Parshas Yisro - "Vayedaber Elokim... Leimor" - For Whom Is This "Leimor"? - Rabbi Asher Perkash

00:00 I heard this from a chossid, Reb Pesach Kap. He was one of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s chassidim in Leningrad, back in Russia, and was one of his chozrim—those who would repeat his maamarim. The Frierdiker Rebbe lived in Leningrad from 5684 to 5687, before the events connected with 12 Tammuz. Reb Pesach was then a student at Tiferes Temimim, and was among the chozrim who would repeat the maamarim. When the Rebbe delivered a maamar, they would listen, take it in, and then repeat it. This was how the review worked with the Frierdiker Rebbe: on Sunday, the chozrim—there were several of them—would go in to the Rebbe and repeat the maamar. The Rebbe would correct the places where they had made mistakes and explain what needed explaining. That was the procedure. Once, something interesting happened. It was Purim 5686. There was a farbrengen during the Purim meal. On Purim, the Rebbe would deliver the maamar during the meal itself, and afterward there would be another farbrengen. That Purim, some great chassidim came: the chossid Reb Itche the Masmid and the chossid Reb Zalman Moshe, known as Reb Zalman Moshe Nevler.

02:01 And other great chassidim were there, including Reb Meir Simcha. They had begun farbrenging during the day and, of course, on Purim they said l’chaim without the usual limits. They lost track of the time, and by the time they arrived at the farbrengen it was already late: the Frierdiker Rebbe had finished delivering the Purim maamar. Reb Itche the Masmid began to cry and said, “We come to the Rebbe to hear Chassidus, and we missed the maamar.” The Frierdiker Rebbe promised him that the next day he would deliver the maamar again for those who had not been there. The following day, the chossid Reb Shmuel Levitin, one of the great chassidim, was there, and he went in for yechidus. When the yechidus ended, he told the Frierdiker Rebbe that at yesterday’s farbrengen, the Rebbe had said he would deliver Chassidus again for those who had not been there. The Frierdiker Rebbe told him to call in only those who had not been present for the maamar the day before, and he would deliver Chassidus again. The chozrim and those who had missed the maamar went into the Frierdiker Rebbe’s room, and he delivered the Purim maamar again. And...

03:43 Reb Pesach Kap described how the Rebbe began delivering the maamar with such vitality and enthusiasm, and continued speaking. In the middle of the maamar, the Rashag, Reb Shmuel Gurary, who was the Frierdiker Rebbe’s son-in-law, came in. He said that a telephone call had come from Moscow. At that time there were [unclear] matters in Russia; it was a difficult period under the Communists, and action was needed on many matters, all sorts of things connected with Jewish life in Russia. So he came in to tell the Frierdiker Rebbe that a call had come from Moscow. The Rebbe was in the middle of the maamar and said, “From Gan Eden into the mud.” He got up, of course, and went to answer the phone, because it was an important call. It took time; in those days, making a telephone call was a whole undertaking. A long time passed before they managed to get through. He went out and dealt with what needed attention. The young students remained in the room, waiting. Afterward, the Rebbe returned to the room, sat down again in his holy place, and said, “Nu, back to Gan Eden.” That gives you a sense of what it means to deliver Chassidus, to study Chassidus: when you are engaged in studying Chassidus, you feel that you are

