Ushpizin #7 Dovid Hamelech, the Nesi'ei Chabad, and the Secret of the Guests of Simchas Torah | Rabbi Chaim Zilber

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

00:02 Speaker 2 Gut Moed.

00:03 Speaker 1 So we’re at the last part of this series.

00:05 Speaker 2 Yes.

00:05 Speaker 1 We’ll talk about the seventh, the eighth, and the ninth as well.

00:08 Speaker 2 “All sevenths are cherished.”

00:09 Speaker 1 Yes.

00:09 Speaker 2 We’ve reached Hoshana Rabbah. It’s still “the season of our rejoicing,” but there’s also a seriousness to this day: it’s known as the day of the final sealing. For us, everything finds expression in a Chassidic way, so even this we do with joy.

00:25 Speaker 1 Yes.

00:25 Speaker 2 So, a good final sealing to everyone. And on this day we have important ushpizin.

00:33 Speaker 1 Who do we have today? Who are the guests?

00:35 Speaker 2 King David, and the Chassidic ushpiz, the Rebbe Rashab.

00:40 Speaker 1 So what’s the connection between King David and the Rebbe Rashab?

00:44 Speaker 2 Okay, first there’s the thing that immediately stands out. When you say “the Rebbe Rashab,” you think of Tomchei Temimim and its soldiers, who are called the soldiers of the House of—

00:54 Speaker 1 David.

00:55 Speaker 2 David. And that connection really stands out. It’s not just a technical name. When the Rebbe Rashab founded Tomchei Temimim, it was on Simchas Torah, and he proclaimed that we are of the House of David, beginning with the Baal Shem Tov. Well, what can I say? He named all our Rebbeim, saying that we are of the House of David and have the promise that its lamp will never be extinguished. Chassidus draws from King David because, quite simply, our Rebbeim were descendants of David. With the Rebbe Rashab, this found expression in the founding of Tomchei Temimim and the mighty army he established, which to this day is called the soldiers of the House of David. More specifically, the Rebbe went into detail about how kingship in general, not only David’s kingship, is connected with the crown. A king has his crown.

01:48 Speaker 1 That’s what sets him apart. He looks different from everyone else, because he—

01:50 Speaker 2 He looks different, too, and he cannot give up the crown. The Rebbe cited a maamar about “Let them bring royal apparel.” Achashverosh told Haman, “Let them bring royal apparel that the king has worn.” Actually, it started with Haman saying to Achashverosh: “Let them bring royal apparel that the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown has been placed,” and give these to the man whom the king wishes to honor. What did Achashverosh answer? “Hurry, take the apparel and the horse.” What’s missing?

02:15 Speaker 1 The crown.

02:16 Speaker 2 The crown. The Alter Rebbe says in Torah Or on Megillas Esther that kingship itself depends on the crown. That’s his wording. The king cannot give away the crown. Haman coveted it, but the king could not give it to him.

02:30 Speaker 1 Because it represents—it’s a very powerful symbol of kingship. The crown.

02:34 Speaker 2 Kingship. He can’t give the crown to anyone. And how does this connect to the Rebbe Rashab? First, there’s King David. More than that, beyond what’s true of every king, King David has a special connection to the crown. The Gemara relates that King David’s crown had a particular shape and served as a sign: “The crown was a testimony for the House of David; whoever was fit for kingship, it fit him.” They would test descendants of King David who sought to become kings with the crown. If it fit them, they received the kingship; otherwise, they knew they weren’t worthy. They say that those of the House of David who were fit for kingship had a particular head shape. So for David, the crown was even more closely bound up with his kingship. How does all this connect to the Rebbe Rashab? As is known, the Rebbe Rashab was born in 5621, which the Tzemach Tzedek called “the year of the crown.” He was born in a year associated with the crown, and more specifically, on 20 Cheshvan: the Hebrew word for “twenty” has the same numerical value as “crown.” It’s also the fiftieth day of the year, and 20 Cheshvan is connected with the concept of the crown in the sefiros. The Rebbe spoke about this at length in terms of Chassidus. The Rebbe Rashab was born into this aspect of kingship, of his leadership, associated with the crown.

03:53 Speaker 1 That’s the connection the Rebbe draws between the two of them.

03:56 Speaker 2 Between the two of them. Elsewhere, the verse “He redeemed my soul in peace,” which King David said, is also mentioned. It contains the first of the Rebbe Rashab’s names: Sholom Dovber.

04:04 Speaker 1 “He redeemed my soul in peace.”

04:05 Speaker 2 Sholom—peace.

04:06 Speaker 1 “From the battle against me.” And what does this teach us?

