"Cheder" three hundred twenty-seven in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Wednesday, 21 Tishrei, Hoshana Rabbah, 5704.
Shiurim: Chumash, Berachah, Revii, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 21st of the month, recite chapters 104 and 105.
Tanya, we continue with chapter 23. Today's lesson begins on page 272 with the words "Al ken ahuvai," and concludes on page 137 with the words "b'peirush Rashi z"l sham."
The daily teaching includes various customs related to this date, Hoshana Rabbah. First custom: "In the tikkun for the night of Hoshana Rabbah, even Parashat Berachah is read only once in Scripture — there were certain individuals whom my revered father, my teacher, instructed to recite it on Hoshana Rabbah with Rashi's commentary, but this is not a directive for the public — and on the eve of Simchat Torah it is recited twice in Scripture and once in Targum."
What did we read here? On the night of Hoshana Rabbah there is a "tikkun," during which the entire Book of Devarim is recited. There are opinions that, since Hoshana Rabbah is the eve of Simchat Torah, and on Simchat Torah the entire parsha of Berachah is read, and always before a Shabbat on which the whole parsha is read one recites it shnayim mikra ve'echad targum — so there are those who follow the custom that when reciting the entire Book of Devarim at night, upon reaching parshat Berachah they recite it shnayim mikra ve'echad targum, as a preparation for the reading on Simchat Torah, when the entire parsha of Berachah is read.
Our custom, however, is not so; rather, in the tikkun the recitation of Parshas Berachah is a separate matter — one concludes the entire Book of Devarim, including Parshas Berachah, one time. But afterward, when erev Simchas Torah arrives — on the following day, for we were just speaking about the night of Hoshana Rabbah, and on erev Simchas Torah, which is Hoshana Rabbah during the day, then indeed one must recite, as on every erev Shabbos, Parshas Berachah with shnayim mikra ve'echad targum, for this is the time when Parshas Berachah is read.
In parentheses, he mentions that there were certain individuals whom the Rebbe Rashab instructed, as a personal directive, to recite Parashat Berachah with Rashi only — but not shnayim mikra ve'echad targum. And this matter is certainly not connected to the recitation on the night of Hoshana Rabbah. This is the first custom.
The second custom that the Rebbe brings is: "Before Hallel, one removes the two windings that are on the lulav, and only the three that bind the three species together remain." As we have already seen on previous days, when we spoke about the manner of binding the lulav, there are two windings on the lulav itself, and an additional three windings on one tefach in the lower part, which bind the lulav together with the aravot and the hadassim. On the day of Hoshana Rabbah, before Hallel, one must remove the two windings that hold the lulav itself, and then only the three in the lower part remain. And the emphasis here is "before Hallel" — that is, when one is accustomed to making the blessing over the four species in the morning in the sukkah, still before the prayers, one should not yet remove the two windings; only in the synagogue, before the recitation of Hallel, does one remove the two windings that are on the lulav.
What is the reason for this? There is a simple reason and an inner reason. The simple reason is that the lulav must be shaken, and the shaking must cause the leaves to be felt moving. Throughout the week they are held tightly by the bindings, and one shakes the lulav as a whole, and there is no need for the shaking to be at its full strength; but on the last day, which is the "final sealing," the shaking must be done properly — and there is a special virtue in the shaking, for as it is written, it holds back harmful dews and evil winds. The main shaking is during Hallel, and although one also shakes in the morning before the prayer, its essence is in Hallel; therefore before Hallel, prior to beginning the shaking, one lowers the two bindings that are on the lulav so that the shaking will be done properly. This is the simple reason.
There is also an interesting inner reason for this, which the Rebbe brings in one of the sichos. The three bindings on the lower portion, which bind together the lulav, the aravos and the hadasim, correspond to Yaakov Avinu; while the two bindings on the lulav correspond to Avraham and Yitzchak. And the Rebbe explains: why is it that corresponding to Yaakov Avinu there are three bindings, whereas corresponding to Avraham and Yitzchak there is one binding for each? Yaakov Avinu's middah is the middah of tiferes, and tiferes includes within it both chesed and gevurah; so it contains tiferes, chesed and gevurah — the three lines — and therefore, corresponding to tiferes there are three bindings.