05:28 in the atmosphere of Gan Eden. In the weekly parsha, Parshas Yisro, we have the Ten Commandments, the account of the Giving of the Torah. Before the Ten Commandments, the verse says, “And G-d spoke all these words, saying,” followed by “I am Hashem your G-d”—the Ten Commandments. There is a well-known question the commentators ask: “And G-d spoke all these words, saying”—the word “saying” is not clear here. What does it mean? Usually, when the Torah says “saying,” it means to tell someone else. “And Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu spoke to Moshe so that Moshe would convey the words to the Jewish people. In general, “saying” means passing the words on to someone else. But here, at the Giving of the Torah, when all the Jewish people stood there and Hakadosh Boruch Hu spoke to them all face to face—“Hashem spoke with you”—who was meant to hear the words passed on? And if we explain that “saying” means conveying the words to future generations, another question arises: we know that not only the Jewish people of that generation were present at the Giving of the Torah, but all the Jewish people of every generation. As the Midrashim say, all the Jewish people of every generation stood at the Giving of the Torah; they all heard “I am Hashem your G-d,” the Ten Commandments. So, seemingly, the question comes up again: who were the words meant to be passed on to? There are several explanations of this question. Here we are dealing

07:14 with the Alter Rebbe’s explanation in the maamar “Bachodesh Hashlishi,” on the verse “In the third month” in the weekly parsha. There the Alter Rebbe says that the word “saying” alludes to what was new at the Giving of the Torah, in the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. For there is the well-known question the Alter Rebbe asks: What was new about the Torah given at the Giving of the Torah? Seemingly, the Torah existed even before then. “And Avraham was old, advanced in years”—as the Midrash says, Avraham the elder sat in a yeshivah. “A yeshivah never ceased among our forefathers.” And the Gemara says in Kiddushin: “Avraham our father observed the entire Torah before it was given.” That is with regard to Torah study. And not only Torah study—the observance of the Torah, meaning the performance of mitzvos, also existed before the Giving of the Torah. This is the well-known question everyone asks. The Alter Rebbe explains that what was new at the Giving of the Torah is alluded to here in the word “saying.” It means that the Giving of the Torah brought something new to Torah study: when a Jew studies Torah, he repeats the word of Hashem, just as it was spoken at the Giving of the Torah, beginning with “I am Hashem your G-d.” In other words, the Giving of the Torah was not only wisdom, the wisdom of Torah,

08:48 or knowledge of Torah. Rather, the Giving of the Torah was the revelation of “Hashem descended upon Mount Sinai.” It was a revelation of G-dliness, a revelation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, of the level of “Anochi”—“I am Hashem your G-d.” As explained, there are several levels in the three words “Anochi Hashem Elokecha.” “Anochi” refers to Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. “Anochi” is “I am Who I am,” which cannot be alluded to by any letter or even the tip of a letter. “Anochi” is Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself: “Ana nafshi kesavis yehavis”—“I wrote and gave My very self”—as the Gemara says in Shabbos. Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, so to speak, His very Essence and Being, placed Himself into the Torah. “Hashem,” Havayah, refers, both generally and specifically, to the level of sovev kol almin. And “Elokecha” is “your strength and your life,” the level of memalei kol almin. The revelation at the Giving of the Torah was the revelation of “Anochi.” Through “Ana nafshi kesavis yehavis,” Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, so to speak, His very Essence and Being, entered and was enclothed in Havayah, in “Elokecha,” to become “your strength and your life” for a Jew who studies Torah. That was the revelation at the Giving of the Torah, “Hashem descended upon Mount Sinai”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, in His glory and by Himself, descended and revealed Himself to the Jewish people, and “Hashem spoke with you face to face.” And in the Ten Commandments

10:21 Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, so to speak, placed His very Essence and Being. And concerning this, Hakadosh Boruch Hu said: You must know that the Giving of the Torah was not a one-time event, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu said the Ten Commandments once. This is what you must know: “saying”—whenever and wherever a Jew studies Torah, even something that a seasoned student will one day discover, when a Jew sits and studies Torah today, the verse says “saying” about that: he is, so to speak, repeating the words of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. When I study Torah now, at this very moment, that is, so to speak, “saying”: he is saying the words as they were spoken in the Ten Commandments by Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. It is happening again right now. For the Gemara says: “Whoever reads and studies, Hakadosh Boruch Hu reads and studies opposite him.” When a Jew studies Torah now, Hakadosh Boruch Hu reads and studies. Hakadosh Boruch Hu repeats the words; Hakadosh Boruch Hu says them; Hakadosh Boruch Hu speaks as the Jew speaks now. “Reads” refers to the Written Torah, and “studies” refers to Mishnah, the Oral Torah. When a Jew studies a verse of Torah, when a Jew studies the Oral Torah—reads and studies—Hakadosh Boruch Hu reads and studies opposite him. Right now, the very same Hakadosh Boruch Hu who revealed Himself at the Giving of the Torah,

