Room three hundred and thirty in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Shabbos, 24 Tishrei, Isru Chag, 5704.
First of all, the Rebbe notes in the heading, in a line and a half: as with every Shabbat Mevarchim throughout the calendar of the Hayom Yom. What is the special conduct on this Shabbat? In his words: "we bless Rosh Chodesh Marcheshvan," and that is this Shabbat.
What are the customs on Shabbos Mevorchim? First, "reciting the entire Tehillim early in the morning," which is said as a group every Shabbos Mevorchim. Second, the Rebbe notes that it is a "day of farbrengen" — there is a directive that a chassidic farbrengen should take place on Shabbos Mevorchim. The next thing the Rebbe notes is "the Haftorah: Koh amar - ve'yaadir," which is said on this Shabbos, Shabbos Bereishis: "Koh amar," the opening words of the Haftorah, until "ve'yaadir," the final word.
What is the emphasis here? The haftarah recited on this day is from the book of Yeshayahu, chapter 42, and it begins with verse 5, with the words "Koh amar." The question is where the haftarah concludes, and on this matter there is a difference between the Sephardic custom and the Ashkenazic custom: the Sephardic custom is to conclude at verse 21, which ends with the word "veyadir," while the Ashkenazic custom is to continue into the next chapter, Yeshayahu chapter 43, and to conclude at verse 10. Generally, in Chabad the practice regarding haftarot follows the Sephardic custom.
But here there is an interesting addition, about which the Rebbe spoke several times at farbrengens. On Shabbos Bereishis 5717, the Rebbe related that in this matter there is a difference between the conduct that should be that of the chassidim in general and the conduct of our Rebbeim, our nesi'im. He brought details as he had heard from the Rebbe Rayatz — sometimes one way and sometimes another — and from them he understood that there is a difference between the general public and our Rebbeim, our nesi'im.
The practice for the community is that every year, on Shabbos Bereishis, we begin with the words "Ko amar" and conclude with the word "veyadir". However, by our Rebbeim, our Nesi'im, there is a distinction between a leap year and a regular year: in a leap year one concludes according to the custom of the Ashkenazim, at chapter 43 verse 10, and in a regular year one concludes according to the custom of the Sephardim.
The Rebbe spoke about this many times. I believe that on the last occasion, on Shabbos Bereishis 5744, the Rebbe explained during the farbrengen why he extended the haftarah beyond the usual point. The Rebbe again clarified the entire matter, which he had understood from the Rebbe Rayatz: that for people "of his stature" [in the Rebbe's words] — our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im — the order of the haftarah in a leap year is different, but this is not a directive for the public; for the public, the practice is as written here.
Shiurim: Shabbat, and therefore the Rebbe writes Chumash, Bereishit, the entire parashah with Rashi's commentary. We already discussed in the teaching of the previous day that there were changes in this matter — what would be the study of the Chumash shiur with Rashi on Isru Chag, and what would be on Shabbat Bereishit. Here the matter is still according to the Rebbe's custom, as he wrote at first: that on Simchat Torah one completes "Vezot Habrachah," and only on the following day, the day after Simchat Torah, on Isru Chag — and in our case Isru Chag falls on Shabbat — one recites all of Parashat Bereishit until its end.
Tehillim: for the 24th day of the month, from chapter 113 through chapter 118 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day we conclude Iggeret 24 in Iggeret HaKodesh. The lesson begins on page 138, with the words "ve'al ken kav'u," and concludes with the word "belibotam," which is the end of the iggeret.
Here we have a very interesting saying. Usually the teaching comes from a single source — sometimes a letter, sometimes a maamar — but our saying is culled from three entirely different letters of the Rebbe Rayatz: the Rebbe took a sentence from here, a sentence from there, and from a third place, and joined them together into a single continuous passage. The subject of the teaching is how a chassidic farbrengen ought to look.
