"Mivtza Torah" Completion Ceremony 5769 at Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim Lod

00:12 Speaker 1 Ay ya, may ya, may ya, yai yai yai yai, dili. Ay ya, may ya, may ya, yai yai yai yai, dili. Ay ya, dili ay ya, yirdam ay ya. Ay ya, may ya, may ya, yai yai yai yai, dili. Ay ya, may ya, may ya, yai yai yai yai, dili. Ay ya ya, dili ay ya ya, yirdam ay ya ya. Ay ya yai, dili ay ya ya, yirdam yirdam, oy ya. Ay ya yai, dili ay ya ya, yirdam—

00:44 Speaker 2 During 5769, the Rebbe asked each and every person to join a program [unclear] in Cheshvan and study selections from the birthday celebrant’s treasures. So let us open this farbrengen, this celebration, with a brief explanation from the Rebbe’s sicha on the weekly parsha, which also relates to our celebration. The verse says, “And Avraham was old, advanced in years, and Hashem blessed Avraham with everything.” In this sicha, the Rebbe notes that, unlike the blessings Avraham Avinu received after the command “Lech lecha,” where the blessings are spelled out—“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great,” and later, “For all the land that you see, I will give to you and to your descendants”—here, the Torah does not specify what the blessings were. It says only, in general terms, “Hashem blessed Avraham with everything.” What does “with everything” mean? The Rebbe also notes that the wording of the verse teaches us that this blessing, “with everything,” followed from the fact that Avraham was old, advanced in years. The Rebbe asks in the sicha: What connection does this blessing have to Avraham’s being old and advanced in years? The Rebbe explains, based on the Zohar, that the verse “And Avraham was old, advanced in years” describes Avraham Avinu’s immense effort in Torah study. As our Sages say, “old” means one who has acquired wisdom. This also appears in the Gemara: the Gemara in Yoma says, “Avraham was old and sat in a yeshivah, as it is said, ‘And Avraham was old, advanced in years.’” The Rebbe explains in the sicha that, seemingly, Avraham Avinu, given who he was, did not need to exert himself so much in Torah study. Nevertheless, the Rebbe says, Avraham Avinu was not content with the tremendous abilities he already had. He exerted himself in areas of Torah that were beyond his own abilities, beyond his strength. And in the merit of that effort in areas beyond his abilities, he received the special blessing, “Hashem blessed Avraham with everything.” He received wisdom without limit, boundless wisdom, new abilities he had not had before.

04:32 Speaker 2 That is why the Torah does not specify what the blessings were: the blessings encompassed everything, without any limit. Through his effort, Avraham Avinu received wisdom without any limit, and that is the meaning of “with everything.” The Rebbe says in the maamar: [unclear]. This verse teaches us something wonderful, the Rebbe says. Sometimes a person, a young man, is not born with special talents. He feels that learning an entire tractate by heart is beyond his ability. The Torah teaches us that even if that is so, even if it truly is beyond his ability, he can gain that ability. Through effort, he can gain new powers he did not have before. The Torah teaches us that through effort, anyone can gain the ability, the strength, and the talents needed for the particular thing he is working on. I want to tell you, dear students and parents, that here in the yeshivah we see this tangibly, day after day and hour after hour. Students we did not believe could be tested on an entire tractate by heart—and sometimes we even gently tried to talk them out of it, as they say, so that, G-d forbid, they would not be disappointed—those very students proved to us that nothing stands in the way of effort. “If someone says, ‘I toiled but did not find,’ do not believe him.” A young man who works hard, even if we assume he did not have the ability before, gains the ability and the strength through his effort. The students who were tested on tractate Bava Basra by heart reached the level they reached not necessarily because of their talents. They reached it solely through their effort. We welcome Rabbi Wokner [?] and Rabbi Ha’ir [?]. Please, have a seat. Tonight we have gathered here to salute those students for their effort, for their dedication to Torah study, for giving up hours of rest, hours of sleep, hours of—

08:14 Speaker 2 hours... And the main thing is that others will see what they have done and do likewise. May each and every one of us leave here tonight with a firm resolution that, with Hashem’s help, this year he will be among those tested on tractate Sukkah by heart. This year is a year of Hakhel, and this gathering is, first and foremost, a Hakhel gathering. In the sichos, the Rebbe asks that we speak at these gatherings, these Hakhel gatherings. We welcome Rabbi Yaroslavsky. Please, have a seat. So let us all try to listen and hear—“so that they will hear”—the words that, with Hashem’s help, we will hear tonight from the distinguished rabbis who have come here. They will certainly inspire us, as the Rebbe asks of Hakhel, in everything concerning the fear of Hashem and in everything that concerns us in particular as students of the Temimim. We will ask the rabbi of the city of Lod, Rabbi Natan Ortner, to open this gathering with words of Torah and a blessing. Please.

10:30 Speaker 3 Honored rosh yeshivah and all the yeshivah’s spiritual staff; the honored neighborhood rabbi, Rabbi Yaakov shlita; the honored Rabbi Yaroslavsky shlita; Rabbi Hadad of the yeshivah; rabbis, teachers; and last but certainly not least, the yeshivah students. Every year, I am happy to take part in this event, where certificates are awarded to students who have studied, reviewed, repeated their learning, and excelled. It seems that beyond the fact that the students review the material, know it, and receive prizes for it—and, of course, fulfill the mitzvah of “You shall study it day and night” at every moment they learn—there is an additional benefit to this review. Pirkei Avos says: “One who forgets anything of his learning is considered liable for his life,” as it says, “Do not forget the things that your eyes have seen.” From this, the Gemara learns that if a person forgets something he has learned, he transgresses a prohibition expressed by “Take care”; “take care” is one of the Torah’s ways of stating a prohibition. In other words, there is a prohibition against forgetting what one has learned. So I might have thought that even if it happened through circumstances beyond his control—he learned it, but through no fault of his own he forgot it or could not remember it—he would still be liable. That is why the verse says, “Lest they depart from your heart.” The prohibition applies only when a person removes it from his heart. In other words, he does not review it, and as a result he forgets it. Incidentally, it is said in the name of the Chozeh of Lublin that reviewing one’s learning is a segulah for remembering what one has learned. What is novel about calling it a segulah? Seemingly, if a person reviews something many times, of course he will remember it; if he does not review it, he will not. But what about someone who may not have such a good memory and, even if he reviews it many times, still will not remember? I might think there is no point in his reviewing it. So we are told that it is a segulah. In other words, besides the benefit that reviewing has logically, it also has—

