The forty-ninth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Friday, 9 Shevat 5703.
Shiurim: We are in the week of Parshas Bo. The Chumash shiur on Friday is the sixth section with Rashi's commentary from Parshas Bo.
Tehillim, the 9th of the month, from chapter 49 through and including chapter 54.
Tanya, on this day we conclude chapter 18, the last part of the chapter, from the words "einei hachochmah" until the end of the chapter, which ends with the word "umuvan".
The daily passage is short, and its source is in the Rebbe's diary notes - something the Rebbe Rayatz said. It briefly addresses the subject of completing the study of Shas - either Gemara or Mishnayos. As he says at the end of the teaching, it refers to the Rebbe Rashab - what he completed when the year of mourning for his mother came to an end. The mother of the Rebbe Rashab was Rebbetzin Rivkah, wife of the Rebbe Maharash, and she passed away on 10 Shevat in the year 5671. So this day, 9 Shevat, is the conclusion of the year of mourning for his mother - on 9 Shevat 5672 the year came to an end.
The Rebbe addresses in the teaching something connected to this day. He says: "When my father and teacher [the Rebbe Rashab] completed Shas for the third time - he said a maamar of DACh [Divrei Elokim Chayim]" - a quote from the words of the Rebbe Rayatz, that his father, the Rebbe Rashab, when he completed Shas for the third time, said a maamar. In the Rebbe's diary the completion of Shas is described in a bit more detail - that it happened in a surprising manner; and although there was an expectation of it, in a surprising way he said a maamar of chassidus at the third completion of Shas.
"And its content" and what was the content of the maamar? "What is a hadran". It is known that upon completing the study of Shas one says "Hadran alan, hadran alach", and he explained in the maamar what "hadran" means. The maamar itself is not in our hands, but we do have two letters of the Rebbe Rayatz, which he wrote in connection with the completion of a course of study, and in them he briefly explains the meaning of the concept "hadran". The Rebbe Rayatz brings sources there that the word "hadran" can be interpreted in four different ways, and all four ways are particular to the completion of a masechta, and certainly to the completion of all of Shas.
Let us briefly go through the four interpretations that the Rebbe brought. The first interpretation - "hadran" from the expression of "beauty". Intellect in general is the most beautiful thing in creation, since man is the loftiest of creation, and intellect is the loftiest thing in him; but the intellect of the holy Torah, the Divine intellect within Torah, is the loftiest intellectual beauty in creation, the eternal Divine intellect. And when one completes a masechta one says: what did we have here? We had here a "hadran" - something on the highest Divine level. That is one interpretation of "hadran".
The second interpretation - "hadran" from the expression of "hadar and honor". What is the purpose of the study? To know how to fulfill the mitzvos with hiddur, and to do actual good things for another and to conduct oneself with good middos and with respect toward him. And when one completes a masechta one says "hadran" - that the purpose of all the study is that it should bring more hadar and honor to another and to actual deeds. This is the purpose of the study.
The third interpretation - "hadran" from the expression of "a round thing". Its source is in the Gemara, where it is written regarding the signs of animals that they are round signs, and in the language of the Gemara "hadoros". And what is the meaning of a circle? In a circle, unlike a square or any other shape, there is no starting point and no end point; every single point on the circle is on exactly the same level relative to its other parts. And the meaning of this in Torah study: every Jew learns on his own level - one is suited to depth, and one is suited only to say the words even without understanding - and each one on his level connects to the Divine wisdom in the fullest way. One cannot say in Torah that one is worth more and one is distant; all of them in the circle are on exactly the same level, and if you learn according to your ability - you are bound to Torah to the very same degree.
The fourth interpretation - "hadran" from the expression of "to return", and this is the interpretation people generally use in everyday language, which has nothing to do with Torah: "hadran" - to come back again, another round. And its meaning: a Jew must know that he is not in the world at only one station, but rather he must return and give an accounting to the One who sent him, to the Holy One Blessed be He - you go back and ascend to the World to Come. And so too every study that you learn does not conclude with the study itself, but you must review it again - both in the simple sense, to review the study, and also to go back and report to the One who sent you, to the Master of the house, what exactly came out of your study. In any case, perhaps this was the content of the maamar of chassidus that the Rebbe Rashab said at the completion of Shas for the third time.
The second part of the teaching notes what the Rebbe Rashab actually did and when he completed it. The Rebbe Rayatz says: "During the year of mourning after his mother, my father and teacher [the Rashab] completed Shas Mishnayos by the end of eleven months, and by the day of the yahrtzeit the entire Shas" [Gemara]. As we mentioned, his mother was Rebbetzin Rivkah, and the year of mourning was in the year 5671. The Rebbe Rashab completed the six orders of Mishnah by the end of eleven months - which is the conclusion of saying Kaddish, in the month of Teves 5671 - and by the day of the yahrtzeit, 10 Shevat, he completed all of Shas, all of the Gemara.
It is interesting that once, at a certain farbrengen, the Rebbe repeated this passage and asked: what is the point of telling us this - what relevance does it have to us what the Rebbe Rashab did? And he answered that we are told this because anyone who finds himself in a similar situation has the ability to do the same - this is relevant to each and every person. And the Rebbe said something interesting there: even a person who is in such a situation and is unable to learn all of Shas, and not even all six orders of Mishnah - at the very least, in connection with a yahrtzeit he should learn the first Mishnah and the last Mishnah, for in the first and the last there is the point of the whole. That is, we are told this so that each person should do something relevant to him in this connection.
Regarding the topic we have been dealing with on all the previous days and also before that - the connection to the Rambam in these halachos. In the previous lesson of 8 Shevat we saw the connection to Hilchos Kiddush HaChodesh. The connection to the final halachos of Sefer Zemanim - Hilchos Megillah and Chanukah - is not today, but comes, with G-d's help, on 11 Shevat. There are two days of interruption here, and when we reach 11 Shevat we will have the allusion to the conclusion of Sefer Zemanim, which is Hilchos Megillah and Chanukah, and with G-d's help we will speak about it on 11 Shevat.