Farbrengen for 11 Nissan, Rabbi Asher Perkash, 5782 - Yiddish

00:00 Speaker 1 L’chaim, l’chaim. Well, we’re in bright days now. About the entire month of Nissan, the holy sefarim say [unclear]. “This month shall be for you the first of months.” It is brought in the name of the holy Shelah that this means the entire month is like Rosh Chodesh. All thirty days have the revelation of Rosh Chodesh. It is like a festival, a special time. That is why we do not say Tachanun throughout the month. It is a time of Geulah. Every day is really an occasion for a farbrengen; we should farbreng every day and every night. The question is: Why don’t we farbreng? Once, at the beginning of one of the Rebbe’s farbrengens—in general, this was the pattern at farbrengens: in the first sicha, the Rebbe would explain why. What was the reason for this farbrengen? And not just in the first sicha; sometimes in the first two sichos, the Rebbe would explain the reason for the farbrengen: what was special about this Shabbos, what was special about this day, what was the day’s distinction, [unclear], what was the first point and what was the second. Once the Rebbe said: Really, why ask why we farbreng? The question could be the other way around: Why don’t we farbreng? Even though there are explanations for why we farbreng. In any case, we are in the month of Nissan. Every night and every day in Nissan is “This month shall be for you the first of months,”

01:41 Speaker 1 a time, a month of Geulah. [unclear] A month of Geulah. The whole month of Nissan is a time of Geulah, a time of bright and elevated days, a time of renewal. So we need to connect with these days; we need to come alive along with them. This is the whole point explained in Chassidus: as Chassidus teaches, the word for “month,” chodesh, is related to renewal, chiddush. And that is what Nissan is about: a time of renewal. There has to be renewal; we need to renew ourselves, to refresh ourselves. That is why we read Parshas Hachodesh and begin the month of Nissan. On the Shabbos before Nissan—which this year was Rosh Chodesh Nissan—we read Parshas Hachodesh, “This month shall be for you.” It is about renewal: each person renews himself. That is what Geulah is about. Geulah means waking up and becoming refreshed, becoming renewed. Exile means falling asleep. Exile means becoming the opposite. “I am asleep” in exile—we fall asleep, we sink down. “A commandment of men performed by rote”; we become accustomed to our nature. And nature, in the language of Chassidus, “comes into being and passes away.” By its nature, it grows weaker and weaker over time. Indeed, the maamarim on Parshas Hachodesh, “This month shall be for you,” bring this point—there is a

03:25 Speaker 1 maamar “This Month Shall Be for You” in the Samech Vav series. The Rebbe speaks about it in his maamarim and in his sichos as well. It appears throughout the maamarim of Chassidus; “This month shall be for you” already appears in the teachings of the Tzemach Tzedek. In particular, our Rebbeim quote the Akeidah, Akeidas Yitzchak. Its author was one of the great Torah sages, a Sephardic scholar. He explains that the greatness of Creation is evident in two ways: through miracles and through nature. The month of Tishrei is connected with the greatness of Creation as seen in nature, and the month of Nissan with the greatness of Creation as seen in miracles. The maamarim explain that nature, on its own, is characterized by change. Nature means change. Left to itself, it rises and falls. Things weaken, things wear down, things dry up. “From the moment a baby is born, it begins to dry up”—as quoted in Chassidus in the name of Rabbi Chaim—“From the moment a baby is born, it begins to dry up.” Everything grows older, weaker, and diminished. And yet there is permanence: permanence in the world, permanence among created beings. “The hosts of heaven endure as individuals; the hosts of earth endure as species,” “as strong as on the day they were created.” That is not an ordinary thing. It comes from the power of the Infinite. It comes only through what Nissan represents. Nissan is miracles. This is something far higher. What does that mean in particular? Chassidus explains that...

04:59 Speaker 1 Renewal is renewal, yes; it is exactly the opposite of exile. Exile is drying up, becoming heavier, finding things harder and harder. Geulah is becoming brighter, more alive, more refreshed. Yes, as the expression quoted here puts it: “growing ever stronger,” [unclear]. Yes, becoming stronger and stronger. The Rebbe would always say that the sign of life is growth in strength, becoming more refreshed and more alive. The Rebbe used this point many times at farbrengens. The sign that something is alive is that it grows stronger. That is because life is connected to G-dliness. Nature on its own, by contrast, has the opposite effect: we become heavier and heavier. In serving Hashem, that is the whole issue. Human nature is for things to become “a commandment of men performed by rote.” When you do a mitzvah for the first time, you do it with vitality. By the second time, the third time, it has become something routine and old. You become heavier; you do it, but without vitality. The Alter Rebbe says in Torah Or—yes, the Alter Rebbe asks: What is the difference between exile and Geulah? He explains it through birth, through pregnancy and birth. Exile is a state in which one does not see, hear, or feel. And he cites the verse, “A commandment of men performed by rote.” One may indeed do

06:32 Speaker 1 everything. All the limbs are there, everything is there, all the limbs are complete, but without vitality. The child does not see or hear; everything is in a state of “his head between his knees,” as the Gemara puts it there. In our service of Hashem, this is “mitzvos performed by rote.” That is how the Alter Rebbe explains exile in Torah Or. And Geulah is [unclear]. Yes, when the child emerges, there is light: he begins to feel, begins to hear, begins to think, begins to see. And when the Alter Rebbe explains this in terms of our service, it is about renewal. So that is the work of the month of Nissan. Nissan is the time to refresh ourselves, to renew ourselves. We need to be full of life, to be living Jews, to have vitality. That is why the whole month of Nissan is a time when, as chassidim say, we need to farbreng. Of course, on Pesach that no longer works; Pesach is a problem. On Pesach it is no longer possible, since chassidim cannot drink well water on Pesach, as is known. The Tzemach Tzedek did not favor well water on Pesach. So said the Rebbe Maharash. The Tzemach Tzedek—the Rebbe Maharash told him that it falls into the same category as [unclear] matzos: if one does not eat [unclear] matzos, one does not drink well water on Pesach. So on Pesach it is hard

08:00 Speaker 1 to farbreng. But before Pesach and after Pesach, this really is a time to farbreng: to refresh ourselves, to revive ourselves, to come alive and leave our inner exile, the inner exile of “mitzvos performed by rote.” Because we dry up; we become people who perform “mitzvos by rote.” That itself is something we need to farbreng about. This is true of the month of Nissan in general, and especially when we are at such a great day. Today, after all, is “on the tenth of the month.” Tonight marks the beginning of “on the tenth of the month.” The tenth of the month is truly the beginning of the revelation of Pesach. “On the tenth of this month, each man shall take a lamb for his father’s household.” “Draw out and take sheep for yourselves”—“Withdraw your hands from idolatry and take sheep for the mitzvah.” Chassidus elaborates on the significance of the tenth of the month. That was when Shabbos Hagadol began. That Shabbos was Shabbos Hagadol; that first Shabbos fell on the tenth of the month. And then came the beginning, the first revelation, of the Exodus from Egypt. Chassidus explains at length the whole significance of the tenth of the month. That was when the Geulah began, after ten days of Nissan had passed—the significance of ten, connected with the ten sefiros and the ten faculties of the soul. And then came “Withdraw your hands from idolatry and take sheep for the mitzvah.” As we sit here tonight, on the tenth of the month, still within Nissan itself, [unclear] think about it: ten days of Nissan have already passed. Where do we stand with our inner exile? We need to...

09:35 Speaker 1 Pesach [unclear]—it has to be Pesach [unclear]. So we have to begin with l’chaim. And then, as a third thing, comes the third [unclear]: when we stand on 10 Nissan, it is the eve of 11 Nissan. That is how it is among chassidim. Yes, when we stand here tonight and think for a moment about what the eve of 11 Nissan means: from the tenth of the month we rise to the eleventh. This is 11 Nissan, the day the Rebbe’s holy soul descended into this world. Especially this year, when it is 120 years. It is an entire subject, [unclear], a great stir, something tremendous [unclear]. So, after all the introductions and everything else, everyone should, of course, say l’chaim and come out of his own inner exile, refresh himself a little, and come alive at a chassidic farbrengen. As the Frierdiker Rebbe says in his sichos, when a Jew comes to a chassidic farbrengen, the first thing is that he feels refreshed. Perhaps he has not yet become more G-d-fearing, perhaps he has not yet become wiser, but he feels refreshed. Afterward, with Hashem’s help, he will also become wiser, more G-d-fearing, and more refined. The first thing is to feel refreshed and leave behind the state of doing mitzvos merely out of habit. L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim.

10:58 Speaker 2 L’chaim, l’chaim.

11:11 Speaker 1 In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed. In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed. In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed. In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed. [unclear] So, l’chaim. You’ve made it here, Reb Meir. And [unclear] once said—I don’t know how many years ago—that the first time he came here, to Boro Park, they brought him here for Shabbos. It was Shabbos Parshas Hachodesh. Why do I remember? Because I remember farbrenging with him on Rosh Chodesh, in the very month he arrived here. But [unclear], and we sat here—I don’t know whether it was in this shul or another one—but we sat together. That was more than twenty years ago; how much time has passed? And we spent the whole Shabbos here and farbrenged on Rosh Chodesh. So l’chaim. [unclear] L’chaim, l’chaim. We still [unclear] since then. We still have a little...

17:36 Speaker 1 work to do on ourselves. So, as we’re saying, I think [unclear], yes, the point of the farbrengen is that we are now in a time of Geulah in general, and in particular, we are on the eve of 11 Nissan. The eve of 11 Nissan is a time when [unclear] the mazal of the leader of the generation. The Rebbe spoke a number of times about how a tzaddik’s birthday continues—yes, continues even after [unclear]; the significance of birthdays is still there. The Rebbe spoke about this several times and told a story about the Rebbe Rashab, nishmaso Eden, as recorded in a note from 5705. The Rebbe writes in that note what he heard in Cheshvan 5705: that he was in Gan Eden and heard Torah on the kapitel, the new kapitel of the Rebbe Rashab, nishmaso Eden, on 20 Cheshvan, the Rebbe Rashab’s birthday. It was then the year 5705; the Rebbe Rashab, nishmaso Eden, had finished saying Kapitel 84 and said, “This is about Kapitel 84, which I am writing about here.” Yes, and even now, if you look in Sefer Hamaamarim 5705, there is a maamar there from 20 Cheshvan 5705, the maamar “Ashrei Adam Oz Lo Bach,” which is a maamar on Kapitel 84. And [unclear], we see that the Frierdiker Rebbe heard Torah on the kapitel that he heard in...

19:31 Speaker 1 Gan Eden. And that was in 5715. In other words, thirty-five years had already passed since the passing of the Rebbe Rashab, nishmaso Eden. The Rebbe passed away in 5680. And in 5715, thirty-five years later, when his birthday came, he heard Torah in Gan Eden on the new kapitel. So it is understood that when, in our generation, we come to the birthday of the leader of our generation, the Rebbe, who on this day will be 120 years old, this is certainly something great—doubly great. Of course, it goes without saying that we are small people, and we do not have a deep understanding of what takes place in Gan Eden, what takes place in other worlds, or the essence of these matters. We know only what is written, only what is written in the stories, and from that we must draw lessons, pray, ask, and cry out that the complete Geulah should indeed come already. “I await him every day, that he may come,” and may we already merit the complete Geulah and see with our own eyes, “As in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt, I will show you wonders.” Then we will know what 120 years means and what all these things we need to know signify. But in the meantime, we have to live with what we understand plainly: to live with the maamarim, the sichos, and the Torah we know. And the first thing we need to know is what

21:05 Speaker 1 11 Nissan is about. Because the Rebbe himself revealed to us and enabled us to understand what 11 Nissan is about. Of course, there are several aspects to it, but first I want to tell you something I had the privilege of hearing from the Rebbe myself. I was with the Rebbe in 5749, when Shabbos Hagadol fell on 10 Nissan. That was how the dates fell: in 5749, Shabbos Hagadol was on the tenth of the month, and 11 Nissan was on Sunday. So the farbrengen for 11 Nissan took place on Shabbos. The Rebbe used to farbreng on Shabbos; in the later years, the Rebbe did not farbreng on weekdays, only on Shabbos. And on Shabbos Hagadol, 10 Nissan, there was a very rich farbrengen, in which the Rebbe explained at length the difference between 10 Nissan and 11 Nissan. The entire long sicha was very interesting. And as for 11 Nissan in general, let me tell you the background, as they say. That particular 11 Nissan was an especially [unclear] 11 Nissan. Why? Among other reasons, because that Friday, before Shabbos, the maamar “Bayom Ashtei Asar” was published. This maamar—anyone who studies it, and all the elder chassidim know—is the maamar of 11 Nissan. It is

22:32 Speaker 1 the maamar of Nissan; it is the maamar not only for 11 Nissan but for the entire year. [unclear] Nissan, through this maamar, in which the Rebbe lays out, as they say, the teaching, the point, the essence, the very core of Chassidus. It is a wonderful maamar. This is the maamar the Rebbe said in 5731, at the beginning of his seventieth year. The Rebbe had begun Kapitel 70, and this was the first time the Rebbe farbrenged on his birthday. Until then, the Rebbe had not yet farbrenged on his birthday. The first time the Rebbe farbrenged on his birthday was at the beginning of his seventieth year. It was something new that many people here knew nothing about; nobody knew. It was a surprise. The Rebbe suddenly came in. There are grandchildren here who can listen to a recording of the farbrengen and hear that there was not a large crowd; it was a small crowd. Later, in 5732, people flew in from all over the world, and it was already quite a carnival. But in 5731 there was a small crowd. And that was when the Rebbe said “Bayom Ashtei Asar.” And there is indeed,

23:56 Speaker 1 there is a recording, and if you look for it, you can hear that sicha. You can hear firsthand how the Rebbe says these things—so rich, so [unclear]. That is how the Rebbe speaks. This is Chabad; this is what it is about. There are few maamarim like it, maamarim so delightful and rich, that explain things this way. But the maamar remained unedited until 5746. In 5746, the Rebbe edited it, and there was great joy. People talked about it; there was a great stir over the maamar the Rebbe had edited. They studied it throughout Shabbos; everyone was absorbed in the maamar. Then came the Shabbos when the Rebbe farbrenged, and the subject of the farbrengen was: What is the difference between 10 Nissan and 11 Nissan? I no longer remember the entire content of the farbrengen, but that was one of the main subjects it revolved around. Afterward, the farbrengen was published in an edited version. Anyone who wants to can study it; it is an edited farbrengen that the Rebbe reviewed after Shabbos. The point was that there is the concept of ten. What is ten? It is the ten faculties of the soul, which are avodah,

25:22 Speaker 1 That is the work of the inner faculties. Yes, that is the idea of the soul’s ten faculties: the work of the mind, the work of the heart, the work of the emotions. These are forms of serving Hashem, and this is the work of the soul’s ten faculties. The culmination of the ten faculties is “on the tenth of the month.” And therefore, then [unclear] from Chanukah to Pesach, and so on. But what is “one and ten”? “One and ten” is mesirus nefesh. “One and ten” is the yechidah, the soul’s innermost level. It is the work that transcends reason, which Chassidus speaks about: the work of breaking out of limitations and boundaries, the work of mesirus nefesh. That is the idea of eleven. The Rebbe spoke then about how eleven does not mean that, when you reach eleven, you run away from ten. No. It is a joining of the two: “one and ten” means the “one” as it shines within the “ten.” There must be the work of the inner faculties, of Chabad—Chochmah, Binah, and Daas. There must be the work of the inner faculties: understanding, intellectual grasp, feeling, the work of [unclear]. There must be inner work. But within that inner life, the eleven must shine—mesirus nefesh, that which transcends reason. The unlimited must shine within the limited. It was very moving; the Rebbe laid out before them a very rich path of service. Then, on Motzaei Shabbos, 11 Nissan began. There was tremendous excitement, and they farbrenged in 770 all night. Reb Eli was so excited that the Rebbe had taught us at that

26:59 Speaker 1 farbrengen what 11 Nissan means, what the path toward it is. What does 11 Nissan mean? For the Rebbe to speak about it so openly, at such length, and explain what the service of 11 Nissan means—that was a great thing at the time. Yes, that was on 11 Nissan 5746. In any case, what is the point? The point is that when we reach this time of year, the first thing is 11 Nissan. 11 Nissan. Yes. We need to know what 11 Nissan is. As is well known, the month of Nissan in general is a month of Geulah. It is a time when a Jew must place himself in a state of Geulah and [unclear] from his personal exile. In Chassidus, this means that he must leave his inner exile and emerge from the concealment of his animal soul. Yes, he must place himself in a state of Geulah. But within this comes the idea of 11 Nissan and tells us how the work must be done. There is “on the tenth of the month,” and there is “one and ten”—eleven. “On the tenth of the month” is the work that must be done with the soul’s ten faculties. There must be work with the soul’s ten faculties. Yes, and that is work guided by reason and understanding. A Jew must indeed study Chassidus and understand Chassidus, and Chassidus must touch him. He should even take pleasure in G-dliness,

28:33 Speaker 1 pleasure in choosing good. This is the work of dedicating one’s inner life, dedicating one’s soul. And together with this comes the eleven and tells us that it demands mesirus nefesh of us, going beyond our personal limits and boundaries. This is the essential work of the Exodus from Egypt: leaving one’s constraints and boundaries. A Jew must rise above his nature. A Jew must rise above his limits and boundaries. It is an elevated service of mesirus nefesh, beyond reason. But this transcendence of reason, this boundlessness, must shine within the ten. The eleven must shine within the ten. This is a tremendous point, a tremendous foundation in serving Hashem, which Chassidus demands and which the Rebbe teaches. That is how it must be. And it is interesting that years later, in 5751—perhaps I will tell another story about this later—in any case, 5751 was the last time we saw the Rebbe deliver a maamar on 11 Nissan, while he was well and farbrenged and spoke. On that 11 Nissan 5751, when they reached a new chapter—the Rebbe then began reciting Chapter 90, which centers on “A prayer of Moshe”—the maamar “Tefillah LeMoshe” was published. Presumably the people here, who are learned and understanding, know the maamar, right? And we studied that maamar, “Tefillah LeMoshe,” right here in the yeshivah just yesterday. The students from the yeshivah in Argentina came here, to the Rebbe, to, to

30:07 Speaker 1 be at [unclear]. So we sat and studied the maamar together. And there, already in the first section of the maamar, the Rebbe cites the teaching that “A prayer of Moshe” is one of eleven psalms that Moshe said. He quotes the wording of the Midrash, and Rashi also brings it in Chumash: eleven psalms that Moshe said, beginning with “A prayer of Moshe.” And the Rebbe explains: What does “eleven psalms” mean? This is the idea of eleven. It is interesting. The maamar “Tefillah LeMoshe” is not a maamar of 11 Nissan. It is a maamar of 12 Tammuz. Our Rebbeim said it in 5740, in connection with the Frierdiker Rebbe—after all, the Frierdiker Rebbe’s birthday is 12 Tammuz, and in 5740 it was eighty years since his birth. The Rebbe delivered the maamar “Tefillah LeMoshe.” But when the year of the Rebbe’s eightieth birthday arrived, Reb Yoel, a"h—it is still hard to say a"h—Reb Yoel wrote out a maamar and gave it to the Rebbe for 11 Nissan. And this is extraordinary: that very maamar explains the same idea—what do eleven psalms mean? There is ten, the yud; and what is the eleventh? It is “one that is not counted,” the idea of boundlessness, the inner dimension of Kesser, Atik. That is the “one that is not counted,” the eleventh. And the eleventh shines within the ten. The whole maamar “Tefillah LeMoshe” revolves around this: it is the idea of Moshe Rabbeinu, the prayer of a rich man, the higher level, Atik, the idea of [unclear]. It is an extraordinary

31:44 Speaker 1 maamar. The Rebbe explains it in terms of actual service. In any case, that is the idea. And the point is this: the first thing we must understand is that we are speaking about a time, a wonderful time, a time of eleven—11 Nissan—when the leader of the generation was born. And the fact that the leader of the generation was born on 11 Nissan is along the lines of what is written, as brought in the Midrash [unclear], about Moshe Rabbeinu, [unclear] bringing about the Geulah. It says of Moshe Rabbeinu that when he was born, [unclear] from exile. With the Rebbe, [unclear], the fact that the Rebbe was born—after all, 11 Nissan is right before Pesach. It is not easy to gather at the Rebbe’s on 11 Nissan. Women from Argentina, now on 11 Nissan—it is right before Pesach; there is a lot of work to do. Yes, that was always the case. After all, the Rebbe did not allow women [unclear]. There were married men whom the Rebbe told not to travel, because it could affect shalom bayis: what about his wife, and the preparations, and the cooking, and everything that needs to be done and cleaned? But I see that they had mesirus nefesh. I remember, I remember [unclear]. We were children in Jerusalem, in Shikun Chabad. I remember,

33:09 Speaker 1 I said, “What are we doing here?” Well, I was ten years old then. At that time, the Rebbe said not to come there. It was the year of his eightieth birthday. Everyone wanted to travel to the Rebbe for his eightieth birthday. Suddenly there was a sicha from the Rebbe. I do not know, perhaps it was on Purim; I do not remember. The Rebbe said that it was a difficult time, right before Pesach—in short, that no one should travel. We said we had not been planning to travel, and suddenly Pesach was approaching. In short, around Pesach and after Yom Kippur, there was that decree. I remember that an elderly chossid, Reb Leizer Nanes, lived in Shikun Chabad. In those days everyone had heard of Reb Leizer Nanes. Reb Leizer Nanes went back to Lubavitch; he was one of the very longtime chassidim. I once met him at a farbrengen. A good blessing from the Rebbe for those days. In any case, Reb Leizer Nanes. Everyone was talking: travel, not travel, travel, not travel. I remember Reb Leizer Nanes saying, “I remember that on Pesach in Russia, right after Pesach, we came to travel to Petersburg for Simchas Torah.” And people say, as is known, when the Frierdiker Rebbe left Russia. As is known, the Frierdiker Rebbe left Russia. So chassidim wanted to travel to Leningrad, to Petersburg, in order to

34:41 Speaker 1 To meet him before the Frierdiker Rebbe left there. In other words, to see him. This was still in that early period, and the Frierdiker Rebbe had instructed that no one should come. They said, “How can we miss an opportunity like this?” The Frierdiker Rebbe says, “No one should come.” Reb Leizer Nannes said, “Ah, we understand, but this calls for mesirus nefesh.” That is how he said it in Yiddish: “Ah, we understand, but this calls for mesirus nefesh.” Yes. And they all came then. There were individuals, at any rate, generally speaking. And he said it in Yiddish. Yes. What does that mean? He meant that this is what mesirus nefesh means. Not that you go against his words and want to see how he will take it, and that it will give him a little more life—you cannot put it that way. But they came. What we heard from that elderly chossid was that he said, “We understood, but this calls for mesirus nefesh.” At any rate, what is the point? There is the story about the Alter Rebbe; everyone knows the story about the Alter Rebbe. There was a fire at the Alter Rebbe’s home. It is a well-known story. There was a fire. They said, “The Tanya was burned, the book of the tzaddikim.” The Alter Rebbe had written the Tanya, part two. They said, “The Tanya was burned,” and the Alter Rebbe ran to the Mitteler Rebbe and asked him, “Do you remember

35:59 Speaker 1 what was written there?” And the Mitteler Rebbe said, “I did not look at it.” “Why didn’t you look at it?” “There was a ban written there. That is the wording: there was a ban from the Alter Rebbe, in this world and the next. It was written in the Alter Rebbe’s own holy handwriting, on the title page, that it was forbidden to look at the book. How could I...?” The Alter Rebbe asked him, “Well, where is your mesirus nefesh for Chassidus? There has to be mesirus nefesh for Chassidus.” In other words, that is what mesirus nefesh for Chassidus is about. In any case, let us return to our subject. What was I talking about? We have already gone from one subject to another. Yes. So...