13:23 Speaker 3 a special efficacy: if you review, you remember. This makes a difference even for someone who does not have such a good memory. If it is a segulah, it works for everyone. In other words, when a person reviews what he learns, it is a segulah that he will certainly remember it. In any event, what do we see from this halachah? A person transgresses a prohibition if he forgets what he learns. How does he forget? By not reviewing it. I might have thought that even if he forgot through circumstances beyond his control—that is, he learned it and then forgot it—he would still transgress the prohibition. So we have the verse, “Lest they depart from your heart,” which teaches that one transgresses this prohibition only when he sits by and removes the words from his heart. In other words, he does not review them, and because of that he does not forget—because of that he forgets. But if it was beyond his control, if he reviewed and it happened despite that, I might still have thought that he transgressed the prohibition. So we learn from the verse that he does not. But the Rebbe asks: Why do I need a verse to teach me that someone who forgot through circumstances beyond his control does not transgress the prohibition? After all, we have a principle throughout the Torah: “The Torah exempts one who acts under duress.” So clearly, as with every prohibition, if his forgetting what he learned was beyond his control, he is not liable; he has not transgressed. Why is a special verse needed here? The Rebbe says that we need to examine what the principle “The Torah exempts one who acts under duress” means. Does it mean that even when a person commits a transgression through circumstances beyond his control, it is considered a transgression, but the Torah does not impose

15:25 Speaker 3 He receives no punishment for it. That is really the whole meaning of the words “Rachmana patrei”—the Torah exempts him. The Torah exempts someone who committed a transgression under duress. Does that mean he receives no punishment, but he did commit a transgression? Or should we say that when a person commits a transgression under duress, it is not considered a transgression at all? A transgression means going against Hashem’s will, but that is when he does it willingly, deliberately. If he commits it against his will, then clearly he has not gone against Hashem’s will. So it is not considered a transgression at all—not merely that he receives no punishment. In fact, we can compare this to something else. The Nesivos says that with a Torah prohibition, if a person transgresses inadvertently, he has still committed a transgression, though the penalty is not the same as for a deliberate act. If it was on Shabbos, he is obligated to bring a sin offering; if it was a killing, there is exile, and so on. But if a person inadvertently violates a rabbinic prohibition, he has not committed a transgression at all. What is the prohibition when someone violates a rabbinic decree? We are required to listen to the words of the Sages. If a person does not do what the Sages said, that means he has rebelled against their words. So the prohibition is against rebelling against the words of the Sages. That applies when he does it deliberately: then he has rebelled. But if it was inadvertent, or he did not know that what he was doing was prohibited, he did not intend to rebel against the Sages, so he has not committed a transgression at all. There is no transgression when he does it inadvertently. The same might apply here, with duress. From this perspective, we could say that even with a Torah prohibition, if a person does something under duress—not inadvertently, but under duress—it is considered as though he has not committed a transgression. In fact, there is a similar question concerning a minor. A minor is not commanded regarding prohibitions

17:25 Speaker 3 and does not receive punishment for violating them; he is not obligated in mitzvos by Torah law. So there is a discussion as to whether this means that a minor is actually bound by the prohibitions and obligated in the mitzvos, but because he lacks the maturity to understand, he receives no punishment for a transgression he has committed. Or should we say no: because a minor lacks that maturity, he is not obligated at all? No prohibition applies to him. Those who say that a prohibition does apply to a minor agree that he receives no punishment. They bring a proof from the well-known halachah that it is forbidden by Torah law to feed a young child something prohibited directly. You may not give a young child forbidden food or tell him to do something forbidden. But if we say that a minor is not commanded at all, then why is it forbidden to give it to him? Rather, this proves that he is actually obligated, only he receives no punishment. But those who say that a minor is entirely exempt bring a proof from another halachah: if a minor is eating non-kosher food, the beis din is not commanded to stop him. So even if a young child is doing something forbidden, one is not required to stop him. They are speaking here about the Torah-law obligation that applies to anyone. By rabbinic law, there is the mitzvah of educating a child, but that is a separate matter. So here, too, the question concerning the punishment for forgetting Torah is whether he has committed a transgression but receives no punishment, or whether it is not considered a transgression at all. The Rebbe said that even if we say there is a prohibition here, that applies where the prohibition concerns an action. Then I can say that when he did it under duress, he did not go against Hashem’s will, so it is not considered a transgression at all. But here, the prohibition

19:26 Speaker 3 is not an action. Rather, a person is forbidden to be in a state of having forgotten Torah. So if he is in that state, it could apply even if he arrived at it through circumstances beyond his control. In any event, the reality is that he has come to forget Torah. So there was room to say that perhaps he would be liable even if it happened under duress. That is why we need a teaching that even in such a case, he is indeed exempt. Now, you said that a person really is forbidden to forget. Some say the reason is that if he forgets what he learned, he might permit what is forbidden or forbid what is permitted. But the Rebbe points out that the Alter Rebbe seems to say otherwise. Today, when we have books—the Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries—if a person forgets, that will not lead him to permit something forbidden. If he forgets, does not know, or cannot remember, he will look it up in a book. Nevertheless, until he looks it up, he is violating the prohibition. In other words, the very state of forgetting is forbidden. And why is that? The Sefer Mitzvos Gadol says that when a person forgets what he has learned, it means he has separated himself from the Torah and become disconnected from it. So when students review their learning and thereby remember it, in addition to all the other benefits, they also avoid violating the prohibition against forgetting anything they have learned. The reason is that a person may not separate himself from the Torah. All the more so today, in these times when, unfortunately, the world outside is completely disconnected from the Torah, separated from the Torah, and so deeply corrupted. So we certainly

21:41 Speaker 3 must remain close and connected to the Torah. When we forget what we have learned, as the Sefer Mitzvos Gadol says, that is considered becoming disconnected from the Torah. So this is another benefit of reviewing things, knowing them by heart, and remembering them well. The rosh yeshivah and the entire spiritual staff truly deserve our blessings for seeing to it that the students review the material many times and remember it well. Through this, they give the students the merit of truly knowing Torah and thereby remaining connected to it. May it be Hashem’s will that the yeshivah grow and that we merit the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu soon. Amen.

22:44 Speaker 4 Thank you very much, and a great yasher koach to Rabbi Wortner for his profound words of Torah and his blessings. We wish Rabbi Wortner many more years in which to come and join us at these gatherings. I have the honor of inviting the mara d’asra of Shikun Chabad, Lod, the distinguished chossid Rabbi Baruch Boaz Yurkowitz shlita, to address the students. Please.

23:30 Speaker 5 Honored rosh yeshivah, rabbis—Rabbi Wortner, Rabbi Yaroslavsky, Rabbi Hendel—and dear students, dear Temimim. This is truly a great day for those who have completed the tractate, and it is also a great day for everyone here, not only those who are called outstanding students, because in truth we are all outstanding. Each person—this is not, G-d forbid, to say that we should not strive; we really must reach everything we are capable of reaching. But today is a special day. We all feel and know the great privilege of anyone who studies in Tomchei Temimim. The Rebbe Rashab went so far as to say that Hakadosh Boruch Hu chose these souls to come and study in Tomchei Temimim. Studying in Tomchei Temimim is not like studying Torah in just another yeshivah, where they also study Chassidus. It is also a path in serving Hashem, a new path in serving Hashem. Someone who studies Chassidus begins to contemplate and understand many things that people outside do not know about: loving Hashem and fearing Hashem. The Rebbe Rashab wrote a number of kuntreisim. Some of these are difficult for young people to study and understand, but there are others they can already study and understand. The main point of the Rebbe Rashab—the Rebbe Rashab himself had an approach... We cannot call it a new approach; we cannot. But in the Rebbe Rashab’s time, he introduced a new idea in the avodah of chassidim: “lamps to illuminate.” Those are the Rebbe Rashab’s words. Before that, in the time of the Alter Rebbe, there is the story of Reb Binyamin Kletzker, who was a major businessman. He owned forests and dealt in timber and things like that. His avodah—the main avodah then—was that in the middle of his work, while adding up all the business accounts, he wrote: “Grand total: there is nothing besides Him.” So the main avodah