11:46 “Reads and studies opposite him”—He is learning these very words, saying these very words right now, at this very moment. And so the Gemara says: “Just as there,” at the Giving of the Torah, “just as there it was with awe and fear, trembling and quaking, so too here it must be with awe and fear, trembling and quaking.” Just as at the Giving of the Torah “all the people saw the sounds” and “the people saw and trembled,” and when the revelation at the Giving of the Torah took place, [unclear], “its smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace.” “With awe and fear, trembling and quaking”—these are four expressions. The Arizal explains that they correspond to the four letters of the name Havayah. So too here: when a Jew learns Torah today, the learning is with awe and fear, trembling and quaking—with the same self-nullification, the same profound response, the same awe and fear that were present at the Giving of the Torah. This is what the Alter Rebbe explains about the verse, “And My words that I have placed in your mouth.” It says there: “They shall not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your children’s children, from now and forever.” “And My words that I have placed in your mouth.” The meaning is that these are “My words,” literally Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s own words, “that I have placed in your mouth.” In other words, when a Jew sits and recites the letters of the Torah, or studies the Oral Torah, studies Torah, these are “My words,” literally Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s own words, “that I have placed in your mouth”—clothed in the person’s mouth, in his speech. As he says there: “Let my tongue speak Your word.” He says, he says

13:25 in a verse in Tehillim. In other words, my tongue, my words, are “Your word.” They are Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s words passing through a person’s speech. Along these lines, the Alter Rebbe explains the expression the Gemara commonly uses: “Itmar.” The word “itmar” does not mean “they learned,” but “it was said”—as though it were said on its own. And this is the nature of Torah study in the manner of “itmar”: the Tannaim and Amoraim studied in such a way that their profound self-nullification was evident and palpable in their learning. They learned Torah with such immense self-nullification that it was as though the words were being said on their own; they did not feel their own independent existence in their learning. Rather, it was, as it were, “itmar”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s speech being spoken again through their mouths. This is what was introduced at the Giving of the Torah. This is the meaning of the words: “And G-d spoke all these words, saying.” When Hakadosh Boruch Hu spoke the Ten Commandments, He spoke them in a way of “saying.” The word “saying” here includes two interdependent ideas. One meaning of “And G-d spoke all these words, saying” is that when a Jew learns Torah, the “saying” means that Hakadosh Boruch Hu learns Torah: “Whenever one reads and studies, Hakadosh Boruch Hu reads and studies opposite him.” When a Jew learns Torah, he learns it in a way of “saying,” so that Hakadosh Boruch Hu

15:04 as it were, repeats His words as He reads and studies opposite him. That is one side. And on the other side, there is “saying to others”: when a Jew learns Torah, it means that he says again, repeats, Hashem’s speech. In other words, it works in both directions. When I learn Torah, at that very moment Hakadosh Boruch Hu, as it were, learns Torah. And when Hakadosh Boruch Hu learns Torah, my speech is no longer my own words, but Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s words, which I repeat: “Let my tongue speak Your word.” They are Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s words passing through my speech. And so the Alter Rebbe says that this is what was introduced at the Giving of the Torah. For the Patriarchs were lofty souls. Avraham Avinu was a lofty soul, and likewise Yitzchak and Yaakov were a chariot for G-dliness. Their souls were lofty souls, and their bodies too—the body was entirely a chariot, completely devoted. “They themselves were the chariot” for the supernal will throughout their lives. Their entire existence was utterly nullified to Hakadosh Boruch Hu in carrying out the supernal will. So every movement, every action, every word and every thought were entirely devoted to G-dliness. But that was the level of the Patriarchs. People like us, however—a simple Jew whose body and animal soul are in Egypt, in the confines and limitations of the body and animal soul—