36:41 Speaker 12 [unclear].

36:43 Speaker 1 Ah, so in [unclear], “a prayer for [unclear]”—that is what he says there. There is the idea of eleven. 11 Nissan—ah, that is what I wanted to say—11 Nissan is a day, yes, a day of Geulah. And it is the day on which the leader of the generation was born, as we saw openly with the Rebbe. This concerns the entire world. Yes, it is no secret. We saw openly with the Rebbe that everything about him, all his vitality, his entire being, his whole essence, everything about him, yes, from the time he was born, was directed toward bringing the Geulah. The Rebbe’s entire being was devoted to that from the very first day. And the wording is well known, from the Rebbe’s letter: “As I walked to cheder ... the image of the future Geulah.” “As I walked to cheder”—with the Rebbe, from the time he was a child, you know, the Geulah was already on his mind. That was what occupied him as a small child, “as I walked to cheder.” And that was what he worked on from the first day he became the Nasi, became the Rebbe, on Yud Shvat. How do we see that in Basi Legani? With the Rebbe, the whole point is to take Jews out of exile. How can Jews put themselves in a state of Geulah? And that, that is what 11 Nissan is about. So when it comes to—

38:08 Speaker 1 Now is the time, yes, for everyone to connect. Everyone needs to bond with the Rebbe. And in the familiar expression the Rebbe would always use, “The body follows the head.” Yes, we need to follow him. The body needs to follow the Nasi. Yes, when the head places us in a higher state, in a state of Geulah, we all need to put ourselves in that state of Geulah. And that is what 11 Nissan says to each of us: we need to leave exile. We need to leave our personal exile. Everyone has an inner exile; he has an animal soul, he has [unclear], he has all those limitations, the limitations of the animal soul. And as the Rebbe would always say, even the limitations of holiness. We need to break out of our own limitations. We need to break out of our own constrictions, each of us out of his own narrowness, his own confines, his own calculations, and put ourselves in a higher frame of mind, in a world, a world, a world of Geulah. And to that we need to say l’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim.

39:10 Speaker 12 L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim.

39:18 Speaker 1 “In his days the righteous shall flourish, and there shall be abundant peace until there is no moon.” “In his days the righteous shall flourish, and there shall be abundant peace until there is no moon.” “And on that day, Hashem will be one and His Name one.” “And on that day, there will be...”

48:18 Speaker 23 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. L’chaim. L’chaim. L’chaim. Well, as far as I know, let us continue with the meal. Nasi. Since we are speaking about a Nasi, what does Reb Mendel Morosov say? There was a Jew who still remembered, Reb Mendel Morosov. Reb Mendel Morosov. Who remembers Reb Mendel Morosov? An elderly chossid. He passed away a few years ago, a Jew who had still been with the Rebbe Rashab, with the Rebbe [unclear]. If I am not mistaken, [unclear] was his sandek. [unclear]. A cheerful chossid. A Jew who laughed at the Angel of Death in his final days. [unclear]. In any case, with a great deal of [unclear]. So he related that the Rebbe constantly used the term “Nasi” for the Frierdiker Rebbe: “Nasi,” “the Nasi of our generation,” “the Nasi,” “the Rebbe,” “the Nasi.” It was not an expression—hardly an ordinary expression among chassidim. They did not use the term “Nasi.” Among chassidim, you say “Rebbe.” Among all chassidim, including all the students of the Baal Shem Tov, the term “Nasi” was not commonly used. Reb Mendel Morosov relates—and this is what he says—that the first time he heard the word “Nasi” used for a Rebbe was, as he tells it, in [unclear]. They were [unclear].

50:49 Speaker 23 In Leningrad, and the Rogatchover was living in Leningrad at the time. A group of bochurim went to the Rogatchover. There was some... they went to the Rogatchover. The Rogatchover did have something of a connection to Chassidus. I do not know exactly what the relationship was, but he was, he was... At any rate, they went to visit the Rogatchover. I do not remember whether it was because of [unclear], at the Frierdiker Rebbe’s request, or whether they went to speak with him about their learning. I cannot recall the reason just now. But the Rogatchover spoke with them, and in the middle he referred to the Frierdiker Rebbe as “the Nasi.” He said to them, “The Nasi says such and such,” or “the Nasi.” They did not understand what he meant. Who? What did he mean? Ah, the Rebbe is the Nasi. They knew the references from the Talmud. Ah, the Rebbe should be called “the Nasi.” It is interesting that the Rogatchover chose that name. [unclear]. The Rogatchover, a Jew, a great Torah scholar, a master of the revealed teachings of Torah, calls the Rebbe “Nasi.” Later, when we come to the Rebbe, the Rebbe constantly called the Frierdiker Rebbe “Nasi”; that was the name. Interesting. As is well known, the Rebbe spoke about what we say when reading about the Nesi’im during the month of Nissan, [unclear] of a Nasi. I think there was a sicha in which the Rebbe spoke about what...

52:32 Speaker 23 the meaning of Nasi is. Nasi comes from the word meaning “to raise up.” A Nasi raises others up. That is how “Nasi” is explained. The Rebbe is called a Nasi—Nasi comes from “raising up.” And it does not mean that he is exalted, that he is a loftier person, an exalted individual. Rather, it means that he raises others up. He raises the world, raises his chassidim to a higher level. That is the meaning of Nasi: he raises the chassidim, brings them to a higher state. He raises them to a higher level, takes them out of their inner exile, and brings them to a higher state. And not only that. Something was said at a wonderful farbrengen, on 13 Tishrei. 13 Tishrei is the yahrzeit of the Rebbe Maharash. There was a farbrengen on 13 Tishrei, in [unclear]. The Rebbe spoke at great length, with great force and clarity, about what a Nasi is and what the term means. And he cited the verse: “One with a generous eye shall be blessed, for he has given of his bread to the poor.” The Rebbe farbrenged on this verse. The Midrash says, “‘One with a generous eye’—this is Moshe Rabbeinu; ‘for he has given of his bread to the poor.’” What does “he has given of his bread to the poor” mean? Specifically “of his bread,” not merely “he has given bread.” “He has given bread” means that he gives bread. Here it says “of his bread”—what is bread to him, his own level, his own concern. That is what he gives; that is what he gives

54:25 Speaker 23 To the poor—to every Jew. And the Rebbe explained that this is the true meaning of a nasi, a leader. A nasi does not merely influence Jews, giving them material things, spiritual things, Torah, blessings, and what they need. That is not yet the novelty; that is not yet the great thing. The greatness of a nasi is that he is elevated. His level—we are speaking about [unclear], about a Rebbe, about a tzaddik—a nasi is an exalted person. As it says [unclear], the Rebbe cites the verse about King Shaul: “From his shoulders upward, he was taller than all the people.” A nasi stands in a position where the king is “from his shoulders upward, taller than all the people.” As the Rebbe explains, what does that mean? Not only his head—even his shoulders are higher than the heads of the people. In other words, when we speak about a Rebbe, about a tzaddik, his whole standing, his whole [unclear], is higher, higher than [unclear]. And this is “from his own bread.” He “gives from his own bread to the poor.” That is a Rebbe. A Rebbe is not simply a holy Jew, an elevated Jew, a sacred and exalted person who gives those in this world whatever he is able to give them. No. He raises them to his own level. That is a nasi.

55:50 Speaker 23 And that is what this means in real terms; that is what we mean when we say the Rebbe reveals Geulah within Jews. What does that mean? He takes us out of exile; he raises us to a state of Geulah. After all, we are all in exile. Usually, though, we speak about the exile of the yetzer hara, of the animal soul. But when we speak about this at length, and particularly in the Rebbe’s Chassidus, there is also the exile of the G-dly soul. The Rebbe spoke about this a great deal. It’s interesting: in Tanya, chapter 47, the Alter Rebbe explains the Exodus from Egypt. He explains what the Exodus from Egypt means within the soul. He opens that chapter, chapter 47, with: “In every generation, and on every single day, a person must see himself as though he is leaving Egypt today.” Right? The Alter Rebbe adds something here. He bases it on the Mishnah. Right? The Mishnah says “in every generation,” not “on every single day.” And the Mishnah simply says “as though he had left,” not “is leaving today.” That is the innovation of Chassidus. Chassidus makes it happen today. Chassidus makes it not history, not some old holidays. It is today. The Exodus from Egypt is today. But how does the Alter Rebbe explain it? He explains it as the G-dly soul’s departure from the imprisonment of the body and the animal soul. That is what the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya. He explains the Exodus from Egypt as leaving the Egypt of the animal soul, and the very [unclear] of the body and animal soul—the material and animal concerns. And today, when a person comes to recite Shema, today, when he comes

57:36 Speaker 23 to daven, he stands up and leaves the imprisonment of his body and animal soul. That is the meaning of the Exodus from Egypt, and the Alter Rebbe explains it in chapter 47. A wonderful chapter. When Pesach comes, a chossid should study chapter 47. It isn’t a long chapter. In yeshivos, the mashgichim have a practice of assigning the memorization of a chapter of Tanya as a penalty, and they start with chapter 47. That is the first chapter they assign, because it is the shortest chapter in Tanya. Sometimes you need—you need to get a penalty once a week and memorize Tanya; you start with chapter 47. Eventually you reach chapter 37. Chapter 37 is the longest chapter. I once heard from Reb Mendel Futerfas. [unclear] Yes. Reb Mendel Futerfas related something he had heard from a friend of his. In Russia, he had a friend in yeshiva, in [unclear], in Kharkov, [unclear], Berel Haditcher, Berel Haditcher. There were two of them, Berel and Zalman. I think they were brothers, or perhaps from the same town. You know, in those days people were called by the names of their towns. Berel Haditcher, Zalman Haditcher. And Mendel said “Haditch,” as everyone knows Haditch, but Russians pronounce it with a hard G. He would say “Gaditch.” Zalman Gaditcher, Berel Gaditcher. [unclear]

59:14 Speaker 23 In the time of the Alter Rebbe, [unclear]. There were two brothers, two chassidim, two Temimim. One was less gifted, and the other was exceptionally gifted. I think Berel was the gifted one. Reb Mendel related that Reb Berel Gaditcher, being gifted, memorized all of Likkutei Amarim in fifty-four days. He learned one chapter each day. He finished memorizing all of Likkutei Amarim in fifty-four days. [unclear] He finished all of Likkutei Amarim in fifty-four days. Reb Mendel asked him: Why fifty-four? Tanya has fifty-three chapters. He answered: Because chapter 37 took two days. Chapter 37 took two days; it’s a longer chapter. In any case, let’s return to our subject, chapter 47. What does chapter 47 say? It says that “in every generation, and on every single day, a person must see himself as though he left Egypt today.” The Alter Rebbe explains: What is the Exodus from Egypt? It is the G-dly soul’s departure from the imprisonment of the body and animal soul. But look at chapter 47 of Likkutei Amarim. Chapter 47—look, it’s interesting. Generally, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the Rebbe speaks about the G-dly soul’s Exodus from Egypt. There is also an Exodus from Egypt for the animal soul. What is the G-dly soul’s Exodus from Egypt? What is the G-dly soul’s Exodus from Egypt? It is the avodah that—

1:00:55 Speaker 23 That is called measure and limitation. A person really does Hashem’s will, entirely within holiness; he really does study and daven and observe the Shulchan Aruch, with all its strict requirements. But he remains within a kind of measure and limitation. What did Chassidus give us that was new? A Jew observes Torah and mitzvos, puts on tefillin, fulfills mitzvos, studies every day, keeps to his set study schedule, and does everything he needs to do. But there are constraints and boundaries in it. He is confined, and he needs to leave those constraints and boundaries, even within holiness. This is one of the foundations of Chassidus: you have to go beyond constraints and boundaries. Not only those of kelipah—that is obvious—but even the constraints and boundaries within holiness. And as the Alter Rebbe also says in Tanya—in fact, it is written in Tanya—there is the concept of [unclear], of one who “serves G-d”: the drive to go higher, to go deeper, and not remain within one’s nature. The Alter Rebbe says in chapter 15: “He is diligent in his studies by nature.” The Alter Rebbe presents a situation that anyone would describe this way: a person who is diligent in his studies by nature has a melancholic temperament—but not melancholy in the sense of what people today call depression. He has a healthy kind of melancholy, so to speak; he has a pleasant pensiveness. And in chapter 15, the Alter Rebbe calls it “melancholy.” He is “melancholic by nature,” so he can sit,

1:02:36 Speaker 23 yes, he can sit. He has a healthy capacity to sit, as they say; he can sit and study. In other words, he has yiras Shamayim, he studies diligently and assiduously, and he is also diligent by nature. Well, wonderful—the greatest blessing in the world: he is diligent by nature, has no cravings, has yiras Shamayim, and loves to study. He sits and studies Torah diligently and assiduously, day and night. Then the Alter Rebbe comes and says: He is not one who “serves G-d.” Not one who “serves G-d” at all. It is hard to say such a thing. The Alter Rebbe—it really inspires awe. But when the Alter Rebbe says it, he says it sharply. That is chapter 15. When does avodah begin? When you set out to change your nature. A G-dly nature is not a material nature, not an animal nature; it is G-dly, it is holy. But when you break through some part of your nature, that is “serving G-d.” And even when it has already become comfortable for him, and has become second nature, and he is no longer [unclear], and he has grown accustomed to it and has already overcome—he needs to keep going further. That is the meaning of the Exodus from Egypt. So what does the nasi give us? This is the nasi. The Rebbe, the Rebbe as nasi, elevates. The Rebbe as nasi lifts people up. He lifts Jews to a higher world, to a higher [unclear], to a [unclear] beyond limits, to a [unclear] of infinity. That is the role of a nasi.

1:04:10 Speaker 23 He uplifts us. He raises us, draws us out of this exile. There is the exile of the yetzer hara, the exile of the animal soul, and even the exile of the G-dly soul. The point of a Rebbe’s leadership is uplift: he raises Jews into a higher world, a world of Geulah, a world where the infinite shines, connected to the Ein Sof. And for that, we need to learn Chassidus. That is what Chassidus is. Chassidus comes to raise us and draw us out of this exile. As it says in Hayom Yom, the Rebbe quotes the Frierdiker Rebbe’s words that Chassidus is a kind of exodus from Egypt: leaving one’s constraints and limitations. But there is a difference: the first exodus from Egypt happened by way of flight, by breaking away, while the exodus through Chassidus takes place within the world—not by breaking away, but by refining it. In any case, I don’t want to digress here into [unclear]. It isn’t [unclear], it’s past, but, but, but this is the point. So what is the point? The point here is somewhat [unclear]. We are here together at a farbrengen, whose purpose is that we want to become a little more refined, a little closer; we want to connect with the nossi, with the Rebbe. 11 Nissan is the Rebbe’s birthday, the day on which the nossi of the generation’s mazal shines, especially in the year of his 120th birthday. These are great days; these are great matters.

1:05:47 Speaker 23 So we need to know what the point is. We need to know what the point is. Every nossi, every Rebbe, has a defining point. With the Rebbe, we saw clearly that it was Geulah. “From the outset, he was born for redemption,” the Midrash says. With Moshe Rabbeinu, it was clear from the outset that he was born to be a redeemer. With our Rebbe, the nossi of our generation, we saw it explicitly: from the outset, everything about the Rebbe, from the first day to the last—all his Torah, all his sichos, all his conduct, everything—was directed toward bringing the Geulah. As I said, the Rebbe wants to see the Geulah in actuality, not only a Geulah within the soul. The Rebbe emphasizes the actual Geulah. The Rebbe would often tell the story of the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Maharash: Likkutei Torah was printed in 5608, and they used a great deal of ink, but Moshiach did not come. The Rebbe Maharash came to his father crying, because 5608 was supposed to be the time appointed for the Geulah. He had heard from his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, that [unclear] and the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, and the Geulah would come—but it had not. According to the calculation, the Geulah should have come in 5608, and the year had passed without it coming. The Tzemach Tzedek said, “But Likkutei Torah was printed!” The Rebbe Maharash said, “But we need Moshiach in actuality.” The Rebbe used to tell this story; I certainly saw the Rebbe tell it several times. And the Rebbe was on the Rebbe Maharash’s side, [unclear]. He tells the story—the Tzemach Tzedek...

1:07:21 Speaker 23 They argued that once Likkutei Torah had been printed, Moshiach was already here. When you learn Likkutei Torah, you are in a world of Geulah. That was the Tzemach Tzedek’s argument: this is Moshiach. When you learn Likkutei Torah, you are in a world of Geulah. The Frierdiker Rebbe writes in one of his sichos that the Mitteler Rebbe’s chassidim did not need Moshiach. That is what the Frierdiker Rebbe writes in one of his sichos: the Mitteler Rebbe’s chassidim did not need Moshiach. Why didn’t they need Moshiach? What did they have? There was [unclear]; the Mitteler Rebbe delivered Chassidus, and they felt, they sensed, that they were living in a world of Geulah, a world of Moshiach. For them, it was present in their way of being, in their minds and hearts. So what was the Tzemach Tzedek’s argument? We have Likkutei Torah. When you learn Likkutei Torah, you are connected to Geulah; you are in a higher world. But the Rebbe Maharash did not accept that. The Rebbe Maharash argued: we need Moshiach in actuality. And the Rebbe [unclear] the Rebbe Maharash. The Rebbe Maharash [unclear]. Clearly, the Rebbe wants the Geulah to happen in actuality. And we need to know that even with Chassidus—even though Chassidus speaks of an inner Geulah and a spiritual Geulah—ultimately we need to leave exile in actual fact. That is the point, that is the goal, and that is our generation, and for

1:08:39 Speaker 23 that we need to daven. Until then, we need to say “Tzemach David” and have the actual Geulah in mind. But Chassidus means this: the word nossi is related to nesius, uplift. We need to be raised up. The Rebbe raises us into a higher world, because it is beyond all comparison. And that is the essential aspect of a nossi. He uplifts us, raises us into a world, a higher world—and not just a higher world, but a world beyond all comparison. There is a story that happened in recent years. The audience has probably heard it already, but it is an amazing story. It happened in recent years. Yes, there is a video of it, an actual live recording. What happened? It was Simchas Torah—it was Lag BaOmer, 5747, I believe. When Lag BaOmer fell on a Sunday, there would be a big parade on Eastern Parkway in front of the Rebbe, and the Rebbe would be there with the children: [unclear] to come out and sing with the children, to speak to the children. That was the [unclear]. So that Lag BaOmer, at the end of the parade, as he relates, Reb Yaakov Yehuda Hecht, known as J. J. Hecht, was there, and he approached the Rebbe. He was utterly exhausted, because it was a great responsibility and a tremendous undertaking. You cannot imagine what it cost—hundreds of thousands of dollars—to put on the parade. And he was

1:10:09 Speaker 23 very, very [unclear]. After the parade, the Rebbe asked him, “Nu, how was it?” He told the Rebbe, “The Rebbe pulled me out. The Rebbe pulled me out.” And the Rebbe—there really is a video of this—the Rebbe said, “Raised you up,” making a motion with his hand. “Raised you up.” That is a different definition. Pulling someone out means that he is stuck in the mud. When you are stuck in the mud, you need to be pulled out. What is so remarkable about that? It is as though you are mired in dirt and [unclear], mired in [unclear], and need to be pulled out of the mud. The Rebbe is not talking about pulling someone out. The Rebbe raises him up. Raises him up. Chassidus raises you up. From the start, it places you in a higher world. From the start, you rise into a world of G-dliness, a world of the oneness of Hashem, a world where Moshiach shines, where the Geulah shines. That is Chassidus. Chassidus reveals the oneness of Hashem. Chassidus is the Torah of Moshiach. Chassidus describes what the world will be like in the time to come. And when a Jew learns Chassidus, he enters into the... how should I put it? The atmosphere, the air, the state of being, that world. He stands in that world. Because that is what the Rebbe used to call it in the later years: we need to live Geulah. That was the Rebbe’s wording, which we merited to hear from him many times in the later years, at almost every [unclear]. We need to live

1:11:44 Speaker 23 Moshiach; we need to live Geulah. This, this, this is not... “I believe”—and every Jew, as we said, in every generation believes in Moshiach. But Chassidus explains that faith is makif, something that remains beyond one’s conscious grasp. Believing means believing in the Geulah, yes. But living it—living it comes through learning Chassidus. Without Chassidus, it is just a tale. And all Jews, chassidim and non-chassidim, need to believe in the Thirteen Principles. This is one of them: we believe in Moshiach. “I await him.” As the Rebbe says, “Every day, that he will come”—that he will come. But that is Chassidus as something learned. Chassidus means that Moshiach is something alive. This is life; this is the truth, the truth of the world. This is reality as the world ought to be. And when you immerse yourself in it, it becomes your world. You live in a world of Geulah. That is what it means to raise someone up, not to pull him out. Pulling someone out is... when you are stuck in the mud, you are stuck in the mud. I see that the Rebbe’s father always speaks about the difference between the approach of mussar and the approach of Chassidus: mussar deals with mud, with getting out of the mud. That is what occupies mussar. Chassidus is light. Chassidus illuminates; Chassidus is light. From the outset, Chassidus speaks to you, places you in a different state, raises you up. That is a nossi. And that is why we recite the nossi each day during Nissan. The Gemara says in Tractate Rosh Hashanah: “The first of Nissan is the new year for kings.” It is a time for kings, a time for nesi’im,

1:13:29 Speaker 23 a time of uplift. And when we connect to the nossi, we live in a world of Geulah. L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim.