26:26 Speaker 5 It was for the person himself. But going out and illuminating the darkness outside—even the idea of “your wellsprings shall spread outward”—was not understood in the way the Rebbe Rashab began to illuminate the world. That was because, in the Rebbe Rashab’s time, there was more darkness in the world, so a different approach was needed from what had come before. But the Rebbe Rashab also built a yeshivah. A yeshivah is a place to sit and learn, to study Nigleh and Chassidus, and to study them not as two separate Torahs, but together. There is a kuntres about this, Kuntres Eitz Chaim, which the Rebbe distributed. Rabbi Chaim Yosef, zichrono livrachah, distributed it and said it was so people would learn from it. There, the Rebbe Rashab writes very strongly that the main avodah, the central purpose of our association, is also to study Chassidus and see how it affects a person’s soul. Toward the end he speaks about the manner of davening as well: a person needs to feel it in his soul and see how it affects him. Among the things he says there are some profound ideas, but he also speaks about the preparation needed to reach yichuda ila’ah and yichuda tata’ah, which are his main subject there. So he says there must be iskafya—that is how he puts it in Kuntres Eitz Chaim. But the main point is that, for a bochur, the Rebbe Rashab also wrote a maamar, a very famous one: “Anyone who goes out to the war of the House of David writes his wife a bill of divorce.” In that maamar, the Rebbe brings—the Frierdiker Rebbe writes that the Rebbe delivered it for about three hours or so—but in what he brings from the maamar and its continuation, “Anyone who goes out to the war of the House of David,” he explains that there are two periods, two generations. There are generations of “Your enemies have taunted, Hashem,” and afterward there is another generation, of “those who have taunted the footsteps of Your Moshiach.” The Rebbe says the first generation refers to all the heretics and all those

28:56 Speaker 5 who “have taunted Your enemies, Hashem.” That was the period of the Rebbe Rashab. He said we needed to illuminate the darkness. What was the darkness? Mainly, it was the heresy out on the street. Everyone spoke against religion, against a Torah scholar, against a Jew who went about as a frum Yid. Everyone would laugh at him. They brought all sorts of proofs from the Haskalah and other arguments. Then there is the second matter, “those who have taunted the footsteps of Your Moshiach.” The Rebbe says that this can even refer to people who are Torah scholars and know how to learn. Yet they do not understand the whole idea that there is a Rebbe in the world. Because this is one of the main parts of our avodah. A bochur needs to be this way. He needs to spread it, so that the many who see a bochur will follow his example. And not only on the street. There are two kinds of streets. There is the street, the public domain, which has no connection to Yiddishkeit at all. And there is also the world of other chassidim or Torah scholars. When they see a yeshivah bochur, they should see his earnestness, his love of Hashem, his Ahavas Yisroel, his love of Torah. It has to be so strong, because every single person is a shliach; every single person represents the Rebbe. Wherever he goes, he represents the Rebbe. The Rebbe goes with him too, but he represents the Rebbe. So he needs to make a kiddush Hashem, so that they will be distinguished there. And the bochur himself should feel “we shall be distinguished”—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has granted him the privilege of being among those who have studied Chassidus. It is like what the Rebbe says about wealth and poverty. There is money, and there are the wellsprings; there are the rich and the poor. It is the same in Yiddishkeit. There is a rich person and a poor person, and the whole purpose of Hakadosh Boruch Hu giving a person

31:28 Speaker 5 wealth—meaning those who have studied the inner dimension of Torah, which, boruch Hashem, makes all the bochurim wealthy—is that they know the purpose of creation and know what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants from us. So they need to give tzedakah to the poor, and “there is no poverty except in knowledge.” It is the same idea of the rich person and the poor person. This is what we take from the Rebbe Rashab: first of all, we need to feel “we shall be distinguished.” We should be proud that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has granted us the privilege of studying in Tomchei Temimim, that we have a teacher through whom we understand what Chassidus is, what Hashem’s Torah is, and what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. It needs to be so warm inside that it begins to shine outward. That is the point. May it be Hashem’s will that we all succeed. We are all shluchim, we all want to do Hashem’s will, we all want to carry out the mission the Rebbe gives us, and may we succeed in it. Above all, may we succeed in bringing the days of Moshiach. May it be Hashem’s will that the Rebbe be revealed as our righteous Moshiach.

32:52 Speaker 6 Thank you, and a great yasher koach to Rabbi Yukovitz[?] for his inspiring words. We wish the Rabbi, our Rabbi, long life and many good years. May he continue to lead for many years, in good health and with all that goes along with it. We will sing the preparation niggun for the Rebbe, our Nasi.

36:17 Speaker 7 I wanted to tell you something that I think is worth sharing. It was in 5730, around Yud Shvat, the nineteenth or twentieth. I went in for yechidus then. It was the first year Nachlas Har Chabad had been established. The Rebbe spoke about many subjects, but one thing the Rebbe insisted on very firmly was keeping the study schedules. He said he had heard reports that the schedules were not being kept. I wanted to offer an explanation. I told the Rebbe that he had launched the tefillin campaign two years earlier, and some people were going out in the morning to put tefillin on others. The Rebbe said to me very firmly: “Aren’t all those people being paid? Whatever they receive—even a hundred shekels, a hundred liras; back then it was still liras—I don’t know what answer there can be for such theft, when they are being paid to learn. When I launched the tefillin campaign, I did not intend,” the Rebbe said, “for people to close up shop in the middle of the day and go put tefillin on people in the street. I meant that at lunchtime, instead of reading a newspaper and resting, they should go put tefillin on people.” The same applies to the times set for the study schedules. It is not just that a student sits there during seder; he has to keep the seder. That means that when he sits down to learn Nigleh during the Nigleh seder, he learns Nigleh; and when the day begins with a Chassidus seder, he sits down to learn Chassidus. As the Rebbe said about a student, to use the familiar expression, the two should be twins. When he learns Nigleh, it should be apparent that he has learned Chassidus. When he learns Chassidus, it should be apparent that he learns Nigleh. As the Rebbe also writes in Kuntres Eitz Chaim, the study of Chassidus must be conducted with understanding and comprehension, just as when one learns Nigleh. It says that the Rebbe spoke in the yechidus on Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av, after the Rebbe had delivered on Shabbos the well-known sicha that the Rabbi mentioned earlier concerning [unclear].

