Vayeishev, 19 Kislev - Beating the Horse and Yosef's Dream - Rabbi Asher Perkesh

00:01 19 Kislev is the yahrzeit of the Maggid of Mezritch. The holy Maggid of Mezritch passed away on 19 Kislev 5533. Twenty-six years later, 19 Kislev became the Festival of Liberation, when the Alter Rebbe was released from prison. One of the stories the Rebbe once told at a 19 Kislev farbrengen, in the year [unclear], took place while the Alter Rebbe was staying with the Maggid of Mezritch. The Alter Rebbe traveled to the Maggid of Mezritch, and a number of stories from those visits are well known. One story is that when it came time for the Alter Rebbe to return home, he wanted to walk. That was how the early chassidim conducted themselves: when they traveled to the Rebbe and back, they did not want to ride; they wanted to walk. It was a pilgrimage, undertaken with all their vitality. The Alter Rebbe, too, wanted to walk home, aside from the fact that [unclear] there was indeed concern about poverty and so on. When the Maggid of Mezritch learned of this, he told him that he should not walk. He needed to conserve his strength, because

01:45 much work and effort would still be demanded of him. In time, he would have to face the opposition that stood in his way and establish the approach of Chabad Chassidus, and for that he would need great strength. So the Maggid of Mezritch asked that a wagon be brought especially for him, and arranged for him to travel in it. And that is what happened: the Maggid of Mezritch ordered a wagon for him and sent his only son, the holy Rabbi Avraham the Malach, to accompany him to it. Rabbi Avraham the Malach walked with the Alter Rebbe to the donkey market, where they were to board the wagon. As the Alter Rebbe was about to part from his study partner—as is known, Rabbi Avraham the Malach was the Alter Rebbe’s study partner: the Maggid of Mezritch had arranged for the Alter Rebbe to study the revealed dimension of Torah, Gemara, with Rabbi Avraham the Malach, and for Rabbi Avraham the Malach to study Chassidus and Kabbalah with the Alter Rebbe—Rabbi Avraham the Malach said something to him that has come down to us in two versions. According to one version, he said, “You have to whip the horse so it knows it’s a horse.”

03:22 In other words, they were standing there beside the horse and wagon, and Rabbi Avraham the Malach said to him, “You have to whip the horse so it knows it’s a horse.” The other version is: “You have to whip the horse so it stops being a horse.” When the Alter Rebbe heard this, he said, “I hear a new path in serving Hashem here.” And [unclear] the Maggid of Mezritch sent him to travel by wagon because he wanted him to learn this saying. He heard in it a new path in serving Hashem. There are several versions of what he meant by “a new path in serving Hashem,” but in any case, that was the point. And the Alter Rebbe said, “If so, I’m staying in Mezritch.” He returned to Mezritch and stayed there for several more weeks to contemplate this path in serving Hashem. This is one of the foundational stories in Chassidus about what the Alter Rebbe received in Mezritch from the Maggid of Mezritch and his only son, Rabbi Avraham the Malach. Our Rebbeim have given a number of explanations of the two sayings, “Whip the horse so it knows it’s a horse” and “Whip the horse so it stops being a horse.” One of the points,

04:54 one explanation, is also connected to this week’s parsha. Whipping the horse so it knows it’s a horse, and whipping the horse so it stops being a horse, represent the two paths of service discussed in Chassidus: iskafya and ishapcha. In other words, there are two levels, two stages, in serving Hashem. When the soul descends below and becomes clothed in a body and an animal soul, the body and animal soul are compared to a horse, much as they are compared to a donkey, an animal. The animal soul is material and physical—chamor, “donkey,” is related to chomer, “matter”—it is a horse. This is what we work with, and the body and animal soul need to be refined. The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya that the soul, which is truly a part of G-d above, descends into this physical world and becomes clothed in a body and an animal soul not to perfect itself, because the soul itself needs no correction. The soul comes to perfect its world. The entire purpose of the soul’s descent is to sift, refine and elevate the body and animal soul and the parts of the world, and to make the world a dwelling place for Hashem. That is what it means to whip the horse: to take the body and the animal soul as well, and with

