The three hundred and twenty-ninth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Friday, 23 Tishrei, Simchas Torah, 5704.
At the beginning of the teaching the Rebbe notes several practices observed on this day, and it is striking that he places them before mentioning the daily study portions — unlike most days of the "Hayom Yom", where the first thing the Rebbe notes is the custom of the daily study portions.
The first point that the Rebbe notes: "We do not read from the Torah at night". What does this mean? In many communities there is an ancient custom that on the night of Simchas Torah a Torah scroll is taken out not only for the hakafos but also to read from it. What exactly is read? On this itself there are differing customs: some read the portion of "Vezos Haberachah", and some read other portions; and regarding the number of aliyos there are also differing customs — some call up five as during the day, and some call up only three. Here the Rebbe notes that among us this custom of reading from the Torah at night is not practiced at all, and at night we only dance with the Torah scroll and do not read from it.
The second practice that the Rebbe notes is "the priestly blessing is recited at Shacharis." Normally the kohanim raise their hands during the Musaf prayer, at which time one also recites the passage of "Ribono shel Olam" and "Chalom chalamti" while the melody is being sung, as is our custom to sing during the priestly blessing. On an ordinary festival all of this takes place at Musaf, but on Simchas Torah it is moved up to Shacharis. Why? Because after Shacharis one already recites Kiddush and drinks wine and other beverages, and a kohen who has drunk — even a revi'is of wine — can no longer, according to halachah, perform the service in the Beis HaMikdash, nor can he raise his hands for the priestly blessing. Therefore, on Simchas Torah, the entire order of the priestly blessing is moved up to Shacharis, and it is not done at Musaf.
The third custom that the Rebbe notes: "We do not have the practice of spreading a tallis over the heads of those called up for Chassan Torah and Chassan Bereishis." There are communities — and even in the Luach Kolel Chabad it is noted that such is the practice — where the Chassan Torah or the Chassan Bereishis spread a tallis over the bimah, above their heads and above all those called up. The Rebbe notes that we, in practice, do not follow this custom of spreading a tallis over the heads of those called up.
The fourth custom: "Also the one who is called up to the Torah says 'chazak chazak venitchazek.'" This is a point the Rebbe already noted earlier in "Hayom Yom," on 18 Tevet — the Shabbat on which we completed the Book of Bereishit — where, at that first completion, the Rebbe noted the custom that the one called up to the Torah says "chazak chazak venitchazek"; and now, at the completion of the entire Torah, the Rebbe repeats this custom once more. We already dwelt, when we spoke on that date, 18 Tevet, on the novelty in this custom, which involves several points, and we will not elaborate on it again. One point: the one called up to the Torah recites the blessings of the Torah, and when he finishes the reading he must immediately say the blessing, yet here he inserts words unrelated to the reading — "chazak chazak venitchazek" — and perhaps there is a concern of interruption. A second point: who is blessing whom with "chazak chazak venitchazek"? After all, the congregation blesses the one called up, who merited the aliyah of "chazak," and blesses him that he should be strengthened; if so, why does the one called up say it about himself — the congregation ought to say it! There we already elaborated on the matter. In any case, the custom in practice is that not only does the congregation say "chazak chazak venitchazek," but the one called up to the Torah himself also says it.
The following is today's lessons. Chumash — first the Rebbe notes what is said in the Chumash lesson on this day of Simchat Torah: "Berachah," for we conclude the Torah and the portion of "Vezot Haberachah." In this year's arrangement (in 5704), Simchat Torah fell on Friday, and therefore in the Chumash lesson one must conclude the portion of "Vezot Haberachah" — Shishi and Shevi'i — since we conclude the entire portion today; so on this day both Shishi and Shevi'i are said, with Rashi's commentary. Here the Chumash lesson ends, and as we will see in the "Hayom Yom" of the next day, 24 Tishrei, Shabbat Bereishit, it is written that in the Chumash the entire portion of Bereishit is said with Rashi from its beginning to its end. This was generally how the notation regarding the Chumash appeared — that on Simchat Torah one only concludes "Vezot Haberachah," and Bereishit is begun the following day, on Isru Chag. If the arrangement is such that Isru Chag itself is Shabbat, then the entire portion is said on Shabbat; but if the arrangement is otherwise and Isru Chag falls on another day, then on the day of Isru Chag one says the portion of Bereishit up to the point one has reached.