38:38 Speaker 7 [Unclear]. The well-known sicha. It was not only for the people who were in Lubavitch when the Rebbe delivered the sicha, who also had [unclear]. Since the Rebbe had the sicha printed, edited it, and publicized it, it applies to every single one of us today as well. That means every single one of us has an obligation to fight [unclear]. But there is something else you need to know. I heard this from the Rebbe, and I think I should make it known. At a certain point, twenty-seven years ago, in 5742, there was a gathering of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad on Choshen Street[?]. A certain Jew stood up there and spoke very passionately about various things, because all these slogans were around then too. People were beginning to discuss the subject—whether it should be publicized and how to publicize it. One evening I received a call from Rabbi Chadakov, as was the usual arrangement when he would relay things. I knew the Rebbe was on the line, but during that call Rabbi Chadakov did not even repeat the words. The things I had heard pained the Rebbe so deeply. The Rebbe cried out—not in a terrifying way, but he cried out—“How can rabbis allow things to be publicized that distance Jews from the study of Chassidus?” The Rebbe told me to look in the file to see whether I had a copy of a kuntres that had been printed. As it happened, I did not. Someone had sent the Rebbe a kuntres. I will not go into all the details here, but I saw that this pained the Rebbe too, and he cried out. He wanted me, within a day, to give him a letter signed by all those people. If there were people who had given permission to publicize such things, they should provide a letter saying they regretted it. He wanted to have it, and he wanted me to call and let him know as soon as I had the letter, even before I sent it. There were other things too. I do not want to go into all the details here.

40:52 Speaker 7 Those things. I mean, I want to understand one thing. The students’ job is to study nigleh, study Chassidus, and follow the guidance of the roshei yeshivah. The people responsible for the students are the yeshivah administration. That is what the Rebbe established. There is a well-known story: once, the older students in Lubavitch came to the Frierdiker Rebbe [unclear], who was called Eliezer Feier [unclear], and told him that younger people, who better understood the spirit of the young bochurim, should be brought into the yeshivah administration. So he told them, “Look, this needs to be brought to my father, the Rebbe Rashab, and the Rebbe Rashab will decide. I cannot decide.” A few days passed, and the Rebbe Rashab asked—Rabbi Shimon asked—that the entire administration, the roshei yeshivah, the mashpi’im, and those older students as well should come in. He wanted to speak with them. The Rebbe then said something very simple. He said: “There is Pitzer [unclear]. Pitzer [unclear] in Lagor [unclear] was the wagon driver who always drove me, so he knows that when a horse does not stay in its furrow, it needs a few blows. Then it straightens up. You do not need to tell the yeshivah administration how to run the yeshivah. Are you being lazy? Then you will be given what a person who is lazy needs to be given.” So your job is to listen to the yeshivah administration and publicize what the Rebbe said to publicize—not for each person to decide what to publicize and how to publicize it, but to follow the path and direction the yeshivah administration gives you. You need to study nigleh and Chassidus, to be Temimim, to be lights that illuminate and to spread light as the Rebbe wants, as was heard in his exalted voice [unclear]. Then, with Hashem’s help, each and every one of you will succeed in learning, in knowing, and in truly becoming lights that illuminate, bringing much nachas to your parents and to the Rebbe.

43:08 Speaker 8 Thank you, and a great yasher koach to Rabbi Yaroslavsky for his very special and inspiring words. We truly thank Rabbi Yaroslavsky from the bottom of our hearts for making the effort to come and join us on our day of celebration every year.

00:01 Speaker 1 As we have done in recent years, we divide the presentation of certificates into two parts, and we’ll begin with the first. Before we hand them out, I’d like to say a few words. Every year, we wrestle with the question: What place does a celebration like this have in Tomchei Temimim? Although we’ve heard a very wide range of answers over the years, the question still weighs on us—and perhaps that’s a good thing. I want to tell you that several students came to me before the event and asked not to receive their certificates in a forum like this, because it contradicts what the certificate says: that it is awarded in part for chassidic conduct. I’d like to quote from a farbrengen of the Rebbe on 12 Tammuz 5729. I’m quoting in a free translation, of course, without [unclear]. “It has already been nineteen years,” the Rebbe says, “since 5710, and no one has written to me about which bochurim know hundreds of pages of Gemara by heart. I don’t suspect that there are no bochurim who know hundreds of pages of Gemara and maamarim of Chassidus by heart. And certainly, if they had written to me about it, they would have heard a gut vort from me—a good word. That would certainly have brought vitality into their learning. But since no one has written to me, and consequently they hear nothing from me about it, one could mistakenly think the matter is of no concern to me. What happened before 5710? I don’t know, but back then it wasn’t my responsibility. Now it is.” The Rebbe continues: “Why, in fact, don’t they want to write to me? Because they’re afraid it will give the bochur a sense of self-importance, and they don’t want that, since that was the practice in Lubavitch.” So the Rebbe says: “It is worth clarifying this as well. In Lubavitch, bochurim also took no interest in what was happening in the world. In Lubavitch, they didn’t wear ties either. But today, when people are not particular about

03:07 Speaker 1 all those things, one must also learn, even if it results in a sense of self-importance.” And the Rebbe concludes: “If he argues that learning for the sake of self-importance is for misnagdim, not chassidim, he should know that the Alter Rebbe—who was, of course, a chossid—rules in the Shulchan Aruch: ‘A person should always study Torah even not for its own sake.’” The Rebbe points out that the word “always” shows that there is no other way to reach learning for its own sake except through learning not for its own sake. So much for the Rebbe’s words. I think they speak for themselves. There’s no need to add anything, but this is the place to mention that the yeshiva administration sent the Rebbe a detailed report on everyone who learned the tractate by heart, including the different levels each one attained. We have no doubt that today, too, the Rebbe says a gut vort to us, even if we are not privileged to hear it. That knowledge alone—that the Rebbe has a good word for each and every one of us who learned the tractate by heart—should bring vitality into us, as the Rebbe says, a very special vitality: the vitality to learn and conduct ourselves as the Rebbe wants and expects of us. As I said, we’ll begin presenting the certificates. As usual, we are also awarding certificates for chassidic conduct and excellence in diligence and perseverance. So let’s begin with those certificates. Chazak, chazak. Rabbi [unclear] will hand out the certificates. The student Yosef Yitzchak Ohayon. I ask his father—we ask all the fathers who are here—to come up and receive the certificate together with their sons. Please, Yosef Yitzchak. The student [unclear] Brachman. The student [unclear] Eisenbach. Is [unclear] here? The student Menachem Mendel Mittel. The student Raz Guga. The student Menachem Mendel Kordanker. The student Libi Gutman. The student Nachman Dirman. I’m asking everyone, please, not to talk. There’s a microphone. The student Menachem Mendel

09:00 Speaker 1 [unclear]. The student Noach Berlinski. The student [unclear] Gutman [unclear]. Is Sarah Gutman here? The student Yeshayahu Chai. Yasher koach. The student [unclear]. All right. Thank you very much. The student Nadav Zakmon. All right. Well done. The student Yitzchak [unclear]. Thank you very much. [unclear]. Rebbetzin Rivky, Rivky, [unclear]. The student [unclear] Yeshayahu. Thank you very much. The student [unclear] Cohen. The student Chananel Arav. The student Menachem Mor Mizrachi. The student Avner Matyo. One moment. The student [unclear] Yosef Magner. All right. The student [unclear]. [unclear]. Please. Is the student [unclear] here? The student Nachum [unclear]. All right. The student Menachem Mendel Stepler. The student Raziel Peretz. Wonderful, mazel tov.

16:04 Speaker 2 Chako, chako, chako.