Furthermore, tiferet embodies inclusiveness, and therefore the role of the three bindings is to unite the lulav, the hadassim, and the aravot together; the movement of integrating diversity is Yaakov, and thus the three bindings correspond to Yaakov Avinu. The two bindings on the lulav itself, however, correspond to Avraham and Yitzchak, whose essence is not inclusiveness — they are either chesed or gevurah. The role of these bindings is different: to close up the branches of the lulav, so that there be no seepage in undesirable directions, so that there be no nurture drawn by the chitzonim. For it is known that from Avraham came forth Yishmael and from Yitzchak came forth Esav; therefore one binds the lulav so that its leaves be closed and there be, God forbid, no opening toward undesirable directions and no nurture for the chitzonim. This is the reason.
And when Hoshana Rabbah arrives — a day on which there is still room for the chitzonim, and this is the reason we still take the Four Kinds on Hoshana Rabbah, whose purpose is to demonstrate that the Jewish people are victorious; and if we demonstrate that the Jewish people are victorious, this implies that there is something over which to demonstrate this, that there are chitzonim — but there is no concern of the chitzonim drawing sustenance. Such a great day, on which there is no concern of the chitzonim drawing sustenance, and therefore we remove the two rings that are on the lulav. For what is there to be concerned about — that the chitzonim would draw sustenance? On this day there is no such concern, and therefore we remove them. And this is truly the reason that on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, when there is no room at all for the chitzonim, we do not follow the customs of Hoshana Rabbah with the Kinds — there is no longer a need for that, since we are in a state of holiness alone. This is the inner reason that on the day of Hoshana Rabbah, before Hallel, we remove the two rings that correspond to Avraham and Yitzchak.
The third custom that the Rebbe brings is "eruv tavshilin." In this year's calendar of 5704, this matter appears already for the third time in the month of Tishrei — in the festivals falling on Thursday and Friday, with Shabbat adjacent to them, as here: Wednesday is Hoshana Rabbah, Thursday-Friday are Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, and afterward comes Shabbat. In such a calendar arrangement one must always, on the eve of the first day of the festival, make an eruv tavshilin, whose purpose, as we have already discussed, is to enable cooking from the second day of the festival for Shabbat, from Friday for Shabbat; and the eruv tavshilin made on Wednesday will make this possible. The Rebbe mentions here this matter of eruv tavshilin.
The final matter: "On Hoshana Rabbah we dip the piece of bread for HaMotzi in honey, but not on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah." The Rebbe brings the well-known point from the letter of the Alter Rebbe, that the place of the honey is from Rosh Hashanah until after Hoshana Rabbah. And what is the significance of the honey? The Alter Rebbe explains in another maamar that during this period one must sweeten the gevurot, and this is connected especially to certain days such as Hoshana Rabbah — particularly the sweetening of the gevurot through the beating of the aravah and the like. The honey is a symbol of the sweetening of gevurot.
Why? Because honey contains within it both chesed and gevurah: on the one hand it is sweet, exceedingly sweet; and on the other hand — if a person eats a spoonful or two of honey, he can no longer continue eating it, and it becomes repulsive to him. If so, what is honey — sweetness or repulsion? It contains a blend of sweetened gevurah, and one sees in it two opposites. That is why we dip in honey. And here the Rebbe says that this continues until Hoshana Rabbah, but once we reach Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah it is already a different matter, and we return to dipping in salt, and there is no longer any need for the matter of honey.
Regarding the question of whether, from Rosh Hashanah until Hoshana Rabbah, one must dip in honey every day, at every meal, throughout all of Chol HaMoed, or only on Shabbatot and festivals: the Rebbe was once uncertain about this. There is a second volume of "Hayom Yom," printed at the end of many seforim — teachings that were not published as a book — and there the Rebbe rules clearly when one primarily needs to dip in honey throughout the entire month of Tishrei: on Rosh Hashanah, on the eve of Yom Kippur and at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, on the first day of Sukkot and on Hoshana Rabbah. As for Chol HaMoed, the wording there is "mehei teiti" — meaning that during Chol HaMoed there is no obligation; and if one wishes to do so, it is perfectly fine, but the primary period ends on Hoshana Rabbah. And with this the Rebbe concludes the daily custom.