Vol. III, p. 924ff.
An innovative teaching: In the original Yid., uftu.
Illuminating afresh: In the original, chozer v'hei'ir; see Hemshech 5666 [1906] pp. 4, 509.
For ten years now: The Rebbe Rashab had passed away in Rostov on Beis Nissan, 5680 [1920].
The physical remains of a tzaddik are different: See To Live and Live Again (Sichos In English, N.Y., 1995), pp. 77-78, regarding the exhumation and reinterment of the physical remains of the Rebbe Rashab in the year 5700 [1940].
I stood between G-d and yourselves: Deut. 5:5.
To draw out: Cf. Dan. 7:10.
He turned many away: In the original, v'rabim heishiv mei'avon (Mal. 2:6).
Even though he has sinned: Tractate Sanhedrin 44a.
Approaches to healing: HaYom Yom, entry for 28 Menachem Av.
The deed of a tzaddik: Prov. 10:16.
A heap of bones: Cf. Tractate Shabbos 34a.
The evil man should return: Ezek. 33:11.
I do not desire: Ezek. 18:32.
Passages of Rebuke: Lev. 26:14ff.; Deut. 28:15ff.
Likkutei Torah: On Parshas Bechukosai, p. 48a ff.
Who creates evil: Isa. 45:7.
Who are you to tread on me?: See HaYom Yom, entry for 7 Adar I.
Refining one's character traits: In the original, beirur hamiddos.
Love your fellowman as yourself: Lev. 19:18.
Good which is visible and manifest: In the original, tov hanireh vehanigleh; i.e., as distinct from the kind of good which is identifiable as such only by means of faith or philosophy.
In the year: I.e., in the year which had just begun, which was 5691 (1930-31). The original quotes the phrase, az tirtzeh ("Then shall the land be appeased for its Sabbaths..."; Lev. 26:34), which carries a negative connotation as part of the Passages of Rebuke (the Tochachah). However, speaking on the level of derush, the Rebbe Rayatz extracts the phrase from that context, uses the four letters of the verb to indicate the current year, and transmutes the literal meaning of the isolated phrase so that it implies a promise of imminent blessing.
The verse spells... with a hei... with an alef: This sentence expresses the request that the ultimate blessings awaiting our people should not be deferred for a number of years, but that they be realized in the year which had just begun.
The above interpretation accords with two letters written a few days later (one of them dated 26 Tishrei) by the secretary of the Rebbe Rayatz, R. Yechezkel Feigin, who finds sources in the Zohar for this transposition of letters and for its connection with the coming of Mashiach. See: Zohar I, 216a, and the commentary of R. Moshe Zacuto there; II, 25a, and the same commentary there; Kli Yakar on the beginning of Parshas Shemini. It will be noted that the Alter Rebbe ruled that daka (Deut. 23:2) should be spelled with an alef and not a hei; see also: Maamarei Admur HaZakein 5562 [1802], Vol. I, p. 41; the maamar beginning BaSukkos, 5737 [1976], in Sefer HaMaamarim 5737 [1976-77], p. 31.
Miracles were wrought: See Rashi (based on the Mechilta) on Ex. 18:4; Shmos Rabbah 1:31; Devarim Rabbah 20:28; see also Yerushalmi, Tractate Berachos 9:1.
Is that a great feat?!: In the original Yid., a kuntz?!
May they not even see the chadarim!: I.e., May the agents of the oppressive Russian regime not even discover the whereabouts of the underground Torah schools.
Haven't you punished enough?!: See also Sefer HaSichos 5696 [1936] -- Winter 5700 [1940], p. 312.
Place a stumbling block: Lev. 19:14, as interpreted in Tractate Moed Katan 17a.
Torah... shields and saves: Tractate Sotah 21a.
Leave that other place: The Rebbe Rayatz left Russia three months after his liberation from imprisonment on Yud-Beis Tammuz, 1927, and lived in Latvia until he moved to Warsaw in 1934.
The people before me: I.e., the leaders of Tzeirei Agudas Yisrael, whom he now continues to address.