16:14 Speaker 1 The student Shimon Kaplan. We’ll wait another five minutes for his father to arrive. The student Itzik Rivkin. The student [unclear] Leitko. We will now present the certificates for the Mivtza Torah to students who were tested on an entire tractate of Gemara, in girsa. We divided the certificates into four levels, and we’ll start with the first and work our way up. There’s a student here whose father is in a hurry—he’s flying to the Kinus Hashluchim. The student Mordechai HaKohen Katz. Honor to the student. The student Shachar David Ben-Eliaz. The student—the student Yonatan Efrati. The student Yisroel Bash. The student Yosef Yitzchak Radia. Radia. The student Elior Hendel. I ask his father, Mr. Hendel, to come and hold up the certificate together with [unclear] and the teacher. The student Menachem Chetzron. Rabbi [unclear]. Rabbi [unclear]. The student Menachem Mani Chamo. [unclear] with the teacher. The student Yosef Teitelbaum. Rabbi Assayag, come. Rabbi Assayag. Rabbi [unclear]. Rabbi Levitin. The student Yosef Yitzchak Landau. That’s all. The student Yosef Yitzchak Michael Shmili. Rabbi Assayag and Rabbi Levitin, please. Rabbi [unclear] had to leave for abroad because of a family matter. The student Shmuel Chaim [unclear]. If his father is here, Rabbi [unclear]. We’ll be standing here a while. The student Menachem Mendel [unclear]. Rabbi [unclear]. Rabbi Winter. Rabbi Roitman. The student Yosef Yitzchak Pinsky. Rabbi Assayag, Rabbi Levitin and Rabbi Shreib. We ask the rabbi

24:42 Speaker 3 to come up, please.

25:05 Speaker 1 And last in this level, the tamim Binyamin [unclear]. Rabbi Shreib, you too. Now we’ll move to the third level: outstanding achievement, [unclear]. The tamim Eliezer Guravsky. Rabbi [unclear]. The tamim [unclear] Biton. Rabbi Weinberg, Rabbi Goldman. The tamim Nachman Dreizman. The tamim Yaakov [unclear]. Mushka Yanai, Rabbi [unclear]. The tamim Menachem Mendel Michaeli. I ask his father, Rabbi Shabtai, to come receive the certificate with him. The tamim... the tamim Levi Ben-[unclear]. Rabbi Goldman, Rabbi Goldman. The tamim [unclear] Pinsky. All right. The tamim Elnatan [unclear]. The tamim Netanel Hoitzman. Rabbi Kuperman. And last in this level, the tamim Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Rabbi Assayag, Rabbi [unclear]. There are parents here whom they are bringing up. I’ll call two—two of the Chassanei Torah. The tamim [unclear] Kaplan. [unclear] Kaplan, Chassan Torah, class of ’68. Rabbi Cohen. Applause for the brothers, the Temimim. Shmuel Kaplan. Please. Rabbi Miller. The tamim Mendy Rivkin, Chassan Torah, class of ’68.

32:44 Speaker 4 It’s important to mention that this year, too, the learning and the awarding of prizes were held for the elevation of the souls of our three unforgettable students, the Temimim Moshe Golan, Yonatan Pinto and Levi Eden, a”h. As we discussed last year, what united all three was Torah study and their dedication to it. May this campaign truly be for the elevation of their souls. The mara d’asra of Kfar Chabad, the distinguished chossid Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi, is with us. We ask the rabbi to address the students. Please.

33:50 Speaker 5 Honored Rabbi, mara d’asra, rabbis, roshei yeshiva, mashgichim, dear students, and our dear prize recipients. This time I’m here as a mashgiach. In past years I’ve come here to speak. This time, none of my children is among the prize recipients. But what gives me pleasure is seeing two hundred students, boruch Hashem, seeing the children, the students, the Temimim, growing in Torah and Chassidus. We are now in a Hakhel year, when the Rebbe instructed us throughout the year to hold Hakhel gatherings, come together, and strengthen ourselves in Torah and fear of Heaven. What is interesting about the mitzvah of Hakhel, as the Rebbe points out, is that ordinarily Torah instruction among the Jewish people came through the Sanhedrin, the nasi, and the beis din. The king’s role was to deal with political matters, with matters concerning the people. Of course, he had to devote himself to Torah and draw close to Hashem throughout his life, but that was his personal obligation. In his relationship with the people, the king’s role was to govern the country. Yet specifically at Hakhel, once every seven years, Hashem commanded that the king gather the people, showing and establishing that the connection between the king and the people is primarily through Torah study: “You shall read this Torah before them, in their ears.” So today, in this time of doubled and redoubled darkness, we need to recognize more and more—especially the Temimim—that the connection between the Temimim and the Rebbe, between them and the king, is through Torah, through studying Torah, “so that they may learn and fear Hashem.” Everything said in the teachings of Chassidus [unclear]. Everything said [unclear]. This is the inner bond that unites the Temimim in particular with the Rebbe. And so, as we gather now, with Hashem’s help, in the joy of a mitzvah, the Rebbe surely derives nachas from these prizes, which reflect excellence and effort—effort

36:53 Speaker 5 and diligence in knowing, understanding, and reviewing chapters of Tanya. This is the task, one of a student’s principal tasks: to engrave the words of Torah in his mind and heart. This was, and is, the Rebbe’s wish and what brings the Rebbe nachas. May Hashem help the Temimim go from strength to strength. They have all the strength of our Rebbeim, especially on 20 Cheshvan, the birthday of the Rebbe Rashab, who founded Tomchei Temimim. [Unclear] when Moshiach comes, as it says in Yeshayahu. His mazal is a general mazal, the mazal of all the Temimim. So on this day, our mazal—the mazal of the Temimim—grows stronger and prevails, to conquer the world through Torah and Torah study. And this will hasten still further the immediate and complete Geulah, [unclear].

38:04 Speaker 6 Many thanks to Rabbi Ashkenazi for his words. Following what Rabbi Ashkenazi said about the mitzvah of Hakhel, I want to tell the students that, with Hashem’s help, in the coming days we will launch an organized Hakhel campaign together with and under the direction of the student shluchim. We have merited to have the Rebbe send us student shluchim since the year 5712. These outstanding students, in just the two weeks they have been here at the yeshiva, have already brought about a transformation for many students through the personal connections they have made with them. So, with Hashem’s help, in the coming days the administration will sit down with them, and of course you will all receive a proper announcement about the Hakhel campaign here at the yeshiva. I also want to take this opportunity to wish the student shluchim great success in their shlichus, and may they truly fulfill the mission the Rebbe entrusted to them by sending them to our yeshiva.

00:00 Speaker 1 On this occasion, we also want to wish the student shluchim great success in their shlichus, and that they truly succeed in fulfilling the mission the Rebbe gave them by sending them to our yeshiva. I would like to invite my father and teacher, the rosh yeshiva, who is behind this initiative, to say a few words and sum it up. Please.

