Parshas Pinchas - How should one prepare for the Geulah

00:01 It is also known from the words of the holy Shelah that the weekly parshas always have a special connection to the time when they are read. Since a parsha falls at a particular time, and that time includes days of special significance, the parsha contains themes that express what that time is about. In other words, when we look at the days we are in now—the Three Weeks, Bein Hametzarim—the parsha we read during the Three Weeks is connected to this time as well. We are in Bein Hametzarim, a time of mourning over the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, but it is also connected with longing, anticipation, and hope for the true and complete Geulah, may it come soon. We find this especially in the Three Weeks. The parshas we read are Pinchas, Matos, Masei, and Devarim, and they all deal with how the Jewish people prepared to enter the Land of Israel. And it is precisely during the Three Weeks that we think about how we were driven from the Land of Israel, beginning on 17 Tammuz, when the city walls were breached, through the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash on 9 Menachem Av. And during the Three Weeks, precisely at that time,

01:32 we read in all these parshas about how the Jewish people prepared. As Rashi says, Parshas Pinchas speaks again about the census of the Jewish people, about how the Jewish people remained whole, and “You who cleave to Hashem your G-d are all alive today,” and about the Jewish people entering the Land of Israel. It is interesting: precisely in the weeks when we need to strengthen ourselves, we read the parshas that give us that strength and tell how the first redemption took place, when the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel. And so we think about the division of the Land of Israel among the tribes, and may we merit this soon in our days: that all of us enter the Land of Israel whole—“You who cleave to Hashem your G-d are all alive today.” May we merit to be throughout the Land of Israel, with all the tribes, “all its inhabitants dwelling in it,” and be able to fulfill all the mitzvos in their entirety, as the Rambam writes at the end of Hilchos Melachim. We will discuss one of the points in the weekly parsha: “Only by lot shall the land be divided”—the division of the Land of Israel by lottery. And this, of course, shows how everything comes about through the providence of

02:59 We can learn from the division of the Land of Israel in Parshas Pinchas a lesson and a directive for our times: how we prepare for the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach. That is what we will discuss, mainly based on a farbrengen and a point the Rebbe made on Shabbos Parshas Pinchas in 5751. It was a very warm and impassioned farbrengen, in which the Rebbe also spoke about this point in the weekly parsha and how it relates to the avodah of each of us today, particularly at this time, when we are in the final days before the true and complete Geulah. In the parsha we find the whole matter of the lottery, about which the Torah tells us: “Only by lot shall the land be divided.” This is one of the preparations that still remain. The Rebbe speaks about it and explains how we need to prepare. The lottery determined what each person would receive—what portion of the Land of Israel, down to every detail. The whole matter of the lottery, the division of the land among the tribes down to its smallest details, is our final preparation. After that, we enter

04:23 the Land of Israel and receive the land. So now is the time of [unclear], and in general we are in the footsteps of Moshiach. The time of exile is the time of preparation leading to the true and complete Geulah. From the parsha, from the way the division was carried out, we can learn a lesson: what our preparation for the true and complete Geulah needs to be. I want to tell a story here, beginning with a story about the Alter Rebbe and his daughter. It is known that in 5552 there was a great accusation in Heaven. Several sichos of the Rebbe and of our earlier Rebbeim recount that there was a great accusation against Chassidus. The accusation was so severe that it was even decided in Heaven to take the Alter Rebbe from this world. It is known that matters reached that point, and the Alter Rebbe’s daughter, Rebbetzin Devorah Leah, sacrificed herself and gave her life to save her father. A person cannot simply do such a thing: she indeed passed away immediately after Rosh Hashanah of 5553, and the Alter Rebbe continued his leadership for another twenty-seven years. And this was

06:00 a remarkable story, told in greater detail, which the Rebbe discussed and recounted in his sichos and writings. But one of the stories told is that at that time, to arouse abundant mercy—the Alter Rebbe saw that there was a great accusation in Heaven, and it was a very difficult period—he once sent some of his chassidim to seek out several disciples of the Baal Shem Tov and of the Maggid of Mezritch, so that they would arouse abundant mercy for all these matters, for Chassidus in general and for the Alter Rebbe in particular. Among others, several emissaries traveled to Chernobyl to meet with Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl and ask him to arouse abundant mercy for the Alter Rebbe. The story is known: they arrived before Rosh Hashanah and stayed for Rosh Hashanah. That Rosh Hashanah, something happened as the tzaddik sat at his table for the Rosh Hashanah meal. He sat at the table, with all the chassidim around him. Two or three of the Alter Rebbe’s students were there as well. Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl’s usual practice was not to speak much; he would speak briefly, or not say any

