"And all the flocks would gather there" - Serving Hashem With All the Character Traits - Parshas Vayeitzei

00:00 I heard a story from a chossid named Reb Tzidkiya Liberow. He was one of the early Temimim at Tomchei Temimim in Lubavitch. After World War II, he left Russia. He was a shliach of the Rebbe in Morocco, and toward the end of his life he lived in Belgium. He was one of the great chassidim and raised a large family of chassidim that continues to this day. He related that when he was a student at Tomchei Temimim in Lubavitch, the yeshiva once brought in a new supervisor. His job was to see that the schedule was kept and that the students arrived on time and studied. This supervisor was extremely strict. He was so strict that within a few weeks of arriving at the yeshiva, he sent many students home. His argument was that the yeshiva was meant for students who came to sit and study both the revealed dimension of Torah and Chassidus, to daven, and to conduct themselves properly in every respect, with fear of Heaven and by keeping the schedule. Some students did not do all these things as they should. Some liked to study but did not like to daven properly. Others davened at length but did not study so well. Others studied more of the revealed dimension of Torah and did not study enough Chassidus. Others studied only

01:44 Chassidus and did not study the revealed dimension of Torah properly. There were also students who studied other things and did better in those subjects than in the revealed dimension of Torah. His rule was that a student had to be complete in every respect. If he succeeded in one area but not another, he did not belong in the yeshiva; that was not what a yeshiva was for. So he sent many students home, and this caused an uproar, until the complaints reached the Rebbe Rashab, Rabbi Sholom Dovber. The Rebbe Rashab had founded the yeshiva, and he was the Rebbe at the time. The complaints against the supervisor reached him: he was too strict and had sent so many students away for that reason. When the Rebbe Rashab learned of it, he called the supervisor in and spoke with him. This is what he told him, as Reb Tzidkiya Liberow related it: “I would like every student to be strong in every area.” In other words, the Rebbe Rashab said that he really did want a yeshiva student to be complete in every respect: in the revealed dimension of Torah, in Chassidus, in the service of davening, in fear of Heaven, and in Ahavas Yisroel. He should be complete in every area. But if a student does better in one area than another, that is no reason to expel him. That

03:11 was the instruction, and that was the spirit of it: all those students had to be brought back, and care had to be taken that they would indeed do everything properly. Even so, if someone does better in one area than another, that is no reason to send him away from the yeshiva. He used to say that the students even had an expression: if you want to be a chassidishe student, to be the kind of student you should be, there is the phrase “I would like.” That is, a student needs to know what the Rebbe really wanted: “I would like” him to be strong in every area. And if, after all, he does not succeed in every area but succeeds in only some of them, or in one of them, that is certainly a good thing. Nevertheless, the student should strive to fulfill what the Rebbe said: “I would like.” Ideally, the Rebbe wanted the student to be strong in every area. In today’s parsha, Parshas Vayeitzei, we are told that Yaakov Avinu “left Be’er Sheva and went to Charan.” The first part of the parsha relates everything that happened to Yaakov Avinu when he left Be’er Sheva and went to Charan, and what happened along the way—the whole dream, with all the promises, and so on. And the Torah goes on to tell us, after that entire section [unclear].

04:35 The Torah tells us what happened on the way. It says: “Yaakov lifted his feet and went toward the land of the people of the East.” After all those promises and blessings, Yaakov Avinu went on his way, as Rashi says, with joy and a glad heart. He lifted his feet and went toward the land of the people of the East, toward Charan and the hard work awaiting him there, where he had to carry out everything Yaakov Avinu needed to do in Charan. When he arrived in Charan, the Torah tells a whole story: Yaakov Avinu saw a well in the field, a well of living water, “and a large stone was over the mouth of the well.” There was a large stone over the well. And there he saw “three flocks of sheep”; he found three flocks there. Yaakov Avinu said to the shepherds, the people who were there: “My brothers, where are you from?” Where do you come from? “They said, ‘We are from Charan.’” And he said to them: “The day is still long.” There is still plenty of daylight—what are you doing here? Why are you here? The sheep need to be watered. But there is “a large stone over the mouth of the well,” so they wait

