The three hundred and fiftieth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Friday, 14 Cheshvan 5704.
Lessons: Chumash, Vayeira, Shishi, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 14th of the month, one recites from chapter 72 through chapter 76, inclusive.
Tanya: On this day we continue in Igeret 27. The daily portion begins on page 292 with the words "vehinei bechayim," and concludes on page 150 with the word "taamin."
The daily teaching is taken from a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 5 Elul 5696. The saying relates to the verse in Tehillim (chapter 37): "From Hashem are a man's steps established, and his way He desires." This verse serves as the foundation for a principle in the teachings of Chassidus that defines a person's role in the world, and this is already the third time that a saying based upon it appears in "Hayom Yom" — we had it on 10 Tammuz and on 3 Elul, and here for the third time.
Let us examine the wording of the teaching, in which the Rebbe Rayatz explains primarily the conclusion of the verse — "vedarko yechpatz" ("and He desires his way"). What is this way, the way of Hashem, that a person desires and ought to desire? And the Rebbe Rayatz connects this with an additional verse in the weekly Torah portion.
Let us examine the wording: "From Hashem are a man's steps established." What is the message? "Every Jew has a mission — from the term ya'ad (destination) — a spiritual mission in life." A person is here in this world, and he has a purpose and a destination.
What is the general goal, shared by all? Even though each person has his own individual points within the great goal, the general goal of all of them is "and it is to engage in the labor of building, to make a dwelling for Him, may He be blessed." The Holy One, blessed be He, wants us to be "builders," so that each one of us will be the builder who builds the dwelling of the Holy One, blessed be He.
Within this general mission, that everyone must be a builder, each person of course has, on his own specific and personal level, his precise share in the matter. "And each and every one, whoever he is and wherever he is, must occupy himself with all his strength to search diligently to find some spiritual sustenance just as he searches after physical sustenance" — to find where he can build another row, another brick, another part, another room in the dwelling place of the Holy One, blessed be He. And just as a person seeks physical sustenance so that he will have money to survive, so too, to the same degree, he must seek spiritual sustenance — where he can fulfill the goal and purpose for which the Holy One, blessed be He, sent him into the world.
And this is the conclusion of the verse: "From Hashem are the steps of man established" — a person's steps must be "established," directed and purposeful. Why? "And this is because 'His way — the way of the Holy One, blessed be He — He desires'" — what is "His way"? The way of Hashem. A person wishes to instill the way of Hashem into the world, and this is his avodah.
And what is "the way of Hashem"? To complete this idea, the Rebbe Rayatz brings a verse from the weekly Torah portion — "as it is written concerning Avraham," about whom the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "for I have known him etc. and they will keep the way of Hashem" [here the Rebbe brings it in abbreviated form, and the complete verse reads "for I have known him, so that he will command his children and his household after him"]. What is the conclusion of the verse? "And they will keep the way of Hashem." The Holy One, blessed be He, knows, recognizes, and cherishes Avraham Avinu, because he educates his descendants "and they will keep the way of Hashem" — that very "way of Hashem" of the verse "and His way he desires." This is the way of Hashem in which Avraham Avinu educates the generations.
What is the "way of Hashem"? "For there are two ways" of looking at the world. There is the "way of nature" — that things proceed as they appear "to the eyes of flesh," in a natural manner, and a person is carried along according to the nature of things, "and this is the way of Elokim." And there is a way that transcends nature, which is the "way of Hashem," over which nature holds no sway; on the contrary, your task is to direct nature according to the will of the Holy One, blessed be He.
The Holy One, blessed be He, created the world in such a way that it appears to physical eyes as though it operates according to the way of nature, and this is the "way of Elokim" — for "Elokim" has the same numerical value as "hateva" (nature). This is the way of physical eyes.
Whereas "Torah and mitzvos are 'the way of Havayah'" — the way that is above nature, "and this is the drawing down of that which is above nature into nature." When a Jew fulfills Torah and mitzvos, he lives in the world and is part of nature, yet the matters of his life do not proceed according to the rules of nature but according to the will of the Holy One, blessed be He; this is called "the way of Havayah." And this is what the verse states, "The steps of man are established by Havayah, and He desires his way" — the Jew desires his way, the way of Hashem.
This is what is written concerning Avraham Avinu: his concern was that his children should "keep the way of Hashem" — to draw down into the world the above-nature within nature. And for this reason, when a Jew conducts himself in this way — constantly seeking spiritual sustenance and searching where to draw down Elokus in every place —
"For this reason, the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows upon Israel that which is above nature — within nature" — just as the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows upon Israel that which is above nature within nature, so too does He grant the Jew that, within nature, things should proceed in a manner that is above nature. His success in matters of nature, in material livelihood and in everything else, will not at all follow the rules of the world, for he lives Godliness — and therefore he will see Godliness even in his natural way of life.