Torah with derech eretz: The original context of this phrase (Tractate Avos 2:2) teaches that it is a good thing to combine "the study of Torah with a worldly occupation." Here the reference is to the educational philosophy that borrowed this phrase to justify the combining of Torah and secular studies.
Orchards that Avraham Avinu planted: See: Rashi on Gen. 21:33; Sotah 10a; Bereishis Rabbah 56:6.
In this country: Latvia.
The letters and the vowel signs… are sacred: Cf. Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction (p. 7b) and Tikkun 69 (p. 104b); Zohar Chadash, Tikkunim (p. 99b), and elsewhere; Responsa of Ridbaz, Vol. III, sec. 643, and elsewhere.
A generation that seeks to tear away... sanctity: A reference to the maskilim -- devotees of the Haskalah, the so-called "Enlightenment" movement.
Kaddish-sayers: In the original, the Rebbe Rayatz uses the colloquial (usually jocular) Yiddish phrase in which a father might refer to his surviving son as "my Kaddish."
Fear neither the Torah scholars: Tractate Sotah 22b.
They call themselves m[askilim]: In the original, as an expression of disapproval, the Rebbe Rayatz merely uses the initial letter.
There is a certain country: Evidently a reference to Germany.
Those who bring merit: Cf. Tractate Avos 5:18 and Tractate Yoma 87a.
May sinners cease: Ps. 104:35. By vocalizing the initial letter of chata'im with a chataf-pasach instead of a pasach, Beruriah (the wife of R. Meir) understood the verse to imply, "May sins cease" (Tractate Berachos 10a).
The episode involving R. Yochanan: Tractate Bava Basra 10a.
An auspicious... time: In the original, es ratzon.
The Luminary draws near to the spark: See: Derech Chayim, pp. 21b, 24d ff., 91a; Sefer HaMaamarim 5697 [1937], p. 158; Sefer HaMaamarim 5698 [1938], p. 2, and references indicated there.
Dew of the Torah... the Dew of Resurrection: See: Isa. 26:19 and Yalkut Shimoni on that verse; Tractate Kesubbos 111b; Tanya, end of ch. 36 (in Lessons In Tanya, Vol. II, pp. 480-1); and Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XI, p. 193 (footnote). The last reference also appears in Igros Kodesh (Letters) of the Rebbe, Vol. XXII, p. 97.
Returning to one's former foolishness: Cf. Ps. 85:9. See Tanya -- Iggeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 1 (in Lessons In Tanya, Vol. III, p. 1010); see also Rambam, Hilchos Teshuvah 2:2.
The era... footsteps of Mashiach: In the Heb./Aram. original, ikvos [or: ikvesa] diMeshicha; cf. Tractate Sotah 9:15, and Rashi there.
The promise [which Mashiach gave... to... the Baal Shem Tov]: The Baal Shem Tov writes in a letter that on Rosh HaShanah of the year 5507 (1746) his soul ascended to the palace of Mashiach in the heavenly realms. The letter is reproduced in Keser Shem Tov (Heb.; Kehot, N.Y., 1981), p. 3; see also On the Essence of Chassidus (Eng.; Kehot, N.Y., 1978), p. 15, and footnotes there. See Vol. II in the present series, p. 227ff.
When your wellsprings will be disseminated far afield: In the original, yafutzu maayanosecha chutzah; cf. Prov. 5:16. The metaphor of "wellsprings" signifies the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. See: Vol. II in the present series, pp. 227ff., 269 and 273; From Exile to Redemption (Kehot, N.Y., 1992), Vol. I, p. 71ff.
The thirteen gates in the future Beis HaMikdash: See: Likkutei Amarim by the Maggid of Mezritch, sec. 133; Maamarei Admur HaZakein HaKetzarim, p. 581ff.; Introduction to Shaar HaKollel; see also p. 116 below.
How the past eleven months have been spent: See Sefer HaMaamarim 5696 [1936], p. 141, and references there.
No writer of addresses: See the Rebbe's farbrengen of Shabbos Parshas Shlach, 5710 [1950], in Proceeding Together (Sichos In English, N.Y., 1996), Vol. II, p. 7, and the Overview to that volume, pp. ix-x.