But in practice, in later years — such as in 5746, on Shabbos Bereishis — the Rebbe changed this and said that the study of the Bereishis portion should begin already on Simchas Torah itself. That is, in a year like this one, when on Simchas Torah, which falls on Friday, one finishes the entire portion of "Vezos Haberachah" to its end, one should also study on that same day the portion of Bereishis from its beginning up to and including Friday. The Rebbe even explained the reason for this: In the past, the study of Bereishis was postponed to Isru Chag, because Simchas Torah is supposed to be a day devoted entirely to joy and dancing, and one even pushes off the Torah lessons to the following day in order to make use of every moment for dancing and rejoicing. However, the Rebbe said, he saw that there are more than ten Jews who waste time — not that they were engaged in joy and dancing the whole time, but surely they also had rest and involvement in other matters — and if one is already occupied with other things, one can already complete on that day more than the Chumash lessons, and there is no need to postpone it to the next day. Therefore, the Rebbe began to encourage that already on this day, 23 Tishrei, one should study the continuation of Bereishis.
Tehillim, on the 23rd of the month, one recites from chapter 108 through chapter 112 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day one begins a new letter, letter 24, from the word "Ahuvai." The lesson concludes on page 138 with the words "l'ein kol."
Now comes a teaching that the Rebbe notes was said by the Alter Rebbe on this day, on Simchat Torah. Let us read the wording: "On Simchat Torah 5540 our Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe, said." He said something that gives special significance to the fact that on Simchat Torah, as is known, the emphasis is not on the study of Torah, but rather that the joy of the Torah is expressed specifically in dancing with the feet. He spoke about the virtue of dancing specifically with the feet, and about the virtue of the feet in a certain sense.
What did the Alter Rebbe say? The verse states "It is a tree of life to those who grasp it," and continues "and those who support it are fortunate." He distinguishes between two groups: there are the "those who grasp it," about whom it is said "It is a tree of life," and there are the "those who support it," about whom it is said "fortunate." Who are these two groups? The first group, "those who grasp it," "these are the men of comprehension who study Torah" — people of intellectual comprehension, whose primary relationship to Torah is in its study, and who are essentially scholars engaged in Torah study; and about them it is said "It is a tree of life," for they have Torah which is a tree of life to those who grasp it.
"And those who support her are fortunate — these are the baalei avodah who occupy themselves with Torah" — who are "those who support her"? According to the plain meaning of the words, they are the ones who support the learners. These are Jews who are not so much people of intellectual attainment, but rather more people of avodas Hashem, and for them the "occupation" is expressed in "occupying themselves with Torah" — meaning, apparently they too learn, but the main emphasis of their lives is not on the learning, since they are not people of intellectual attainment, but rather on the support and encouragement of the Torah scholars who are people of attainment. And what is said about them, about "those who support her"? "Fortunate." And the Rebbe translates the word "fortunate" into Yiddish — "gliklach" — that is, this is a very strong statement regarding the supporters of Torah: they are simply fortunate Jews.
The word "me'ushar" (fortunate) is not only in its simple sense of a fortunate Jew, but also contains a hint. What does the Zohar say about the word "me'ushar"? "As stated in the Zohar (Volume 3, 53b), do not read it 'me'ushar' but 'meiRosho' (from His head)" — with the same letters, through a rearrangement of the letters, "me'ushar" becomes "meiRosho." And what is the Zohar's intent? That you should not view "tomcheha" (those who support it) as being of a lower level — as though they lack such comprehension and merely support and assist. The Zohar says: no; "meiRosho" — they draw down from the head, from a level far loftier than "hamachazikim bah" (those who hold fast to it). "For through their avodah they draw down from His head, that is, from the innermost aspect of the Ein Sof, blessed be He, like the superiority of the leg, which sustains specifically the head" — and it is specifically they, the men of avodah, who support and engage in Torah in their own way, who draw down "meiRosho" — that is, from the innermost aspect of the Ein Sof, blessed be He.
In other words, one could say that those who possess intellectual comprehension are the heads of the Jewish people, while those who occupy themselves with divine service are, as it were, the feet, engaged in matters that appear more external. But here we are saying that it is precisely those who are the feet, the lower ones, who draw down from the head, from the inner dimension — like the superior quality of the foot, which specifically sustains the head; like the feet, by whose merit the head stands, walks, and dances, so that all the virtues of the head come by the merit of the feet. This is the essence of the saying that on Simchat Torah — whose primary avodah is the dancing with the feet — the Alter Rebbe delivered a teaching in which one sees the superior quality of the Jews who are distinguished in the verse "and its supporters are fortunate" (v'tomcheha me'ushar).