00:48 Speaker 2 L’chaim, l’chaim! Every year we celebrate this occasion anew, and each time it is fitting to say the blessing anew: “Blessed is He who has granted us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time.” Boruch Hashem, this year too, as everyone can see, many students have memorized the tractate—the give-and-take and the text itself—with great success. The Gemara says that Abaye would make a feast when one of his students completed a tractate. How much more so when many students have learned the tractate! How much should we celebrate this? As was mentioned earlier, one could say that all the students, or nearly all of them, put in tremendous effort. It did not come easily to them. Even those with strong abilities cannot remember it without reviewing it many times. And everyone who was tested on the tractate and succeeded certainly did so through great effort. As we have seen: “If someone says, ‘I labored and found,’ believe him.” I won’t speak at length. I’ll mention one point the Rebbe makes in an extended sicha on Chayei Sarah. Concerning Sarah Imeinu, the Midrash cites the verse, “Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted.” The Midrash says this refers to Sarah: just as the righteous are wholehearted, so too their years are whole. In other words, “Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted” refers to the righteous. Earlier, the verse says, “Hashem supports the righteous,” and it continues, “Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted”—just as they are wholehearted, so too their years are whole. The quality of being wholehearted is emphasized here, and of course it has a special connection to the students of Tomchei Temimim. The Rebbe Rashab declared that he was naming the yeshiva Tomchei Temimim, and anyone who studies and conducts himself like a Tomim deserves to be called a Tomim. So here too, we see that there is something special about being a Tomim. After all, what could be greater than a tzaddik?

04:12 Speaker 2 But the Midrash says no: being a tzaddik is not yet the highest quality. The tzaddik also has the quality of being wholehearted: just as he is wholehearted, so too his years are whole. The point the Rebbe makes is this: What is the advantage of being a Tomim over being a tzaddik? A tzaddik, it would seem, does the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu completely. What does being wholehearted add? The Rebbe points to what is written about Avraham Avinu: “Avraham was old, advanced in years.” The Midrash says that one person may be old but not advanced in years, while another may be advanced in years but not old. Avraham Avinu was both old and advanced in years. On a simple level, this would seem to mean exactly what it says. Someone can look old, as the Gemara says of Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah: he was actually young and not advanced in years, but he looked old. Conversely, someone else may be advanced in years but look young rather than old. Avraham Avinu was both advanced in years and old. But why would that be considered a special quality of Avraham Avinu? On a simple level, it is hard to understand. But based on what is explained... What does “old” mean? And what does “advanced in years” mean? It is like this: As was mentioned earlier, “Who is old? One who has acquired wisdom.” Being “old” expresses the idea of Torah study: he has acquired wisdom. He did not merely study Torah. The wording is significant. It does not say, “Who is old? One who studied Torah,” but one who has acquired wisdom. A person can sometimes study and study, yet the Torah has not become his own. Here the emphasis—and this is really the point of this initiative—is that a student should not merely study Torah, but acquire

06:16 Speaker 2 the Torah, so that it becomes part of him, his own possession, engraved in his mind. That is the meaning of “Avraham was old, advanced in years.” He had acquired wisdom. That is what “old” represents: Torah study. What does “advanced in years” mean? It expresses not so much a person’s own inner being, but rather, as the Gemara says, that not a single day went by unfulfilled—all his days were full. In other words, each day he fulfilled that day’s mitzvos. This does not express his own essence so much as the way he brought holiness into the days. As Chassidus explains, Hakadosh Boruch Hu desired a dwelling place in the lower realms. It is not enough for a person to acquire something for himself; he must bring holiness into the days. “Days” represents time, the world, and that is the meaning of “advanced in years.” Broadly speaking, this is the difference between Torah and mitzvos. With Torah, a person acquires the Torah and is elevated; this is more about his own development. “Advanced in years” expresses more of what he gives to others, to the world. He brings holiness into it. He is not content with elevating himself; he brings holiness into the world. And that, in essence, was Avraham Avinu’s way. This, the Rebbe says, is the quality of a Tomim. A person can be a tzaddik even if, for example, he spends the entire day engaged in Torah. Of course he fulfills the mitzvos, but his main focus is Torah study. He is still a tzaddik. Likewise, someone might spend the entire day occupied with tzedakah and similar matters. He too can be a tzaddik, but that is not being a Tomim. One person is more drawn to Torah study. Everyone has his own nature.

08:06 Speaker 2 One person is, by nature, more inward-looking. Another is the opposite: he likes working with people and bringing them closer. Each has his own nature. So a person may be a tzaddik, but a tzaddik along one particular path. Avraham Avinu’s special quality was that he was a Tomim. What does that mean? He was both “old” and “advanced in years.” He had both qualities. This is also what the Midrash points out about Sarah Imeinu. On the one hand, it says that her soul departed, meaning, as explained in Chassidus, that she experienced a yearning of the soul to leave the body. That was her own spiritual level. On the other hand, as is well known, Sarah brought the women to believe in Hashem and, together with Avraham Avinu, worked to bring people closer. So we see this quality of wholeness in her as well. What enables a person to be a Tomim? It is bittul, self-nullification. He does not do only what his nature draws him to do, even if that nature is directed toward holiness. He knows that he must do the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants him to be both “old” and “advanced in years”: to work on himself and also to influence others, through spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus. That is what it means to be a Tomim. In other words, a Tomim is asked to set aside his own preferences. Of course he must study, but not only what he feels like studying or what he is naturally inclined toward—he must do everything that is needed. Generally, some students are more drawn, speaking within the realm of holiness, to studying nigleh, the revealed parts of Torah. Another is drawn to studying Chassidus, and so on. What is demanded of a Tomim is that he be wholehearted. We received this strength as an inheritance from Avraham Avinu. He

10:01 Speaker 2 He was the first of whom the Midrash says this—he and our matriarch Sarah. They were the first to reach this level of being complete. But since Avraham Avinu opened the way for us, each and every one of us has the ability to be complete. This is especially true of students at Tomchei Temimim. As the rabbi mentioned earlier, the Rebbe Rashab chose these souls. That means they certainly have—we each have—the strength to be complete in the plain sense of the word. First of all, one must be an elder who has acquired wisdom; only afterward comes the next step. One must indeed be both an elder and “advanced in days,” but one cannot be advanced in days before attaining the quality of an elder. This is especially true of the students of Tomchei Temimim, each of whom certainly wants to be a lamp that gives light. First he has to be a lamp. First he has to become an elder, to acquire wisdom: another tractate and another tractate, another maamar of Chassidus and another maamar of Chassidus, and so on. Then, once he is an elder, he can be a lamp that gives light and also be advanced in days. The Rebbe points out that being “advanced in days” does not necessarily mean working with others. It can be expressed in Torah study itself. “Days” expresses the idea in the verse, “Their years were complete.” What are “their years”? The word also suggests change. Sometimes a person says—as the Rebbe notes in the sicha—“I’m drawn to...” There are things he knows he can keep up consistently. There will be no changes there. He knows that if he studies nigleh, he’ll do fine. But there are other things that sometimes go well for him and sometimes don’t. That is the idea of change over the years, over time. At one time he managed to overcome the difficulty; at another time he didn’t. So sometimes a person thinks: Why should I deal with things