1:27:52 Speaker 26 L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim. L’chaim. L’chaim. Joy. Joy above, joy below. L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim! Now we’ll sing the niggun. [unclear]. Yes, 11 Nissan 5751. This is my story—you could say my only story from 11 Nissan. For me, 11 Nissan 5751 is a great day, a very great day, something tremendous. And as the years pass, my [unclear], my gratitude—whatever we call it, whatever words we use—only grows stronger. What was my story in 5751? After [unclear], the practice in yeshivos is that when a bochur finishes his years in the senior yeshiva, he goes out as a student shliach. In 5750, our group had the privilege of being sent by the Rebbe to Melbourne, Australia. We traveled to Australia a week after Pesach, in Iyar. More precisely, we left on 5 Iyar 5750. 5 Iyar 5750. That was the day we left for Australia. The arrangement was that when you went to Australia, you went for two years. And not only did you go for two years—the condition was that you did not come back, [unclear]. The Rebbe made it a condition

1:30:24 Speaker 26 that the shluchim, the student shluchim traveling to Melbourne, Australia, had to undertake not to come home, not to travel to the Rebbe, not to return, for two years. Your brother gets married, your sister gets married, there’s a bar mitzvah—you don’t travel. Not for any celebration or anything else. We knew we had to stay for two years, from the first day to the last. That was a condition from the outset, and for good reason. If you don’t want to, [unclear], you can’t stay. But we wanted to go on shlichus. It was the greatest gift, and it came at a great price. It was a heavy price. We were the Rebbe’s bochurim, and we lived with the Rebbe, and [unclear]. It wasn’t easy, not easy at all. And there were some bochurim who weren’t prepared for it. There was a whole issue [unclear]. We traveled to Australia knowing that we would now be there for two years, and that this was our shlichus. When Shvat 5751 arrived, two days before Yud Shvat 5751, we were sitting there—six or seven bochurim, a group of student shluchim—and we said to one another: In two months it will be 11 Nissan. The Rebbe will begin kapitel 90; the year of the ninetieth kapitel is starting. Are we going to sit here? What are we thinking? As they say, it can’t...

1:32:03 Speaker 26 be. We have to do something. In short, what happened was that we decided to have, as they say, the chutzpah—the Moshiach kind of chutzpah, right? We would write to the Rebbe. We would ask the Rebbe to give us permission to travel for 11 Nissan, during Chol Hamoed Pesach. To give us permission to travel. What did that mean? I don’t know. Nor were we the first clever ones to come up with the idea. Today I know the whole history; there had been quick answers, eager shluchim, and quite a few earlier cases in which bochurim had already asked. And the Rebbe answered: “Completely out of the question.” Usually, when bochurim asked to come home, they received an answer—a clear, straightforward answer. The shlichus in Australia began in 5727, with the first shliach, the first group, in 5727. From 5727 to 5751 there were great, very great days with the Rebbe. There was 11 Nissan 5751; there was the great Yud Shvat, when there was talk about Moshiach—those were great days. And when the bochurim, the shluchim, wanted to come, the Rebbe did not permit it. Shlichus is shlichus. The answer was “Completely out of the question,” and once an answer was also given, [unclear]. The emphatic “completely out of the question” from the previous year—that was, you know, just one year earlier. At any rate, we knew that this was the Rebbe’s answer: “Completely out of the question.” But still, who knows? We’ll try, as they say. [unclear].

1:33:44 Speaker 26 At any rate, we decided, you know, [unclear], to write to the Rebbe. [unclear]. We wrote to the Rebbe. The first thing we bochurim did that week was write to the Rebbe, asking him to give us permission to come back for 11 Nissan. We wrote that it would bring renewed strength and vitality to our shlichus; we would return with those strengths. That is what we wrote in the note, in the letter. Yes, “renewed strength and vitality.” The Rebbe circled those three words: “renewed strength and vitality.” The Rebbe circled the three words and wrote: “In light of this, it is worthwhile, and may it be at a good and auspicious time.” That was the note. And it was a shock, as they say. After all, we had been certain—we had only tried, and we knew that the answer to any such request was [unclear]. It was a tremendous experience. It was even greater than the joy of being there that Pesach. Then there was the whole matter of 11 Nissan; then we stayed until 3 Nissan, after Pesach, I don’t know. The director was very, very upset. It was a big deal that the Rebbe had simply given permission without saying it to the director. Usually, we knew that the Rebbe was very careful to honor the director, as always. Whenever bochurim asked, the answer might come through the director. And here, when it—

1:35:42 Speaker 26 The Rebbe had explicitly not given permission to the director; we were asking the director. With the Rebbe, it was exactly where it belonged. They knew who the director was—in short. Well, that’s just a story. At any rate, from the outset it was, as they say, exactly where it belonged: “In light of this, it is worthwhile.” The director was, I think, with the heads of the yeshivos; they took three days so they could talk. There was [unclear] here; it really was—at that time—you can’t believe what it was like that 11 Nissan. It was a complete upheaval. After twenty-five years of living with the [unclear], with the rules, it was very powerful. The Rebbe’s shlichus in Australia was a very significant shlichus. Suddenly, such a difficulty [unclear]. But they were with the Rebbe that 11 Nissan, and “Let Your work be seen by Your servants,” “Return,” “May the pleasantness...” —all the [unclear]. The Rebbe spoke about it constantly. Throughout Pesach with the Rebbe, everything revolved around that kapitel. “A prayer of Moshe” was explained again and again. It was a very rich [unclear]. What happened? The day after Pesach, we had to return to the yeshiva. The director said, “The day after Pesach. You’re not staying another day. The day after Pesach, only [unclear], we have to return to Australia.” The trip took us five days. Here, you understand, [unclear], getting [unclear]—it was a whole mess. We traveled around the entire

1:37:13 Speaker 26 world, and in fact, we cut it short. We looked for a cheap ticket. The whole trip was difficult. We boarded on Sunday after the distribution of dollars. The Rebbe gave us a dollar. The Rebbe gave each of us another dollar and said, “Success in your shlichus.” A special blessing. At the distribution of dollars, when you pass by, you receive one dollar, a blessing for success, and then another dollar: “Success in your shlichus.” And immediately afterward we went to the airport. We traveled for five days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, from country to country. In short, it was an upheaval. We arrived in Australia on Thursday night. That Thursday night was the well-known sicha: “Do everything in your power.” It was the famous sicha in which the Rebbe brought about a turning point. In Australia, it was already early Friday morning. They heard the sicha right at dawn, in the morning. We arrived at night, and in the morning we heard a sicha like that—it was a bombshell. What was I going to say? In fact, our shlichus ended on Rosh Chodesh Nissan 5752. The whole arrangement was meant to last two years. Rosh Chodesh Nissan was after 27 Adar. The Rebbe was already not well physically. It was already the state of health after which we were no longer privileged to hear the Rebbe. So when we returned from shlichus, it was already a new situation. It was a different reality, a new intensity—an intensity of darkness, an intensity of suffering. It was a difficult period. And the years that followed—

1:38:50 Speaker 26 To study [unclear]. And 5752 and 5753 were difficult years. The Rebbe came out onto the balcony afterward; it was a difficult time. What did we merit? Another four years passed before we came to understand that the Rebbe, with his ruach hakodesh, had seen that such a [unclear] was going to happen, and wanted to give us a gift: that we could merit being with him while he was healthy and happy, taking part in farbrengens, speaking with him, meeting him. That was simply how it was, because there was no other explanation. I remember that in those years [unclear], the Rebbe did not allow anyone to come. The shluchim knew it was meant to be two years. Suddenly he took it on his own shoulders, without the administration, without anything—why was it worth it? Thanks to that, I merited seeing the Rebbe for a month, three weeks; being at farbrengens, at the dollar distribution, at kos shel bracha, at sichos, being at [unclear], while he was happy and healthy. And the Rebbe, amid all this—who were we? Who were we? A group of young bochurim, as they say, [unclear]. This is the Rebbe’s Ahavas Yisroel, the Rebbe’s desire that we should merit simply being with him, in his presence, being with him, being [unclear]. When 11 Nissan comes around, for me it is, as they say, a personal Yom Tov in Nissan, because of those opportunities. For me it is a personal Yom Tov that we—

1:40:34 Speaker 26 need to say this, with [unclear]. We have to understand how the Rebbe led all of the Jewish people then, in 5751, and what he did [unclear]. He was establishing shuls and leading the entire world. At the same time there was the Gulf War, Russia, [unclear]. That was the period. And suddenly a group of bochurim arrives. “I want—I want to be together with you. I want to give you a class, so that you can be.” Think about “as water reflects a face back to a face,” as it says in Tanya. A Jew reflects on “as water reflects a face back to a face,” which shows Ahavas Yisroel: he devotes himself and thinks about every single bochur—whether he is receiving vitality, whether he is getting things he can gather up, whether he is gaining a connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He comes. That is the answer. This is “All Your works will see You, and all created beings will bow before You.” [unclear] Zalman Gopin explained it when they sang the niggun to this interpretation of “All Your works will see You.” A beautiful interpretation, this one—think about it; it is an interpretation. What do the words “All Your works will see You, and all created beings will bow before You” mean? It means there are two groups. There are “Your works” and there are “created beings.” The interpretation according to [unclear].

1:42:14 Speaker 26 Reb Zalman Gopin said: A chossid has his own way of looking at it. He said there are “Your servants” and there are “their children.” With “Your servants” it says “Your work,” and with “their children” it says “Your splendor.” The meaning is that “Your servants” are the shluchim; “their children” are the Temimim. The Rebbe also says that the Temimim, the yeshiva bochurim, are the Rebbe’s children. “Let Your work be seen by Your servants”—“Your servants” are the shluchim, who go out on shlichus into the world. What is “Your work”? The Rebbe’s activity. But “Your splendor,” the splendor, the idea of splendor—that is light, that is Chassidus, that is a shining countenance. That belongs to “their children,” to the children, the Temimim who study Chassidus. And this is “How fortunate we are, how good is our lot”: Moshe Rabbeinu sees a little kid goat, runs after it, lifts it onto his shoulders, gives it water and food, and leads it along. That is how the Rebbe shepherds. The Rebbe is the shepherd of the Jewish people. What we see in the Rebbe is that, with all his greatness, all his loftiness, all his exaltedness, he can come down to a young bochur when the bochur comes for yechidus. That is the point. That is what we need

1:43:59 Speaker 26 to fill the [unclear] face to face, and we need to understand that as 11 Nissan approaches, we need to be a little closer, a little higher, a little deeper, a little more connected; to leave the exile of our own selves, to stand up and rise [unclear]. Because the Rebbe wants to receive us. L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim.

1:49:11 Speaker 27 And the words we used to sing in Russia—[unclear]. In Russia, when they longed for the Rebbe, there were words they sang to a niggun: “The Rebbe will grant health and life, and we will merit seeing our Rebbe. The Rebbe will grant health and life, and we will merit seeing our Rebbe. Oy, Rebbe. Oy, Rebbe. Rebbe, Rebbe, Rebbe. Rebbe, Rebbe, Rebbe. When, when will we see each other? When will we see each other? Oy, Rebbe...” L’chaim, l’chaim. Friends, friends, my friends, if not now, when? [unclear] while there is still a little light in each of us. The niggun “Kol Dodi” carries within it the affection of chassidim for the Rebbe. But hiskashrus to the Rebbe is not just something casual; it has a tradition going back to the students of the Baal Shem Tov. It is related that [unclear] of the niggun “Kol Dodi,” [unclear] of the niggun, goes back to the students of the Baal Shem Tov, who sang the niggun when they longed for the Rebbe. [unclear] of the niggun is [unclear] altogether—that chassidim, students of the Baal Shem Tov, students of the Maggid of Mezritch—others say the niggun actually originated with the Shpoler Zeide or with Reb [unclear]—there is no [unclear] about the origin of the niggun, [unclear]. Afterward the Alter Rebbe [unclear]

1:55:45 Speaker 27 added some of the words “Kol Dodi,” but the niggun originated in the longing of the chassidim, the first generation of chassidim, who longed for their Rebbe and wanted to be connected to the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezritch. That was the content of the niggun. This is the holiness, [unclear] of the Frierdiker Rebbe [unclear], that the Frierdiker Rebbe says the niggun “Kol Dodi” is a niggun in which a chossid knocks on the Rebbe’s door. [unclear] He says [unclear] that word. The niggun “Kol Dodi,” he says, [unclear] niggunim of a Rebbe, and he says that “Kol Dodi” expresses the feeling, the sense, of a chossid standing by the Rebbe’s door, knocking and saying, “Rebbe, extend your hand to me.” I do not remember the exact wording here, [unclear]; perhaps I will come back to it another time [unclear]. But perhaps this is an apt expression: the niggun “Kol Dodi” is like a chossid standing at the Rebbe’s door, knocking and saying, “Rebbe, I am yours. Rebbe, I am yours.” And indeed, that is the point. So that I can [unclear] a little: what is the point here, or what is the content of “Kol Dodi”? The niggun “Kol Dodi” is perhaps, in essence, the [unclear] niggun. Yes, some people think that the word “Dodi,” “my beloved,” means it is a niggun for Elul; when Elul arrives, they sing

1:57:08 Speaker 27 “Kol Dodi.” But when you look in Chassidus, “Kol Dodi” may actually not be a verse about Elul. “The voice of my beloved knocks” is an awakening from Above; it is not “I am my beloved’s,” but “my beloved is mine.” It is Hakadosh Boruch Hu knocking from Above, and every Jew has a particular soul. And He asks something of us. There is a well-known maamar; presumably some of you have studied it and know it. A well-known maamar of the Rebbe, perhaps a long maamar: “On That Night the King’s Sleep Was Disturbed,” 5738. We have this maamar, we have it. Earlier I listened to the maamar, [unclear] to hear the maamar at [unclear], during the week of [unclear], and the Rebbe says the maamar, the Rebbe cries—these are precious things. We have the maamar. There he says, “The voice of my beloved knocks”; “I am asleep,” in exile, “but my heart is awake”—yes, the essential love, arising from the essential love. The Rebbe explains, the author of the [unclear]. And [unclear] I need to go into this maamar; it calls for a two-hour discussion of its own. In fact, when you look at the maamar, it contains a brief explanation of the new kapitel that we begin saying tomorrow, 11 Nissan. The Rebbe explains there, and the entire maamar is essentially based on the verse, “Behold, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. Hashem is your guardian; Hashem is your shade.” It is a maamar that needs to be studied clearly; it is relevant to the matter. That—

1:58:52 Speaker 27 The Rebbe used to teach explanations in Chassidus on the new kapitel. The Rebbe himself would give explanations. But in this situation [unclear], we can learn several things here. In the maamar “On That Night” of 5738, the Rebbe opens with verses from Kapitel 121 in Tehillim. He dwells on the question: What does “On that night the king’s sleep was disturbed” mean, if the King is the King of the Universe? Does Hakadosh Boruch Hu sleep? He brings in the idea that “the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not sleep. But what happens? It is [unclear] face to face. When Jews are in a state of “I am asleep,” Hakadosh Boruch Hu responds to them measure for measure, [unclear]. He cites a teaching of the Baal Shem Tov on this kapitel, Kapitel 121, which is brought in Kedushas Levi several times. “He would always say”—I am quoting the wording of Kedushas Levi—“he would always say.” The Baal Shem Tov would often say that “Hashem is your shade”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu is like a shadow. Everything a person does is reflected in the shadow. Similarly, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the shadow of the person below; the Higher Man is the shadow of the person below. And what the person

2:00:36 Speaker 27 What a person does down here is reflected in the person above. When there is a movement of contraction, of tzimtzum, of harsh judgments, G-d forbid, it arouses that force above. And when there is a movement of kindness, revelation, joy, and giving, the same happens above. This is the meaning of “Hashem is your shadow at your right hand”: Once you know that “Hashem is your shadow,” that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is my shadow, our shadow, and that everything you do here shapes the conduct of the supernal person, and consequently the flow of blessing—then “at your right hand” means: Put yourself in a movement of the right, a movement of kindness, expansiveness, and openness, not a movement of contraction and restriction. Then the flow from above, too, is in a movement of the right, of kindness, and that is how harsh judgments are annulled. The holy Baal Shem Tov. He brings this in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, and the Rebbe brings it in the maamar “Balaylah Hahu” of 5738. The entire maamar is built on this: There is “I am asleep”—a Jew who has fallen asleep, who sleeps in exile. But “my heart is awake,” the heart of the Jewish people: There is an essential love, with which Hakadosh Boruch Hu loves Jews and Jews love Him, and it is always whole. And because of that essential love, “The voice of my beloved knocks.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu knocks on each person’s door and asks us, “Open for Me.” “Open for Me an opening as small as the eye of a needle.” There will be nothing,

2:02:19 Speaker 27 And then there is “This month shall be yours”—the festival of Pesach, of the world. The Rebbe continues with the subject of Pesach: What is “this month,” what is “first,” what is “Nissan”? And so on throughout the maamar. But what is the point for our purposes? This idea of “The voice of my beloved knocks”—it is, in fact, a maamar of Chassidus about Pesach. Likkutei Torah—look in Likkutei Torah on Shir Hashirim. It is known that the Rebbe would study Likkutei Torah on Shir Hashirim. In Chabad, we do not recite Shir Hashirim, not even on Pesach. Though the Rebbe used to say: My father would recite Shir Hashirim on Seder night, after the Seder, and sit all night with Shir Hashirim. But there was no Chabad custom to recite Shir Hashirim. Yes, the Rebbe would recite Shir Hashirim, but the Rebbe did not publicize that practice. By contrast, the Rebbe instructed us to study Likkutei Torah on Shir Hashirim. Reciting Shir Hashirim—well; but as for studying Likkutei Torah, the Rebbe would say: On Pesach, one must study Likkutei Torah on Shir Hashirim. There was [unclear], there was a year when the Rebbe instructed us to study every word of Likkutei Torah, the whole Likkutei Torah. As the calendar fell that year, it was Shabbos Parshas Metzora, Shabbos Hagadol. And the Rebbe said that in Parshas Metzora there is a very short maamar in Likkutei Torah—the whole

2:03:50 Speaker 27 maamar. And the Rebbe said: Now Pesach is coming, the eight days; we need to [unclear] the Pesach maamarim, but we must study Shir Hashirim. Throughout Pesach, the Rebbe made a point of having people study Shir Hashirim—Likkutei Torah on Shir Hashirim. Why? Because Shir Hashirim is about “The voice of my beloved knocks.” This is—how is it written in Chassidus? [unclear] in Likkutei Torah. This, too, is the time of Pesach. “Draw me after You,” “The voice of my beloved knocks”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu knocks on the door and says: Leave your exile. Now is the time. Now is the time. Pesach is the time of “The voice of my beloved knocks,” [unclear] “Draw me after You.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu knocks on our door and says: Leave your exile. This has to penetrate us. Once [unclear], once [unclear] said—it is very [unclear]. But [unclear]. Once [unclear] said something like this: In Russia there were no books. There were no books. There was no Gemara, no Chumash, no... [unclear]. But one Jew found a Mikraos Gedolos Chumash. He looked through it and began studying it, and saw that at the end was Shir Hashirim, in small print. He said: Who took all these verses from Likkutei Torah, put them together, and made a work out of them? [unclear] all of Shir Hashirim, all of Likkutei Torah. So there was...

2:05:32 Speaker 27 We were in Russia; there was no Likkutei Torah, no Mikraos Gedolos, so [unclear] put all these verses together and made a book out of them. It turns out that this is Chassidus—and that is a good thing. In any case, what is the point for us? The point is that Pesach is approaching: “The voice of my beloved knocks.” Chassidus is—Pesach is a Yom Tov. There is kugel, there are potatoes, there are the foods. Pesach is, after all, a Yom Tov. It is a Yom Tov, the day of Pesach. But when you study Chassidus, Pesach is the season of our freedom. It is a different Yom Tov. But you study Chassidus, you study—Chassidus is Pesach, whether today you go to a place where they observe every stringency or, on the contrary, out into the streets, wherever you like. Yes, but the person is preoccupied with this all the time. A Jew who wants to be serious about Chassidus spends all of Pesach preoccupied with what he eats and what he does not eat. There is one thing occupying him: eating, not eating, with the schmaltz and [unclear], with the [unclear], this and that, all the [unclear], the foods. But when you study Chassidus, Pesach is a time of “The voice of my beloved knocks,” the Shechinah [unclear]. Yes, it is a time of love. The Rebbe shares a beautiful teaching: Pesach corresponds to Avraham. Pesach is the love of Jews for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and of Hakadosh Boruch Hu for Jews. That is “The voice of my beloved knocks”; that is the power of this niggun. If, once, among chassidim [unclear].

2:07:22 Speaker 27 We sang “The voice of my beloved knocks” together here, and we understand that these are a chossid’s longings for the Rebbe. Because that is the point: To have a connection to G-dliness, to be able to hear “The voice of my beloved knocks,” to be able to hear “Open for Me,” for that you need a Rebbe. For that you need a Rebbe. You cannot do it alone. To be able to feel G-dliness—the Rebbe writes in Tanya: “And in every generation, sparks from the soul of Moshe Rabbeinu, of blessed memory, descend and are clothed in the bodies and souls of the sages of the generation, the eyes of the community, to impart understanding to the people.” You need a nasi, a Rebbe, a Moshe Rabbeinu. Yes, you can study philosophies, you can study many books, you can know many good things, but that is not G-dliness. Moshe Rabbeinu—that is [unclear] G-dliness, and the Rebbe says, yes, Moshe Rabbeinu can do this himself, [unclear], and he illuminates the way for us to feel G-dliness. So when Pesach approaches, “The voice of my beloved knocks,” a chossid’s longings for the Rebbe awaken. A chossid’s longings for the Rebbe, because the Rebbe is the one who brings him out of exile. A chossid knows that the Rebbe lifts him up, the Rebbe is [unclear], the Rebbe brings him out of exile. The Rebbe places him in a higher world, on a higher level, in a

2:08:52 Speaker 27 higher world. And that is 11 Nissan. It is no coincidence that 11 Nissan and Pesach fall this way, and so on. No, it is no coincidence. No coincidence, because this is the essence. The essence of our Rebbe is G-dliness and Geulah. That is his entire concern, from beginning to [unclear]; it is his entire concern, his whole life, his whole being. With the Rebbe, it is in every maamar, in every sicha: Jews, leave the exile; Jews, rise higher, put yourselves in a higher place. “The voice of my beloved knocks”—the Rebbe knocks in every maamar; the Rebbe knocks on our door. “Open”—come on, leave the exile, rise higher, put yourselves in a higher place. L’chaim, l’chaim. Oy, oy, oy. Thank you.