06:29 it, one often needs to deal with it and refine it. This service has two levels. There is the level of iskafya, the first stage of service. Iskafya means that the body and animal soul have not yet been refined; they are still in full force. So what do we do? We work through iskafya: we set our own will aside and compel the body and animal soul to do not what they want, but what the G-dly soul wants, what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants—the Divine will. Through restraint, we at least subdue the desires of the body and animal soul so that a person acts in accordance with the Divine will. This is the first level of service, called bittul hayesh. He breaks his sense of self and his desires, even though they remain in full force. In the words of the Alter Rebbe in Tanya, chapter 27, “while it is still in its full strength and might.” Although the animal soul is still in its full strength and might, a person overcomes it and restrains himself through iskafya: he restrains himself in thought, guarding against distracting thoughts and improper thoughts, and likewise in speech and action. That is the first stage of service. Then comes a deeper form of service: whipping the horse so it stops being a horse. This is the nullification of the animal soul through ishapcha, until its very sense of separate existence is nullified. The body

08:05 and animal soul become completely refined and become a vehicle for holiness. Their entire existence is devoted solely to fulfilling the Divine will. “With all your heart”—with both your inclinations: the animal soul itself comes to love Hashem. This is service through ishapcha. What are these two forms of service? This is the theme found in this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayeishev, according to the explanations the Alter Rebbe, whose liberation we celebrate on 19 Kislev, gives on the parsha. This week’s parsha speaks about Yosef Hatzaddik. The Torah tells us that the account of exile begins at the start of Parshas Vayeishev. From Parshas Vayeishev begins the story of how the Jewish people entered the Egyptian exile, and it starts with Yosef Hatzaddik. Yosef Hatzaddik was the first to descend to Egypt, following everything that happened in this week’s parsha: “And Yosef was brought down to Egypt.” The Egyptian exile began with “And Yosef was brought down to Egypt.” Afterward his brothers went down, and then Yaakov Avinu went down, until the full Egyptian exile began, as related in the following parshiyos. The entire Egyptian exile began with a dream. That is how this week’s parsha begins: Yosef Hatzaddik had a dream, went to his brothers

09:36 and told them about it. What was Yosef Hatzaddik’s dream? The parsha says: “Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field.” Yosef Hatzaddik relates that he is in the field. And what are they doing in the field? “Binding sheaves in the field.” They gathered stalks of grain into sheaves and bound them. In other words, they took the stalks, gathered them and tied them together into bundles. And as Rashi says, [unclear], to tie them tightly. That is “binding sheaves in the field.” Then: “Behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright.” Suddenly, Yosef Hatzaddik relates, his sheaf, the bundle of grain he had tied, rose and stood in the middle: “My sheaf arose and also stood upright.” And “behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” All the sheaves of the brothers surrounded Yosef’s sheaf, and they all bowed down to it. Naturally, as the parsha relates, this aroused jealousy among them, and so on. Then there was a second dream, about “the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowing down to me.” This further intensified the brothers’ jealousy and eventually led to the sale of Yosef and the entire Egyptian exile. The Alter Rebbe, whose liberation we celebrate, says in one of his teachings in Torah Or: this whole account, Yosef Hatzaddik’s dream, is of course also a central matter in their service

11:09 of Israel. The Torah is eternal, and it tells us about the dream not merely to relate a beautiful story, but because it contains a very deep teaching in Chassidus, particularly concerning exile and Geulah. Since the entire story of the exile in Egypt began with this story, with the dream of Yosef Hatzaddik, we must say that this story and dream contain the whole inner meaning of a Jew’s service during exile. And when we speak of exile, we do not mean only the exile in Egypt at that time. The Midrash says, “All exiles are called by the name of Egypt.” Israel’s descent into exile alludes to the descent of every soul into the body and the animal soul. As the Alter Rebbe explains, the soul, the G-dly soul, descends from a lofty height: “The soul You have given me is pure.” When the soul was above, it was free, and it was [unclear] completely. [unclear] That is a state of Geulah. When it descends below, into the body and animal soul, that is exile. And “all exiles are called by the name of Egypt.” Mitzrayim, Egypt, is related to the word meitzarim—constraints and limitations—the constraints and limitations of the body and animal soul. More broadly, it is the entire world, which is called “the field.” The field is associated specifically with Eisav, as the parsha says of him: “Eisav was a man of the field,” a man of the field.

