The thirty-fifth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Friday, 24 Teves 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Shemos, Sheishi, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, day 24 of the month, from chapter 113 through and including chapter 118.
Tanya, we begin chapter 13, from the words "uvazeh," until the passage ending with the words "hachoshech kanal."
Today's teaching has two parts. In the first part the Rebbe relates to the date of 24 Teves, which is a chassidic date, and conveys information about its content - these are the first two lines. The Rebbe tells us what 24 Teves is: "The passing of the Alter Rebbe in the village of Piena, on the night following Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Shemos, 5573, and his resting place of honor is in the city of Haditch". Let us say a few words about this point.
First of all, the title "Alter Rebbe," which we already encountered on 2 Kislev. It is interesting that the three titles of the first three Rebbeim - the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek - are titles that were formed only after their passing, and only in the time of the Tzemach Tzedek, after his passing, were the titles "Alter Rebbe," "Mitteler Rebbe" and "the Tzemach Tzedek" established.
What is the reason for these titles? The Tzemach Tzedek is called by the name of his sefer, which was printed for the first time after his passing. The Mitteler Rebbe - since the Tzemach Tzedek was the third and the Alter Rebbe the first, it turns out that he was the middle one. And the Alter Rebbe - "alter" (elder) does not refer to age, but to the fact that he served as Rebbe the most years relative to those generations: the Alter Rebbe was nasi for a little more than forty years, the Mitteler Rebbe for fifteen years, and the Tzemach Tzedek for a little more than thirty-eight years. After the passing of the Tzemach Tzedek, when they summed up the three previous generations, it turned out that the first - the Alter Rebbe - was nasi the most years, and therefore he is called the "Alter Rebbe," the Tzemach Tzedek by the name of his sefer, and the Mitteler Rebbe as mentioned.
In any event, his passing was in the village of Piena. The sequence of events, as is known, is that the Alter Rebbe traveled because of the war that took place between the Russians and the French. On the eve of Rosh Chodesh Elul he traveled with his household to a place called Krasna, and they stayed there only a week, and afterwards they fled from the French and he was tossed about on the roads, until, with heavenly assistance, they arrived on the eve of Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach at the village of Piena. And from the eve of Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach he stayed there until his passing, on the night following Shabbos Parshas Shemos.
The Tzemach Tzedek describes the passing in a letter that appears as the first letter in his Igros Kodesh, and he describes the exact hour - on the night after Shabbos, at ten thirty, the beginning of 24 Teves. And these are his words: "For then the Holy Ark was taken captive, the light of Israel, the anointed of Hashem, and he was summoned to the heavenly academy" - thus does the Tzemach Tzedek describe the passing of his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe.
There is here a very interesting point that the Rebbe once wrote in a note, regarding the fact that it is noted that the Alter Rebbe passed away on the night following Shabbos Kodesh. The Rebbe asks that seemingly there is a statement in the Gemara: "One who dies on the eve of Shabbos, it is a good sign for him; one who dies at the conclusion of Shabbos, it is a bad sign for him." If so, according to the wording of the Gemara, a person who passes away at the conclusion of Shabbos, "it is a bad sign for him," so why is it noted about the Alter Rebbe that he passed away at the conclusion of Shabbos Kodesh? For seemingly, mentioning this date does not add to his honor.
And the Rebbe explains something wonderful: if one looks at a person's personal virtue - what is good for him and what is a good sign for him - then indeed, one who dies on the eve of Shabbos, it is a good sign for him, since the reason is that he enters immediately into rest, and on a personal level it is better for him on the eve of Shabbos. But, says the Rebbe, it is known, as the Alter Rebbe himself writes in Tanya, that the day and moment of a tzaddik's passing is, for the chassidim and for the flock of his pasture, a time of revelation of a very great eis ratzon, and it gives tremendous strength to the flock of his pasture and to his chassidim in their avodah.
The Alter Rebbe said about himself that he would not look at his own personal benefit; had he sought his own benefit, he would have brought about that his passing be on the eve of Shabbos. But he thought about the flock of his pasture, and said that when one enters the weekdays at the conclusion of Shabbos, special strength is needed. Therefore he gave up the personal virtue of passing away on the eve of Shabbos, and said that he wished to be with his chassidim and to give them strength as they enter the weekdays - their benefit was greater in his eyes than his own benefit. And this is the emphasis here, that it is noted that he passed away at the conclusion of Shabbos Kodesh, which highlights the greatness of the Rebbe's ahavas Yisrael for his chassidim - that he gives up his own virtue in order to give strength to the chassidim; for precisely when one enters the weekdays, the beginning of the week, more strength is needed. That is why this point is emphasized.
A final point: his passing was, as mentioned, in the village of Piena, but his resting place of honor is in the city of Haditch. Why was he not buried in the village of Piena itself, at the place of his passing? Because in the village of Piena there was no cemetery at all, and the nearest cemetery was in Haditch. They then took him on a snow sled - it was in Teves, in the winter - from the village of Piena to Haditch, a distance of three hundred kilometers. For three hundred kilometers they transported the holy body of the Alter Rebbe from the village of Piena to Haditch, where there was a Jewish cemetery, and there was his resting place of honor. And in chassidic stories a number of miracles are told that occurred along the way of the transport, but this is not the place to elaborate; this is only to note what the Rebbe noted here in Hayom Yom.