2:16:37 Speaker 28 L’chaim, l’chaim. L’chaim, everyone, l’chaim. Reb Dovid Moshe, where are you, Dovid Moshe?

2:16:51 Speaker 29 Yes, Moshe.

2:16:52 Speaker 28 Dovid Moshe asks a difficult question. It is the season for questions—Pesach is the season of... it is the season for questions. He asks a difficult question. He asks: “The voice of my beloved knocks”—surely that is an awakening from above, which comes from above. But here, in the Rebbe’s knocking, there must be work from below, an awakening from below. So where does that leave us, seemingly? In other words, what is the... In general, at a farbrengen things do not always [unclear], but I would ask, yes, at a farbrengen, often what... it settles on... We will resolve it afterward, yes; it does not have to stand up to scrutiny. After all... when you drink a revi’is, according to halachah, that is... [unclear], as they say. According to halachah [unclear]. According to halachah [unclear]. As it says in Bnei Yissaschar, what do we say, what do we say at “Vehi She’amdah” while holding the cup? What does he write—why do we hold the cup at “Vehi She’amdah”? At “Vehi She’amdah,” they come with [unclear] and say: [unclear] “And Hakadosh Boruch Hu saves us from their hands.” [unclear]. Not always in his [unclear], very good. You take the cup in your hand and say it while intoxicated. And if, because of his intoxication, he cannot father children, then above, Hakadosh Boruch Hu has to [unclear] uproot. What is the connection between “Vehi She’amdah” and the cup? And they tell him: [unclear], the time of Geulah is in his intoxication. What claim can be made against Jews? Reb Mendel Futerfas used to say something like this, I [unclear]

2:18:45 Speaker 28 Potrpas [unclear] in Bnei Yissaschar. Reb Mendel used to say something along these lines about “And it is this that has stood by us”—Reb Mendel Potrpas would say: In “And it is this that has stood by us,” “this” is the l’chaim, the cup. That is how they held out through all the troubles in Russia and all the difficult times. Without a cup of l’chaim, they simply could not have held out in exile. It sustained them through all those periods. And there he says [unclear]. But what about “The voice of my beloved”? “The voice of my beloved” is—and this is what I need to understand—he asks a question, and here there is an answer. There is a story I heard from Reb Shmuel Lew. It’s an interesting story. Reb Shmuel Lew—probably three of you know him—a chassidisher Jew. I think he lives in [unclear], came from Boro Park, I think [unclear], from Williamsburg. In any case, Reb Shmuel Lew was one of the bochurim in the early years, from the beginning of the Rebbe’s years... He came from a Litvish family and became close to Chassidus. He has interesting stories; I could tell you interesting stories that he tells. And his father, as he relates, was... His father was a great man. When he was learning in the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva, his father was a great man. His father wrote the Rebbe a whole letter: his son was this and that, he was a Tomim, and he wanted his son to study something and earn a degree. And we know Lubavitch’s view of that, [unclear]. The Rebbe wrote to his father: [unclear] every day.

2:20:25 Speaker 28 “Helper of Israel,” and so on, “with visible and revealed good, life, kindness and mercy.” And nevertheless, in the end a son comes, and with him comes a livelihood. Those were the Rebbe’s responses. There is also a wish concerning enemies. But in any case, what is the story he tells? He says he learned in Montreal. He learned in Montreal in 5717, 5718, 5719, 5721. In short, in 5721 he traveled to the Rebbe for Yud Shvat. Just as people travel to the Rebbe every Yud Shvat, he came to the Rebbe. At that time, he felt that his connection to the Rebbe was not burning so strongly, was not so alive. He felt he had cooled off a little. In short, he made his preparations and did everything necessary, and traveled to the Rebbe for Yud Shvat. He relates that on Motzaei Shabbos—Yud Shvat with the Rebbe fell that year on Shabbos or Friday. The Rebbe said then, I don’t understand, before that, the bochurim learned in [unclear]. The Rebbe said a maamar three times: on Friday night, during Shabbos day, and on Motzaei Shabbos. On Motzaei Shabbos there was a larger farbrengen. It was winter, after all, and Motzaei Shabbos is a long night, a long night. The Rebbe held the Yud Shvat farbrengen on Motzaei Shabbos, on the night of Shvat. He stood at the farbrengen, and inside he was very broken, as he tells it. They sang a niggun, and inside he was very broken. He felt, as people say, as though the Rebbe had heard his thoughts, as though the Rebbe had read his mind.

2:24:06 Speaker 28 And the Rebbe answered him, just as though he had only that moment been thinking about his connection to the Rebbe. The Rebbe said “L’chaim” to him, and the Rebbe [unclear]. As usual, like an ordinary person. He relates that the next day he went in to the Rebbe for yechidus. The practice was that when the entire yeshiva from Montreal came for Yud Shvat, the day after Yud Shvat they would all go in to the Rebbe, the whole yeshiva, into the Rebbe’s yechidus room—not each one alone. The Rebbe would say a sicha to the bochurim, and afterward each one would approach. Some would only hand in a pan, while others could ask something; only the Rebbe knew what allowed them to go in. He went in, and as he passed before the Rebbe, he said: “I want advice on how to strengthen my connection.” The Rebbe said: “It says in Tanya that Torah study is ‘a wondrous union, the like of which, and anything comparable to it, is not found at all in the physical world: to become one and united from every side and angle.’ So you need to learn what I learn, and that way you will be connected.” Shmuel relates that he asked the Rebbe: “What does the Rebbe learn? What does the Rebbe learn?” Chutzpah, as the situation called for, [unclear]. But the Rebbe had told him, “Learn what I learn.” So he asked what the Rebbe learned. The Rebbe told him: “I learn Nigleh and Chassidus.” That was the answer; that was the yechidus. But what is the point here? Coming back to the questions Reb Moshe asks: Yisroel went, and chassidim travel to the Rebbe because the Rebbe thinks about us.

2:26:02 Speaker 28 That, then, is “The voice of my beloved knocks.” You think you woke up on your own? No, just the opposite: you have vitality because “the voice of my beloved knocks.” The Rebbe himself knocks on the door, and the Rebbe says, “Nu, what’s happening with you?” And that awakens in us a feeling of thirst, of longing, of... yes, it awakens a desire in us—we want, want, suddenly want to come a little closer to the truth. That’s how it works. And so that is the idea of “The voice of my beloved knocks”: the Rebbe is actually knocking. I remember, remember, remember a scene. It was... it was Yud Shvat 5753. A painful memory, but that, that is what happened. Yud Shvat 5753, we were studying at [unclear]. A difficult year. The Rebbe was not well. From time to time the Rebbe was able to come out. [unclear]. And it was a painful sight, a very difficult time, difficult. What happened, what I remember from Yud Shvat 5753, is that the Rebbe sat for six hours on that balcony next to us. And the Rebbe... There was one word from the Rebbe; I think I can mention it, physically. I remember a word then, something terrible that broke out at the time. They told a story like this: There was a period when the Frierdiker Rebbe was unwell. [unclear], he collapsed in the cold. The Frierdiker Rebbe was, as people say, paralyzed; he had collapsed. And they say there was no way around it. The Frierdiker Rebbe, that’s...

2:28:16 Speaker 28 He said, “I am listening to Chassidus.” So they said the maamar. During the maamar, Reb Elchanan Chaim Althaus got up. He was a person of great spiritual stature, devoted to avodah, a holy Jew, a holy man. Reb Elchanan Chaim—a person of great stature, devoted to avodah, an extraordinary man. But he was deeply, deeply connected. Who Elchanan Chaim was—what do I know? There are stories about what Elchanan Chaim Althaus was like. He was close to the Rebbe; he was one of the family. As the Frierdiker Rebbe once said, “The Althaus family—they are our family.” That was how he put it. Like the royal family. They were very... He wasn’t against “do good,” not against “do...” But he was very, very close... During the maamar, he couldn’t bear it. The Rebbe was saying, “I am listening to Chassidus”—and he couldn’t bear hearing it. When someone approached him then, he said: “You think the Rebbe is saying, ‘I am listening to Chassidus’? Your ears,” he said, “are plugged with wax—can’t you hear? You think the Rebbe is saying, ‘I am listening to Chassidus’?” The Rebbe says it, but you don’t hear. That was, as people say, what broke his heart. The Rebbe says: “What is the point?” The point is—this was after the fourth 9 Kislev, and the Rebbe was there for six hours, six hours. There was one word. That’s the story. The word was: “Nu.” I was standing with the bochurim, in the room among the bochurim. 9 Kislev, the night of 9 Kislev,

2:30:03 Speaker 28 already the night of Tammuz. Six hours—not literally; it wasn’t... six hours on our feet. More than six. The Rebbe is sitting. The Rebbe’s health then was really... And the only “nu” was: “Nu, nu.” It was very, very—every “nu” was like a knife. I was next to Leibel Potrpas then. I was standing; Leibel was sitting. Leibel was by the table. He sat beside the table. And the Rebbe was sitting there on the balcony, close by. Leibel sat down here, by the table. I was standing under the table, right there. And Leibel sat there for all six hours. He sat and didn’t say a word; he only looked at the Rebbe. And every time the Rebbe called out “Nu,” Leibel said, “Ay, mesirus nefesh.” He said it to himself. He meant it; he was talking to himself. Every time the Rebbe called out: “Ay, mesirus nefesh. Ay, mesirus nefesh.” The Rebbe, the Rebbe, the Rebbe... Afterward, the next day—this had been on the night of 9 Kislev—the next day there was a sheva brachos. In the small zal, with the... there, from time to time, a chossid would come and hold a sheva brachos with the Temimim. I was at the sheva brachos. I remember, I know, it happened. I was a bochur in yeshiva; we were sitting there, two or three of us, people came, there was a sheva brachos. Leibel passed by. Leibel, that

2:31:55 Speaker 28 He was an older chossid; he had been healthy, then he was weak. The Rebbe said, “Look, take my young man,” in honor of the sheva brachos. Leibel sat down. It was 9 Kislev, and then came 20 Kislev. That was the night of the 20th; the next day was 20 Kislev. I saw Reb Mendel sitting, I think, from two in the afternoon until ten at night. Reb Mendel, as you know, had already once been... by the tables. He sat in one place. Reb Mendel passed away—a year later he passed away. Reb Mendel sat, I’m thinking how to put this, from two until ten. Reb Mendel sat and farbrenged. There was a farbrengen; people said l’chaim and drank l’chaim with him. He was a man... it was Mendel’s farbrengen. It was, it was—the farbrengen was like this: there was a chossid there, a living, vibrant chossid... A chossid means even when he battles with you, with his own and his own... Reb Mendel spoke the whole time about matters of avodah, as he did at his farbrengens. But what do I want to say? I could tell you a great deal about that farbrengen. It was, it was Mendel. Reb Mendel farbrenged; it was a very pleasant farbrengen. He spoke about powerful things. It was powerful, powerful. But there was one point. What was the point? The point was that we have to know that the Rebbe is with us.

2:33:54 Speaker 28 Chol Hamoed Pesach. The Rebbe is with us on Chol Hamoed Pesach. What is 20 Kislev? That was the point. The point was this: on 20 Kislev, the Alter Rebbe was in exile within himself, no longer among non-Jews. On 19 Kislev he was among non-Jews; on 20 Kislev he was within himself. Reb Mendel used to say: There is the yetzer hara of a non-Jew, and there is the yetzer hara of a Jew. The hardest exile is one’s own yetzer hara, being in exile under the Jewish yetzer hara. The yetzer hara, no, [unclear] very powerful. And what was the point? The point is that we have to know the Rebbe is with us. And when you know the Rebbe is with you, it takes you out of every exile and all those things. And one night Reb Mendel told, among a series of stories, how when they were young boys, fourteen-year-old boys, they were once arrested in Russia—a whole class. I think Moshe Karlovitch was their teacher. He was their teacher. First he told how, afterward, when they were being held, they were terribly frightened. They were still... On the one hand they were young; under the Russians, they were of an age to get eighteen years. But throughout that time they were put under intense pressure. The Russians wanted to get information out of them, wanted to know who, what, where. And they did not say a word, and they suffered for it. He related that afterward, when

2:35:42 Speaker 28 they were released—a few days later they were released—and met afterward, they spoke about how they had felt joy in their souls. Although they had been under arrest and terribly frightened and all that, they nevertheless felt joy in their souls. All the friends spoke about it. Reb Mendel related that years later, twenty years later or more, I don’t know, after he had left Russia, he heard this: When they were boys and the class was arrested, word somehow reached the Frierdiker Rebbe. The Frierdiker Rebbe was already in Riga, in Poland; he was already outside Russia. But they managed to pass the news of what had happened to the Frierdiker Rebbe by various means. And the Frierdiker Rebbe said, “They have nothing to worry about. With them are the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash, and Father and the Rebbe.” Those were the Frierdiker Rebbe’s words. What I related in Reb Mendel’s name—these were the words: “With them are the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash, and Father and the Rebbe.” Then he understood what he had actually felt. Reb Mendel farbrenged around this point: When you know the Rebbe is right there with you, then you... then you are not in exile. Then, then you become, become—you are in Eretz Yisroel. You are in Eretz Yisroel. Shlomo Zarchi, when he related what the Rebbe said—well, at the time, as he remembers, it was certainly a farbrengen at which

2:37:38 Speaker 28 the Rebbe spoke very sharply about how here in America people were immersed in material things, in shopping and desires, and reading newspapers. The Rebbe said from time to time that people were immersed in materialism, immersed in the physical. And a wealthy man was walking with the Rebbe. I mean, when Shlomo Zarchi tells it, you can really picture the Rebbe walking with that wealthy man. “Is this what you learned at Tomchei Temimim, nu?” That is what he said. That “nu” came back to him twenty years later, when the Rebbe stood on the balcony and called out, “Nu?” It was the same “nu.” If you learned at Tomchei Temimim—nu. That was the “nu.” The Rebbe said no more than that. Nothing more was needed. The “nu” is the whole point. Yes, we need to hear that “nu”: Nu, what’s happening with you? We need to leave our personal exile. We need to rise above it. Boruch Hashem, there are seforim, there is Torah, there is Likkutei Torah, there is Tanya, there are maamarim of the Alter Rebbe and the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Maharash. Boruch Hashem, I see a whole library full of seforim here. And who else has merited Torah like the Rebbe’s? It is an ocean. In fact, in time for 11 Nissan, volume 120 of Toras Menachem came out. One hundred and twenty volumes of the Rebbe’s farbrengens, and it is still

2:39:23 Speaker 28 not finished. But Reb Chaim Shaul Brook wanted to present the Rebbe with volume 120 in honor of 11 Nissan. Chaim Shaul wrote that he worked hard in the lead-up to 11 Nissan, because two volumes were still missing. They worked on them day and night, and on 11 Nissan he entered the Ohel with volume 120 of Toras Menachem. [unclear] printed, [unclear], I don’t know. What is the point? There is a whole world here, an ocean, an ocean of purity. But the “nu”—nu: we are here in an ocean of purity, and yet we can remain surrounded by all these things without taking them in. We have to get to the inner substance. We have to take this matter deep inside ourselves. We are sitting here; people come to a farbrengen—after all, there are Jews sitting here. And it is the month of Nissan, Adar-Nissan in particular, and I assume that some of those here are now on bein hazmanim break. Yes, bein hazmanim: at this time one can sit and come to a farbrengen. Including [unclear], yeshiva [unclear], one can sit more quietly, more at ease; one doesn’t have to run around at home too much, I assume—I don’t know. So one can sit and farbreng. But we have to remember that sometimes a person sits down at a farbrengen, comes in, says l’chaim with everyone, hears a pleasant vort, and forgets the main point. People come and become chassidim, yes, [unclear]. [unclear]. Chassidus is about the inner life. Chassidus is about the inner life. Chassidus is not just what surrounds us. Chassidus demands the “nu.” Yes. A Jew who learns Chassidus needs to bring Chassidus into his body,

2:41:26 Speaker 28 to bring it into his very bones, so that it permeates him completely. For that, one has to take these things personally, and know how to learn Chassidus deeply and seriously, and know that this is serious. Yes. It is not [unclear]; it is not that we dance a little and become happy and inspired—that is good, yes, but it is not the point. We have to take it deep inside ourselves. Nu, the “nu” is everything. That is the “nu”; it shakes you up. [unclear] Come, I have already spoken more than I should have; we should say l’chaim and sing a joyous niggun. L’chaim, l’chaim, fellows, we should say l’chaim. Everyone is farbrenging, [unclear]. After all, it says, “Nights are like days”; it says about the tenth of Nissan, “Nights are like days.” L’chaim, l’chaim.

2:42:28 Speaker 30 L’chaim.

2:42:28 Speaker 28 [unclear].

2:42:29 Speaker 30 Yes.

2:42:29 Speaker 28 [unclear]. Nu, we need a joyous niggun. What do we sing here? What do we sing?

2:42:38 Speaker 30 “They will go from strength to strength.”

2:42:39 Speaker 28 Ah. “To strength,” “they will go from strength to strength.”

2:42:46 Speaker 30 “To strength,” “they will go from strength to strength.” “To strength,” “to strength.” “They will go,” “they will go”—Moshiach. “They will go from strength to strength.” “To strength,” “to strength.”

2:43:15 Speaker 28 L’chaim to you, amen. On loan, on loan. Ah, a little more l’chaim, yes. [unclear]. Eh? [unclear]. Hey, yes, fellows, [unclear].

2:52:40 Speaker 3 I remember how we sang the niggun “They Go from Strength to Strength” then. It was on 1 Nissan 5745, when that was the chapter. It was a very joyous 1 Nissan. I had not yet been to the Rebbe then; I was in Jerusalem. But I remember how joyous it was there, because it was the first siyum of Rambam. The first siyum of Rambam was on 1 Nissan 5745. The Rebbe had instituted the study of Rambam in 5744—three chapters a day, after Pesach—and 1 Nissan 5745 was the first siyum. I was certainly [unclear] then; the Rebbe had instructed us to do it, and we did it in our class. Everyone in the class studied three chapters of Rambam, like grown-up chassidim. All the bar mitzvah boys came too and wanted to be grown-up chassidim. In any case, what I remember now about 1 Nissan 5745 is, first of all, that there was a large siyum of Rambam in Jerusalem. You could call it a historic siyum of Rambam. The Lev Simcha came to the siyum. Yes, it was the Lev Simcha, and the Pnei Menachem was there and delivered a festive address. I heard that he studied Rambam; he said, he related, that he had studied Rambam. He studied three chapters of Rambam throughout the year, he said, but he said he could not do more. So then, in halachah, I climb—I climbed—I do not climb.

