Room three hundred forty-eight in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Wednesday, 12 Marcheshvan 5704.
Shiurim: Chumash, Vayeira, Revi'i, with the commentary of Rashi.
Tehillim, on the 12th of the month, one recites from chapter 66 through chapter 68 inclusive.
Tanya: on this day we continue with Iggeret 27 in Iggeret HaKodesh. The daily portion begins on page 246 with the words "Vezehu shekatuv," and concludes on page 292 with the words "kodem laberacha," at the end of the passage there in the letter.
The daily teaching brings one of the sayings of the Alter Rebbe. The source of this saying, as the Rebbe notes, is in a maamar of the Rebbe Rayatz, the dibbur-hamaschil "Mayim Rabbim," which the Rebbe Rayatz delivered during his visit to Chicago in the year 5690. In that maamar the Rebbe Rayatz explains the entire order of the avodah of tefillah in all its details, and when he reaches Kerias Shema he brings this saying of the Alter Rebbe, which relates to the verse "Shema Yisrael." Let us read the wording and explain it.
He says as follows: "One of the first teachings of our Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe" — when the Alter Rebbe first returned from Mezritch, from the Maggid, he delivered this teaching, quite literally the very first time he came back. This is a saying that the Rebbe Rayatz relates on a certain occasion, that the chassidim of the Alter Rebbe would repeat it publicly with inner vitality for many years; a saying with which they lived.
What did the Alter Rebbe say? Before quoting the saying itself, the Rebbe Rayatz adds a phrase: "and they were then called by the name 'verter'" — when the Alter Rebbe returned from Mezritch and delivered his various sayings and teachings, the term used for them was "verter." "Verter" in Yiddish literally means "words," and in its practical translation — "sayings."
To complete the picture: it is interesting that we already had, on 15 Sivan, a teaching in which the Rebbe traced the evolution of the Alter Rebbe's teachings, whose style—and consequently their designations as well—changed over time. There he said that at first they were called "derachim" (ways), then "iggros" (letters), then "toros" (teachings), and afterward "kesavim" (writings). In that progression, no stage was mentioned in which they were called "verter"—sayings or teachings—yet here he mentions that in the beginning they were called "verter."
What was that "vort," what was the saying and teaching of the Alter Rebbe? He explained it thus: the words "Shema Yisrael" — what do they mean? "A Yid derhert [that a Jew internalizes and feels and lives]" — what does he live? "Havayah Elokeinu."
What is "Havayah Elokeinu"? Let us preface with a well-known point, stated in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe — and in the Shulchan Aruch in general — regarding what one must have in mind when explaining the word "Elokim." When one says "Elokim," the Shulchan Aruch states that one must intend "that He is powerful and mighty, and that He possesses the capacity over those above and those below." That is, the name "Elokim" connotes strength, power, and capacity. But when one says "Elokeinu," this alludes to the fact that we are speaking of our own life-force, our own powers, and our own capacities.
And what is the meaning of "Havayah Elokeinu"? It says thus: "our strength and our vitality are above nature." For it is known that the name "Elokim" has the same numerical value (gematria) as "hateva" (nature), while the name "Havayah" symbolizes the light and the power that are above nature. When one says "Havayah Elokeinu" — the "Elokeinu," our power and our vitality, flows from "Havayah." A Jew's vitality and power — from where? A power that is entirely above nature. This is the first meaning inherent in a Jew within the words "Havayah Elokeinu."
And what more? What is the conclusion? "And that Havayah is One" — that a Jew holds within himself the oneness of G-d, that He is the only reality in all of creation and in the entire world. This is what the Alter Rebbe said, and this is what the Rebbe Rayatz brought in the maamar in order to explain the meaning of "Shema Yisrael."
In this connection, the Rebbe also references a letter that the Rebbe Rayatz wrote on 21 Nissan 5696. This is a letter written to one of the communal activists from Ashkenaz, from Germany, who wrote at that time to the Rebbe Rayatz regarding spreading the teachings of Chabad among the enlightened Jews of Ashkenaz. The Rebbe Rayatz writes him a lengthy letter, and at the very opening of his words, right at the beginning of the response, he brings out that a Jew is bound in an essential bond to the Holy One, blessed be He. In order to internalize and emphasize this point — that a Jew is connected in an inner bond to the Holy One, blessed be He — he cites this saying in the letter, as the Alter Rebbe stated, that a Jew's recognition of his very essence, above reason and knowledge, is that G-dliness is his life and G-dliness is his strength. This is the special teaching of 12 Marcheshvan.