12:47 Eisav’s field. This is the field of the public domain. It is the field of the opposing side, the field of kelipah and the sitra achra. That is where the kelipos of the world are found—the world, the public domain. Even in physical terms, the meaning of “field” is that stalks of grain grow there, and each stalk grows in its own separate hollow, in its own place. It is separate. The stalks are separate; each grows on its own, disconnected from the others. These are the kelipos of the physical world, which is called the public domain, because “many” implies separation. The world of separation is [unclear]. In other words, it is a world of separation. It contains divisions and separation; it is disconnected from unity, disconnected from the unity of Hashem, disconnected from bittul to G-dliness. That is the field: the world, the public domain, where there is separateness, division and a sense of self, particularly in the animal soul. And these are the sparks of holiness that fell below through the breaking of the vessels. The sparks of holiness found in worldly matters, in physical things, are there in a state of separation, as many distinct things, disconnected from one another. We have to gather them and bring them into unity. This is what Yosef Hatzaddik says in his dream: “Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field.” Our work, the work of souls, the work of the tribes—the tribes encompass all the souls of Israel, the twelve tribes, Shivtei Kah, Shivtei Kah—is that the souls of Israel descend into the field, into the field of the opposing side, into the public domain, into exile. Particularly in the time of exile, when “darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the nations”—the condition of

14:36 separateness and division. But fundamentally, the purpose of the soul’s descent below is to turn a world of division into “binding sheaves”: to gather together separate things, to gather everything scattered throughout the public domain, to gather souls that fell into the world and became separated from one another, disconnected from their source, disconnected from G-dliness. A Jew comes along, and his purpose is to gather all these sparks of holiness, all the lost souls that have reached all sorts of places in the world, all sorts of remote places in exile. A Jew comes along, and he must be “binding sheaves in the field”—elevating the sparks of holiness found in the public domain and making them all into one thing, a unity. Making them all into one thing, a unity. This is the work of every soul here in the world. In our work with physical things, these are precisely the matters we spoke about earlier, matters of self-restraint: even a physical thing—a physical food, a physical drink, the physical reality of money and gold—contains a spark of holiness. But he does not see G-dliness in it. When he looks at this world, the material world, he can elevate it through his service: “Let all your deeds be for the sake of Heaven,” and at the next stage, “Know Him in all your ways.” He takes a physical thing from the world and elevates it for the sake of Heaven, and he conducts his business for the sake of Heaven. In this way he elevates

16:08 the sparks of holiness, and they are made into a unity. This is “binding sheaves in the field.” The same applies to the sparks that are souls: he meets a Jew on the street, speaks with him about Yiddishkeit and brings him closer to G-dliness; they put on tefillin, and he draws closer to Torah and mitzvos—that is “binding sheaves in the field.” We are in the field of this world, the field of physical reality, and we gather souls together and make them into one. For that is the first meaning of “binding sheaves in the field.” On this Rashi says, “Gathering sheaves.” In other words, they are not simply gathered together while remaining separate entities; they become a single bundle, “gathering sheaves.” They are connected and united with the oneness of Hashem, blessed be He. They are all made into one single entity. They are bound together so that their unity with G-dliness will endure and be strong, so that it will truly be a unity that lasts forever. And the stalks themselves contain seeds, from which fruit and further fruit later grow. This is what the Baal Shem Tov did with Jews: he reached out to Jews and brought them close in a way that would not remain a one-time event, where they put on tefillin and afterward remain as they were. It would be like sowing seeds, “moist enough to moisten others”: the Jew himself would become a mashpia, from whom fruit and further fruit would grow in matters of Torah and mitzvos. But this, as we said, is only the first level