2:54:21 Speaker 3 It came out. I was going then [unclear]. It was very interesting, but in any case, there was tremendous, tremendous joy. That night there was a farbrengen. And for us, the farbrengen was a historic event: we watched it live. It was one of the first farbrengens people saw live, by satellite. We watched the live broadcast at Binyanei HaUma. And at four-thirty in the morning they came here on buses [unclear]. A crowd arrived; they did not just... They came—everyone wanted to be there. It was a big thing, a live video broadcast of the farbrengen. A very large crowd came, many people; I think the place was full. [unclear] joy. A wonderful farbrengen. The Rebbe made the siyum of Rambam and delivered a full hadran. Then the Rebbe said the maamar “Kimei Tzeischa.” That farbrengen was when he said the maamar “Kimei Tzeischa.” In the maamar, the Rebbe explained “As in the days of your going out of the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders,” and “They go from strength to strength,” [unclear]. He explained the verses, and it was very enjoyable, very rich. “As in the days” is plural, as Chassidus explains. But why does it say “as in the days”? The Exodus from Egypt happened only once. Rather, throughout life we continue to go out of Egypt and out of

2:56:02 Speaker 3 constraints and limitations. Every day, every day, every day, we have to leave Egypt and new limitations behind. The Rebbe explained then that this is “They go from strength to strength.” “They go from strength to strength”—that is why it says “as in the days,” in the plural: every day must bring a new ascent from strength to strength. And this is a foundation of Chassidus, the whole concept of tzimtzum that Chassidus discusses: here is the Infinite, [unclear], and here is tzimtzum. We have to emerge from all these tzimtzumim; we have to [unclear] leave Egypt and limitations behind, until “I will show him wonders”—the wonders of the future, the era of Moshiach, when tzimtzum will reach its ultimate purpose and the infinite light will be revealed down here. That, it seems, was the central point of the maamar. There was tremendous joy, and we sang “They Go from Strength to Strength”—tremendous joy. One of the points the Rebbe spoke about at that farbrengen was astonishing. The Rebbe addressed it in a special way, devoting an entire sicha to it. I do not know whether it was the second or third sicha of that farbrengen. The Rebbe opened with an introduction: everyone knows how careful one must be to avoid arrogance. The Rebbe said: it is well known that one must guard against arrogance. A Jew must guard against arrogance. Arrogance is the worst character trait, as it says in the sefarim, and so on and so forth. So the

2:57:40 Speaker 3 question arises: how can I invite a large crowd to gather in honor of a private individual’s birthday and hold a farbrengen? As we said, there is an issue of arrogance here. The Rebbe asked: how can it be that [unclear]? The Rebbe was asking about himself, about arrogance, [unclear]: bringing together so many people, important people, for a personal occasion, for a private individual’s birthday. That is arrogance. And the Rebbe explained it. The Rebbe expounded and explained it, spoke about it for a whole sicha, and told a story about one of the great Torah sages who was a rabbi in a large city. Some claimed he was a little boy, small, a mere nothing, [unclear]. The Rebbe did not name him; he was one of the great Torah sages. The non-Jewish nobleman, the governor of Krakow, objected: how could they have chosen such a little boy? A rabbi should, of course, have an imposing appearance, with a big belly, a big kippah, [unclear] big; there should be some sign of his greatness. A little boy, a small man [unclear]—how could he preside [unclear] over such a large city? He told him:

2:59:20 Speaker 3 The chair is big. The chair is big, and the person sitting in it—well, he is small, tiny, but what matters is the chair. The chair is big. The Rebbe explained this in a very enjoyable, rich way: the point is that everyone must know he is the nasi’s feet. That was the explanation. Here, the chair of Lubavitch is big. The Rebbe spoke about... What the Rebbe said was that on every 11 Nissan, the great chair—Lubavitch—whether a chossid or someone else. And the one sitting in the chair—as though speaking about himself, with humility—is small, tiny; that makes no difference. That is the point: what matters is the chair. The chair is big, and the feet have to be feet. But what it meant for the chassidim was that every chossid must know he is the nasi’s feet. That was the point. Every chossid must know: we are the Rebbe’s feet, his feet. We are the Rebbe’s feet. The chair is big, but the Rebbe needs feet down here to carry out his intentions, to carry out the Rebbe’s work, and that is our task. I remember once, after the last day of Pesach, when Reb Chaim Sholom Deitsch was here in Jerusalem, [unclear]. Yes, when Reb Chaim Sholom Deitsch, yes, was

3:00:42 Speaker 3 there, we had a farbrengen on the last day of Pesach, on the seventh day of Pesach. And I remember—I think he said it, though I do not remember whether it was Chaim Sholom or [unclear]. I remember this sicha. He said, “Look how remarkable it is that a person can talk to himself without the slightest movement.” What was so remarkable? The sicha. The Rebbe spoke about himself for an hour, as though there were no [unclear]. I think that when a person speaks, a friend moves a little, makes a facial expression, you know, something like that. And here he was speaking to himself. There was a whole explanation, a question—as though the Rebbe were a third person, as though he were speaking with... Chaim Sholom was a man of iron. Anyone who knew Reb Chaim Sholom knows that “a man of iron” suited him. He was truly amazed that the Rebbe could speak for an hour about his own affairs, when a person knows the things he is saying, [unclear] matters concerning himself, yet remain perfectly composed. First there was the question [unclear], and then the explanation. Only someone for whom it is true can speak that way. It is absolute truth. There is [unclear] humility here. You know, I ought to say here, “Who am I? I am a small person,” but, you know, [unclear]. No. It is genuine. The question is genuine. The question comes from a place of truth, not because he is trying to

3:02:38 Speaker 3 [unclear] humility. On the contrary, that is what the question means: why me? True humility is genuine; it is not something you put on. As it says here, the Frierdiker Rebbe said in a maamar, [unclear], that a humble person is not someone who sees himself as lowly. No, not at all. Not at all. He may be [unclear], but he does not consider himself great. That is not what we are talking about. Humility is genuine, and with it comes strength. That is the point, that is [unclear]. And what do we learn from this? In general, as chassidim, we have to know that our task is not to talk [unclear] about our Rebbe. That is not our task. We are Chabad chassidim. We did not get excited about saying, “The Rebbe, the Rebbe is greater.” That is not the point. We have to apply this to ourselves. I have to be the feet: put things into practice, carry them out, fulfill the Rebbe’s intention. A small cog, a small person—but you are the nasi’s feet. You have to know that. Every matter we have here, where we know for certain that the value of Chassidus is relevant [unclear], relevant to this matter or another, must be done properly. That is our purpose. All of us [unclear]. We have to bring about—we really must [unclear]. We have to spread Chassidus, we have to spread the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, we have to bring the Geulah. You are a small cog, a small person, but the bench

3:04:20 Speaker 3 Great. We need your feet, we need your feet. That is why you are in this world, why you are alive, why you are here. That is your purpose. And that is what 11 Nissan is about. On 11 Nissan, we all need to know that there is “mazalei gavar”—one’s mazal is stronger—[unclear], and each person is a part of it. I remember that on 11 Nissan 5748, the Rebbe delivered two sichos at home, one on the first night and one on the second. Their theme was this: in 5748, the Rebbe began a campaign for birthdays. That was when people began holding farbrengens on their birthdays. It started on 25 Adar, the Rebbetzin’s birthday, and 11 Nissan was two weeks later. The Rebbe’s entire sicha then dealt with holding a farbrengen on one’s birthday, making a farbrengen and celebrating, and the Rebbe spoke about it at length. The Rebbe said: What is a birthday? The Gemara says, I think in the Yerushalmi, that “mazalei gavar.” But “Ein mazal l’Yisroel”—the Jewish people are not subject to mazal. “Ein mazal l’Yisroel.” What does “mazalei gavar” mean? In the Yerushalmi, it is said about a king. A king took someone whose birthday it was, who had [unclear], and he thought that this would enable him to win. But a Jew—“Ein mazal l’Yisroel.” The Rebbe quoted from Likkutei Torah, from the teachings of the Maggid of Mezritch, that “Ein mazal l’Yisroel” means that a Jew’s mazal is ayin, “nothingness.” It is

3:06:00 Speaker 3 the true ayin, the Infinite, the boundless. And that is 11 Nissan. I remember that Rabbi Gringlass, who was our mashpia, said then that ayin is an acronym for 11 Nissan. This year we are all talking about the verse “Me’ayin yavo ezri”—“From where will my help come?”—in the new chapter, and that is [unclear] “Me’ayin yavo ezri.” Ayin is an acronym for 11 Nissan, the ayin in “Me’ayin yavo ezri.” It is the true ayin. The Rebbe spoke about this then—the Rebbe did not say that ayin is an acronym for 11 Nissan; that is how chassidim interpreted it—but the meaning was “Ein mazal l’Yisroel”: a Jew’s mazal is the true ayin, the ayin, the ayin. That is 11 Nissan. When there is [unclear] “mazalei gavar,” we need to know and bring [unclear] everyone who connects himself to the Rebbe, who studies the Rebbe’s Torah and Chassidus, [unclear] and we need to bring light. And we need to heed “Do not keep the good to yourself,” as Chassidus explains it: do not keep it to yourself. “If you have learned much Torah”—and that was certainly thanks to Chassidus—“do not keep the good to yourself.” Do not keep Chassidus to yourself, “for this is why you were created”: to bring light. A Jew comes into this world to find other Jews and inspire more Jews to learn Torah, more Jews to learn Chassidus, more Jews to live with G-dliness. “For this is why you were created.” Friends, l’chaim, l’chaim.

3:07:26 Speaker 4 L’chaim, all the time.

3:07:27 Speaker 3 We need to bring more light. We need to say l’chaim and resolve tonight: on the tenth of the month, there must be “Withdraw your hands from idolatry.” Each person needs to take his own idolatry and get rid of it. What is idolatry? There are holy Jews sitting here, boruch Hashem; who here has an idol, who has a statue? But what does a person turn into an idol for himself? That is what Chassidus talks about. What is the idolatry a person creates for himself? “That’s not suitable for me,” [unclear], things he considers beneath his dignity. In short, each person with his holy excuses—that is idolatry. When you need to [unclear] go out, go on mivtzoim, go [unclear] with Jews, [unclear] the Rebbe’s Chassidus—what does Hashem want? We need to “withdraw your hands from idolatry and take for yourselves a sheep for the mitzvah.” It takes mesirus nefesh, [unclear]. L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim.

3:18:00 Speaker 5 [unclear] L’chaim, l’chaim. [unclear] That they should come, may Hakadosh Boruch Hu help. Montreal, [unclear]. He said that you have to give out mashke on a birthday, [unclear] birthday. And that is why we celebrate a birthday. When a Jew takes his birthday and turns it into a celebration, [unclear]. [unclear] Birthday. Mashke, mashke [unclear].

3:19:36 Speaker 6 Shimon, Shimon.

3:19:38 Speaker 5 Yes. They took the chief cupbearer and hanged him? [unclear] In short, they took the chief cupbearer and hanged him. What we said here was simple. Pharaoh said [unclear]. It says in Chumash, in Parshas Ki Savo: “When you enter your fellow’s vineyard, you may eat grapes to your heart’s content, until you are satisfied.” Pharaoh said to his ministers: “Do you give yourself a little trouble? What happened with the chief cupbearer?” Well, the chief cupbearer drank a little glass from every cup, from every bottle of mashke. From every bottle of mashke he drank a little glass. The chief baker ate a latke, a piece of cake, something from every tray of pastries. What happened to the chief cupbearer? After four or five glasses of mashke, he couldn’t see flies, he couldn’t see cockroaches, he couldn’t see stones—he couldn’t see. But the chief baker, who ate bread, kugel and cholent, could have seen that a fly had fallen in. So Pharaoh argued: the chief cupbearer was not to blame. Once he had been drinking, could you hold it against him? The chief baker tasted everything; he could have seen what was going on. In other words, they won’t judge the chief cupbearer. Say l’chaim, say l’chaim! At any rate, l’chaim, l’chaim! To today’s farbrengen, when the Rebbe farbrenged in 5692. Do you know what that was? [unclear] The first farbrengen, one of—

3:21:58 Speaker 5 the earliest farbrengens that people surely heard about in that darkness, was after Gimmel Tammuz. In the notes the Rebbe wrote about his own farbrengens, because the young men did not understand so much. I heard this from Reb Moshe Eliyahu Gerlitzky, who was in Montreal. I live in Montreal. Montreal was full of people from Poland, many of the Temimim who had lived in Poland, in Warsaw and elsewhere. Reb Moshe Eliyahu Gerlitzky, olov hashalom, was there. He took it upon himself [unclear]. So he went to the farbrengen. He remembered—he simply said that he remembered 5692, when the Frierdiker Rebbe instructed the Rebbe to farbreng in Warsaw. That was something new, because the older people did not know the Rebbe. The Rebbe was hidden. The Rebbe conducted himself in a modern way, a little [unclear]. People knew, they knew and understood, that the Rebbe concealed himself. The Rebbe concealed himself completely. But the Frierdiker Rebbe directed him to do it, and he farbrenged. And Reb Moshe Eliyahu said that the Rebbe had not been expected to farbreng for long. It was supposed to be, you know, half an hour. The Rebbe sat all night. And he poured forth, poured forth a whole world, the entire Torah. They had never heard him farbreng; they had never heard him speak. Reb Moshe said: “I don’t remember anything from that farbrengen. I only remember that fire poured forth all night—with maamarim, with sichos, with all kinds of things, with genius—an ocean of it.” Who

3:23:35 Speaker 5 knew? Who knew the Rebbe? Who knew, who had any idea? The Rebbe did not live in [unclear]. How was it that he did not arrive on 15 Tishrei? [unclear] knew what was going on at all. But the Rebbe did not want to, and the Frierdiker Rebbe directed him to. So he farbrenged and spoke, not words of Torah. At any rate, we have that farbrengen because the Rebbe did, after all, write about it. In Tishrei 5692—a wonderful farbrengen, full and rich. Ah, it is simply, ah, a whole world, a world, a world, a world—simply a whole world. There he says something wonderful, something wonderful. He explains [unclear] mayim shelanu. We know this from the Gemara. When making matzah, you need mayim shelanu, water that has rested overnight. Simple people [unclear] mayim shelanu—“our water.” He needs tomorrow [unclear], with bottles, with bottles, with [unclear] our water. “I’ll take his water.” You know, he [unclear] water for matzah, [unclear]. He stood for an hour [unclear], and the whole town came with water [unclear]. That was how he [unclear] mayim shelanu, right? He [unclear]. I said, “Fine, go to him.” All this was because he did not understand that shelanu means “rested overnight,” not “our water” [unclear].

3:25:34 Speaker 5 At night. There’s a beautiful story in the Gemara. The Rebbe asks: What does it mean? Is it just a discussion among Amoraim about “water that rested overnight,” and that’s the whole story? It points to something important, the Rebbe says. In holiness, what place is there for yesterday’s things? Holiness has to be “today”—fresh. Holiness isn’t old stories. It has to be fresh, from today, just baked. As the halachah concerning matzos says, they have to be fresh. And suddenly they hear something new: things from yesterday. The Rebbe cites the verse, “For Topheth has been prepared since yesterday.” What does that mean? “Topheth has been prepared since yesterday”—Topheth refers to Gehinnom. Topheth is one of the names of Gehinnom. “Since yesterday” means things from yesterday. In Gehinnom—that is, in kelipah, in impurity, on the side opposed to holiness—there is a “yesterday.” Things are from yesterday: old things, old grime. In holiness there is no “yesterday”; holiness is “which I command you today,” “Each day, let them be as new in your eyes.” How do we make sense of [unclear] the fact that matzos must be made specifically with water from the previous night? Seemingly, what belongs to yesterday is not holiness; what belongs to yesterday is kelipah. [unclear] They go to the rabbi. [unclear] How do we make “yesterday” become “today”? That is the meaning of the Gemara. It is also what we learn from water that rested overnight. If we understand that the work of Pesach is to rectify “yesterday,” to turn “yesterday” into “today”—so that things belonging to old days, to the dormant ones

3:28:06 Speaker 5 things from yesterday—become things of today. How do you do that? For that, you need a Rebbe. You go and ask. That is the meaning of the Gemara’s question about “our water”—the water that is ours. The Rebbe can teach me how to take something that has already become yesterday’s news for me and turn it into something alive. The Rebbe explains that this is the meaning of the Gemara, that [unclear] it improves. One night passes over it, and its flavor improves. Something that a day has passed over, that has already become old, gains flavor; for example, it becomes like an onion, becomes pungent, becomes [unclear]. And that is what the Rebbe does. The Rebbe turns [unclear] to the good. The Rebbe brings in new vitality. The Rebbe brings in new freshness and makes yesterday’s water into today’s water. In other words, the Rebbe takes a passage in the Gemara, a beautiful thought, and makes a whole teaching out of it. What does that mean? It means that Chassidus, a Rebbe, is today; it is the present. Chassidus teaches us: a person has already become [unclear] dry. After all, we are talking about ourselves all along; we are speaking to all of us, about something I can discuss at a farbrengen. I learn, I daven, I go to shul and observe mitzvos. But each of these things is something from yesterday. It has become like something old. It has lost its vitality, lost

3:29:55 Speaker 5 its fire, lost its strength. “Since yesterday,” “since yesterday” [unclear] in the garden. For example, you sit down to learn a page of Gemara, and it loses its flavor because it has become “yesterday’s” learning, something old. That is why we have water that rested overnight—our water. When we connect to the Rebbe, we connect to truth, to something essential, eternal, G-dly—and the Rebbe brings it to life. The Rebbe makes “yesterday” into “today.” And that is the mitzvah of matzos: specifically water that rested overnight. We take yesterday’s water and make matzos from it; from it we make “today,” an Exodus from Egypt, and from that comes Geulah. That is the way of a chossid: “yesterday” becomes “today.” That is the whole point of Chassidus. [unclear], that this is what it means to continue being a chossid. We have to stop being people of yesterday, Jews of yesterday, chassidim of yesterday; it has to be today—“today.” L’chaim.

3:31:10 Speaker 7 L’chaim.

3:31:48 Speaker 5 Chassidus is new vitality.

3:31:58 Speaker 7 Oh, I really wasn’t supposed to speak.

3:32:03 Speaker 5 Ah, ah. I finished taking it, when I...

3:35:18 Speaker 8 This thought is brought in the name of the holy Baal Shem Tov. It goes like this: The Gemara says that when Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi met Moshiach and asked him, “When will the Master come?” he answered, “Today.” Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi waited that day; Moshiach did not come, and he was upset. When he met Eliyahu again, he said, “He lied to me.” And Eliyahu told him, “Today, if you heed His voice.” The holy Baal Shem Tov asks: Why didn’t Moshiach say “Today, if you heed His voice” from the outset? He could have quoted the whole verse. Instead, he answered, “Today.” After all, a word from a Rebbe is a word. [unclear] to hear from the Rebbe. [unclear] at a farbrengen, to a chossid, the Rebbe—ah, the Rebbe speaks sharply. [unclear]. But the holy Baal Shem Tov explains [unclear] that “today” was Moshiach’s answer. “When will the Master come?” How do we bring Moshiach? When it is “today” for you, when you are a person of “today,” when you live today. When it is “today” for you, when you live this day—today—then you will reach Geulah. A Jew has to live “today”: today with freshness; today is a new day, today is a new reality. Yesterday, the day before, another week—here it is “today.” “Each day, let them be as new in your eyes.” Not back in yesterday, not back in the day before, not somewhere in the future. A Jew has to know how to live “today”; today is the whole reality. When a Jew can...

3:37:24 Speaker 8 connect. And “today”—for some people, a whole process begins with that. [unclear]. Yesterday is yesterday, but here there is a new day, a new yesterday. And once it has happened even once, he suddenly gets up to daven, a new desire suddenly awakens, [unclear]—it begins. But afterward, things come at him from all sides and make a whole routine out of it, and that is where it ends up. So what is happening here? What is at work? The yetzer hara comes along. But [unclear] says: “Today”—don’t live yesterday or the day before; live today. When a Jew takes to heart that his service of Hashem must be “today,” then Moshiach comes. Then Moshiach comes. That is what Moshiach told Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: You want Moshiach? “Today, if you heed His voice.” When “today” truly sinks in for you—[unclear]. But I already said, gentlemen, at a chassidic farbrengen, that there once was, with the Rebbe, at a chassidic farbrengen, [unclear]. There is, however, an important point: the thought was that a Jew must be imbued every day with the awareness that, in essence, I am a Jew of Geulah. I have no connection to exile. My essence is Geulah. So my exile is not my natural state. It is not my reality. And when he is asked, “When will Moshiach come?”—“Today.” Why today? Because that is where I belong. I have no connection to exile. So it is “today.” [unclear]. But the underlying assumption is

3:39:22 Speaker 8 There was a saying of the Rebbe’s in 5750: the assumption that must be firmly established among Jews is that this is what we are working toward; this is how it must be. It must be “today.” Geulah must come today. What am I doing here? This is not our world. We are not staying here. “What do I have to do with exile?”—what do I have to do with it? That is an expression in the Torah, [unclear], “What do I have to do with...” What do I have to do with this whole business? What does it have to say to me? My reality is not a reality of exile, but only a reality of Geulah. That was one of the points the Rebbe addressed so often: exile has penetrated the soul, and a person becomes a Jew of exile. The Rebbe could not... This was one of the things the Rebbe lamented and spoke about at farbrengens: there are Jews of exile, thinking in terms of exile because they think in an exilic way. They live with the assumption that we are in exile. Well, when will Geulah come? The Rebbe could not bear that. A Jew has to live the opposite way: “Today”—this is not my place; I am not staying here. That is Chassidus. Chassidus rests on that assumption. It is a different outlook: What is my underlying assumption? Where am I supposed to be? Where is my place? There is a teaching in Ayin Beis that the Rebbe always cites: “G-dliness is self-evident, and worlds are something newly arising.” That is the difference between a Jew of exile and a Jew of Geulah. What is the underlying assumption? The assumption is that there must be Geulah,

3:41:00 Speaker 8 Or is the assumption that there has to be exile? Ah, you really live in an exilic way, and your assumption is: We are in exile. That is the assumption. When will the Geulah come? But the assumption should be that, in truth, I am not staying here. This is not my world, not my inheritance. I have no connection to it—“What do I have to do with them?” I have no connection to this whole story. That is Chassidus. And all of this is “today.” Today. A Jew has to be so different. If today has passed, you have to search and think—but it did not happen. The Rebbe wanted to instill this assumption—how do you say it in Yiddish? He wanted to root it in every one of us, so that our assumption would be “today.” Not an exilic way of thinking, but Geulah, the way our lives really are. [unclear]. And that is the meaning of “the maamar we learned”: it was yesterday—you have to make that yesterday into today. Is there such a thing as yesterday? With the Rebbe—I don’t know—when the Rebbe once held a farbrengen, that farbrengen has to be today. What the Rebbe said at the farbrengen. When you learn a maamar of Chassidus, as it says in the discourses, you learn a maamar of Chassidus. The maamar says it was delivered on a certain day in a certain year. You must know that the maamar was delivered to you today. It says there [unclear]—today. In the discourses, the Rebbe said then: “This maamar was said for me, it was said for me...”

3:42:59 Speaker 8 “This kuntres.” There is a whole discourse that the Rebbe said at a farbrengen: “This maamar was said for me.” The Rebbe said it to you. Ah, he said it forty years ago. A maamar, a letter, a sicha has a date on it. You must know that for a tzaddik there is no yesterday. For a tzaddik there is no yesterday. For a tzaddik, yesterday is today. For a tzaddik, yesterday is today. For a tzaddik, everything is in the present. A tzaddik lives in the present. Today. Today he said the maamar. Today he said the sicha. The Frierdiker Rebbe relates in a letter that Reb Yom Tov of Kletzk was once standing in the marketplace. Reb Yom Tov of Kletzk was a merchant. The Frierdiker Rebbe described so vividly how Reb Yom Tov of Kletzk stood in the marketplace. He was a merchant and sold—I don’t know what he sold, he sold his [unclear], clothes, [unclear], other things. He stood in the marketplace selling, and became absorbed in thought about Chassidus. [unclear] saw that he was thinking about Chassidus. The marketplace had changed. The people had gone. Nothing was left there; there was no one there anymore. He stood in the marketplace thinking over a maamar of Chassidus, and he could [unclear]. Someone came over [unclear] and shook him, weighed [unclear], bought an item, and he said to him: “Reb Zalman, where were you? The Rebbe just said ‘Yayin Noshan.’” The Rebbe just said “Yayin Noshan.” In short, it took a few minutes before he realized that he

3:44:36 Speaker 8 was in the marketplace. What happened? The Frierdiker Rebbe explains in a sicha that he pictured himself hearing the maamar from the Alter Rebbe twenty years earlier. He became absorbed in thought, pictured how he had heard the maamar, and placed himself inside that picture. At that moment [unclear], he stood with that picture, as though he had just heard “Yayin Noshan.” He had heard it just now; he had just been with the Rebbe. There was no marketplace, no [unclear], none of that. It was the present. Chassidim, when you learn a maamar, it is not the past; it is the present. It is the present. In the sichos there is a story from the Frierdiker Rebbe: Once, they asked the Rebbe Rashab to say a maamar. I am saying this to myself. And the Rebbe Rashab said he was not ready. Someone said, “Does the Rebbe need to be ready? Surely the Rebbe has something to say.” The Rebbe Rashab said, “[unclear], one can [unclear] day and night. But if you want the Chassidus to touch the heart, for that you need [unclear]. Another two hours would be possible, [unclear].” Yes. If you want it to touch Jews—perhaps years later, years later, someone will learn the maamar and it will touch him, it will ignite his soul—for that, you have to be ready. In other words, the Rebbe says a maamar. It could be that the Chassidus was said forty,

3:46:22 Speaker 8 fifty years ago, but you learn the maamar today. And it will awaken something in your soul, some spark, something [unclear]. What was said by the Rebbe is said to you today. It is the present, not the past. And the point is today. It has to be today for us. We need to be fresh Jews, living Jews, Jews of today; not of yesterday, not Jews who perform mitzvos by rote, not householders who know only what happened yesterday and talk about what happened the day before. It is today, it is today, it is alive, it is a living thing. [unclear] And that is what we need to work on. It does not come from [unclear]. But we do need to work on a word of the Rebbe, on a word of a tzaddik, and it has to be today. That is the point of 11 Nissan. That is the point of the Exodus from Egypt, of Pesach. But it has to be today, today. “Today you are leaving, in the month of spring”—today we leave Egypt. The Alter Rebbe says in chapter 47: “In every generation and on each and every day, a person must see himself as though he left Egypt today.” [unclear] The Alter Rebbe changes the wording of the Mishnah. “In every generation”—that the Alter Rebbe took from it. There is a Mishnah, and the Mishnah says, “In every generation.” The Alter Rebbe adds new words: “In every generation and on each and every day.” And the Alter Rebbe inserts the word “today.” There are several explanations; the Rebbe explains all the differences here. There is the wording of the Mishnah, the wording of the Rambam, the wording of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch in the laws of Pesach, and the Alter Rebbe’s wording in Tanya.

