The three hundred thirty-fourth "cheder" in the Hayom Yom palace.
Wednesday, 28 Tishrei 5704.
Lessons: Chumash, Noach, Revi'i, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 28th of the month, recite from chapter 135 until chapter 139 inclusive.
Tanya: on this day we continue still with Iggeret 25 of Iggeret HaKodesh. The daily portion begins on page 278 with the words "ela sheba'aratzot," and concludes on page 140, in the parentheses that end with the word "amen."
The brief daily teaching is drawn from a letter that the Rebbe Rayatz wrote on 7 Adar 5701. In this letter the Rebbe Rayatz rouses one of the chassidim, who had written to him that he has no time to study every day — not every day, he said, is he able to study. To this the Rebbe Rayatz writes a very sharp letter, saying: "This is a very, very bad thing" that you have no time to study every day, and know that studying Torah every day affects the physical, affects the spiritual, and affects souls.
And he elaborates. In gashmiyus [meaning physical life in its plain sense]: when a person toils in Torah in the plain sense (even if, while doing so, he also toils for his livelihood — there is nothing wrong with that, but there must also be toil in Torah) then he will have good in gashmiyus in the plain sense, he will have a livelihood and he will have sustenance.
In connection with this point comes the daily teaching [and afterward we will continue in the letter with the two points that touch on the spiritual realm and on souls as well]. The Rebbe quotes from the first passage: the verse states "im bechukotai teileichu" (if you walk in My statutes), and continues "venatati gishmeichem be'itam" (I will give your rains in their season). What do we learn from this verse? That the physical "be'itam," the material things in their proper time, depends on "im bechukotai teileichu."
And he elaborates: "the study of Torah and the fulfillment of the mitzvot are the ring of betrothal." Just as under the chuppah the groom gives a ring to the bride and betroths her, thereby obligating himself to provide her throughout her entire life with food, clothing, and all her needs — so too, as it were, does the Holy One, blessed be He, obligate Himself to give us all our needs. What is the betrothal ring of the Holy One, blessed be He? It is the Torah and the mitzvot, "through which the Holy One, blessed be He, betrothed Israel, obligating Himself to nourish and sustain them." And if we safeguard the ring — that is, "if you walk in My statutes" — this touches upon the physical, and there is abundant bounty in all the matters that the Holy One, blessed be He, obligated Himself to give us. This is on the physical level.
In the letter, the Rebbe Rayatz adds two further points. Studying is beneficial and has an impact in the spiritual realm as well: quite simply, if a person studies every day, this endows him with the knowledge of how to conduct himself as a Jew, and it strengthens his neshamah and his nefesh ha'elokit — it is simply good for him spiritually.
And a third matter, one that touches the very souls: a person who studies Torah every day makes the atmosphere of his home into an atmosphere whose walls absorb Torah and fear of Heaven, and the souls that grow up in that home — meaning his children — grow up in a good atmosphere, and they will be much better.
He concludes by saying that even if a person claims he is busy twelve hours a day with his work — let him be busy for another two hours with study, and he has no license to exempt himself from it. Thus says the Baal Shem Tov, for all blessings depend on Torah and mitzvos. We see this in the Rebbe's letters and talks countless times: whatever a Jew asks for a blessing about in a material matter — health, livelihood, or anything else — the Rebbe always ties it to the spiritual: fix the spiritual, and you will see that the material too will be in order; for there is an immense and powerful connection between the material and the spiritual in the life of a Jew.