"Room" number three hundred seventy-one in the palace of day-to-day life.
Friday, 6th of Kislev, 5744.
Lessons: Chumash, Vayeitzei, sixth aliyah, with Rashi's commentary.
Psalms, for the 6th of the month, from chapter 35 through chapter 38 inclusive.
Tanya: we continue with Kuntres Acharon, still in the fourth section of Kuntres Acharon — in the sixth part of that section. The daily lesson begins on page 312 with the words "ve'od zot," and concludes on page 157 with the words "lo yir'u."
The daily saying is from a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on the 8th of Elul, 5696. This is a saying in its own right, relevant to every Jew, whatever level and rung he may be on, for it speaks about the meaning of the Shema recited before going to sleep that a person says at the end of the day — what is the soul-accounting and what is the contemplation that he must reflect upon each day.
Let us provide a bit of specific context: the letter is addressed to a certain rabbi, a rabbi who is a halachic authority and the rabbi of a community. The Rebbe Rayatz explains to him that the soul-accounting of the recitation of Shema for each person is according to his level of responsibility throughout the day, and he speaks about the responsibility — and consequently the contemplation involved in the recitation of Shema before retiring at night — of a communal rabbi. And he writes that he will quote to him something he heard from his father, the Rebbe Rashab, who once said to a rabbi in the year 5669.
And this is what he tells him: what is the recitation of the Shema at bedtime? A person must reflect on how his day went — to think about what were the good things that happened today, what were the not-good things, and what were the bad things; a person must contemplate all of this. And then he says that there are different types of people: there are businesspeople, and there are those who dwell in the tent [of Torah], and among them a shamash, a shochet, a melamed, and a rabbi, and for each one he specifies what kind of soul-accounting he must make. And thus the meaning of cheshbon hanefesh is understood.
This is the daily saying, and the translation of its wording: "My revered father, my teacher and Rebbe [the Rashab] said: The Shema recited upon the bed is, in miniature (zeir anpin), like the confession made before the soul departs from the body" — the Shema recited upon the bed at night is similar to the confession that a person must say before departing from the world, before the soul leaves the body; the very same idea.
And what is the difference between the confession before the soul departs from the body and the recitation of Shema that a person says every night? "Rather, then," when a person says confession at the time the soul is about to depart from the body, before his passing — "one leaves the fair entirely," the analogy is to the world as a fair, a place where people buy and sell and profit, and sometimes lose. And when a person makes a reckoning of his soul before passing, he is like one who is already leaving the fair; the story is over, and if he arrives at the conclusion that something was not right — it is already too late, there is nothing to be done, for he stands at the doorway of departure from the fair.
"The commerce of "today to do them" has ended" — the commerce of which the Torah says "today to do them," and tomorrow to receive their reward; the "today to do them" concludes, the commerce is finished. So it is with the recitation of Shema before passing away. "But with the recitation of Shema upon the bed each night, one is still in the very midst of the fair" — but with the recitation of Shema upon the bed that a person says each night before sleep, you are still in the middle of the fair, in the middle of business; tomorrow, with God's help, you will rise to a new day, and you are still in the midst of the fair. "And it is still possible to accomplish" — you can still accomplish and rectify; indeed, you cannot bring back the day that has passed, but you can rectify things that were done improperly.
And then the Rebbe Rayatz concludes in the letter — and as mentioned, he brings expressions for each and every one, but interestingly, at the conclusion of the letter he addresses the rabbi and says: "It will be demanded of you," for the rabbi is responsible and obligated regarding everything that is not good in the entire community and in all matters. And then he adds for him further practical details, all sorts of things that he must do.
And perhaps in conclusion we can reflect on why the Rebbe placed this saying here, on the 6th of Kislev. The source of the Rebbe Rayatz's letter is in the month of Elul — the month preceding Rosh Hashanah and the reckoning of the soul — and it brings us into this matter. We too are here before the "Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus," in the days close to the 19th of Kislev, at the end of the calendar. And much like the Elul that precedes Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe brings us into the reckoning of the soul that a person must undertake — how one's chassidic year looks, and how one has conducted oneself with oneself and with others. This is the content of the saying.