17:38 of the work. Then comes the second level of the work. After “binding sheaves in the field,” it says, “And behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright.” There is the level of Yosef Hatzaddik. As is known, Yosef Hatzaddik was on a higher level than all the tribes, “the tzaddik who is the foundation of the world,” and his service was incomparably higher than that of all the tribes. So much so that Chassidus explains that this is the meaning of the verse, “Yosef recognized his brothers,” while it then says, “But they did not recognize him.” Yosef recognized his brothers, but his brothers did not recognize him. This does not mean only that they did not physically identify him as Yosef. The inner reason is that they could not understand or grasp his level of service. Yosef Hatzaddik’s level—his bittul to G-dliness was such a high degree of bittul, bittul bimetzius, such a high degree of bittul, that the tribes could not grasp Yosef’s path in serving Hashem. And so the verse tells us that after all the work the tribes did according to their level came the level of “my sheaf arose and also stood upright.” Yosef’s sheaf—Yosef Hatzaddik, “the tzaddik who is the foundation of the world”—arose and ascended to a higher degree of bittul. Bittul expressed in bowing down, bittul bimetzius. A kind of bittul that only Yosef Hatzaddik could attain on his

19:13 own. But then, “Your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf”: by devoting themselves to Yosef’s sheaf and to Yosef Hatzaddik, by setting themselves aside and connecting to him, accepting his path in serving Hashem and his level, the tribes could attain the level of bittul bimetzius. In other words, although the tribes’ own service was a form of bittul hayesh, and they could reach the service of “You shall gather in your grain,” by connecting to Yosef Hatzaddik, to Yosef’s sheaf, he elevated them to a higher degree of bittul, the bittul called bittul bimetzius, which they could not attain on their own. But through the tribes’ connection to Yosef Hatzaddik, he elevated them to such a high degree of bittul; this form of bittul is Yosef’s level, the level of bittul bimetzius. This is what Rabbi Avraham the Malach told the Alter Rebbe: there is the matter of “whipping the horse,” so that it knows it is a horse. In serving Hashem, that is the beginning of the work, service through iskafya. He remains a horse and knows he is a horse, and from there he begins the path of iskafya: he does not do what he wants, but does what is right. But afterward comes the higher and deeper path of service, through connection to—

20:38 Yosef Hatzaddik, the nasi, the Rebbe, the tzaddik of the generation, elevates a Jew so that he can reach a higher level of bittul—the level of bittul b’metzius, complete self-nullification. What does this mean in practical service of Hashem? This is something we find in Chassidus. If we look in Tanya, we see something interesting. On the one hand, the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya that there is the service of the beinonim, a service that belongs to every single person: “The level of the beinoni is the level of every person, and every person should strive for it.” This is the beinoni’s path of service, which is through iskafya—self-restraint. The Alter Rebbe says that although the beinoni has not yet refined his character traits, and still faces a struggle with his yetzer hara, which can be forceful and powerful—even to the point that an improper thought may arise in him—he is nevertheless a Jew who can prevail in thought, speech, and action. Yes, even though his heart desires things with full force and is drawn to the physical concerns of this world, he can prevail in thought, speech, and action through iskafya. He does what needs to be done and does not give in to the cravings and desires of his animal soul. Broadly speaking, this is the service that belongs to everyone: the service of the tribes, “binding sheaves.” But there is a higher form of service, which would seem to be the service of tzaddikim. And concerning the service of tzaddikim, the Alter Rebbe says

22:09 in Tanya that this is the service of the bnei aliyah, those who are entirely devoted to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. All their service is that of bnei aliyah. The Alter Rebbe asks: What are “bnei aliyah”? This is “a chossid who acts with kindness toward his Maker, toward His dwelling.” All their service—and this is the meaning of bnei aliyah—is for the sake of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “for the sake of the Divine,” and not to satisfy their own soul’s thirst. In other words, their service of Hashem is not for themselves, so that they might attain love of Hashem or draw closer to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, but out of complete devotion to the Divine intent, to what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. This would seem to be an exceptionally lofty form of service. The Alter Rebbe himself says in Tanya that it is not a form of service that belongs to everyone. Nevertheless, we are told that through hiskashrus, through bittul—when “your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf”—when a Jew devotes himself to the tzaddik, to the Rebbe, to the nasi of the generation, the tzaddik elevates the chossid so that his service can be, at least in some small measure, in certain matters, in a manner of bittul b’metzius: he sets aside his own separate existence entirely, until everything becomes one reality. This is what Chassidus accomplished through the bond of a chossid with a Rebbe. And this is the Yom Tov of 19 Kislev, the festival of “He redeemed my soul in peace.” The Rebbe Rashab writes

