"Cheder" three hundred and sixty-six in the Chamber of the Everyday.
Sunday, the 1st of Kislev, Rosh Chodesh, 5744.
Lessons: Chumash, Vayeitzei, the first parsha with the commentary of Rashi.
Psalms, on the first day of the month, one recites from chapter 1 through chapter 9 inclusive.
Tanya: we continue in the Kuntres Acharon, and on this day we begin the fourth section of the Kuntres Acharon and study its first part. We begin on page 151 with the words "To understand what is stated in chapter 8," and the daily lesson concludes on page 310 with the words "for Z"a etc."
The daily saying is short, and its source is a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on the 18th of Tammuz 5699. This is a very long letter, and we have already had several sayings from it in "Hayom Yom" — on the 20th of Sivan and the 18th of Tammuz.
Content of the letter: The Rebbe Rayatz explains about two types of chassidim — a chassid called "makifi" and a chassid called "pnimi." He brings examples from two chassidim of the Alter Rebbe: the first — Reb Moshe Vilenker, whom he calls "pnimi," and he brings several examples of where this was expressed; and the second — Reb Yekusiel Liepler, who was a "makifi" chassid.
Regarding this chassid, the Rebbe Rayatz relates that he had an expression in Russian which he would say about himself: On a day when he felt an elevation of the soul and sensed his soul revealed, he would say, "Oh, the chassid has arrived"; and on a day when he felt a descent, he would say, "Today the chassid has run away."
It is told there that on the day when "the chassid fled" he would pray quickly — that is, he would point with his finger in the siddur at each and every word, and his prayer was much faster, and he was even in a state of sadness on that day. Whereas on the day when "the chassid came," in his own words, he was radiant of countenance, and he would dance and pray with a blazing fire. And here comes the saying: what was the manner of his prayer on such a day? He would pray at great length.
And so he tells about Rabbi Yekusiel Liepler: "There were times with Reb Yekusiel Liepler (one of the chassidim of the Alter Rebbe) when he would pray Shacharis, Mincha, and Maariv one right after the other, with no time to pause between them" — the Shacharis was of great length, and immediately he would "snatch" Mincha, and the Mincha too was of great length, and immediately he would "snatch" Maariv, so that the day would not "escape" him.
It turns out that he did not eat that entire day — and not only the whole day, but that entire twenty-four-hour period — since he prayed throughout the whole day. And he would say about himself that, since he had received a blessing from the Alter Rebbe for longevity, he was able to live and be healthy even without food, in the merit of that blessing.