06:09 until all the flocks gather: “All the flocks would gather there,” and all the flocks and all the shepherds would come together, “and they would roll the stone away from the mouth of the well.” They were waiting to remove the stone from the mouth of the well. Then the Torah goes on to tell us that Yaakov Avinu saw that “Rachel was coming with the sheep,” and that stirred something in him [unclear], and he took the stone and removed it from the mouth of the well. As explained in the Midrash, and at greater length in the works of Chassidus, the parsha is an instance of “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for their children,” and it alludes to profound matters connected with the time of exile. As explained in the Midrashim, in the words of our Sages, by the holy Ohr Hachayim, and by other great Torah scholars, the entire account in Parshas Vayeitzei is the story of the soul descending into the world and of Jews living in exile. And the whole matter of “Yaakov left Be’er Sheva and went to Charan,” as the Ohr Hachayim explains, and as the Alter Rebbe explained at length in maamarim, as did other Rebbeim, is that “Yaakov left Be’er Sheva” speaks of the soul’s descent into Charan. Charan alludes to “a place in the world that arouses the wrath of Hashem”: the soul is down here in this physical, material world, which is full of kelipos and the sitra achra, where the wicked prevail—all the more so during the time of exile. It is “a place in the world that arouses the wrath of Hashem,” where the soul finds itself

07:42 in exile, in a place of darkness. That is what the entire story of Yaakov Avinu is about, with all the details of the verses in the parsha: it is also meant to give the soul strength, guidance, and confidence when it descends into the world. And when it finds itself in exile, all the verses of the parsha, with all their promises and blessings, are real blessings and promises that give a Jew strength during exile. So the parsha tells us that Yaakov Avinu arrives in Charan, and what does he see? There is a well in the field, and “a large stone was over the mouth of the well.” How is this explained? The well is a well of living water. It represents Torah, which is compared to water. More broadly, it represents the G-dliness within every Jewish soul: there is a well of living water, and that water—the delight, warmth, and attraction, as in the familiar expression about being drawn to one’s father like water—the water, the love a Jew has for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, is the well of living water. And “a large stone was over the mouth of the well.” The stone alludes to a heart of stone. There is a heart, but there is also a stone: an unfeeling heart. The heart is a heart of stone, as impervious as stone, and that prevents access to the well of living water. It does not allow

09:06 him to have the strength to study Torah, or to feel desire, warmth, and an attraction to Hakadosh Boruch Hu like water. All of it is blocked by that stone. That is what these verses address. There are a number of explanations of this: what the remedy is, what the Torah is saying here, what Yaakov Avinu represents, and what this story means in a person’s inner service of Hashem. There is a maamar of the Tzemach Tzedek in which he writes about the verse quoted here: “And the stone was large over the mouth of the well”; “All the flocks would gather there and roll the stone away from the mouth of the well.” The Tzemach Tzedek relates that he heard this from his grandfather. He writes that when they were in Piena—Piena was the town where the Alter Rebbe stayed at the end of his life. As is well known, the Alter Rebbe fled from Napoleon during Napoleon’s well-known war with Russia. The Alter Rebbe fled then because Napoleon was pursuing him, knowing that the Alter Rebbe opposed him, and so on. There are many stories about this, and there is no time now to tell all their details. As is well known, the Alter Rebbe traveled for several months, deeper into Russia, to be far from Napoleon. Along the way, 25 Teves arrived. It was cold, a very cold winter. Russia is generally cold, and that

10:35 The winter was colder still, and that region was especially bitterly cold. The Alter Rebbe, rachmana litzlan, developed a lung illness then, which left him very weak. One day, on Erev Shabbos Parshas Shemos, his last Erev Shabbos, 22 Teves—the Alter Rebbe passed away after Shabbos, on 24 Teves—when he was very weak, he shared a Torah teaching he had heard from Rabbi Avraham the Malach. As is known, the Alter Rebbe received teachings from him; they were study partners, they learned together, and the Alter Rebbe had a connection with him, and so on. The Alter Rebbe then repeated the teaching he had heard from his study partner, Rabbi Avraham the Malach, son of the Maggid of Mezritch. He related that in earlier times there had been a great war involving Frederick, king of Prussia, called the Seven Years’ War. It was a difficult war, and there was much suffering. Rabbi Avraham the Malach drew a lesson in serving Hashem from that war. He described what happened. Usually, when going to—