3:48:17 Speaker 8 There are differences in every letter. The Rebbe gives a full explanation of this, a wonderful explanation, of all the differences: why the Mishnah uses this wording, the Rambam that wording, the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch that wording, and Tanya that wording. Every letter contains a whole idea, a whole idea. [unclear] It has to be today. Friends, 11 Nissan, the festival of Pesach—that is the Exodus from Egypt. Every one of us has to truly leave his own constraints and limitations. And it has to be today. We need to be living chassidim, chassidim who live today, chassidim who live Chassidus and live with the Rebbe’s leadership and live Moshiach, not people of yesterday. Not because yesterday I believed, because yesterday I said “Shema Yisroel, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad,” and yesterday I learned the maamar “Veyadata Hayom.” Yesterday—I can no longer say it. Yesterday I heard the maamar, yesterday I said “Shema Yisroel”—what does that mean? But the meaning of that last word, what I [unclear], is yesterday’s Torah; it has to be today. A new maamar, a new person, new things. That is Chassidus. Chassidus certainly means that what you learn, what you daven, and what you do is not because you did it yesterday. [unclear] Today is a new departure. Everything is new, new vitality, something new, something new. And that is the Exodus from Egypt; that is the idea of [unclear]. L’chaim, friends, to leaving exile.

3:50:01 Speaker 8 And we need to be more alive, fresh, full of vitality. L’chaim.

3:50:07 Speaker 9 L’chaim.

3:55:47 Speaker 10 Shir, come here. What’s your name?

3:56:03 Speaker 11 Shalom Chaim.

3:56:04 Speaker 10 What?

3:56:06 Speaker 11 Shalom Chaim.

3:56:08 Speaker 10 A Jewish name? Shalom Chaim is a Jewish name. Reb Dovid Moshe tells me: “I can hold a farbrengen without sleeping, but here [unclear]. We can really hold a farbrengen, or we can sleep. You’re the one who doesn’t [unclear]. You need to tell me: What’s the arrangement here? What’s going on? The crowd—”

3:56:30 Speaker 11 Doesn’t do what?

3:56:31 Speaker 10 The crowd, ah. What’s happening here?

3:56:37 Speaker 11 A class, a class, a class with—a class with Rabbi Chaim.

3:56:39 Speaker 10 Ah, that’s—[unclear]. Ah, here, here, here, here, to hold a farbrengen with him. Can we go a little deeper here, or can we, ah—

3:56:53 Speaker 11 Leave.

3:56:54 Speaker 10 We can leave. And conclude: “A redeemer shall come to Zion, and let us say amen.”

3:56:59 Speaker 11 Concluding is weak.

3:57:02 Speaker 10 Concluding is weak. Very weak. That praise [unclear]. All right, [unclear] and weak. L’chaim, l’chaim.

3:57:13 Speaker 11 L’chaim.

3:57:19 Speaker 10 I visited Moshe.

3:57:21 Speaker 11 Moshe. Why would anyone sleep? Why would anyone sleep?

3:57:37 Speaker 10 Come on, a little, a little. Come, come, let’s go a little deeper into the subject. We spoke about this too. What?

3:57:47 Speaker 11 Moshe, you.

3:57:53 Speaker 10 No, someone. L’chaim. I’m here, I’m a guest here. [unclear] I come in here; I can do this here with—yes. We have to, ah, this, this here—the Gemara in Pesachim is written here.

3:58:09 Speaker 11 Seder.

3:58:11 Speaker 10 It says here, “the stringencies of [unclear], the stringencies of [unclear].”

3:58:15 Speaker 11 But not on the other side.

3:58:19 Speaker 10 I can say, I spoke, but I don’t know—matzah. There’s matzah here; we have to go to the table.

3:58:26 Speaker 11 Well?

3:58:28 Speaker 10 So we have to go to the table. [unclear] Friends, the Chofetz Chaim says, [unclear] says. We can say it, speak about it again here. We can say it, speak about it again. We can say it, speak about it again. The [unclear], Moshe, ten, three lamed. Yes, yes, lamed. I don’t know it in Hebrew, but I think it’s the same in Hebrew. I don’t—

3:59:00 Speaker 11 Bein Hazmanim. Seder, seder.

3:59:02 Speaker 10 It says here, it says here. Ah, “Do not cast me away.” Ah, that’s water. It’s mixed up today. L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim. This is straight mashke. Is that water?

3:59:22 Speaker 11 That’s water, yes.

3:59:27 Speaker 10 It says here: “Do not cast me away from before You, and do not take Your holy spirit from me.” What is “Your holy spirit”? What does it mean? “Do not cast me away from before You, and do not take Your holy spirit from me.” I once heard, I once heard... What happened? What happened there? I’m going where? I can only [unclear]. There is in the world, she tells me. There is in the world. [unclear] The Rebbe once said: “I have my shtreimel, and he has his Jew—”

4:00:18 Speaker 11 They’re spoiling it; they don’t mean anything else.

4:00:19 Speaker 10 Ah, they have to spoil it? Okay, fine. You already know better than I do. Okay.

4:00:23 Speaker 11 They always bring it to me that way. I said, Rebbe, you have your kneidlach, and I have my Berish Habari.

4:00:32 Speaker 10 [unclear] There was “Do not cast me away from before You, and do not take Your holy spirit from me.” As they explain it there in the books of Chassidus, “Your holy spirit” means a feeling for holiness. That is what “Your holy spirit” means: a feeling for holiness. The first part, “Do not cast me away from before You,” gets pushed aside. “Your holy spirit”—the feeling, the spirit of holiness—that’s already clear. They tell a story from when they were in Russia. There was a young Jewish man there, may he rest in peace, [unclear] Mendel. Mendel, you have to tell what [unclear]. I’ll say the name afterward; I [unclear]. They know me, they know me. He related that when the young man stood [unclear] and said the verse, said the words [unclear] “Do not cast me away,” he said them with the greatest fervor: “Do not cast me away from before You, and do not take Your holy spirit from me.” The young man said it with tremendous fervor. It was Zalman Moshe. Ah, Zalman Moshe, [unclear] Mendel’s mashpia, Mendel’s Zalman Moshe. [unclear] Zalman Moshe, the Rebbe—they were with this young man, with tremendous fervor. Zalman Moshe gave him a pat on the back: “Don’t cry. You haven’t had that yet, so there’s nothing to take from you yet. Calm down, take it easy. You haven’t had that yet, so there’s nothing to take from you yet—‘Do not take Your holy spirit from me.’” That’s amusing too. But that is the meaning: a feeling for holiness, an actual feeling for holiness. What’s the point? Let’s move on

4:02:33 Speaker 10 to “Bayom Ashtei Asar.” A point in the maamar, [unclear]. One of the points. After all, the maamar is a wonderful maamar. What’s the point? The Rebbe says: What is the idea of the maamar “Bayom Ashtei Asar”? A parable about a king. He had an enclosure and he had a flock. That’s the parable of the king in the maamar. That’s the king’s parable. But it comes more toward the end, yes. I’m skipping ahead. [unclear] A parable about a king, because there [unclear]. The Rebbe says it in the maamar; there’s a passage there at the end of the maamar, with an entire lengthy discussion of it. Interesting. The Rebbe explains it very, very, very powerfully in [unclear]. He says the king had a flock, he had an enclosure, and [unclear] all the [unclear]. There’s no enclosure, no flock, [unclear]. Then something happened there again, and there too, something else happened [unclear], and there was anger as well. He built the enclosure again, [unclear] the flock again, and the shepherd was still missing. But there is a flock, the enclosure is built—so where is the shepherd? [unclear] The Rebbe [unclear], the Rebbe learns from this, the Rebbe [unclear]. This needs to be explained. The Rebbe asks: What does it mean in the first place? [unclear] What, what,

4:04:31 Speaker 10 what is the plain meaning? King David has to ask for mercy. Rebbe, [unclear], that everyone be shown mercy. Or mercy for the enclosure, for the building of the Jewish people, [unclear] the ingathering of the exiles. [unclear] Moshiach. What does it mean? How do we explain this Midrash? After all, it’s a Midrash; on the plain level, I don’t know. I want to know how to explain the Midrash [unclear]. I don’t know how this Midrash presents things. Twice after this maamar, the Rebbe gave explanations of the Midrash; there are two explanations. Each explanation is remarkable in its own right. But in “Bayom Ashtei Asar,” how does he explain it? How does the Rebbe explain the parable? [unclear] The Rebbe says: No. When the king again and again and again and again [unclear] the enclosure, that certainly brings the leader. It certainly brings the leader. That is the leader. But there is no shepherd. What does “shepherd” mean? How does the Rebbe explain it? In Likkutei Torah for Chanukah, the Alter Rebbe explains [unclear] that there is a prince and there is a shepherd. They are two separate things. They are tzaddikim—two types of tzaddikim. There are tzaddikim who are in the category of princes. The Gemara in Sukkah speaks of eight princes and seven shepherds. They are separate categories. There is a prince and there is a shepherd. A prince is a tzaddik who bestows influence in an encompassing way. He gives blessings, [unclear]; he is above, a holy man, a king, a prince. But a shepherd imparts something inwardly. A shepherd imparts something inwardly. It isn’t merely encompassing. He brings the example there of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa. Rabbi

4:06:45 Speaker 10 Chanina ben Dosa—the Gemara says: “He is like a servant before the king, while I am like a minister before the king.” Chanina ben Dosa can work miracles, he can heal a child, and “the whole world is sustained on account of Chanina, My son.” But Torah, inwardness—[unclear]—inwardness. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was a teacher; he taught Torah, he imparted something inward. We’re talking about Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. What’s the answer? This is the answer: distinguish between them. They are two types of tzaddikim. There is a tzaddik who can heal a child, a holy man, but that is encompassing. Encompassing. King David asked Hakadosh Boruch Hu: “Master of the Universe, I don’t want something that remains encompassing. I want it to be inward. I want it to become part of me, to be internalized, with comprehension and understanding, with an inner connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” The Rebbe says there, among other things, that it’s possible for Moshiach to come, for the exiles to be gathered, for the Beis Hamikdash to be built—all these good things—and yet for them to remain encompassing. Encompassing. Everything is holy, everything is good, but it remains in the realm of faith. King David, though, cries out to Hakadosh Boruch Hu: “Master of the Universe, I need You, I need this”—an inner connection with the Creator. The entire maamar, “Bayamim Haheim,” is an extraordinarily wonderful maamar. The whole maamar is based on this Midrash: the wise man. The wise man. Being wise means wisdom, intellect, comprehension—that’s it. And that is the point. Specifically, “The wise man says, ‘I choose the king.’” There has to be wisdom, not just faith. On the contrary, the entire maamar is built on the idea that if it remains a matter of faith, it remains encompassing. And if it is encompassing, it isn’t at the core; it

4:09:04 Speaker 10 isn’t genuine, it isn’t inward. The intention is for it to come down into the intellect. The intention is for it to come down into understanding and comprehension. As the Rebbe says at the end of the maamar, when the choice is clothed in the intellect, the choice is elevated, because it then becomes apparent that the choice does not stem only from the external dimension of the will, but is the inward dimension of the will, since that inwardness is grasped through the inward dimension of the will. In short, I’m already talking about the maamar as a whole, and it’s getting mixed up for me with what the great reviewers said. Yes, again, I can’t state the general principle. But the feel of the maamar, the feel of the maamar—you have to hear the Rebbe to get the feel of the maamar. What is the Rebbe saying in this maamar? Friends, as we said, we went over what happens in this maamar. Rashi also went over it point by point. The Rebbe brings a teaching from the Baal Shem Tov, right? He brings a teaching from the Baal Shem Tov. Rashi, sections eight, nine, and ten. He brings something from the Baal Shem Tov, [unclear]. Yes, he notes it; there he goes through ten generations, something said by [unclear] in the name of the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov said: “A prayer of the poor man when he is overwhelmed, and before Hashem he pours out his plea.” The rich man sees revelations, the rich man sees treasures. He is satisfied with them and stays there; he becomes captivated by them and [unclear], sinks into them, and remains stuck among the treasures. But the poor man says: “I choose the king.” “A prayer of the poor man when he is overwhelmed, and before Hashem he pours out his plea.” I don’t want Gan Eden or the World to Come; I

4:10:39 Speaker 10 He wants Atzmus. But look at the maamar—there’s something unusual. I think this is the only place in all of Chassidus where the Rebbe interprets it this way: instead of saying “poor man,” the Rebbe says “wise man.” And the Rebbe interprets the verse, the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov—these are not the Baal Shem Tov’s own words. He explains that for there to be “A prayer of the poor man when he is faint,” one must be wise. It is precisely the wise man, when he has that wisdom, who can want the King. A novel insight. A wonderful insight. There has to be wisdom; one has to be capable of it, to have this quality. There has to be understanding and comprehension, friends. This is Chabad Chassidus. It’s not a matter of remaining at the level of emunah. You can be [unclear], you can be connected to the Creator, but as long as it remains in the realm of emunah, it is makif—something that surrounds you. Makif. What does makif mean? Ah, he dances, he has a warm heart. That’s important, that’s good, that’s real. But where are you yourself? Where are you yourself? People come, eat a piece of kugel, dance a lovely dance, sing a niggun, and warm themselves in the house. But [unclear]. There’s no substance to it. Once people came to the Rebbe, [unclear], but really everyone [unclear]. A Jew came to the Rebbe. A Jew came to the Rebbe, [unclear], every day. On the last day, [unclear]. A Jew came to the Rebbe the day after Pesach, and he said to the Rebbe, “We were [unclear].”

4:12:47 Speaker 10 “At the Ribnitzer Rebbe’s.” We’ve all seen it on video. “We were actually at the Ribnitzer Rebbe’s.” The Rebbe says, “Tell him Pirkei Avos.” He says, “[unclear].” He says, “One must say Pirkei Avos.” In other words, you can tell him Avos. The Rebbe says, “[unclear]. Tell him Pirkei Avos.” It’s very interesting there. And the Rebbe says, “Tell him Avos”—what’s the deeper point? What lies behind it? Sometimes there is makif, an immense makif. It’s holy, it’s mature, it’s pleasant, it’s like that, it’s warm. Ah. But where is daas? Where, where, where is daas? Where is the wisdom? Where is the inner dimension? [unclear]. There has to be a fragrance. And the Rebbe spoke and spoke about this, [unclear], for an entire night. He meant that there must be this matter, the connection of yud with yud-aleph. Chabad Chassidus demands—it isn’t only... Chabad Chassidus demands [unclear]. But Chabad Chassidus demands chochmah, binah, daas. There has to be a fragrance, there has to be inwardness, there has to be seriousness, there has to be profundity, there has to be depth. And that doesn’t come from a little dance. Of course there are niggunim, and there are also [unclear]. It’s all beautiful, it’s all good, it’s holy, it’s warm, it’s pleasant. But where is the fragrance? Where is the fragrance? Where is the inwardness? Where is the depth? Where is the daas?

4:14:54 Speaker 10 Where is the daas? “And you shall know that I am Hashem.” There’s a letter. I once saw a letter, [unclear]. It’s an extraordinary letter. [unclear] writes: “Before people came to the Alter Rebbe, there was emunah; when they came to the Alter Rebbe, it became daas.” That’s what he writes. “The exile in Egypt, [unclear]. The Jews had emunah, but [unclear]. What was lacking was daas. When we reached the Giving of the Torah, Moshe Rabbeinu—Moshe Rabbeinu said: Friends, you have to absorb this, understand it, grasp it inwardly.” And that is the maamar of “Beyom Ashtei Asar.” He didn’t have the word for it; he had the maamar. The point of “Beyom Ashtei Asar” is that there has to be wisdom. You ask someone, “What is the point of the maamar ‘Beyom Ashtei Asar’?” “Ana Nesiv Malka—I choose the King.” Prominent Chabad chassidim shout, “11 Nissan is ‘Ana Nesiv Malka’!” After all, it relates to... Hello. “Ana Nesiv Malka” is a great [unclear]; it practically cries out. But when you look at the maamar, there has to be wisdom. This is “Ana Nesiv Malka”: you shout “Ana Nesiv Malka,” but do you grasp it? Do you understand it? [unclear]. And the Rebbe explains: there has to be wisdom. It isn’t a matter of poverty. You see, a poor man—the rich man has a feel for wealth. A wealthy man has a feel for wealth. He has a plan. A poor man has a feel for poverty. So naturally, you know, he has a feel for... [unclear]. That’s how one might understand it. But [unclear].

4:17:02 Speaker 10 An interpretation. The Rebbe comes and says: “No, the word ‘poor’ means wisdom. Wisdom is daas. The rich man has no daas; the poor man has daas. He wants to understand, he searches for the truth, he searches for the inner dimension, he wants to connect. And he realizes that the revelations do not contain the essence. He realizes that in the treasures there is something, something, something, something.” Interestingly, Rabbi Zevin—you know, people told this to others [unclear]. But Rabbi Zevin wrote it in one of his books, so it’s no secret. Anyone who reads can look it up in Rabbi Zevin’s book, Sippurei Chassidim. He has his Sippurei Chassidim. There are stories there, you know, that even Misnagdim read. Rabbi Zevin’s book is [unclear], completely acceptable. He brings this there—I don’t remember exactly whom he cites, but he brings it, [unclear]. He brings a saying like this. He writes that the Dubner Maggid came to the Maggid of Mezritch. That’s how he tells it. The Dubner Maggid was with the Maggid of Mezritch; he came for Shabbos. He relates that he spent an entire Shabbos there. And the Maggid asked him to deliver a Torah teaching that Shabbos. The Maggid looks on and sees the Dubner Maggid delivering a Torah teaching. Well, it’s midnight. The Dubner Maggid told...

4:18:39 Speaker 10 A story with a parable and its lesson. And the Maggid’s students were present. But the Maggid asked him to come again the next day, during the day. He came to the Maggid. He asked the Maggid. [unclear] The Dubner Maggid, incidentally, was accepted to some extent among the chassidim; he wasn’t one of those who opposed Chassidus. He, too, came and delivered Torah teachings. That’s how Rabbi Zevin tells it. Rabbi Zevin is, after all, generally very reliable. He delivered a Torah teaching at night with the parable and its lesson, and again during the day on Shabbos, the parable and its lesson. Seudah Shlishis arrived, and the students—they were already eager to see what would come of it. But the Maggid, the Rebbe says, [unclear], he repeated the lesson. Then Motzaei Shabbos arrived. He told the Maggid that he wanted to leave already. He was content to leave. The Maggid said—as I recall the wording there—they gave him a beautiful watch, and because of that watch he missed the truth. I think that’s more or less how it’s worded. [unclear] He came to the Maggid; he wanted—the Maggid, he could

4:20:24 Speaker 10 also have come to know Chassidus, after all, but the Maggid had been opposed. And he delivers a Torah teaching like this, he gives a parable. For him, it remains a parable. It remains a watch, instead of his receiving the truth. It’s as though he missed it. It was an auspicious moment; he could have received Chassidus. But he came, enjoyed the saying, and remained with the parable, and now he had missed the truth. That is what the Maggid says about the watch. But what is the point of telling the story outwardly? Here, here, here, among chassidim: when we hear the story, we mustn’t miss the opportunity. “Tell it not in Gath, tell it not in Gath.” But what’s the point? The point is that this has happened to me sometimes too: a nice saying, a nice interpretation, a nice Torah teaching, some nice thought—and one stops there. One stops there, stops there. There’s an inner dimension, something else, depth, profundity. The Rebbe says this, too, in the maamar for 11 Nissan: “[unclear]. I don’t want makifim; I want inwardness, inwardness.” For inwardness you have to toil, for inwardness you have to toil, for inwardness you have to toil. You don’t have to toil for makifim. You go and dance, put on music, everyone gets happy and feels something, like in America. It will fade. A minute later, nothing remains. There has to be Chabad Chassidus, comprehension, understanding, inwardness. And that is the

4:22:20 Speaker 10 main thing, what the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya [unclear]. It has to be inside. There has to be comprehension, understanding, the power of inwardness—that’s the main thing. There is no other way. And so, friends, [unclear]. This is also the point regarding malchus. You have to know that there must be inwardness, there must be this quality, there must be hiskashrus. And with that comes a different kind of life. And with that one reaches the truth. It needn’t be like that anymore—how should I put it? It seems—and this is a sicha of the Frierdiker Rebbe in Likkutei Dibburim—that makifim seem more enjoyable. It’s more enjoyable, richer. You know the sicha in Likkutei Dibburim, the Frierdiker Rebbe’s sicha. It’s a delightful sicha. He says: makifim are rich, enjoyable; a person dances, sings, rejoices, feels good, feels warm. But a minute later the fire has gone out. Nothing remains, nothing remains. It hasn’t touched him or made an impact. It was warm; it felt good. Inwardness is [unclear]; he immerses himself in Chassidus. He delves into a saying, a verse, [unclear]. It doesn’t look like much; after all, it leaves no obvious impression. But it is deep, it has depth. It enters the soul, it remains, it does not change. That is inwardness. One might think this was said about Chabad Chassidus, about the Rebbe Rashab, his father,

4:24:13 Speaker 10 The fifth night after... The Rebbe comes and quiets everyone down like this: this is the point. So I thought Chabad—there is the Chabad of the Rebbe Rashab, the Chabad niggun. The Rebbe Rashab also comes, does mivtzoim, and people talk and hand out [unclear], hand out [unclear] with candles and all that. The Rebbe comes, quiets everyone down like this, and says: “Friends, [unclear], this means avodah for us. There has to be avodah; there has to be [unclear] and inwardness. Study Chassidus. Chassidus has to enter the soul; it has to settle inwardly.” He doesn’t want things that remain on the outside, [unclear]. He doesn’t want that; he wants inwardness. He wants us to understand Chassidus [unclear]. It has to sink in a little, to settle within us—what is Likkutei [unclear]? That’s the point. That’s the point. That’s the point. That’s the inner point of a Jew. Friends, l’chaim, l’chaim. Reb Moshe, what do you say? That’s the point—to understand a simple person? Ah, what did you understand? L’chaim, l’chaim.