The first passage comes from a letter of the Rebbe Rayatz, from Pesach 5698. Apparently the Rebbe Rayatz describes that a farbrengen had begun to take place on Shabbos Mevorchim as it should be, and he writes: "The farbrengen ["farbrengen"] in general, and on Shabbos or Motzaei Shabbos in particular, is one of the foundations in the ways of the chassidim and Chassidus" — one of the foundations in the ways of the chassidim is the farbrengens.
And what are the content, meaning, and purpose of the farbrengen? The Rebbe Rayatz writes: "and it is an opening and gateway to the fundamental mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael". Ahavas Yisrael is a fundamental mitzvah, and when people sit together, eat together, say lechaim and talk — this greatly strengthens the matter of ahavas Yisrael. This is what the Rebbe Rayatz writes in that letter.
Further on, the Rebbe Rayatz brings a very interesting matter from the Rambam in his Commentary on the Mishnayos, that speech is of four types: beloved speech, permitted speech, forbidden speech, and repugnant speech. And the Rebbe Rayatz writes there that a chassidic farbrengen is not merely of the category of beloved speech, but its significance is far greater: it uproots the forbidden, pushes away the repugnant, and refines the permitted. This is the significance of a farbrengen of chassidim.
The following passage comes from a different letter, from 21 Adar Sheni 5695. There the Rebbe Rayatz explains at length, in a very interesting manner — one well worth studying inside — that a lesson in avodas Hashem is to be derived from every single detail of hashgacha pratis. He refers there to what can be learned from the conduct in a hospital, from the way an injection is administered to a person along with all the preparations preceding it, and so on. Further on he writes that a farbrengen is like an injection with a needle — that is the meaning to which he compares it.
And from there comes the quotation in the following passage: "ruba deruba" [that is, generally speaking] "at every farbrengen the leading speakers demand of those gathered that they improve their conduct in their ways," that they behave better in daily life in various areas, "that they set fixed times to study the words of the living G-d," that they establish set times to study Chassidus, "and that they maintain these fixed commitments" — things they had already accepted upon themselves earlier, and also those accepted at that same farbrengen, that they keep them consistently.
Furthermore: "and that the study be for the purpose of learning and fulfilling". Here, apparently, a printing error occurred, for in the original letter the wording is "that the study be for the purpose of observing and fulfilling".
Afterwards there is a passage that the Rebbe skips over, and further on in the letter it is written: "Now, the general concept of the manner of rebuke" — how one properly rebukes another at a farbrengen — "is well explained in the discourse beginning Im ruach hamoshel" in the maamar that the Rebbe Rayatz delivered in the year 5684, on a verse whose source is in Koheles.
In Kohelet it is stated: "If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place." On these words there is a maamar opening with "Im ruach hamoshel" ("If the spirit of the ruler"), printed in "Kuntres Lamed" — one of the maamarim booklets of the Rebbe Rayatz. In that maamar it is discussed how one can, how one must, and how it is proper to rebuke one another when the need arises, "which it is fitting for each and every one of Anash to study well, applying it to himself" — it is fitting for every chassid to study this maamar well, in a personal and inner way, in order to internalize its messages.
The final passage of this teaching comes from a letter dated 27 Marcheshvan 5697. There the Rebbe Rayatz relates the story of a chassid who conducted himself improperly in matters of business, and the Rebbe Rashab imposed a certain penalty upon him — it is not specified what it was — yet he commanded that no one should know of it, that it should remain secret, so as not to shame him. The Rebbe Rashab explained that guarding against shaming him is a fulfillment of the mitzvah of covering the blood — that is, one takes care that his blood not be spilled through the whitening of his face.
Later on appears the saying that the Rebbe quotes in the final passage: "However, this admonition during the farbrengen is only regarding matters and things that involve no embarrassment whatsoever" — one should admonish, but only concerning something that a person will not be ashamed of when being admonished — "as it was from time immemorial, that each person would admonish his fellow", as was always the custom among the Jewish people, for there is a mitzvah in the Torah, "You shall surely rebuke your fellow," yet it was done "with great love and affection", so that, Heaven forbid, no one would be hurt and take it in a bad way.