The fifty-first "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Sunday, 11 Shevat 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, parshas Beshalach, the first parshah with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, the 11th of the month, from chapter 60 through and including chapter 65.
Tanya, today we begin chapter 20, from the beginning of the chapter, "V'hinei", until page 26, concluding with the words "kilya u'k'efes mamash".
The source of today's saying is in the Sefer HaSichos of the Rebbe Rayatz, Sefer HaSichos 5703. There the Rebbe Rayatz speaks in a sichah - I believe it is the sichah of Simchas Torah - about American Jews, and he describes how all their involvement and all their "hoo-ha" is devoted to "making a living" in the world and to life in the world; and despite it all, the "Modeh Ani" of each one of them, which he says in the morning, remains entirely whole and is not confounded by all their "hoo-ha". He describes there that they themselves are not American-born, but rather came from "the old home" by way of various places in Europe, and therefore their "Modeh Ani" remained pure and authentic; and he elaborates on the matter at length there.
From this sichah comes the saying that we read this morning in "Hayom Yom". The saying is in Yiddish, and in translation: "The order of the day begins with "Modeh Ani", and it is said before netilas yadayim" of the morning, which is called "negel vasser", a term for the morning washing of the hands [even though its literal translation is "nail water" - "vasser" is water and "negel" is nails; and in several places there are discussions as to how this term came to describe the morning water, but such is the name of this washing]. So then, "Modeh Ani" is said every day before the morning netilas yadayim, "even with impure hands", since one has not yet washed his hands.
The Rebbe explains that according to nigleh - as is explained at length in the Rebbe's sichos, which were included in the well-known kuntres "Inyanah Shel Toras HaChassidus" - the reason it is said before netilas yadayim is that "Modeh Ani" contains no Divine Name, and therefore there is nothing preventing one from saying it even before netilas yadayim. But according to pnimiyus the matter is the reverse: "Modeh Ani" is higher than all the other passages of the prayers that do contain a Divine Name, for it touches upon something powerful and deep.
An example of this is the first word of the Ten Commandments - "Anochi". "Anochi" is not one of the holy Names, and seemingly it is an ordinary word, yet it signifies the loftiest level, His very Essence. That is, the highest level is not referred to by the title of any particular Divine Name, yet its stature is far higher. And as he says here as well: "because all the impurities in the world have no power to defile a Jew's 'Modeh Ani'".
This applies also in a broader sense - not only regarding the "impurity of the hands" in the morning, that one may say "Modeh Ani" without netilas yadayim, but in a general sense: "Modeh Ani" expresses the inner faith of the Jew, the "yechidah shebanefesh", in the Rebbe's language in that same sichah. In that sichah the Rebbe seeks to explain what the aspect of "yechidah" within Torah is - Toras HaChassidus; and to that end he brings this saying, and shows that it expresses the entire aspect of "yechidah" of Toras HaChassidus, and conveys to us light in the pshat, remez, drush and sod of all the explanations of "Modeh Ani" on every level. This is the innermost expression, and it is worthwhile to study the sichah inside and to see all the wondrous revelations it contains.
In any case, "Modeh Ani" expresses the level that the impurities of the world cannot defile: a Jew, whatever may be happening with him and whatever his conduct may be, his "Modeh Ani" remains authentic, and the yechidah shebanefesh always remains pure and clean. As he concludes: "Perhaps this or that is lacking, but the "Modeh Ani" remains whole" - it may be that a Jew is lacking in this or that, that he has various shortcomings in conduct according to Torah and mitzvos, and he is not so perfect, but his "Modeh Ani" always remains whole and is not harmed in the least. This is the point and the content of today's saying.
And continuing with the hint we see as to how the sayings follow the order of the books of the Rambam: although there is no two-day interruption here, we are now opposite the final halachos of Sefer Zmanim - Hilchos Megillah and Chanukah. This saying fits both of them, and why?
In Hilchos Megillah - the designation of the Jewish people throughout the entire Megillah is "Yehudim", and this is the first place where they are called by the name "Yehudim". And the Gemara explains that "Yehudim" is not only on account of the tribe from which they came, but from the expression "modim in the entire Torah", and of course denying idolatry. And this is precisely the first point of the saying, that the Jewish people have the point of Yiddishkeit of "modeh" - acknowledging the entire Torah, "Modeh ani lefanecha". That is the connection to Hilchos Megillah.
And the matter is connected to Hilchos Chanukah as well, for the entire miracle of Chanukah was in one flask that all the impurities of the Greeks did not manage to touch, and it remained sealed with the seal of the Kohen Gadol. And it is explained in chassidus that this is the aspect of the yechidah shebanefesh, which cannot be brought down by anything; and this too is the idea in the saying - that a Jew's "Modeh Ani" is like that single flask of the Chanukah miracle. Both Hilchos Megillah and Hilchos Chanukah, which the Rambam joins together, are expressed here in one saying, and both matters express precisely the same idea of the saying.