16:43 do not have the strength to break out of our own limitations and boundaries. As the Rebbe explains, even if he says “Shema Yisroel” and contemplates the fact that “there is nothing besides Him,” contemplates that everything is G-dliness and nothing exists apart from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, nevertheless, for all that contemplation, he cannot uproot himself and escape his own limitations and boundaries, because of the limitations of the body and animal soul. He remains within his own feelings and within a physical conception of holiness, [unclear]. What was introduced at the Giving of the Torah is that there it was said, “I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu, as it were, revealed Himself in the simple words spoken at the Giving of the Torah, in the Ten Commandments, so that every Jew, even a simple Jew, at every time and in every place and in any situation—wherever he goes and wherever he stands—when he says the words of Hashem, words of Torah, the words of Torah and prayer, this is “I am Hashem your G-d”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, as it were, speaks through his mouth. And consequently this gives him the strength of “Who brought you out of the land of Egypt”—to leave his own confines and limitations and unite, as it were, with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is what was introduced at the Giving of the Torah: the idea of “saying.” There is a very long letter from the Rebbe concerning a subject often discussed in Chassidus—the concept of tzimtzum. The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya, in Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, that tzimtzum is not to be understood literally. And this question of tzimtzum not being literal is

18:25 the whole issue that arose then [unclear] Chassidus. They were discussing the Kabbalists who interpreted the whole secret of tzimtzum in the Arizal’s Kabbalah. The Arizal says that at the creation of the world, the infinite light filled all existence. Then came the tzimtzum, and an empty space and vacant place came into being. After that came the order of the creation of the worlds. Some Kabbalists interpreted the tzimtzum literally, G-d forbid. In response came the entire revelation of the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid of Mezritch, and the Alter Rebbe, who explains in chapter 7 of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah the whole idea that tzimtzum is not literal: in truth, there was no tzimtzum, and the infinite light is here below exactly as it was before the tzimtzum. From the perspective of the light, there is no change at all. All the change being discussed, the idea that “an empty space and vacant place came into being,” is only with respect to those receiving the light, and so on. The Rebbe exchanged letters with one of the chassidim living in England. At the time there was a well-known Torah scholar from [unclear] named Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, author of Michtav MeEliyahu. He was then studying Chassidus with Rabbi [unclear], who was in England at the time. They discussed the whole question of tzimtzum and all the different views on it.

20:04 In the maamar. There was an extended discussion of what exactly the disagreement was, what the different views were, and what proof there was from the teachings of Chassidus. The Rebbe then wrote a letter. This was before he became Rebbe, before he assumed the leadership. And so the letter arrived, and the Rebbe wrote with extraordinary brilliance about all the views under discussion concerning tzimtzum. And this was Toras Tzaddikim. Several years later, the Rebbe wrote again to that same rabbi, the same Jew with whom he had corresponded. The letter was written by a chossid, Reb [unclear], who lived in England. He was later in America, in contact with the Rebbe, and they corresponded about this subject as well. The Rebbe writes to him about this and says: [unclear]. When the Jewish people stood at the Giving of the Torah, “Hashem spoke with you face to face”—that very level of infinity, that very aspect of infinity that we say existed before the space was filled: Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, He and His name alone, before the tzimtzum. The Alter Rebbe says that the entire tzimtzum is only from our perspective.