Let us move on to the continuation. In this part the Rebbe quotes an interesting quotation, and says: "My grandfather [my master, my father's father, my teacher and Rebbe] asked the Tzemach Tzedek". "A'azmu"r" is an acronym for "adoni avi zkeini mori v'rabi," and the speaker is the Rebbe Rayatz. From the perspective of the Rebbe Rayatz, his father is the Rebbe Rashab and his grandfather is the Rebbe Maharash; and if so, the meaning is that the Rebbe Maharash asked his father, the Tzemach Tzedek. In the source it is described in the sichah that the Tzemach Tzedek would learn with his son on a fixed schedule from time to time, and on one of the occasions when the Rebbe Maharash sat with his father the Tzemach Tzedek, he asked him a question.
What did he ask? In translation: "What did Grandfather want" - not only "want" in the plain sense, but what was his plan of action, what was the direction, where did he want to arrive "in the ways of chassidus" that he instituted, "and what did he want with chassidus". And why did he ask specifically the Tzemach Tzedek about the Alter Rebbe? It is known that even though between the Alter Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek there was another Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek received directly from the Alter Rebbe; as is known, that the Alter Rebbe raised the Tzemach Tzedek from childhood, from the age of three, and he received literally directly from him. Therefore the Rebbe Maharash asked his father directly about the Alter Rebbe - what was his direction and what did he want, for surely you know and are familiar and have heard.
And the Tzemach Tzedek answered him: "The ways of chassidus". What is "the ways of chassidus"? As we will see shortly, this is the giving of strength to succeed in chassidus, and it comes as an introduction. "They are, that chassidim should be like one family, according to the Torah, with love". The goal is that all the chassidim should be like one family, living according to the Torah with love, that all the chassidim be together. This is "the ways of chassidus," and this is the direction that assists - in addition to the very matter of ahavas Yisrael, that all the chassidim be together like one family.
And regarding chassidus itself he answered: "Chassidus is vitality - to bring in the vitality and to illuminate everything". With chassidus the Alter Rebbe wanted to infuse vitality and to illuminate everything. As the expression is already familiar to us from the beginning of Hayom Yom, that chassidus is "the light and vitality of our soul" - chassidus is vitality and chassidus is light. The Alter Rebbe wanted, then, through chassidus to infuse vitality and to illuminate everything. This is what the Tzemach Tzedek said to his son.
In the source, in the sichah, it is written that the son asked his father: everything? Do you mean everything - even that which is not good? [Here in Hayom Yom it is not written as a question and answer but as a continuous flow, but in the source he asked him: everything, even that which is not good?]. And the answer: "including that which is not good" - yes, that which is not good must also be illuminated, everything. And what is meant by illuminating that which is not good, since it is not good? That is, "to recognize the state of evil in one's soul" - to illuminate that which is not good, to identify it and to recognize your not-good as it is. And what is the purpose? "In order to rectify it" - when you identify it, you will know how to rectify it and to make it as it should be.
There is here an elaboration that the Rebbe once spoke about. The idea of illuminating everything is already familiar to us from the Baal Shem Tov - the well-known teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, that even the body, which is "the donkey of your enemy," need not be broken but rather one should serve Hashem together with it. But here there is an addition: not only with the body, but even with that which is not good, even with the evil - that also in evil there is a spark that can be extracted and turned into good, to rectify it and to do teshuvah for it.
And if we were to ask how we will succeed, how such a heavy and responsible mission can be given to every chassid - the answer: if there is "the ways of chassidus," if one lives together with love. And a teaching is already familiar to us that we read a few days ago in Hayom Yom, that the nasi said that when two chassidim are together, these are two G-dly souls against one animal soul; and here we are speaking not of just two but of all the chassidim together with love, and if so, against every animal soul there stands an entire battalion assisting him. This is no longer one's own strength, but a strength so great that with it there can certainly be success - to illuminate everything, and even that which is not good, and to turn everything into good.
And here we will conclude with the point we mentioned, that in the course of Hayom Yom there are, in certain periods, hints to the sequence of the seforim of the Rambam. We already spoke that from 5 Teves the hint about the first sefer of the Rambam, Sefer HaMada, began: from 5 Teves, over the course of six days until 10 Teves, there was each day a hint about different halachos in Sefer HaMada in order. Afterwards there was a break, from 11 Teves until here, until 24 Teves. And now, from 24 Teves, we will speak over the course of several days about the second sefer in the Rambam.
What is the second sefer in the Rambam? After Sefer HaMada comes Sefer Ahavah. Sefer Ahavah begins with the laws of krias Shema, and from there to tefillin, sefer Torah, berachos and so on, and it concludes with the laws of milah. The idea of Sefer Ahavah is hinted at in today's teaching. Where? First of all in its very name - "Sefer Ahavah": the Alter Rebbe's teaching was that he wanted, in the ways of chassidus, that the chassidim should live together with love, like one family with love, and this hints to Sefer Ahavah.
And there is here a hint even to the conclusion. The conclusion of Sefer Ahavah is the laws of milah, and it is explained in the inner dimension of Torah that the matter of bris milah is a very great light that is revealed at the bris milah, whose purpose is to rectify also that which is not good - to remove the foreskin and to rectify also that which is not good. And this is in fact what the Alter Rebbe said he wanted with chassidus: to illuminate everything, and to illuminate also that which is not good, to make the person circumcised and clean. If so, in this teaching there is a hint to Sefer Ahavah until its conclusion, the final halachos, which are the laws of milah. And in tomorrow's teaching, or the following day's, we will see a hint to the halachos in the middle, from krias Shema until the conclusion of the laws of milah, which are hinted at in the daily teaching.