23:42 in his well-known letter concerning 19 Kislev that the great Divine effect of 19 Kislev comes through chassidim devoting themselves to the Rebbe. There is the bond of a chossid with a Rebbe. It elevates the chossid: although his service on his own is in the higher worlds [unclear], and this is not yet service in the manner of [unclear], this is the beginning of the service. Through a chossid’s bond with a Rebbe, he can reach much higher levels, so that in certain matters his service will be in a manner of bittul b’metzius. [unclear] From hiskashrus and bittul to higher levels of service, [unclear] from the tzaddik’s subduing of the yetzer [unclear], he begins to reach the true oneness of Hashem, an understanding of Divine unity. And there is the well-known story about the note they spoke of, which is cited in [unclear]. The Rebbeim said of it that there was [unclear] of the Alter Rebbe from Mezritch, which, as they said, was in 5533. Then twenty-six years passed before the Geulah of 19 Kislev. The Rebbe Maharash told the Rebbe Rashab that these twenty-six years correspond to Hashem’s Name. Hashem’s Name represents Divine unity, the service of bittul b’metzius. And this is the self-sacrifice that the Alter Rebbe

25:09 —the Rebbe wanted his chassidim to have this sense, this feeling, even in matters of Divine unity, in matters of the higher perspective, in matters of bittul b’metzius. What does this mean? After all, as we said, who could possibly attain such an understanding, such a level of bittul? Yet we see that Chassidus speaks about these matters too. Chassidus does not speak only about the lower unity; it also speaks about the higher unity. Chassidus does not speak only about bittul hayesh, the nullification of one’s ego, but also about bittul b’metzius. Chassidus explains these things at length and presents many aspects of practical service connected with them. And this comes about through hiskashrus, through the power of a chossid’s bond with a Rebbe. This is what is meant when we say that a Rebbe is a raya mehemna. Yes, a Rebbe is a raya mehemna, a faithful shepherd of the Jewish people. Even though on his own, a Jew [unclear] like his Rebbe when he speaks about Chassidus. In other words, the service is [unclear] bittul hayesh. Nevertheless, through the bond between a chossid and a Rebbe, and between a Rebbe and a chossid, the Rebbe reveals within the chossid the quality of the raya mehemna and draws down this bittul. Not only bittul hayesh, but also bittul on a further level, such as bittul b’metzius, so that they can sense the true oneness of Hashem, sense the truth, the truth, the truth—the bittul before G-dliness—and devote themselves entirely to the Divine intent. And this

26:32 is what is explained about a chossid. A chossid is one who acts with kindness toward his Maker, toward His dwelling. He sets himself completely aside, [unclear]. He sets himself completely aside and acts with kindness toward his Maker, toward His dwelling. He devotes himself to the Divine intent. He devotes himself to the Divine intent that “Hakadosh Boruch Hu desired a dwelling for Himself in the lower realms.” And as the Rebbe Rashab said, from 19 Kislev—the Alter Rebbe’s Geulah, with which the time began for the fulfillment of the promise “your wellsprings will spread outward”—every single person, every single person, every single person who has a connection to Chassidus has the mission and the work of “your wellsprings will spread outward”: to devote himself to the Divine intent, to make the world a dwelling for Hashem, and to spread the light of Chassidus, the true oneness of Hashem that Chassidus revealed. This is the preparation for the true oneness of Hashem that will be revealed speedily in our days, amen, in the true and complete Geulah, in the days of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. Then, too, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea,” and “the glory of Hashem will be revealed, and all flesh together will see that the mouth of Hashem has spoken.” Then what is explained in the parsha will also be fulfilled: “I have acquired oxen and donkeys”—the donkey refers to King Moshiach. To transform the material, to transform physicality, and make of it “the donkey refers to King Moshiach,” so that this physical world will be a dwelling for Hashem, and the light

28:06 of G-dliness, the revelation of G-dliness, will be here in the world with even greater intensity. May we indeed merit to see eye to eye [unclear], so that this will be for each and every person, for every Jew [unclear]. This comes through the study of Chassidus and the ways of Chassidus [unclear].