11:59 Speaker 2 that are hard for me? I’ll deal with the easy things, the things that go well for me, where I can succeed. He is told: No. This is demanded specifically of students of Tomchei Temimim. You must overcome precisely the things that are hard for you, where things fluctuate. Sometimes you succeed and sometimes you don’t. It is precisely there that you must toil and persevere, and then you will succeed. Sometimes a bochur says: “Why can’t I just study girsa? That comes easily to me. But iyun—delving deeply and exerting myself—why do I need that? I can study girsa too. What, isn’t that Torah as well?” He is told: You are a student. You need to fulfill everything studied in the yeshiva—whether it is iyun, girsa, keeping the study schedules, or davening. All of it is necessary. A student can do it all; he is given the strength. And, boruch Hashem, we see this in practice: bochurim who devote themselves and toil in Torah succeed. Generally, a bochur who succeeds in nigleh also keeps the study schedules, and so on. He is a student in every respect. And truly, as was mentioned earlier, this is a great day. As the rabbi mentioned, [unclear]. It is a day when everyone can make a good resolution. Those who have already learned Tractate Bava Basra by heart—of course, someone who has one hundred wants two hundred. And as the Rebbe says, that is how it is in spiritual matters. If he knows one tractate, he certainly wants to know another tractate, and another. So, with Hashem’s help, they will certainly go on to learn Tractate Sukkah by heart. And those who have not yet begun—this is the time to make a good resolution, on this day when we certainly have special strength to make a good resolution and carry it out. With Hashem’s help, each and every student of the yeshiva will devote himself to this: to study both iyun and girsa

13:56 Speaker 2 and to keep the study schedules. And with Hashem’s help, when there is “I toiled,” there will certainly be “I toiled and found.” This is also the place to thank the yeshiva administration. This campaign is not... In a certain sense, it involves self-sacrifice on the part of the administration. They give prizes, and that costs money—a great deal of it. There is no doubt that this is not easy, especially in today’s circumstances. Everyone knows how institutions struggle to meet all the costs of maintaining a yeshiva. So the yeshiva administration certainly deserves special thanks, particularly the director, Rabbi [unclear], who continues to shoulder this burden because they know how much benefit it brings and how much nachas it gives the Rebbe. That is why they fund it even at the cost of self-sacrifice. And boruch Hashem, we see the fruits of it. May Hashem help so that from now on it will be easier for them, and that they will have great and complete success in every matter. And with Hashem’s help, we are now at 20 Cheshvan, a great day. As was mentioned earlier, the Rebbe Rashab spoke of the “soldiers of the House of David, Your Moshiach.” The students of Tomchei Temimim, by devoting themselves to everything a Tomim must do in accordance with the Rebbe’s wishes—through Torah study, both nigleh and Chassidus, which is the distinctive quality of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva—will certainly, with Hashem’s help, merit the coming of the Rebbe immediately, and may we merit the true and complete Geulah immediately, with Moshiach Tzidkeinu coming to us.

16:25 Speaker 3 Thank you, and yasher koach to the rosh yeshiva. This is also an opportunity to thank, on everyone’s behalf, the entire educational staff of the yeshiva: the rosh yeshiva, the mashgiach, the head mashpia Rabbi Butman, all the teachers, mashpi’im and mentors, for their extraordinary devotion to the students throughout the year. We truly want to wish them all that Hashem fulfill all their hearts’ desires for the good, in visible and revealed goodness, and that they be able to continue devoting themselves to their holy work in good physical health and with peace of mind. I also want to join in the blessings for the yeshiva administration, especially the director, Reb Menashe Haddad. I can tell you firsthand, from being in almost daily contact with Reb Menashe: Reb Menashe truly gives his all for the yeshiva. We owe him so much. It’s unbelievable. Anyone who doesn’t see it wouldn’t believe it, but I do see it, and we truly want to wish him heartfelt success in every matter. We also want to wish that, with Hashem’s help, the yeshiva will emerge from hardship into abundance in every respect, and that he will be able to continue running the yeshiva in good physical health and with peace of mind until the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. And as a representative of the parents, I have the honor of inviting the distinguished chossid and scholar Rabbi Yaakov Goldschmidt, a teacher and mashgiach at the central yeshiva gedolah in Kfar Chabad. Rabbi Goldschmidt, please.

18:52 Speaker 4 The truth is, I’ve been sitting here for quite a while, and I won’t pretend otherwise: I’m quite moved. I think it’s because of my past here, when I spent three years as a bochur in this yeshiva. I don’t think I’ve sat here for this long since then. That in itself is moving. And when I look around, I see that the staff who taught me are here now and are still teaching. It really shows our continuity, the chain connecting us. I want to tell you one more thing from a personal perspective. I stand here as a parent who, first of all, wants to thank you on my own behalf, and probably on behalf of all the parents, for your investment and devotion. You send a child away from home, and boruch Hashem, after one year he comes back having achieved so much and gained so much from his education. Most importantly, he comes home happy and smiling. He leaves home happily, too. That can only show the warmth and the education here. So first of all, thank you very much, and yasher koach. Of course, I also want to join in thanking everyone involved. I can say that I know firsthand, and know personally, about the efforts and work on the material side of things. I don’t want to call for another round of applause, but however much applause Rabbi Menashe gets, it won’t be enough. I say that on behalf of the parents. I was a little surprised, because until now, for some reason, I had it in my head that the money for this campaign might come from other sources. Now I hear it comes straight out of the administration’s pocket. Yasher koach. I want to tell you one more thing, again from a personal perspective, and this time I’ll also put on my other hat. Some people sometimes question campaigns—especially campaigns

20:59 Speaker 4 We demand a great deal of review and repetition from the students. The exams here in the yeshiva—as long as I can remember, since I was a student here—have never involved opening a Gemara. The exams were oral, all based on repetition and review. Some people might be inclined to think that the breadth and volume of material studied could come at the expense of depth, careful analysis, and scholarly rigor. I want to tell you: I’ve been in this field for quite a few years, and I have yet to find a student who comes to us from another yeshiva at the same level of in-depth learning as the students of Tomchei Temimim in Lod. There is no substitute for this yeshiva. The bochurim arrive—as they say in professional terms—well grounded and prepared. We can say without hesitation that the emphasis placed on covering material and reviewing it does not detract in any way from depth and careful analysis. I want to conclude with one more point. I won’t go on at length. Since the days of the Alter Rebbe, we have been instructed to “live with the times.” Anyone who had the privilege of being with the Rebbe during the period when I was there had the privilege of hearing sichos from the Rebbe, you could almost say every single day. There were periods when the Rebbe spoke every day for two months straight. And the Rebbe, one could say, was insistent: there was almost no sicha that he did not connect to Chumash, to the parsha, to [unclear]. And [unclear] to carry out the Rebbe’s instruction to study [unclear]. But Rabbi Koenig, the rosh yeshiva, has already mentioned the weekly parsha. In any case, I want to share with you what I was thinking today. What can the weekly parsha really teach us, the Temimim, especially now that we are in the month of Cheshvan? What central point can we take from the parsha and carry with us as a good resolution? A resolution that truly applies to every bochur, every student, in every situation—especially in our time, when “darkness covers the earth,” and so on. If we pause to consider the parshiyos—and I’m talking about