07:38 words of Torah at all. Only from time to time would he speak briefly. That Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl said words of Torah, and among them he said that the Geulah would come that year, that Moshiach would come. When everyone heard his words, there was great joy and excitement. Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl turned to the students, the chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, and asked them, “Did you hear what I said?” They answered, “Yes, we heard.” He said to them, “You, too, will be part of the Geulah.” Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl asked them, “And what does your Rebbe say?” They answered that when Moshiach comes, things will be good. In the meantime, we have work to do. Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl turned to his chassidim and said, “Learn from what he said.” How can it be that I come and say that Moshiach is about to come, and it puts you in high spirits, and you are also very [unclear] and happy; but he, when he hears that Moshiach is about to come immediately, and that he too will be there, says, “When he comes, things will be good. But in the meantime, we have work to do.” At every moment we must act and prepare, so that each person will be ready for the Geulah. And that is one of the points: a person needs to prepare himself, so that—

09:11 We learn this from the parsha, from the account in our parsha now. When we look closely at the details of the parsha and the account, a question arises: the sole purpose of the lottery was to find out each person’s portion and where his place would be in the Land of Israel. Yet the Torah tells us, as Rashi explains, that there were details upon details. That is, the entire division of the Land of Israel was carried out in two ways: by lottery and through ruach hakodesh. Rashi relates that ruach hakodesh declared who would receive what, and where. There was also “For the larger tribe you shall increase its inheritance, and for the smaller tribe you shall decrease its inheritance.” That is a division based on reason, with each receiving what was due to him. And there were miraculous elements, extraordinary things, culminating in the great miracle of the lot itself proclaiming, “I—this portion of this land—belong to this tribe and this family.” Here a simple question arises: it is known that Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not perform miracles for no reason. The Rebbe says, “Miracles for nothing”—he cites this from Rosh Hashanah—

10:38 and all the more so in light of the principle that “the person for whom a miracle is performed does not recognize his miracle.” When Hakadosh Boruch Hu performs a miracle, He does not perform miracles for no reason, as the Rebbe says. So what is the point? Why was this whole miracle necessary, with all the commotion and everything surrounding it? There was the lottery together with ruach hakodesh, and the lot itself made the proclamation. From that alone, it would have been possible to know everything—what each person received. Why does the Torah tell us all this in such detail, that it happened in such an extraordinary and holy way, with open miracles? Rather, the Torah wants to show us a lesson in serving Hashem. For this relates to the Land of Israel, and particularly to the first entry into the land, and it also relates to the avodah of a Jew in general. There is a story the Rebbe tells at a Yom Tov farbrengen, on Shabbos Parshas Pinchas, 5721. The story is well known: a chossid in the time of the Tzemach Tzedek wanted to move to the Land of Israel. He wanted to leave Russia and travel to the Land of Israel.

11:59 He came to the Tzemach Tzedek to ask for a blessing that he be able to go to Eretz Yisroel. As is well known, the Tzemach Tzedek said to him then, “Why do you need to travel to Eretz Yisroel?” This is also related in another version. [unclear] that the Tzemach Tzedek also said it this way: “Make Eretz Yisroel here.” What does “Make Eretz Yisroel here” mean? Eretz Yisroel is Eretz Yisroel—the land that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us, and Moshiach will come; “A land that Hashem your G-d watches over; the eyes of Hashem your G-d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” What does “Make Eretz Yisroel here” mean? Well, as explained in Chassidus, it means that the work of Jews during galus is to “make Eretz Yisroel.” This does not refer only to the physical place of Eretz Yisroel. Conquering Eretz Yisroel in spiritual terms means that a Jew takes his home and his body, his physical possessions, his property and his portion of the world, and the place where he finds himself during galus—and makes that place holy. What is the idea of conquering Eretz Yisroel? They took a place that had been associated with the nations, the land of Canaan, and the Jews, by—

