The fifty-third "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Tuesday, 13 Shevat 5703.
Lessons: Chumash, Beshalach, third portion, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, the 13th of the month, from chapter 69 through chapter 71 inclusive.
Tanya, on this day we complete chapter 20 from the words "aval eser" until the end of the chapter, which concludes with the words "inyanei haolam".
The daily saying includes two parts: the first part deals with a custom that we follow, and the second part is a saying with a certain content. Let us begin with the first part. This date, 13 Shevat, was connected to an event that occurred on that very day, for a year earlier, 13 Shevat 5702, was the passing of the Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah, the mother of the Rebbe Rayatz. She passed away on 13 Shevat 5702, and the day of her burial was not on that same day but two days later, on 15 Shevat of that year.
Now the question arises as to when the yahrtzeit ("yortzeit") is marked: the day of passing was on 13 Shevat and the day of burial on 15 Shevat - in 5702 - and exactly one year later, in 5703, which is the date of this Hayom Yom, the question comes up. The Rebbe addresses this and says: what is our custom? A "yortzeit" [yahrtzeit] is marked "on the day of death, even in the first year" - for there are those who have the custom, at least in the first year, to mark the "yortzeit" on the day of burial. But the Rebbe writes that our custom is to mark the "yortzeit" on the day of death, even in the first year, and he adds: "and even when the day of burial is far from the day of death" - even though in practice the day of burial was on a different day, as we noted that with the Rebbetzin the burial was two days later. Nevertheless, the "yortzeit" is marked on the day of death and not on the day of burial.
Interestingly, there is a letter that the Rebbe wrote to someone, printed in the early volumes of Igrot Kodesh. That person wrote about a case that happened to him, in which the day of burial was almost a month after the day of death, because they transported the deceased to another country, and the journey by sea took a month; and he was deliberating when he should mark the "yortzeit". The Rebbe writes to him that the "yortzeit" should be marked on the day of death - almost a month before the day of burial. And he adds that perhaps, to be even more thorough, in the first year he should do something on the day of burial as well - he should go up before the ark as chazzan and study Mishnayos - but this is merely an addition, and the date is to be marked on the day of death. This is the first part of the daily saying.
The second part opens with a heading: "The reply of the Tzemach Tzedek to my grandfather" [my master, my grandfather, my teacher and Rebbe], and that is the Rebbe Maharash. The Rebbe Maharash was, as is known, the grandfather of the Rebbe Rayatz, the author of the saying that appears in his letter. The Rebbe Rayatz writes that the Tzemach Tzedek said these words to his son, the Rebbe Maharash, "when he was about seven years old". It is written here "reply" - an answer that he gave to a question. What was the question? It is not written here, only the reply; therefore I will give the background and the question, and then we will see what the answer is.
The Rebbe Rayatz relates that the Rebbe Maharash, when he was a child of about seven, was fluent in all of Tanach, and his father the Tzemach Tzedek would test him from time to time on passages of Tanach, to see whether he remembered and knew them. On one of the occasions when his father tested him in Tanach, the Maharash asked his father about the meaning of a verse in Koheles: "that G-d made man upright". The Maharash asked: what is the great praise, what is the emphasis in praising that the Holy One, blessed be He, made man upright?
To this came the father's answer, and only the answer appears here - "the reply of the Tzemach Tzedek". He says to him: "the kindness and the superior quality in that G-d made man upright" - what is the great kindness that the Holy One, blessed be He, did with man when He created him to walk upright, meaning that he walks on two legs and not like an animal that walks on four - "to walk with an erect posture". What is the great kindness? [When one wants to say about a person that he knows what is happening in the world and is not "up in the clouds", one says about him that he has "both feet on the ground".] The Holy One, blessed be He, created man to be with both feet on the ground, on the earth; and nevertheless, "that although he walks on the earth, he can nevertheless see the heavens" - since he walks on two legs, he is able to lift his head and see the heavens as well.
This is the advantage in that the Holy One, blessed be He, made man walk upright - so that he could, while being on the earth, also see the heavens. "Not so one who walks on four" - all the animals, which are called in Parshas Shemini "one who walks on four", "who sees only the earth"; as the well-known saying goes: the animal has never seen the heavens, but walks on the earth and looks at the earth, and cannot lift its head and see above. This is the great advantage of man, that while he is in the world he can study G-dliness, understand G-dliness and understand the knowledge of Hashem - not only to look at the heavens in their literal sense, but to be connected to heavenly matters.
As the Rebbe Rayatz, who relates the story, adds there in the letter, this is also an advantage in that a person who studies Torah should not be content with studying the revealed part of Torah alone but should also study the inner dimension of Torah. For if he studies only the revealed part, he is like someone who is on the earth and studies only earthly things; but if he uses his ability to see the heavens as well - that means that he also studies the inner dimension of Torah.
This letter was originally addressed to a person who served as a melamed. The Rebbe Rayatz teaches him, among other things, what the role of a melamed of young children is: to tell them from time to time stories of the conduct of tzaddikim, to explain to them the lesson learned from them, and to show them the strengthening in fear of Heaven that can be gained from these stories. That is the role of a melamed.
And it is interesting that this content is also connected to the date, for in the third portion of Parshas Beshalach - which is this day, 13 Shevat - the verse states "and the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were traveling after them", "and they lifted their eyes and saw". The lifting of the eyes elevates a person, as expressed in this saying, that a Jew can lift his eyes upward and see lofty matters, to see G-dliness.