May you behold your future World: In the original, olam'cha tireh b'chayecha; Tractate Berachos 17a.
G-d is my portion: Lam. 3:24.
Replenishes itself with life: Bereishis Rabbah 14:9.
A kind of reward: See: Shaar HaGilgulim, Introduction 17; the maamar beginning Tzohar Taaseh LaTeivah 5695 [1934], in Sefer HaMaamarim -- Kuntreisim, Vol. II, p. 344a; Sefer HaMaamarim 5700 [1940], p. 5; Likkutei Sichos, Vol. IV, p. 1026; and elsewhere.
The World Above resembles: Cf. Tractate Berachos 58a; Zohar I, 38a, 205b, 197a.
An exposition by Rava: Cf. Tractate Sotah 35a.
Will you set your eyes: Prov. 23:5.
The maamar of Shemini Atzeres: No copy is extant.
Reb [Menachem] Nachum of Chernobyl: 1730-1787, disciple of the Baal Shem Tov and then of the Maggid of Mezritch; author of Meor Einayim.
The inscription in the Heavenly Book: Cf. Tractate Rosh HaShanah 16b.
When ten Jews sit together: Tractate Avos 3:6.
A limit to darkness: Iyov 28:3. See An End to Evil: Reishis Goyim Amalek (Sichos In English, N.Y., 1998), sec. 1.
For none of them shall be thrust away: Cf. II Sam. 14:14. See also: The Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, Hilchos Talmud Torah 4:3; Tanya, end of ch. 39.
Like a passing shadow: Ps. 144:4.
Proper chadarim: See Section [10] above.
Kosher Kaddeishim: See end of Section [10] above.
An extension of Moshe: In the Aram. original, ispash'tusa d'Moshe b'chal dara; Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 69 (pp. 112a, 114a); see also Bereishis Rabbah 56:7.
Life-threatening situations: In a letter written three days later, on 26 Tishrei, 5691 [1930], Reb Yechezkel ("Chatshe") Feigin, close associate and secretary of the Rebbe Rayatz, recorded an extract of the above sichah and added: "On Isru Chag [i.e., the day after Simchas Torah] we learned from a reliable source that [Jewish] members of the local Peretz Club -- who belong to 'the left vector,' outright communists -- came prepared to disrupt the Hakkafos. They had someone ready to cut off the electricity, and to forestall resistance they came prepared with clubs (Heaven forfend!). When the Rebbe [Rayatz] made the above announcement, their leader told his colleagues to leave, and they did. This is wondrous indeed: by power from Above, the Rebbe's words had an effect on them.[...]
"On Friday [i.e., two days later] I entered the Rebbe's study and told him all of this. Though I did not want to sadden him, I nevertheless thought it right that he should know all about it. In response he said: 'Now it's all clear! At the time I could not understand what compelled me to say what I said.'"
[In the above letter, "the left vector" translates kav hasmol, a Kabbalistic term relating to the Sefiros which is borrowed here as a jocular allusion to the leftist intruders.]
The Kohanim to bless the people: Num. 6:22-27.
Explained in two ways: Tractate Chullin 49a; Rashi on the above verse.
The maamar of Rosh HaShanah: I.e., the maamar that begins, Amar Rabbi Abbahu, first delivered on the Second Day of Rosh HaShanah that year; see Sefer HaMaamarim -- Kuntreisim, Vol. I, p. 131a ff.
The first twelve chapters of Tanya... Compiler's Foreword: See also: Sefer HaSichos 5696-Choref 5700 [1936 to Winter 1940], p. 17. See also: Igros Kodesh (Letters) of the Rebbe Rayatz, Vol. XIII, pp. 519-520; Igros Kodesh (Letters) of the Rebbe, Vol. VII, p. 129; and elsewhere.
Reb M[ordechai Cheifetz]: Formerly of Dissna, at this time a shochet in Riga. See: Sefer HaSichos 5680-5687 [1920-1927], p. 18 and footnote 39; Sefer HaSichos 5688-5691 [1928-1931], p. 41, where the Rebbe Rayatz speaks to him on the calling of a shochet.
Publisher's Preface