13:36 bringing holiness, Yiddishkeit, Torah and mitzvos into it, turned a mundane place, the land of Canaan, into the Holy Land; they brought holiness and spirituality into it. In the same way, during galus, wherever a Jew finds himself, he must make that place holy. When a Jew is wherever he happens to be—in a city, a land, a country, a particular place or at a particular time—he must know what his role is. This is through what the Baal Shem Tov, z”l, says. And what the verse in the Chumash says, [unclear]—it teaches a fundamental principle in Torah: How is [unclear] accomplished? By turning that very place into Eretz Yisroel, making it a place of holiness. In this way, we transform the entire world, so that in the future the Beis Hamikdash will be throughout this physical world. Through this we redeem the entire world, bringing the Geulah, and the holiness of Eretz Yisroel will be present throughout the world. Regarding this work of making Eretz Yisroel, the Torah teaches us a wonderful lesson in Parshas Pinchas: not only about the work itself, but also about preparing for it. What does preparation entail? The preparation for the work must itself be done in a way that brings holiness; the preparation, too, must engage the whole heart and the whole soul. Often, one feels...

15:15 So that is the main thing, while the other thing is a garment for mundane matters. Consequently, when it comes to the main thing, a mitzvah, when I am engaged in the main thing—when Shabbos arrives, when Yom Tov arrives, when it comes to the laws of [unclear], when it comes to davening—when I perform a mitzvah, which is the main thing, I must do it with intention, dedication, connection and devotion. But the matters that are merely garments for it are only temporary, details that are not so important. One might think that the preparation can be rushed through without dwelling on it. The story comes to teach us that when we engage in serving Hashem, even the things that are garments for a mitzvah must be done with full vitality and full strength. For example, the Rebbe relates a wonderful story about a farbrengen. It happened at a farbrengen of the Rebbe Rashab on 19 Kislev 5674. Every 19 Kislev, the Rebbe Rashab would hold a large farbrengen in Lubavitch, with great joy. There was a great [unclear] as part of this practice. On 19 Kislev there was a large farbrengen, and the Rebbe Rashab was there with all the Temimim, the yeshiva students. Everyone sat around the Rebbe, and the Rebbe Rashab sat at the farbrengen. The practice at the farbrengen was to sing niggunim, and the Rebbe would deliver several sichos and sometimes speak about the order of things.

16:51 And so on—that was how things went. The students and chassidim at the farbrengen were very curious. They had a strong desire, a great longing, to hear what the Rebbe would speak about and what the Rebbe would say. Because they were so eager to hear, they sang the niggun a little quickly. They wanted to finish singing it so they could hear what the Rebbe would say next. The Rebbe Rashab noticed that they were singing the niggun a little too quickly, and addressed the matter in an entire sicha. The sicha at that time was about preparation. The Rebbe Rashab said: As chassidim have said, a chossid is a pnimi. What does pnimi mean? A pnimi is someone who does everything with inward commitment. That is, he is completely immersed in whatever he is doing. Even when it is not yet the thing itself but only the preparation, he puts his whole soul into it. That is what a pnimi means. By contrast, there is a chitzoni. We see that there are pnimiyim and chitzonim, and some people think this simply means that a chitzoni is someone who—

18:20 does things so others will look and see. He does things for show; in other words, he does not really do them with the right intentions. He does them not for their own sake, but because he wants others to see him: to see how he davens and how he learns. A pnimi is someone who does these things with genuine intentions. But the Rebbe Rashab says there is a deeper meaning as well: the distinction between a pnimi and a chitzoni can apply even when one is engaged in work that is only a preparation for something else, before reaching the main thing. What the person is doing now—singing a niggun in preparation, preparing to daven, preparing to learn, preparing for a mitzvah, preparing for Shabbos—one might think it is only preparation. So he will want to get through it quickly; he will not invest in it or immerse himself in it, because he already wants to reach the main thing. Of such a person we say: that is a chitzoni. A pnimi, even when singing a niggun that is only preparation, meant to enable him to hear and connect with what he will hear afterward—even now, while singing the niggun, he is fully immersed in it, with all his vitality. He sings it phrase by phrase, through its different passages, [unclear]. He is present within the niggun itself, and into it—

