Ushpizin #3 Yaakov Avinu and the Alter Rebbe: Breaking Through the Limitations of Nature | Rabbi Chaim Zilber

00:00 Speaker 1 Gut Moed, Gut Moed, Rabbi Zilber.

00:01 Speaker 2 Gut Moed.

00:02 Speaker 1 So we’re up to the ushpizin, guest number three.

00:07 Speaker 2 Yaakov Avinu.

00:08 Speaker 1 Yaakov Avinu and the Alter Rebbe.

00:10 Speaker 2 The Alter Rebbe. Well, first of all, the Rebbe says that Yaakov Avinu had two names, Yaakov and Yisroel. Of course, Chassidus discusses these two levels at length. And there’s something distinctive about the Alter Rebbe, too: he has two names, Rabbi Schneur Zalman. Incidentally, the names are unrelated. Zalman comes from Shlomo, like Solomon; as is well known, Shlomo Zalman is a combination. Schneur is a different name. The first Schneur in Jewish history was a baby whose parents disagreed over whether to call him Uri or Yair. They reached a compromise and called him Schneur, after the “two lights.” That, incidentally, is written in Yam Shel Shlomo on Tractate Gittin. The Rebbe says that since the first Schneur was named for two lights, we see this openly in the Alter Rebbe: he brought two great lights into the world—the light of the revealed Torah, through the Shulchan Aruch, and the light of Chassidus, primarily through the Tanya. How does this connect to Yaakov Avinu? Yaakov Avinu also studied—after all, it says he was “a simple man, dwelling in tents.” The Gemara says: in the tent of Shem and the tent of Ever. What are Shem and Ever? They aren’t just two tzaddikim. Chassidus explains that Shem corresponds to the Written Torah, because the entire Torah consists of the names of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Ever corresponds to the Oral Torah, which passes from generation to generation by word of mouth. So the Rebbe says: Just as Yaakov Avinu has these two forms of Torah, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, with the Alter Rebbe they are expressed as the revealed Torah and Chassidus. How do they correspond? The Written Torah is written in a book; similarly, the revealed Torah is more openly accessible. Just as the Written Torah is openly written before us, while the Oral Torah is passed on—

02:09 Speaker 2 it is transmitted and isn’t openly written—so too the hidden dimension of Torah, Chassidus, is the deeper aspect that isn’t immediately apparent in the text. So there’s our parallel: Yaakov Avinu, whose concern is Torah, and the two forms of Torah represented by Shem and Ever; and the Alter Rebbe, who revealed two forms of Torah to us. There’s the revealed Torah—the whole world calls him “the Rav,” as in Shulchan Aruch HaRav—and there’s the hidden dimension of Torah, beginning with the Tanya.

02:40 Speaker 1 And what does this mean for the guests in our sukkah? What do we learn from it?

02:43 Speaker 2 Right. There’s something interesting the Rebbe added here: each of the ushpizin who comes to the sukkah says a particular verse. The Zohar tells us which verse Yaakov Avinu says when he enters the sukkah: “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily,” and so on. The Rebbe asks: In the phrase “your light shall break forth like the dawn,” why “break forth”? It could have said, “Your light shall shine like the dawn.” “Break forth” suggests breaking through something, something new. First of all, on the simplest level, the word for “shall break forth,” yibaka, contains the letters of Yaakov. And what is “your light,” orecha? The Rebbe says it points to two lights, an allusion to the Alter Rebbe, Schneur. So the same verse contains both Yaakov and Schneur. And this idea of breaking through is, I think, the motto of Chassidus: you have to break through a person’s limitations, the limitations of the animal soul. Chassidus teaches us that when you get up in the morning, everything seems natural; you’re in this world, and then you go out into the street. Chassidus brought something new. The third day of Sukkos is like this: let’s say the first day is the revelation of light, as light was created on the first day; the second day is the world; and the third day is when the light comes down into the world, breaks through the screens, is revealed in the world and spreads outward. As it says of Yaakov, “The man spread forth exceedingly.” So too with the Alter Rebbe. He brought down the Chassidus of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid, and “the man spread forth exceedingly”—“your wellsprings shall spread outward.” Unlike the Maggid’s other students, who taught mainly their own disciples—and they objected to the Alter Rebbe over this, as the stories tell—

04:39 Speaker 3 That it should remain only within the community.

04:41 Speaker 2 They found manuscripts out in the street. They objected to Chassidus being spread so widely. It began with the Maggid, but with the Alter Rebbe it became an actual campaign of dissemination. He wanted Chassidus to reach every Jew. And that, it would seem, is the motto of this day: to break through the limitations of our own animal soul and spread outward. On this day of Chol Hamoed, even outside Israel, the Jewish people go out with musical instruments and all the excitement, into the street, and turn it into—

05:18 Speaker 3 Get the street dancing.

05:18 Speaker 2 Get the street dancing, make the street a chassidic place, and reveal the Jewish soul in everyone. And when you go on an outing, you can take the Four Species with you. I highly recommend taking the Four Species. You’ll find that even in parks and at picnics, people are very happy to stop for a moment and make the blessing over them. I highly recommend it. You’ll also feel the true joy of knowing you didn’t go out just to enjoy time with your family, important as that is. It’s the most educational thing for the children: when you go on an outing, take the Four Species with you, and let the children help other children make the blessing over them. There’s nothing like it for the joy of Yom Tov.

06:02 Speaker 3 L’chaim, l’chaim.

06:03 Speaker 2 L’chaim and blessings.

06:04 Speaker 3 Gut Moed.

06:05 Speaker 2 Gut Moed.

06:05 Speaker 3 So breaking through is the central message.