12:03 war, you see the opposing army standing before you. Someone directs the battle, positioning one group against another. Usually an army is divided into three parts, three groups, and the other side is also arranged in three parts. Then each group fights the group opposite it. This is similar to what we find with Yaakov Avinu, who divided his people into two camps. Likewise, the usual way of waging war is to form three camps, with each camp fighting the one opposite it. What was Frederick’s clever tactic, which enabled him to wage war and win? He placed three groups against a single group. He called it an attack. When he wanted to attack the enemy, instead of following the usual approach of one group against one group, he took three groups and had all three charge at just one. Three against one could defeat it. They then turned to the second group and the third, and in this way won the war. That is how they ultimately achieved victory. Rabbi Avraham the Malach saw this, or heard about it from [unclear].

13:34 He learned that we must take a lesson in serving Hashem from everything, and he explained its meaning in our service of Hashem. This helps us understand that there is a war in our spiritual service too: the war a Jew wages against the yetzer hara. The G-dly soul stands opposite the animal soul. The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya that the G-dly soul has middos, holy qualities—love of Hashem, awe of Hashem, compassion, and the other holy qualities. The animal soul, the yetzer hara, also has middos. It has all the qualities: “G-d made one opposite the other.” Its qualities are on the opposing side, in kelipah, in negative things. Its love is for harmful desires and negative qualities, for pleasures; its fear is misplaced fears, unhealthy fear, dread of what might happen, [unclear], fears not grounded in faith. Likewise, all the other qualities exist on the opposing side, in undesirable things. So there are middos of holiness and middos on the opposing side. Usually, when a person wants to overcome the yetzer hara, the approach is this: If he finds that the quality of love, the chesed of kelipah, rules over him—that he loves various harmful desires and undesirable things—then by strengthening his love

15:02 in holiness—love of Hashem, Ahavas Yisroel, and love of Torah—holy love grows stronger and defeats the love of the yetzer hara, the love of the opposing side. Likewise, by strengthening his fear of Heaven, he nullifies fear—baseless anxieties and the undesirable fear that comes from kelipah. In this way, each quality overcomes its counterpart. That is the usual approach. But Rabbi Avraham the Malach drew a lesson from what we see in war: Sometimes there is a far more effective way. When one stands against one, it is not certain that he can prevail. The negative love may be so strong that, on the contrary, it swallows up the holy love. So what is the way to attack? To serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu with all three qualities. A person should not think, “I have one quality to contend with, so I’ll use one quality against it.” Rather, he must serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu with all three qualities. At the same time, he must work on love, arousing love of Hashem through the things that awaken it, as explained in Chassidus; he must arouse fear of Heaven within himself and, together with that, arouse compassion within himself, as explained in Chassidus. As

16:21 we also see in the verses, which reflect this analogy. In the very same chapter, there are verses that arouse love of Hashem. At the same time, there are verses that arouse awe of Hashem, and verses that arouse great compassion. This is the service of “and all the flocks gathered there.” Here the Tzemach Tzedek explains the verse describing Yaakov Avinu in the parsha, what the Torah tells us: “And all the flocks gathered there.” How do we get rid of “and the stone was large upon the mouth of the well”—of dullness of mind and dullness of heart, of the stone, the darkness of exile, and all the concealment of exile? The answer is “and all the flocks gathered there.” We must not serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu along only one path. A person has his own nature, the things he loves, and that gives him one path. I serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu in a particular way, but it is my way: I am immersed in it; it excites me. It is what I enjoy. Instead, a person must serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu with all three qualities. At the same time, he must work on these qualities: arouse love of Hashem through the things that awaken it, as explained in Chassidus. He must arouse fear of Heaven within himself and, together with that, arouse compassion within himself, as explained in Chassidus. As we also see in the verses that...