21:35 But from the perspective of the Infinite, He is present below exactly as He is above, precisely as He was before the worlds were created. And that revelation was openly present at the Giving of the Torah. “I am Hashem your G-d” was a revelation of His very Essence. The revelation of the Infinite as it was before the tzimtzum was revealed to the Jewish people in a way that they saw it: “Hashem spoke with you face to face.” The Alter Rebbe comes and says that this is what you must know: when you learn Torah, it is that same Torah, that same Infinite that was before the worlds were created, and that same revelation of the Essence that was present at the Giving of the Torah. That same luminary, that same reality—the luminary together with the light of the Essence of the blessed Infinite—is present face to face when a Jew learns Torah. He stands before Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the most literal sense. And what state of mind, what trembling and what self-nullification we must have when we learn Torah in the face of this reality. And when we say this, when we reflect on it, the Rebbe writes that, with all this, it should lift a person out of all his worries and all his obstacles, concealments and veils, and enable him to learn Torah with the greatest vitality and the greatest enthusiasm. This is what we learn from “And G-d spoke all these words, saying.” And to this another interpretation is added,

23:02 This is based on the teaching of the Maggid of Mezritch in his explanation of the word “saying.” The Maggid of Mezritch offers a third, additional interpretation of “saying.” He says that “spoke” refers to speech—to the Ten Commandments—while “saying” refers to the Ten Utterances with which the world was created. The meaning of “And G-d spoke all these words, saying” is that the Ten Commandments must be revealed and drawn into the Ten Utterances. In other words, Torah study must have an effect on the world: the Ten Commandments must affect the Ten Utterances. A person must draw down and reveal the G-dly light that shines in the Torah so that it shines in the world as well. The light of Torah should illuminate the entire world. He says that this is also the meaning of the verse, in other words: “Ten, ten was the spoon, by the holy shekel.” One “ten” refers to the Ten Commandments; the other refers to the Ten Utterances—“the spoon, by the holy shekel.” When a Jew studies Torah, the Ten Commandments must permeate the Ten Utterances. And as the Rebbe explains in the maamar, this calls for work on a person’s part: his Torah study must permeate his entire day and everything he does. It should not be like those people who, when they study Torah, study Torah with

24:34 [unclear] while they are studying Torah, but when they go out into the world and attend to their activities, they are occupied with their personal concerns, with business or with eating and drinking. Then they become disconnected from their Torah study. About this we say, “And G-d spoke all these words, saying”: the “saying”—the bittul and the G-dliness he has while studying Torah—must be carried into worldly matters as well. When he eats and drinks, and when he goes about his business, he should sense G-dliness in everything he does. He should be, in the familiar expression, “master over his possessions.” That is, he should be in command of the things of this world, of his material possessions. Because when a person sees the world as a complete reality in its own right, he is impressed by it and intimidated by it. When he encounters worldly matters, what concerns him is: What does the world say about this? What will people in the world say about it? Instead, in all his affairs, all his business and everything he says, his outlook should be shaped by Torah, by G-dliness. Torah should illuminate everything he does in the world, so that for him there is only one reality. When he goes out into the world, it is a world of G-dliness to him. What Chassidus says and what the Torah says—that is his concern, his reality, throughout the entire day. To sum up, these are

26:00 the three aspects expressed in “And G-d spoke all these words, saying.” [unclear] At the Giving of the Torah, the concept of “saying” was introduced in three respects. When a Jew studies Torah, he does so with utter bittul, sensing that “Hakadosh Boruch Hu reads and studies along with him”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself is present in his Torah study. As a result, when he studies Torah, it is not he who speaks its words; rather, the word of Hashem speaks through his mouth. This is the second aspect of “saying”: what I say is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu says. And the speech of Hakadosh Boruch Hu becomes my speech, so that they become kula chad, one and the same. Then he must carry this “saying” into the Ten Utterances as well. When he enters the affairs of this world, its material matters—business, earning a living, eating and drinking—should be illuminated and permeated with G-dliness. Then the entire world becomes a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed. G-dliness is drawn into the world, making it a G-dly world, a world of Torah. And this is the idea of [unclear], which will be revealed in the future, when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.” Amen, may it be His will.