04:11 Speaker 2 Right. I think that when we reach Hoshana Rabbah, we can understand that this day has the crown—the crown of kingship—which finds expression in Tomchei Temimim, bringing together Nigleh and Chassidus. In other words, after all of Sukkos, when we sat in the sukkah—“You shall dwell in sukkos for seven days”—on the seventh day, the encompassing light of Sukkos can find expression inwardly as well. That’s really the innovation of Tomchei Temimim: a student eats at Tomchei Temimim and sleeps at Tomchei Temimim. The Rebbe explained, regarding the Rebbe Rashab, that for him the inner and outer aspects were one. So it seems to me that this is the lesson of Tomchei Temimim: everyone should be a tomim, always feeling that he is a soldier of the House of David, and that everything he learns should be felt in everyday life, including in his physical activities and his conduct—from the time he gets up until he goes to sleep. “A chossid walks; a chossid eats.” Yes, translated literally: a chossid walks, a chossid eats. And that influences his surroundings, too. The plain meaning of “soldiers of the House of David” is that we are soldiers who must illuminate our surroundings with whatever light we have to offer. It’s the last day for mivtzoim. Don’t forget to go out with the lulav.

05:46 Speaker 1 Last chance.

05:47 Speaker 2 Last chance. And you can always find people who will say Shehecheyanu because it’s their first time making the blessing today.

05:52 Speaker 1 That too.

05:53 Speaker 2 Chaim, much success.

05:54 Speaker 1 Wait—since we won’t have time to talk about what comes next, maybe we should touch a little on the eighth day, Shemini Atzeres. What did the Rebbe say about—

06:02 Speaker 2 Right, the Rebbe actually—

06:03 Speaker 1 We haven’t finished the series of Chassidic ushpizin.

06:06 Speaker 2 The Rebbe revealed that although the ushpizin are generally known as the seven ushpizin, there are two places in the Zohar where Shlomo Hamelech is added as well. It says, “David and Shlomo.” And since the Rebbe had already added the Frierdiker Rebbe—the Frierdiker Rebbe was the one who revealed the Chassidic ushpizin—the Rebbe says that the Frierdiker Rebbe’s day is Shemini Atzeres, when, outside Eretz Yisroel, we also sit in the sukkah. He corresponds to Shlomo Hamelech. So how is Shlomo Hamelech connected to the Frierdiker Rebbe?

06:34 Speaker 1 The Rebbe really explored the connection.

06:35 Speaker 2 He explored their connection many times. The Rebbe said that Shlomo Hamelech’s distinctive quality was that all the nations came to him. “When news of Shlomo reached them, they came to him”—all the…

06:49 Speaker 1 Kings came to him.

06:50 Speaker 2 Even the Queen of Sheba came to him from far away. And how does that connect to the Frierdiker Rebbe? The Frierdiker Rebbe was the first to have Tanya and Chassidus translated into many languages—English, French, Italian. In the Frierdiker Rebbe’s time, he asked for Tanya to be translated, published Talks and Tales, Sichos for Youth, in English, and already began publishing in other languages. With the Rebbe, of course, the dissemination reached every language, even Braille.

07:24 Speaker 1 Braille.

07:24 Speaker 2 Right. But that’s one thing they have in common. Shlomo reached all the nations. We call it “outreach”: going out and reaching even beyond the boundaries of holiness. With the Frierdiker Rebbe, this found expression in translating Chassidus and bringing it into the languages of the nations. The second connection is the Beis Hamikdash. Shlomo Hamelech built the Beis Hamikdash—that’s the most prominent thing he did. And as for the Frierdiker Rebbe, although his father founded Tomchei Temimim, he did not found it until the Frierdiker Rebbe married at age seventeen. As is known, he married on 13 Elul. Two days later, on 15 Elul of that same year, 5657, his father founded Tomchei Temimim. Why? Because there was someone to run it. The Frierdiker Rebbe was the director of Tomchei Temimim from its very first day. He admitted the students and set them on a path of enlightenment, and the Rebbe Rashab waited until his wedding to establish Tomchei Temimim. So just as King David planned the Beis Hamikdash but Shlomo Hamelech actually built it, the Rebbe draws a parallel: the Rebbe Rashab planned and founded Tomchei Temimim, but it was specifically the Frierdiker Rebbe who actually ran it. He was its acting director. And just as the Beis Hamikdash was where G-dliness came to rest in a permanent way—until then, “I moved about in a tent and a Mishkan,” whereas the Beis Hamikdash was a permanent home for the Shechinah—so it was with Tomchei Temimim. Before then, chassidim would sit in Lubavitch with the Rebbe Maharash, and they were already immersed in Chassidus from the time of the Alter Rebbe. But a yeshiva where—

09:07 Speaker 3 The study of Chassidus is part of its schedule.