19:40 he puts his whole soul. The same applies to every aspect of serving Hashem: when engaged in preparation, one must be fully immersed in it, with all one’s vitality. The Rebbe Rashab concluded: When a pnimi is completely immersed in the preparation, then, when he reaches the main thing, he will be a pnimi there too and will be completely immersed in it. Otherwise, if he sees the preparation merely as an obligation and is focused only on what comes afterward—[unclear] with every mitzvah, constantly thinking about the next thing; when it arrives, the acceptance arrives, [unclear]—one cannot truly be connected to, devoted to and immersed in what one is doing. This applies to our service in general. The Rebbe spoke then at the Parshas Pinchas farbrengen and said that the same applies to our service as a whole: while we are still in galus, this time too is a preparation for the time of the Geulah. After all, what a Jew is chiefly waiting for is “I await him every day, that he should come”—the anticipation of the complete Geulah. And we know that then will come the main thing: Moshiach will come, and then, as we say in Musaf, “We will perform before You the mitzvos of Your will.” Then we will fulfill the mitzvos of Your will, and our service will be complete. As the Rambam writes at the end of Hilchos Melachim, in those days—

21:06 “there will be neither famine nor war, neither envy nor competition,” and “the occupation of the entire world will be solely to know Hashem.” Then will come the main thing—serving Hashem in absolute perfection. Our work now is, in effect, only preparation. A Jew stands and waits for Moshiach to come at any moment, but meanwhile, until Moshiach comes, this is seemingly only preparation. One might therefore think it is not so important, since it is not yet the ultimate perfection. What must we do? Put the greatest possible vitality into this work. Although we are already thinking about when the Geulah will come and what things will be like when Moshiach comes, in the meantime we must do the work [unclear]. This is what the phrase “But the land shall be divided by lot” comes to teach us. It is exactly the same idea. After all, the lottery was only a preparation; the main thing was the conquest of Eretz Yisroel. [unclear] The lottery was only a preparation. From this the parsha teaches us that when Moshe Rabbeinu comes and calls on Elazar the Kohen [unclear] to prepare for the conquest of Eretz Yisroel, it must be done with all three garments—thought, speech and action. This includes the thought involved in the lottery, the thought of ruach hakodesh, and thought about all the intentions; the ruach hakodesh that [unclear] in the lottery, and the intentions required on the part of [unclear].

22:35 And if it leads him to thoughts and intentions, he needs to work on refining his intentions. The same applies to the deeper aspect of speech, [unclear], when the spirit finds expression in speech, and likewise in action. After that, it enters into every detail: the notes, the schedules, everything involved, the commentator and the speaker. It determines how things will work out in practice. In other words, the whole matter is one of preparation—preparation undertaken with all one’s strength, with all one’s faculties, with all the garments of the soul, with every detail of thought, speech, and action. From this we also understand how to serve Hashem in our time. A Jew knows and believes, with complete faith, [unclear], that in another minute, or another three minutes, the true and complete Geulah will come. But meanwhile, we are still in exile. Even one second from now, a Jew will still be in exile; right now is still a time of exile. So the work must be done with total dedication, with all the enthusiasm and vitality one can muster, in this place and at this time. In other words, a person should not think: Yes, I am in one particular part of the world, among certain people, at one particular moment in

23:55 the world. What will happen if I don’t do my work so well? After all, we are already waiting for Moshiach. I’ll do one mitzvah, one task, at the [unclear]. But I am in a particular place right now, at a particular moment when nothing seems to help. What can I accomplish? When Moshiach comes, far greater things will happen. Yet the work is precisely at this moment and in this place, wherever we find ourselves. At this moment, in this place and at this time, you must put your whole self—your thought, speech, and action—into the work you can do here, with all your vitality and enthusiasm. We see that this is the fullest way to serve, and the way that can bring the true and complete Geulah, because we must be ready for the true and complete Geulah, and we must not [unclear]. The point is especially relevant in the days we are in now. Although, as is said of the Three Weeks, this is a time called [unclear], Bein Hametzarim, Jews still have the longing, the thirst, the yearning for the true and complete Geulah. As we know: “I await him every day, that he should come.” Particularly at this time, that yearning is even greater, even

25:16 greater. We must take the lesson we learn from this: every person should invest all their strength and do their work in that very place, at that very moment, at that very time, in that particular detail, with the greatest vitality and enthusiasm. And the point is that this is the best, greatest preparation for the true and complete Geulah. I once saw how we learn this from that farbrengen [unclear]. Yes, or specifically—the detail, the point. There was another farbrengen at which the Rebbe spoke about this, about the lesson from a story involving the Frierdiker Rebbe. For example, the story involved Berel Deutsch and the chossid who was there, as I remember it. The Rebbe told the story at another farbrengen, which was also connected with the Frierdiker Rebbe. I was there with the Rebbe; I think it was in 5747. But another chossid told the story about Berel Deutsch, the chossid, [unclear], and said that they had been together during that incident, at that yechidus. He told it, I think, a few days after that farbrengen. And he explained, for example, that it happened—not after a farbrengen, but at that yechidus, in that incident with the Frierdiker Rebbe. He said that—

