The sixty-second "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Thursday, 22 Shevat 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Yisro, chamishi, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, the 22nd of the month, chapters 106 and 107.
Tanya, we are still in chapter 23, from the words "umei'achar sheratzon", and the shiur ends with the words "b'lav hachi".
The source of the daily portion is in Yiddish, from a maamar of chassidus that the Rebbe Rayatz said during his first visit to the United States. As is known, in 5690 the Rebbe Rayatz came to the United States for a visit of a certain period, and afterwards returned a second time in 5700. On his first visit he said a maamar of chassidus there, the dibbur hamaschil "Rava chazyei l'Rav Hamnuna". The entire maamar is in Yiddish, and it was even written in Yiddish, and it is printed in the Rebbe Rayatz's Sefer HaMaamarim "Kuntreisim". In this maamar the birchos haTorah are explained at length - he goes through the birchos haTorah section by section and explains the meaning of the words.
The daily teaching is taken from a passage in the maamar that explains the words "asher nasan lanu Toras emes". As an introduction, what is "Toras emes"? The word "emes" includes the first letter - alef, the last letter - tav, and the middle letter - mem. [Here is a point that the Rebbe Rayatz says in the maamar without emphasizing it: when we say that the mem is the middle letter, one must remember that there are 22 letters in the alef-beis, and in 22 there is no middle letter; rather, the intent is when one counts also the final letters - and then there are 27 letters, and the mem is the exact middle of the 27 letters]. And that is "emes".
He further says that it is stated in the Mishnah in Maseches Parah, regarding the water with which one may sprinkle for the purification of a person who became impure through the impurity of a corpse, that it must be "mayim chaim", living water. What is living water? Water whose flow ceases even once in seven years is not considered such; for "emes" is something that does not cease and does not change. And the Torah is called "asher nasan lanu Toras emes".
In the next chapter comes an idea that is brought there at length, and here the Rebbe brings it in summary - he takes a sentence from one part and a sentence from another part and joins them together into one teaching; therefore the words do not appear here exactly in the order in which they are in the maamar. Let us see how the Rebbe abbreviates the idea and says it in Yiddish, and we will translate:
"There are two kinds of laws: a) a law that creates life. b) a law that is created out of life"; and this difference between a law that creates life and a law that is created out of life is the essential difference between the laws of Torah and the laws of the world. As he elaborates: "Human laws were created out of life, and therefore they differ in every country, and according to the conditions in it". All the laws that human beings establish and legislate, all the legislatures in the world - these are laws that were created out of life; that is, certain situations that exist in a country cause the legislators to think that it is worthwhile to legislate this or that law, so that life in the country will run properly. Therefore in every country there are different laws - according to the conditions of the country.
The laws thus correspond to the conditions of the country. For example, traffic laws: there are countries in which one drives on the right side, and there are countries in which one drives on the left side, according to the custom and the behavior of the vehicles in that country; and so the traffic laws are set accordingly.
In contrast, "the Torah of Hashem is a Divine law that creates life". This is not a law created out of life - it is not that because the Jewish people behaved in a certain way, laws were legislated that would suit us; rather the opposite: the laws of Torah are laws that create life, and they come from above to below. The law is Divine, and it is upon us to fit our lives according to the laws that the Torah established, because they are laws that create life.
"The Torah of Hashem is a Toras emes" - and this is what we bless in the birchos haTorah, "asher nasan lanu Toras emes". "The Torah is the same in every place and in every time; Torah is eternal" - the Torah does not change and does not adapt itself to time and place; this is the uniqueness of the lawfulness of Torah.
Why does this passage come specifically on this day? First of all, it is very striking that we are in Parshas Yisro - the parshah of Mattan Torah, the receiving of the Torah, in which the laws of the Torah were given to us; and it is therefore fitting that in this week comes the definition of what the uniqueness of the laws of the Torah is.
And continuing with what we already began in yesterday's shiur, we return to the correspondence of the teachings with the structure of the Rambam's Yad HaChazakah. We saw in yesterday's teaching that it is a preparation for Sefer Nashim, and the daily teaching advances another interesting step. The Rambam, in each of his books, brings at the beginning of the book - before he details the content of the halachos - a certain verse from Tanach, which is like the motto of the book, and afterwards come the details.
What is the verse with which the Rambam opens Sefer Nashim? A verse from Sefer Mishlei: "Toras chacham mekor chaim lasur mimokshei maves" - the teaching of the wise is a source of life, to turn away from the snares of death. The entire content of this verse, which opens Sefer Nashim, is precisely the idea of the daily teaching - that Toras chacham, the Torah of Divine wisdom, is a source of life; it creates life and brings about "turning away from the snares of death". This verse, which opens Sefer Nashim, corresponds exactly to the daily teaching, since we are now in the teachings that correspond to Sefer Nashim, as we will see with Hashem's help in the coming days as well.