4:25:39 Speaker 13 I think so.

4:25:42 Speaker 10 No, that’s the water. Oh, the mashke—that’s the mashke. I think so. It could be [unclear]; it’s already here.

4:25:52 Speaker 13 It’s written. It’s written.

4:25:58 Speaker 10 L’chaim. L’chaim. Friends, l’chaim, l’chaim.

4:26:00 Speaker 13 L’chaim.

4:26:02 Speaker 10 L’chaim, l’chaim. Is that [unclear], what it says here, besides [unclear]? If there are young people here, shout out if there are young people. Just feel comfortable; come in and interrupt. [unclear], I don’t want to bite. That’s it, everything, everything, [unclear]. We all have our troubles. We’re all in the same boat. It’s [unclear]; you don’t have to interrupt—make yourself at home. Make yourself at home. We’re all in the same boat. Once, in Montreal, there was a Jew who went to Reb Bershl Zeitlin. He, he—we need to put life into what we’re calling for here. There was a Jew, Reb Bershl Zeitlin. You know, Reb Berel Lazar certainly knows Reb Berel Lazar. I see Reb Berel Lazar’s father here. Reb Bershl was one of the surviving chassidim of the old days. Ah, a chossid with inwardness. A chossid with inwardness. [unclear], to understand a little, just a little, who Reb Bershl Zeitlin was. To understand a little who he was. I heard this from Reb Berel Lazar, his son, after his father passed away. His father passed away. He came to Montreal [unclear] after a farbrengen and told this story. This is how he told it. This is how he told it. When he was a child, a little boy, between six and ten, his father took him to the Rebbe... Father didn’t come back. What’s going on? What’s going on?

4:27:50 Speaker 13 Nu.

4:27:50 Speaker 10 Huh?

4:27:52 Speaker 13 Nu, go on.

4:27:54 Speaker 10 Huh? Nu, if he wants to, that’s fine.

4:28:00 Speaker 13 That’s the Rebbe inwardly.

4:28:01 Speaker 10 If he wants to, that’s fine. That could be good here [unclear], a simple person. But naturally, there was a problem then. So it wasn’t good. There was an incident, as Reb Lazar tells it. [unclear] after the yeshivah. I can’t say for certain. He says it was simply in the fourth month, something like that. He was a little boy, and his father took him to the Rebbe. It was Simchas... Father came to be with the chassidim, with the Rebbe. He was with the chassidim for hakafos at night. During the day, Yom Tov with the chassidim. And at the Rebbe’s there were hakafos, there was dancing, there was joy. Chassidim at the Rebbe’s—there was joy there, there were hakafos, and afterward they went back. That was the usual thing. The Rebbe, the Rebbe, the Rebbe was with the chassidim, especially during the day, for an entire night. With the chassidim all night long. They wanted to farbreng until the meal. The hakafos were late. They finished the hakafos before the meal. They went to eat, and afterward they went up to... a niggun, and then danced the hakafos, danced to a niggun. Until [unclear] they danced to a niggun. At six, at the morning meal, they danced to a niggun. Then the next day, two meals—there was something incredible [unclear] at the hakafos. In short, they certainly didn’t sleep. Reb Lazar says that his father took him to the Rebbe. They had spent Yom Tov with the chassidim—after the meal, after hakafos, after everything. His father took a cup of mashke and made Kiddush over it. He held up a whole cup like this and said to Reb Lazar, the child: “Come with me, come with me.” They went upstairs and stood by the door to the Rebbe’s room. The Rebbe had gone to hakafos. The Rebbe came upstairs and entered his...

4:30:08 Speaker 10 His room. And the Rebbe went into the room, and Hershl went in to the Rebbe. That’s no small thing. He goes in to the Rebbe, and Reb Leizer goes with him. He enters the room. And the Rebbe receives him; he puts it on the table, and the Rebbe turns around. The plate was standing there. And the Rebbe asks him: “What can I do for you?” Hershl says—Reb Leizer remembers this; this is how I remember hearing it from him—his father said: “Rebbe, I want a little truth. A little truth.” The Rebbe said to him—I don’t remember the details—the Rebbe said to him: “A little? A lot, a lot.” What was the whole story? He came out of the room—what was the yechidus? “A little truth.” “A little? A lot, a lot.” What do you want? What do you want? You know, a person, an important person, a person of stature—something happens, and he runs to the Rebbe, bursts through the door, goes in. What does he do? Nothing. To go back to the Rebbe again within two hours takes nerve. This was something that touched his soul. You know what? It’s not something everyone does. It’s something a chossid with a little [unclear] does. This was what mattered to him deep in his soul: a little truth. And the Rebbe told him: “A little? A lot, a lot.” What’s the point? That a chossid needs, whatever the circumstances,

4:32:25 Speaker 10 to have truth within him, to have inwardness, to have a connection. That is the maamar “Ana Nesiv Malka.”

4:32:32 Speaker 14 That’s an introduction. That’s an introduction.

4:32:34 Speaker 10 Huh?

4:32:35 Speaker 14 That—that’s an introduction.

4:32:36 Speaker 10 Yes, yes, yes, in a moment. I’m getting there. That’s what I’m saying. The introduction, I mean. I mean, I mean. I mean. That’s the point: truth. “Ana Nesiv Malka.” With the Rebbe, things don’t stay on the outside. With the Rebbe, there is truth. With the Rebbe, there is inwardness. With the Rebbe, things have to settle inside. It has to be deep, very deep; the truth has to settle inside. There’s a deeper story about this. This is the story, with numbers that keep getting bigger. I heard it when I was a bochur. It’s—in short, Reb Zeitlin, he came [unclear], boruch Hashem, [unclear]. Reb Zeitlin sat and farbrenged in Montreal. We remember Montreal [unclear]. And once in Montreal, in the shul at... at... What’s this? I don’t have a microphone tonight, friends.

4:33:34 Speaker 14 It goes straight onto the tape.

4:33:35 Speaker 10 Huh?

4:33:38 Speaker 14 That will come later.

4:33:39 Speaker 10 [unclear]. Ay, ay, ay.

4:33:42 Speaker 14 [unclear].

4:33:43 Speaker 10 The tape. Ay, ay, ay. The tape, the tape. Anyway.

4:33:53 Speaker 14 What’s this?

4:33:54 Speaker 10 Bring the tape. My brother, my brother, my brother. We’re getting carried away here. We’re recording a farbrengen on tape here.

4:34:05 Speaker 14 It won’t come out properly that way.

4:34:06 Speaker 10 I give shiurim all the time, but a farbrengen isn’t a shiur. A farbrengen is a farbrengen. Shiurim are one thing, and so are lectures and the like. A farbrengen is inwardness. Inwardness doesn’t [unclear]. Anyway, it’s very simple. Anyway, gentlemen, I—I, l’chaim, l’chaim.

4:34:32 Speaker 14 L’chaim.

4:34:38 Speaker 10 So be it. So be it. So be it. So be it. A farbrengen. A tape. Very nice. Anyway, here’s the story: Reb Zeitlin was farbrenging in Montreal on Shabbos afternoon—yes, Shabbos Mevorchim. We were sitting downstairs in the hall at the farbrengen in Montreal. A Jew came in. What can I tell you? He came in, a little [unclear], on Shabbos afternoon. Nu, fine, a few Jews are sitting there drinking mashke, and he says: “Friends, what are you doing here? Go home. Go home, go home. Sit with your wives, with your families. Why are you sitting here farbrenging?” And he goes on talking at length. Nu, he was a simple Jew off the street. He said some other things too, I don’t know what, and they stood there farbrenging. Reb Moshe Zeitlin says: “Come here, sit with us. Sit with us.” And he tells him: “You don’t understand. A few friends didn’t just get together here for no reason. We have a big problem. A big problem. We’re going through a very difficult time. We have a big problem.” Anyway, this American Jew, this Canadian Jew, asks: “What’s the matter? Did something happen? Who’s to blame? What do you mean? What happened?” In short, he was worried. Well, anyway: “I beg your pardon, I’m sorry, forgive me. Maybe I can help? Am I causing you trouble?” And then he says: “My dear man, we too, we’re telling you, have troubles. We’re sitting here and thinking: What can we do? What is this about?” And on this the Rebbe cites and says—

4:36:40 Speaker 10 The Rebbe Rashab says that a soul comes down into this world, and a person can go around for an entire day without doing what it came to do. We don’t do it. We gather to sit and think: What are we doing to fulfill the purpose? The Rebbe Rashab speaks in this maamar, in this teaching, about that purpose, and we aren’t fulfilling it. How can that be? I [unclear]. In short, that is how the Rebbe presented these teachings from Chassidus. Then he said: What does a farbrengen mean? What does a farbrengen mean? Eating kugel, drinking mashke? A farbrengen is [unclear]: What is the soul? And the soul [unclear]. We deal with the purpose, with the ultimate goal. And we ask: What is the goal? [unclear]. Well, the situation is bitter. Think about it, think about it: How is it, how is it, [unclear]. That’s quite a story. Even the [unclear] understood the point and fell silent. I don’t understand how people call something a “farbrengen.” A farbrengen isn’t just sitting together for a while. [unclear] speaks about the purpose. Chassidus, Chassidus, Chassidus opens our eyes. Chassidus says: What is the soul? The soul [unclear]. And it asks the question. Chassidus begins by asking: Why did a soul come down? What are we living for? What is

4:38:47 Speaker 10 the purpose? What is the goal? And so we search, we search for the purpose. [unclear]. But we need to know the ultimate goal, the purpose, the ultimate goal, the purpose. [unclear]. Today is the eve of 11 Nissan; tomorrow night is 11 Nissan. This mustn’t remain in the makif, on the surrounding level; the point has to become inward, has to become inward. Right now, I could be living in the makif. After all, I’m a Jerusalemite. That’s well known; it’s no secret. I’m a Jerusalemite. And so, for us, the makif is deeply rooted in the soul. We come from a place, from Jerusalem. I come from a family, and I grew up in that family. Yes, and the makif is very strong among us. One of the stories I remember from my years as a bochur, when I entered Tomchei Temimim: It wasn’t so simple, it wasn’t so simple. I didn’t want to go to Tomchei Temimim. There were yeshivos for outstanding students, yeshivos [unclear], more attractive than it; those were the [unclear]. In Jerusalem there weren’t [unclear]. And my father wanted—my father, boruch Hashem, was a chossid [unclear]—he wanted his children to go to Tomchei Temimim. So [unclear] entered Tomchei Temimim. And this is one of the stories I remember from that time: [unclear].

4:40:33 Speaker 10 There was a chossid named Reb Alter Babter. My grandfather was already a Bobov chossid. [unclear]. But my grandfather went to Tomchei Temimim and studied under Reb Alter Babter. The thing was, by then there was no other yeshiva in Jerusalem. We’re talking about 5750, 5751, 5752, [unclear]. There was no other yeshiva; there was Tomchei Temimim. It was the yeshiva that all the [unclear]. Tomchei Temimim was a yeshiva in Jerusalem. We’re not talking about [unclear]. Tomchei Temimim was a yeshiva that Jerusalemites considered a good yeshiva. They went there. My grandfather and his brothers all went to Tomchei Temimim. I remember we went to visit my uncle, whose name was Avrum Gruman. [unclear]. We went to visit him. I looked at his bookshelf and saw an old mimeographed copy—you know, those printed stencils, not the [unclear]—maamarim from 5701 and 5702. I asked, “What’s this?” “Well, I went to Tomchei Temimim. That’s where I studied under Reb Alter Babter.” But my uncle was [unclear]. My grandfather was [unclear]. But I remember my grandfather would tell us a great deal: “I remember how Reb Alter Babter used to daven. I remember how Reb Zalman Havlin used to daven.” My grandfather told us that Reb Zalman Havlin would sit in the hall. Once, he went [unclear], and Reb

4:42:19 Speaker 10 Zalman davened all day. He regularly davened all day. He would stand or sit in the hall and daven. And what happened with Minchah? He was accustomed to sitting in the hall and davening. My grandfather would still sing the niggunim they sang then. He remembered sitting [unclear]. He sat [unclear], and afterward went to learn with him. What was I trying to tell you? Ah, one of the stories we heard as bochurim was that Reb Babter Shmuevitch[?] said he couldn’t manage with Jerusalem. He couldn’t manage in Jerusalem. Babter[?] spent some time in Jerusalem, a few hours. They sit there all night, farbreng, speak to them about inner life, speak to them about [unclear], speak to them about it. They don’t want to hear that. During the day, when they aren’t farbrenging, they go to the Kosel, and it was always really a continuation of the farbrengen. They go to the Kosel, and throughout the farbrengen they feel a makif. That was Babter’s[?] expression. It’s one of the things I remember from my days as a bochur. But those three points, Jerusalem. He doesn’t want to hear it; afterward he gets hold of a makif, and with that he considers his obligation fulfilled: he went, he was [unclear]. He can’t go on that way. Reb Babter[?] said there were only three bochurim when it came to those three points. There were three bochurim Reb Babter[?] thought highly of. Three bochurim. One of the three—I don’t remember exactly; I’m searching my memory—was Reb Moshe Werber, my uncle, Reb Moshe Werber. My uncle.

4:44:13 Speaker 10 On both sides, her side and mine. He was a Yid who was entirely about deep inner life. I think he said it about Reb Moshe Cohen, who is the father of all those Cohens; he’s their grandfather. The Baumgarten family are Reb Moshe Cohen’s grandchildren. And he mentioned another person, the third. Who was the third?

4:44:35 Speaker 15 Shachna?

4:44:36 Speaker 10 What?

4:44:36 Speaker 15 Shachna?

4:44:38 Speaker 10 I think so. I think Reichman was the third. In any case, yes, what I’m saying is that we need to take in the depth, the depth. The makif is strong; a makif is a powerful thing. Because the makif helps a Yid. It helps him dance, sing, be happy, feel good, feel illuminated. But after that little dance? Nothing. There was no [unclear]. What did he do? Nothing. He lost an entire day. We have to be wise. That’s how it has to be. [unclear]. The Rebbe’s maamar [unclear]—I think this is it, I don’t know, this is the maamar—but to my mind it’s one of the most powerful maamarim. Because the Rebbe takes the two extremes: depth on the one hand; there he has the [unclear], and he strips away all the [unclear]. He goes further back, further back, further back, further back. And at the same time, there has to be a purpose. The connection, the connection—that is the depth of Chassidus. The connection is the depth of Chassidus. On the one hand, there has to be that hiddenness, that which comes before, before, before; and at the same time, it mustn’t remain a makif, a matter of faith alone, but must become inward. That brings us to the “skipping.” The Rebbe says in the maamar: “Skipping” is inward. A pnimi draws down an inner name; that is a makif. Inward. What does inward mean? Inward means that I am there. That this is the truth. That it settles within me, that it becomes action. That is inward. Inward. I don’t know; I’m saying something.

4:46:53 Speaker 10 One more word from what was said then, at that time. This illuminates things; it’s something personal to me, my own approach. This is 11 Nissan. 11 Nissan means there has to be prayer, there has to be fasting [unclear]. “A prayer of the poor man when he is overwhelmed.” Friends, we need to be [unclear], so that there is this hiddenness together with inwardness. “A prayer of the poor man when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his words before Hashem.” But here we have to stand “before Hashem.” Not makif, not externality, not to receive. [unclear] “Rebbe, give me, give me.” A chossid stands before the Rebbe and says, “Rebbe, I am yours.” “Rebbe, give me, give me a blessing, give me influence, give me revelations, give me Torah, give me this, give me that.” Don’t give me anything. I am yours. L’chaim, friends. [unclear]. An hour! [unclear] Something inward, just once, step a little outside yourself. [unclear]

4:54:54 Speaker 16 You know, [unclear], sadly he could get hurt, but not die. He wasn’t hurt. Here he does it again... He takes control. Like here in America. He takes control of the situation.

4:55:11 Speaker 17 We need to let people know.

4:55:12 Speaker 16 He doesn’t want to, but… I don’t know, I don’t know how much. I’m not familiar with the days there of… I come to the guest, another [unclear]. That [unclear], that I [unclear]. Even before [unclear]. And just recently I studied the section [unclear]. I think they say, on Shabbos, by us, the Alter Rebbe. Ah, [unclear]. The new version, the Alter Rebbe there with the [unclear]. That can’t be. But it’s written [unclear]. The Alter Rebbe [unclear]. The Rosh with Tosafos—that’s shorter, after all. The new version [unclear]. So it comes out that the Alter Rebbe writes [unclear]. What does Dovid want? What is he saying? It comes out that your name is written; it says this here. I don’t know, it was discovered, it’s… to write your name. Wasn’t there [unclear]? Not my name. Huh? Not my name. Ah, they found a manuscript with [unclear] about the Alter Rebbe, and with that they want to [unclear]. It will resolve all kinds of issues. What is he talking about? I keep myself [unclear]; we’re learning. What? Huh? What? I found [unclear], and he says: They found a substantial manuscript about the Alter Rebbe, may his merit protect us, that sheds light on a whole matter which, for years, all the great scholars have said [unclear] about. It has to be on Wednesday, Shabbos.

4:56:59 Speaker 16 And I heard that [unclear] a house, that it’s less [unclear]. And here [unclear]. There is a dispute among the halachic authorities about this. The Alter Rebbe rules [unclear], as the Rosh [unclear] says. And everyone asks: What does the Alter Rebbe mean here? What is going on here? [unclear]. They couldn’t understand how it was possible that, for so many years, great scholars had disagreed with the Alter Rebbe [unclear]. Suddenly, it’s a simple thing—two or three words—and everything becomes clear. When he writes this, he reveals from the meaning here that it says this here, it says this, it says this. It doesn’t say it? It does say it, it does. [unclear]. In the end, in the end [unclear]. [unclear]. In any case, [unclear]. Ah, I said, Moshe, and the questions that are written there—a small question—he makes sure that this doesn’t need [unclear]. But [unclear] to daven. I don’t know, [unclear]. I once heard, I remember, there was [unclear]. [unclear] went to daven [unclear]. And there was all the… You know, whether to daven or not to daven, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh, and—

4:58:47 Speaker 16 all that nonsense. So it comes out, Shabbos Parshas Shemini. You need [unclear] Shabbos Parshas Shemini, Parshas Tazria here. [unclear] Tazria. [unclear]. The Rebbe once spoke about [unclear]. Pirkei Avos: “All Israel have a share in the World to Come.” There was a sicha about the opening mishnah, “All Israel.” He explained the mishnah. The Rebbe said: Pirkei Avos is milsa d’chassidusa—teachings of piety. Right? Pirkei Avos is milsa d’chassidusa. The Rebbe asks: What is the milsa d’chassidusa in the resurrection of the dead? Is there a milsa d’chassidusa here? “All Israel have a share in the World to Come”—what is the milsa d’chassidusa? That was the question. That was the Rebbe’s question about Pirkei Avos. The Rebbe saw Pirkei Avos in a completely different way. Pirkei Avos is milsa d’chassidusa. Every mishnah has to contain something that is milsa d’chassidusa. [unclear], the Rebbe asks: What is the milsa d’chassidusa in the resurrection of the dead? The Rebbe spoke then with him about how the resurrection of the dead [unclear]. What does the resurrection of the dead mean? This is the resurrection of the dead. The Rebbe connected it with [unclear]. What is the resurrection of the dead? It is when a G-dly idea is absorbed in the mind. After all, Hayom Yom says that the mind is cold, dead—a cold thing. When a G-dly idea is absorbed in a cold mind, [unclear]—that is the resurrection of the dead. The Rebbe said something remarkable at a farbrengen. The Rebbe was at a farbrengen. Sitting here are Jews who studied in—

5:00:51 Speaker 16 yeshiva; there were ten Temimim, and they used to think about Chassidus, about enclothing in the imaginative faculty. Fifty years later, the Rebbe said, fifty years later: When was the last time you thought about enclothing in the imaginative faculty? Ask yourself. Stand in front of a mirror, the Rebbe said. Stand alone and say: How do you know whom the Rebbe was talking about? Others said it was directed at so-and-so. I say it was directed at me. In any case, the Rebbe used these words: Stand alone and say, can I spend an entire day on money, on business, on [unclear], on a phone call and on [unclear], and on this and that? Stand in front of the mirror. Look in the mirror, look at yourself and ask yourself: Wait, when was the last time you thought about a passage of Chassidus before davening? In any case, enclothing—that was the wording. In any case, enclothing. And that is what it means to think about Chassidus, and that is the resurrection of the dead. [unclear] enclothing, a passage of Chassidus, so that it spreads through him. The Rebbe then said [unclear]: “This is Rashbi in the days of Moshiach. This is Rashbi in the days of Moshiach.” He said it about the Rebbe’s chassidim. “This is Rashbi in the days of Moshiach.” After all, it is written about Rashbi, about Rashbi’s students: “This is Rashbi in the days of Moshiach.” They even said it about the Rebbe’s chassidim: “This is Rashbi in the days of Moshiach.” The Rebbe, at that farbrengen—

5:02:50 Speaker 16 the Rebbe said at that farbrengen: “Anyone who is a chossid of the leader of our generation, [unclear] in the days of Moshiach. Anyone who is a chossid of the leader of our generation, [unclear] in the days of Moshiach. This is Rashbi in the days of Moshiach.” But what is the resurrection of the dead? That in a person, within the person himself—a cold person, cold as ice, who wants to understand everything—there should come into being an inner [unclear] through Chassidus. Or do you know when the last time was that you [unclear]? I know, I’m not capable of it. Maybe if I had a free day, I don’t know. I suppose perhaps [unclear]. When we learn today, we know. Maybe we think about it twice; the [unclear] come twice—why do we learn? The Rebbe said then that one needs to think about Chassidus before davening. One needs to think about Chassidus. Just as here there is [unclear], a good thing, a mitzvah. And then we have a farbrengen about it and enjoy it. These are all beautiful matters, but everything has practical relevance. It has practical relevance, it has practical relevance: Every person should think about Chassidus in the morning. You know, half an hour every day—but think about Chassidus. Before davening, before davening. [unclear], before davening; and think about Chassidus. Not half an hour, but a few minutes. But from time to time, half an hour, when you can think. For the Rebbe, that’s a straightforward thing. Half an hour. That’s more or less a straightforward thing. He said that it’s—ah, exactly.