26:36 this was—how could it be?—already after 5702. It was wartime, a difficult period. Earlier, when the Frierdiker Rebbe had arrived in America, people had also spoken of this being the time, the time of the end. After 5702, it could already be the time of the end, the Geulah. And they wrote in a letter of the Alter Rebbe—a reply—the Alter Rebbe, Geulah. [unclear] with the Frierdiker Rebbe, speaking about the time of Moshiach. At that time, when the summer of 5702 arrived, a meeting was held with the Frierdiker Rebbe to discuss how to prepare for the coming school year. The Frierdiker Rebbe directed educational institutions throughout America. There was another meeting, attended by chassidim and community activists, and the Rebbe chaired it. At that meeting, one of the chassidim spoke up during the discussion and said this. The Rebbe said there: “Moshiach is coming, and this is our year. Yet here we sit, planning and making calculations, coming up with clever ideas and devising ways to organize the coming school year. And we know that Moshiach is coming any moment now.” They discussed this seriously,

27:57 this very question. The Frierdiker Rebbe put it this way: “If a Jew, a tzaddik, knows that Moshiach will come tomorrow because it was revealed in heaven that Moshiach will come tomorrow, then naturally there should be joy that night. But knowing that Moshiach will come tomorrow, when he goes to sleep that night, does he not recite Krias Shema before bed, take stock of himself, and think about what he needs to do in his service in the days ahead? After all, Moshiach will come tomorrow!” [unclear] The Rebbe told this story and added that the Frierdiker Rebbe said: “What lesson do we learn from this? The Jews are like a mitzvah.” And what was the mitzvah? There were the journeys in the desert. The Torah tells us, “At Hashem’s command they would camp.” That was the order of their journeys: sometimes they traveled and packed everything up. There was “At Hashem’s command they would camp,”

29:25 and “At Hashem’s command they would travel.” Each time they had to pack up and set everything up again. And when they were ready to [unclear], everyone traveled at an easy pace [unclear]. It was possible that they would camp for no more than one day. Setting everything up was no simple matter. It might be for just one day. But whenever they camped—“At Hashem’s command they would camp”—they erected the entire Mishkan and arranged everything down to the smallest detail. They set it all up as though they would remain there day and night, even though they knew they might not stay for more than a day. But the camping was at Hashem’s command, so they set everything up without thinking about any [unclear]. They established their whole presence there, set up the Mishkan, and settled in. And when the command to travel came and they had to move on, at that moment they packed everything up and continued on their journey. That is how the Rebbe himself spoke about the Geulah and Moshiach. When a Jew knows, believes with complete faith, and stands firm in the conviction and trust that Moshiach is coming any moment, that the Geulah is coming any moment, together with the Baal Shem Tov, it does not mean that meanwhile he comes to a halt [unclear]. This is precisely the expression he uses: he takes his place, he prepares, with—

30:46 with whatever it may be, no, as we discussed. He is already happy that Moshiach will come, and meanwhile he does what is good. And at the same time, we know that “I await him every day, that he should come”—this very day. Yet as long as we are in exile, we must do the work fully and prepare, with all the plans and all the planning: what the plan for the time of exile looks like and what we will do. The same applies to tomorrow—if only it would come today—and to what we will do next week and next year. Everything that needs to be prepared now must be done with all [unclear], in the best and finest ways. This is what we learn from Parshas Pinchas, which speaks about Eretz Yisroel. And how do we carry out the work, how do we prepare for Eretz Yisroel? The complete Geulah comes [unclear], through each person making use of every minute, every moment, wherever he is, and doing the work as he should in thought, speech, and action. In this way, we will merit, immediately, soon in our days—and especially in these days—that these days become days of joy and gladness and festive occasions. May we merit the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, and may the Three Weeks—yes, those bitter weeks,

32:01 the Three Weeks—be transformed into three weeks of complete Geulah. May we merit all of Eretz Yisroel, the lands of the seven nations and the ten nations, and may it be fulfilled: “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.”