09:09 Speaker 2 There are set study periods, fixed hours for Chassidus and Nigleh, and the student takes exams with his supervisors. That existed only in Tomchei Temimim, where the Frierdiker Rebbe oversaw and ran it.

09:28 Speaker 3 And from there, chassidim come to Simchas Torah. Here in Eretz Yisroel, Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah are on the same day.

09:34 Speaker 2 Yes.

09:35 Speaker 3 Outside Eretz Yisroel, they’re two days.

09:36 Speaker 2 Simchas Torah is known as the Rebbe’s day. Chassidim always knew that, but the Rebbe gave it his stamp of approval on Simchas Torah 5748. After speaking about the special quality of Sukkos—when we have ushpizin, guests who come to visit us—the Rebbe asked: Even on Shemini Atzeres, outside the Land of Israel, we still sit in the sukkah, and the ushpizin come to us again. As is known, each day has its own ushpiz, who comes together with all the others. As the Zohar says, “And with him they all come.” So how can it be that on Simchas Torah we don’t have ushpizin? We’ve reached the peak, and precisely now we’re in the house without them. How could something be missing at the highest point? The Rebbe said that nothing could be missing. Rather, we must say that on this day we do have the ushpiz, but he is not in a temporary place, in the sukkah. The ushpiz enters the house—and not just any house, but the shul and beis midrash, where he dances with the Torah before the eyes of all Israel.

10:44 Speaker 3 Obviously.

10:45 Speaker 2 The chassidim took this to mean: Here it is, what we’ve always said—the ushpiz of Simchas Torah is the Rebbe. It’s the Rebbe himself. There’s no parallel for this in the Zohar: the Rebbe danced with the Torah before the eyes of all Israel on this day. The Rebbe actually compares the joy of Simchas Torah to Yom Kippur. The Jewish people, the Torah, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are all one. It’s the unity of the Jewish people with the Torah, beyond all limits, and for us, it’s our unity with the Rebbe on this day. We sing the niggun that the Rebbe would sing while jumping.

11:25 Speaker 3 The Rebbe’s father’s niggun.

11:26 Speaker 2 Which is also the Rebbe’s father’s niggun. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay! And the other niggun too—the niggun at the Rebbe’s hakafah. Ay, ay, ay, ay! There’s no need to explain it. It’s beyond words.

11:39 Speaker 3 Yes.

11:39 Speaker 2 When we enter into Simchas Torah... I’ll never forget what I experienced on Simchas Torah. We never saw the Rebbe dance like that on any other day of the year. Even before the hakafos, the Rebbe was simply standing in his place. I remember when we sang, “The Rebbe shlita—there’s no one like you in the world,” and the Rebbe stood there and jumped, actually lifting off the ground, waving his hands in every direction. It was a sight you can’t describe and can’t forget. We don’t have video of it, but, baruch Hashem, hundreds or thousands of people saw it. They’ll tell you that Simchas Torah lifted us up, raised us above the ground for two days. And we still have that light today, when we see how chassidim dance on Simchas Torah in Chabad communities.

12:37 Speaker 4 That tune immediately puts you in the mood. Ah, ma-ma-ma.

12:42 Speaker 2 Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay.

12:45 Speaker 4 Ay, ay, ay, ay. Well, Chaim, yasher koach. Yasher koach for this whole incredible project.

12:49 Speaker 2 May we merit to dance together with the Rebbe. It’s the Rebbe’s day. He wants to see us, and we want to see him physically. We’re not satisfied with the joy we have, great as it is. We want complete joy.

13:01 Speaker 4 With the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu.

13:03 Speaker 2 Very soon.

13:03 Speaker 4 Yasher koach for all your time and for the project.

13:06 Speaker 2 My pleasure. May we truly merit all the revelations. It isn’t fair that our children haven’t had the chance to see what we saw. My son once told me, “I’d rather be older, and I don’t care what that means. What good is being young if I haven’t had the chance to see the Rebbe, Moshiach? I’m willing to be older if it means seeing the Rebbe, as you did.” They’re right. Our youth, our young people and our children deserve to see the Rebbe. They truly do, and we really...

13:38 Speaker 4 That’s what we need to work toward. With Hashem’s help, may we merit it.

13:40 Speaker 2 Amen. And may we live to see him.

13:41 Speaker 4 Chaim.

13:42 Speaker 2 Very soon.

13:44 Speaker 4 By the time this video is published, we’ll already...

13:46 Speaker 2 Yes, we’re ready. We won’t mind at all if this video turns out to have been unnecessary.

13:50 Speaker 4 Absolutely.

13:51 Speaker 2 …

13:52 Speaker 4 With Hashem’s help. Yasher koach.

13:53 Speaker 2 Amen.