5:05:10 Speaker 16 That too. Yes, yes. In short, they write it: Think about Chassidus. It’s the greatest gift the Rebbe could have given, but [unclear] think about Chassidus. Reb Avraham [unclear] was ill for seven years. He went to [unclear], to [unclear], literally. He met with doctors and underwent medical treatments. You know, Reb Avraham [unclear] was like that for seven years, and he recovered. Really, it was a miracle. In 5730 he came to the Rebbe for the first time after the seven years he had been ill. [unclear] he wasn’t at davening. [unclear] In short, he was already somewhere [unclear]. Some time before Rosh Hashanah he came to the Rebbe. He was already an elderly chossid, Reb Avraham [unclear]; he had been in Lubavitch, one of the Temimim, one of the first Temimim. And he came to the Rebbe, already [unclear]. He came to the Rebbe for the distribution of dollars. Some time before Rosh Hashanah, he was at the distribution of dollars. The Rebbe saw him there. The Rebbe gave him a dollar and said: “Reb Avraham, how can one go without thinking about Chassidus?” [unclear] “Reb Avraham, how can one go without thinking about Chassidus? You can still think about Chassidus.” But we go—

5:06:59 Speaker 16 on [unclear], a kind word. One thing he said was: You know, the world knows the Rebbe as a leader of the Jewish people, a leader of the world, a leader of the entire world. But the Rebbe was a Chabad chossid. Even as he goes about his work, he is still a Chabad chossid. He comes and says: “Think some more about Chassidus.” [unclear] I think, [unclear]. When did [unclear] get caught up in traveling? You know, exactly.

5:07:36 Speaker 18 When?

5:07:37 Speaker 16 What year? Oh, when? Do you remember the great farbrengens, the long farbrengens? The Rebbe speaks about stories, about other matters, about matters in the world. But suddenly he says a maamar. And yes, yes, you know, it’s the same Rebbe speaking to the world. This is a maamar: he speaks in depth, enters his own four cubits, it seems to me. The great farbrengens—there were so many of them. The great farbrengens were broadcast. That’s a whole world. The Rebbe says sichos—a whole world. … A maamar. But suddenly, one thing: a maamar, and he says a maamar. It doesn’t say here why. It’s written here. And he speaks Chassidus, speaks in depth, keeps speaking. This is the Rebbe; this is the person. It’s a truthfulness that guides everything. You feel the subtlety in it, the subtlety. You also feel that these are his own four cubits. With … it’s a place, four cubits of his own. I don’t know what you say about [unclear]. But it has to be here, in those four cubits—in thought, in davening, in learning, in inwardness. This, this, this, this still isn’t kingship, but this is it, this is it. It’s not, it’s not surprising. Excuse me. I wanted, I wanted, I wanted. We’re stating the definition, the … [unclear]. That’s how it has to be. I said, today I … because generations, generations, yes, which ones? He was—

5:10:05 Speaker 16 Itche the Masmid, Itche the Masmid—the story about the shtiebel of the Gerer chassidim. He lived in Warsaw, and once he davened in Warsaw. It was on Motzaei Shabbos, in the Gerer chassidim’s shtiebel. They seated him outside. He sat there after the Gerer chassidim finished davening, and they were eating Melaveh Malkah. In the middle of the meal, one of the Gerer chassidim got up, called to him and said, “Reb Itche, it’s Melaveh Malkah. Come, join us for Melaveh Malkah.” I think so; I don’t remember any more. He asks, “Reb, why Melaveh Malkah? After all, it says that when you eat Melaveh Malkah, you can only stand like the … They eat the Melaveh Malkah—

5:10:51 Speaker 19 Luz.

5:10:52 Speaker 16 He said “luz.” You get up and bring a story. He says, “But we have so much that all I can do is stand.” He was … He didn’t join the meal. That’s the kind of person he was. Friends, we’re saying l’chaim now. We need to know that there, as in … the maamar isn’t just there to be learned. We need to learn it, review it and learn it again, and then go back and think about it, and afterward we need to … be, and we need to … what still isn’t kingship, but is inwardness. It’s a holy story. The Rebbe’s way of seeing must become a way of seeing, a way of seeing with the soul. It’s, it’s—but not just seeing, not just inwardness. No, that’s not what we have to reach; that’s not what’s meant. L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim. I came here, I stayed a little longer, and then we say: Is that still not enough for you? L’chaim, l’chaim. Shira, say l’chaim. Mr. Wolk, l’chaim.

5:12:10 Speaker 19 Ah.

5:12:11 Speaker 16 Wolk, l’chaim.

5:12:12 Speaker 19 I thought he was still here.

5:12:15 Speaker 16 No, that’s … and that’s what it is. No, that’s not it. No, all right. What is it, then? Friends, it’s not all that rare. This niggun, this niggun … Listen, a niggun.

5:16:32 Speaker 20 But they want it in Hebrew.

5:16:34 Speaker 16 They want to switch to Hebrew.

5:16:35 Speaker 20 Yes.

5:16:37 Speaker 16 But the niggun is the niggun of Reb Shlomo der Geler. Shlomo der Geler. Shlomo der Geler was a chossid of the Rebbe Maharash. Later there was Reb Shmuel, but he was a man of the Rebbe Maharash. He had a lulav and esrog; they tell stories like that. Shlomo der Geler. Two … Shlomo der Geler. He was a man who suffered. They tell all kinds of stories about the chossid he was, about what he went through. He had a hard life, and he was always joyful. The niggun—we’re getting to … Betzal. Betzal, the story, in fact, was … I’ve already said a lot. And then we come to Betzal, a lot about Avraham … in fact, Avraham … 11 Nissan, the way is from the first. From the first to the first of Nissan. In any case, there was Shlomo der Geler. Betzal, Shlomo der Geler, when he goes, he has a … niggun. He says, “It sounds like a niggun. All his niggunim allude to things, niggunim like that.” What he related—a chossid who … we too have … a man who suffered. He takes a lulav and esrog, Betzal, … der Geler, Betzal. Shlomo der Geler—he saw what was happening. He had seven children, all of them ill. Simply that. The father was ill. Not one healthy child. All of them … No healthy child was born. And that child passed away. A great miracle, a child. He sat shiva. So Betzal, the man, Betzal, the man, he sat shiva. And in the middle of shiva—

5:18:25 Speaker 16 He got up and danced in his socks. That’s what he said. That’s how the man told it: in his socks. He was sitting shiva, he said, and he danced in his socks. And they said to him, “Why are you dancing? He has seven sick daughters and one son who didn’t make it, and he’s dancing. Why are you dancing?” “There’s nothing left anymore—let me live.” That’s how it was, simply. There’s nothing left anymore. This is not simple avodah. That was how he was; it was part of him. He was a chossid of the Rebbe Maharash, and there are all kinds of stories about him. But the story—we’re getting to [unclear]. Shlomo the learned one lived in Nevel, and he traveled by train, as they call it in German. He traveled by train. In Russia, the trains were built with a lower level, a middle level and an upper level. The poor sat on the lower level, and so on. He sat there like anyone else. He had no money. He sat on the lower level and said Krias Shema She’al Hamitah. He said Krias Shema She’al Hamitah. And he said it to a tune. He sat and sang, sang to a tune while saying Krias Shema She’al Hamitah. That’s what he was doing: saying Krias Shema She’al Hamitah. On the upper level was a landowner, a non-Jew. He was sitting on the upper level and heard someone singing. He said, he said, “That’s the—” That’s how he tells it here: in the middle of the night, nobody sings a niggun. So the landowner—

5:20:23 Speaker 16 [unclear] a bottle of mashke down from above. And he says, “You sing beautifully. Sing again. You sing beautifully. Sing again.” And the [unclear] sends a bottle of mashke. So he sang again. This happened three or four times, and four bottles arrived. Then they entered the room, brought four bottles of mashke and said, “What should we bring?” Four bottles of mashke, because, well, that makes chassidim into refined people. He brought four bottles of mashke. That’s the story. He said, he said, on the train—and he’s thinking, he’s still with—he sang a niggun, and the landowner there heard him from the third level and said to him in Russian, “Sing again. Sing again. Sing again.” And each time he sang, the [unclear] sent a bottle. So he said, [unclear], “Chassidim, [unclear].” He said, “That’s the point of a chassidic niggun. Even a non-Jew, when he hears it, hears the [unclear] of a chassidic niggun. Even a non-Jew hears it. You know? The non-Jew—what he receives is another matter, another matter. [unclear] a word of Chassidus, he doesn’t become [unclear]. But a chassidic niggun reaches even a non-Jew. The story illustrates that.” So the [unclear] is a chossid, but the point—

5:22:12 Speaker 16 Is Jewish. [unclear] the maamar, the niggun can be sung. To bring Chassidus into the open. Hm? A difficult question. Well, I’ve already said l’chaim enough times, so I no longer have to answer. Before, I had to answer. By now, I no longer have to answer. And the question gets more and more [unclear]. But now I no longer have to answer.

5:22:41 Speaker 21 So what’s the answer to that?

5:22:42 Speaker 16 Hm?

5:22:42 Speaker 21 So what’s the answer?

5:22:42 Speaker 16 What? What? Do you have an answer? What? In-depth study.

5:22:51 Speaker 21 The answer. The answer.

5:22:55 Speaker 16 The answer. Ah, what was I thinking? In-depth study is the answer to questions. L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim. [unclear] 11 Nissan, [unclear]. Friends, you hear more here, as I said, than you do in New York. It’s no different in Argentina. You live here, here, here—you know, [unclear]. And [unclear]. You know, Chassidus is inwardness; Chassidus is the path. Chassidus is [unclear], but you have to do it wisely. It’s not some, uh—as I said. After all, you live here. L’chaim. There are no shortcuts. Friends, [unclear], the Zohar says, and the Rebbe says: “The maamar”—you learned the maamar, the Rebbe says. As they say, you learned the maamar. As they say, you learned the maamar. What do you do?

5:23:59 Speaker 21 What’s that?

5:24:00 Speaker 16 Ah, give me a second. There is, after all, a problem with frumkeit.

5:24:05 Speaker 21 Is it like salab? Salab?

5:24:08 Speaker 16 Ah, no, those are already [unclear]. Those are [unclear]. But [unclear], the Rebbe wasn’t alone. Berdichev—that’s a story from Berdichev. My father told it to me. In our home there was an elderly Jew who had a garment from Berdichev. They told me about it when I was little. This Jew had a garment from Berdichev, with a large stain on it. So what was the story behind that stain? Well, the Berdichever was once traveling. It was Erev Shabbos, and he arrived at an inn. At the inn he saw that Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh was there. Do you know the story? Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh didn’t want to let the Berdichever in. They were two different kinds of people: Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh was characterized by gevurah; he was very, very [unclear]. He was a man of great stature. And here was the Berdichever—dancing, singing; in short, carrying on. He could have sat up on the roof. But Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh wouldn’t let him in. The Berdichever pleaded with him. He wanted to stay for Shabbos; he wanted a place to spend Shabbos. He promised he wouldn’t cause any trouble. He would sit quietly. He would sit quietly all Shabbos. Fine. He promised, and they let him in. He sat there. Friday night comes, Kabbalas Shabbos, and he wants to dance in honor of Shabbos. He wants to dance on Shabbos. In short, he restrains himself. He had undertaken to sit quietly, to sit calmly. They serve the meal, ki—

5:26:01 Speaker 16 That’s it. They reach Kiddush. The Berdichever made Kiddush, and as you know, before Kiddush his wine would usually boil. But sitting before Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh, he restrained himself before Kiddush. He held back and held back and held back and held back. Then comes the soup; they serve the soup. When the soup arrives, he says, “I want a bowl.” The person serving him, the waiter, asks, “Do you want it with pepper or without pepper?” The moment he heard the word “pepper,” he let out a cry: “Pepper, Reb Levi? Why pepper, Reb Levi?” He took the bowl of soup and threw it at Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh. And he... “Pepper, Reb Levi, why pepper, Reb Levi?” So that’s it—you know the story. It’s a story.

5:27:14 Speaker 21 [unclear] was the garment, the little garment.

5:27:18 Speaker 16 [unclear], they told the story at home when we were very little.

5:27:21 Speaker 21 Reb Baruch, Reb Baruch.

5:27:22 Speaker 16 Reb Baruch, Reb Baruch.

5:27:23 Speaker 21 Reb Baruch is the garment. Little.

5:27:28 Speaker 16 “Pepper, Reb Levi, why pepper, Reb Levi.” Reb Levi looks on; it takes time. A story, a nice story. “Pepper, Reb Levi, why pepper, Reb Levi.” But when we get to the point of the story, what was the point of [unclear]? What was the point? Eh?

5:27:53 Speaker 21 Come, let’s say l’chaim.

5:27:55 Speaker 16 The point is...

5:27:57 Speaker 21 Well, come, let’s say l’chaim.

5:28:01 Speaker 16 The point is 120 years, 11 Nissan. And here we are, farbrenging, friends. 11 Nissan, 120 years. What do we actually take away from this? Old introductions, introductions. Introductions all the time. [unclear]. 120 years. 11 Nissan. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay. Ah. One word—no, no—one word. One word. One word. One word. At night we go to sleep, and in the morning we get up different. We already go to sleep that way in the evening. We get up different too. We have to take Chassidus seriously. We have to take Chassidus seriously, friends. [unclear]. We have to take Chassidus seriously. Because the Rebbe is serious. Is this a joke, and another joke, and another joke? We have to take Chassidus seriously. We have to take Chassidus seriously. Chassidus is serious. It’s not a joke, not a jest, not a jest. It’s serious. It’s work. Chassidus is work. It’s work. Chassidus is work. In 5732, it was seventy years. Seventy years. The whole world came to the Rebbe. That’s a good thing... Seventy years. [unclear]. And friends, I was there. [unclear], friends, remember that time—seventy years. 5732. The whole world came. And all night they danced the chassidic [unclear]. It was joyous, it was cheerful, it was a bright night. And the Rebbe held a farbrengen. What did the Rebbe mean? What was the Rebbe’s message? How did the Rebbe open the farbrengen? What did we hear at the Rebbe’s farbrengen for his seventieth birthday? What did the Rebbe say? The Rebbe opened the farbrengen by saying that a father

5:30:36 Speaker 16 loves his children. He wants only the very best for them. He wants only the very best for them. A father loves his children and wants only the best. He wants them to have pleasant lives, healthy lives. If so, there’s a question: Why, when leaving Egypt, do we take on backbreaking work? We make life harder. Why make life harder? The poor people had 210 years of hard labor. But it goes on. When the Jewish people leave Egypt, they do... What do they do? What happens? How do they live? How do they sleep? I see families coming out of Russia, whole families coming out of Russia. Through acts of kindness in Russia, complete self-sacrifice all day long. How did they get out of Russia? The Rebbe sent shluchim: here, here, take this. And they take it, and they don’t need kindness. For thirty years they heard a cry. All of this. What kind of kindness is that? What kind of life? The Rebbe sent one person to Australia, another to Africa, a third somewhere else. Go, do the work. And the Rebbe is happy. Where is the love here? Where is the love here? Where is the father here? The whole farbrengen is about this: true love means that he wants it to become your own concern. A partnership. He gets him fired up with the mind of a school principal, [unclear]. And the school principal—it’s his personal concern, my concern. A partner knows what that means. It’s hard; you stand for seventy hours. What needs to be done, what does he need to bring into his life? No, this is a time for spreading Chassidus. Just a month—he keeps going, keeps going, and he’ll get there. Because when the Rebbe truly... Ah, when a Jew loves, he knows these are cookies, a box,

5:32:48 Speaker 16 golden cookies. Well, he wants to carry it, he wants to do it. And then he goes and goes, and he’ll get there. There has to be effort. That is 11 Nissan. 11 Nissan—they say it’s 120 years. 120 years. A man was at a wedding. A Jew, a family man, came over to me and said, “Ah, 120.” He said it as though it were the end of an era. 120. Wait a moment—there are another twenty years. Absolutely. “Until 120” is just one thing, but 120... The man says to me, “But for us, it’s as if something weighs on our hearts. 120—it’s...” Well, something is happening. Something is happening. But what is it really with the Rebbe? With the Rebbe, it isn’t... The Gemara says about Haman here that he decreed a fast because this was Moshe’s Adar. Moshe. Absolutely, 120 years. That was the fast. That was supposed to be Haman’s fast. Absolutely, absolutely. Where is that with Haman? Where is the [unclear]? “And he did not know,” “and he did not know,” [unclear] was born. That’s history. Our teacher, [unclear], there is, [unclear], what does he say in... in... in [unclear], chassidim, in Meor Einayim? He says, “And he did not know”—what does that mean? I look once, I look again, I look again, and sometimes I don’t see. “And he did not know [unclear] Moshe Rabbeinu was born.” Reb Nachum of Chernobyl explains it. He explains: What does “he did not know” mean literally? He didn’t understand that when Moshe reached 120 years, that was precisely when he was born.

5:35:07 Speaker 22 I was here in that situation.

5:35:09 Speaker 16 Precisely then. No, the Rebbe says something else. He says something else. That isn’t what the Rebbe said. The Rebbe says something else. Precisely then he was born. He is born now. What? Because when it was 120, every Jew had the [unclear]. Here Reb Nachum of Chernobyl says that every Jew had the... the... the [unclear] of Moshe. Every Jew had the spark of Moshe. As you see in Tanya, every Jew has the [unclear], the “Moshe within each and every person.” In every Jew—this is his Adar. They say: 120—Moshe is born. Only now is he here; only now is the Rebbe here. Now the Rebbe shines within every chossid. The Rebbe shines within every chossid now. It becomes my own concern. Moshe, Moshe is born. Only now is he born. Moshe Rabbeinu has to be present in the soul. There has to be a Rebbe whose light shines. [unclear] is kelipah. In holiness, it is [unclear]. First of all, [unclear]. L’chaim, friends, l’chaim.

5:36:34 Speaker 24 L’chaim.

5:36:36 Speaker 16 The world is still asleep over this. Friends, go to sleep. Tomorrow will be completely different. Tomorrow will be completely different. Jews don’t—

5:36:46 Speaker 24 But he still doesn’t know that.

5:36:48 Speaker 16 What are you saying?

5:36:49 Speaker 24 Wait, he still doesn’t know that. After all, this brings each person into it. Can he ever know that?

5:36:54 Speaker 16 I don’t understand. You’re asking—ask it. What are you saying?

5:36:56 Speaker 24 He’s asking, there’s... there’s this matter of 120. Usually we learn, as in Tanya, that when he passes away, then, ah, through that, [unclear] comes about—

5:37:06 Speaker 16 Strong.

5:37:06 Speaker 24 Yes, strong. Through this, everyone can, uh, [unclear] soul. You know, this one has a hundred, this one has a hundred and twenty. That’s a question. Yes, it’s a hundred and twenty.

5:37:19 Speaker 25 It’s a hundred and twenty.

5:37:22 Speaker 16 I see it says that a hundred and twenty is the name Elokim, because there are a hundred and twenty permutations of the name Elokim. And [unclear] a hundred and twenty in the name Elokim, and therefore [unclear]. Up to a hundred and twenty in the name Elokim. That’s its gematria. And from the moment that [unclear], after a hundred and twenty one reaches a new [unclear] of the name Havayah. The Rebbe said this in a sicha. Why? Why? Why? [unclear]. In any case, Dimo is more than nineteen in gematria. And [unclear], Dimo already has a new [unclear]. But [unclear] all hundred and twenty permutations of the name Elokim. He reveals the name Havayah with the name Havayah. [unclear]. I already said: these are interpretations.

5:38:40 Speaker 24 Nu, six.

5:38:41 Speaker 16 Interpretations aren’t good. Interpretations. [unclear], that’s the whole story, all of it. We don’t understand anything. One thing we do know: who is it that shines? It’s the one who shines—the one who shines himself and lights up those around him. And afterward comes the desire. L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim.

5:39:02 Speaker 24 L’chaim.

5:39:04 Speaker 16 That’s how we bring light. May the Rebbe grant each of us a kosher Pesach, and may it be the season of our freedom. May it bring freedom from all the confusion, all the worries, all the burdens, and everything else. May we have light, together with the [unclear] of the inner dimension of G-dliness. [unclear] of the inner dimension of G-dliness. One more word—I’ll mention one more thing. This comes from the Rebbe. The Rebbe said, “When we were [unclear] 5750.” [unclear]. The Rebbe said that Pesach is different from the rest of the year. [unclear]. Pesach is [unclear]. The Rebbe said, “I heard this from my father, [unclear].” That was thirty years ago. The Rebbe said, “I heard this from my father.” This is what he heard from his father: it says, “Kadesh, Urchatz”—“Sanctify, wash.” “Kadesh, Urchatz.” What does “Kadesh, Urchatz” mean? Throughout the year, the first thing is “Urchatz,” washing, and only afterward “Kadesh,” sanctifying. First one must become purified, and then one can become sanctified. On Pesach, one can become sanctified immediately. And only once we are already holy do we wash our hands for the meal, as a matter of course.