23:28 Speaker 4 ideas that appear in Likkutei Sichos, not quite in the form in which I’m going to present them, but the thrust of them is certainly there—the difference between Parshas Vayeira and Parshas Chayei Sarah in the conduct of Avraham and Sarah is very striking. In Parshas Vayeira there is, so to speak—and I stress, so to speak—an interesting disagreement about education, about the approach to educating Yitzchak, between Avraham and Sarah. Avraham wanted—Sarah wanted to raise Yitzchak in what the Rebbe always called “an education of unadulterated holiness.” The moment she saw that Yishmael was in the house, she said to Avraham, “Drive out this maidservant and her son.” She wanted no connection, no contact at all: Yitzchak should not know Yishmael, should not know about the world, should not be familiar with the world. Avraham did not like that. “The matter was very displeasing in Avraham’s eyes.” And Hakadosh Boruch Hu told him, “Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice.” There is a certain disagreement here. Chassidus explains that Avraham and Sarah disagreed because Avraham was above the world, while Sarah was within the world. Avraham saw things from a higher perspective. He did not, so to speak, see Yishmael’s shortcomings. Then comes Parshas Chayei Sarah, and, as the Rebbe explains in the sichos, the situation is reversed. Avraham acts in precisely the way Sarah taught us to act. As the Rebbe explains, the entire parsha follows one theme: demonstrating and establishing that a Jew’s upbringing and outlook must be separate from the world, not bound up with the world. That is really what the whole parsha is about. We all know the sichos and how the Rebbe expresses the theme of Chayei Sarah. Temimim, we live in a world full of temptations. We live in a world full of nonsense. The weekly parsha teaches us one thing. We are in the month of Cheshvan, as was mentioned, [unclear] 04:15. The Torah teaches us this today, and this is what we need to take home. Every one of us—whether he received a prize or did not receive

25:48 Speaker 4 a prize, whether he is at one level of learning or another—is equal in this respect. Those sitting in the audience and those sitting on the platform alike. We need to know that if we want to be connected to the Rebbe, if we want to be connected to Chassidus, we need an education of unadulterated holiness. We must separate ourselves from anything that is not connected to Chassidus, from anything that is not connected to Yiddishkeit. We must not try to say, “I can have both.” That does not work for us. This is how the Rebbe educated us; this is the lesson of the weekly parsha. This is the only path that will make us and keep us connected to the Rebbe. It is the only path that will make us the Rebbe’s soldiers. We have nothing in the world but Yiddishkeit. We have nothing in the world but chassidishkeit, but our connection to the Rebbe. Let us resolve to learn more, to strengthen that connection, to study nigleh, Chassidus, [unclear]. And we can all be certain that the Rebbe is here with us now, waiting to see the results of our resolutions. May this immediately bring about our connection and bond with the Rebbe in the true and complete Geulah, very soon indeed.

27:03 Speaker 5 Thank you very much. A great yasher koach to Rabbi Koltchami [unclear] for his remarks. Other distinguished rabbis are sitting here with us. We would have liked to hear from all of them, but some parents are in a great hurry and want to receive the certificate together with their son. So we will have to conclude the speeches here, and, with Hashem’s help, we will be glad to hear from the rabbis who did not have a chance to speak today on other occasions. We will now present the certificates to the runners-up for Chassan Torah. I ask you very, very much: no whistling, please. Before we finish, I want to thank all the students who helped set up the zal and the dining room, [unclear]. Shmuel Khargasi [unclear], Itzik Lipkis [unclear], Itzik Gorali [unclear]. To all the students who helped whose names I don’t remember, a very big yasher koach. If any students whose names I called earlier were not here then but have since arrived, please let me know. I can already see Menachem Stam. And if there are others, please don’t be shy. We want to give everyone their certificates. The tamim Shalom Dovber Eisenberg. The tamim Yehoshua Leib Ben Yosef. The tamim David Babo [unclear]. Is he here? The tamim Neviat Chofni Ami [unclear]. The tamim Yisroel Zanel [unclear]. Rabbi, thank you. The tamim Levi Yitzchak Hershkowitz. The tamim Yehoshua Leib Ben Yosef. The tamim Shmuel Bar Naft [unclear]. The tamim Levi Lasker [unclear]. The tamim Yisroel Lebel [unclear]. The tamim Azuel Yosef Moi Yosef [unclear]. [unclear]. [unclear]. [unclear]. The tamim Elilan Mosiashoi [unclear]. The tamim Melchaspim Arzaliyos [unclear]. The tamim. We now move on to the Chassanei Torah. Thirty Chassanim. Thirty Chassanei Torah for 5769. I want you to understand: the Chassanei Torah are those who were tested on the entire tractate, both in-depth and for breadth of knowledge, and scored over ninety-five on every exam. The tamim Yanky Avraham, Chassan Torah 5769. The tamim Shmuel Eingren [unclear], Chassan Torah 5769. The tamim Menachman Gelbush [unclear], Chassan Torah 5769. The tamim Menachem Mendel Plinov [unclear], Chassan Torah 5769. The tamim Yitzchak Meir

36:45 Speaker 5 Brichta [unclear], Chassan Torah 5768. Rabbi Levitin. The Tomim Nati Goldberg, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Yisroel Kodiak, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Menachem Mendel Goldschmidt, Chassan Torah, sixth generation from Noach. Rabbi Levitin. The Tomim Mordechai Gruzman, Chassan Torah, sixth generation from Noach. I ask his grandfather, Rabbi Gruzman, to hold up the certificate together with Rabbi Stav. The Tomim Yaakov Dubrovsky, Chassan Torah, sixth generation from Noach. I ask his father, Rabbi Dubrovsky, and his wife to hold up the certificate together with the rosh yeshivah and Rabbi Levitin. Rabbi Levitin. The Tomim Menachem Nachum Danby, Chassan Torah, sixth generation from Noach. Rabbi Levitin. The Tomim Moishe Yitzchok Hech, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Shlomo Eliezer Baruch, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Moishe Bent, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Chananya Yosef Yaakovovitch, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Samor [unclear] Yifrach, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Nachmani [unclear] Cohen, Chassan Torah 5768. Great. The Tomim Yoel David Boyd, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Schneur Zalman Cohen Katz, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Schneur Zalman Lasker, Chassan Torah 5768. Torah 5768. The Tomim Nachum Nov, Chassan Torah 5768. What happened? The Tomim Menachem Mendel Ovadia, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Chaim Tzvi Finkelstein, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Menachem Mendel HaKohen Friedman, Chassan Torah 5768. The Tomim Moishe Cohen Friedman, Chassan Torah, generation of 5708. The Tomim Shmuel Rabinowitz, Chassan Torah, generation of 5708. The Tomim Aharon Chaviv, the Tomim Yoel Rosen, Chassan Torah, generation of 5708. Thank you very much, and good evening, everyone. Prizes and riddles, with Hashem’s help, in another half hour. Ah, Tavlir, Rabbi Tavlir, Rabbi Tavlir. Yosefin [unclear] Zohar Tavlir, please come receive your certificate together with the rabbi. The Tomim Elchanan Stambler, sorry I forgot you. Please come receive your certificate. One moment. The Tomim Schneur Zalman Kamel. I’m sorry, you arrived a little late.