17:34 We see it in the verses. In the very same chapter, there are verses that arouse love of Hashem, while there are also verses that arouse awe of Hashem, and verses that arouse great compassion. How is the service of “and all the flocks gathered there” expressed in this verse? The Tzemach Tzedek explains that what the Torah tells us about Yaakov Avinu in the parsha is an instruction for all generations. How can we get rid of “and the stone was large upon the mouth of the well”—of dullness of mind, dullness of heart, the stone, the darkness of exile, and all the concealment of exile? The answer is “and all the flocks gathered there”: Do not serve Hashem along only one path. King David had his own inclinations, reflected in Tehillim. Elsewhere, [unclear] cites the Midrash that Yaakov recited all of Tehillim; that is what the Midrash says. What is the significance of the fifteen Shir Hamaalos in Tehillim? We can readily understand his reciting all of Tehillim. Yaakov Avinu is in Lavan’s house, a difficult place, with Lavan the Aramean pursuing him and making things hard for him. He is far from his father’s home and is in a place of darkness [unclear]. He needs strength. What strengthened him? Tehillim. Reciting Tehillim is the best source of strength there is. Through Tehillim, Yaakov Avinu [unclear] received vitality and strength. So what is

20:52 the significance here of the fifteen Shir Hamaalos in Tehillim? The Chida explains that the number fifteen has a special connection to Yaakov Avinu. What is the connection between fifteen, the fifteen Shir Hamaalos, and Yaakov Avinu? Sefer Chassidim notes something interesting: For fifteen years, all three of the Patriarchs were together. When you work out the dates, there were fifteen years during which all three lived in this physical world, souls in bodies. How do we arrive at that number? Yaakov Avinu was born when Avraham Avinu was 160 years old. The calculation is very simple: Avraham Avinu fathered Yitzchak at the age of one hundred; Yitzchak fathered Yaakov at the age of sixty, as stated in Parshas Toldos. So when Yaakov Avinu was born, Avraham Avinu was 160. How long did Avraham Avinu live? 175 years. That means there were fifteen years, from 160 to 175, when they lived together. The Chida writes in the name of Sefer Chassidim that for fifteen years the Patriarchs lived together in this physical world, souls in bodies. And on every day of those fifteen years, they studied Torah together for fifteen hours. They studied Torah together for fifteen hours. Why fifteen hours? He explains what they did during the other nine hours and gives two interpretations. Either those nine hours were spent on all their other needs, eating and drinking, and [unclear] they spent the remaining hours on other matters. Or, he says, it was connected to the service of prayer.

22:32 But in any case, they studied Torah for fifteen hours every day, for fifteen years. This is connected with the teaching in Pirkei Avos: “At fifteen, one begins Gemara.” In other words, fifteen is a significant number that we find with the Patriarchs—in their Torah study and in the period when they were together. So when Yaakov Avinu wanted to prepare himself for all the challenges he would face in Lavan’s house, he recited the fifteen Shir Hamaalos. What is the connection? In light of what we discussed earlier from the teachings of the Tzemach Tzedek, it is well understood. As we said, to “roll the stone from the mouth of the well,” one approach alone is not enough; all the approaches must come together. So it was with Yaakov Avinu. In Lavan’s house, facing the challenges Lavan the Aramean placed before him, everything Lavan said to him and confronted him with [unclear]—Yaakov Avinu needed the strength to overcome

24:00 all those challenges. In Lavan’s house, where “the heat consumed me, and the cold by night”—all these verses are in this parsha—he had to remain strong and connected, and build the House of Yaakov, as he did there. His descent to Lavan’s house would then be not merely a descent; on the contrary, it would lead to the greatest ascent: “The man prospered exceedingly,” as the parsha says. This brings us to the fifteen years. What is the significance of fifteen? All these flocks, the fifteen years, the number fifteen. It alludes to the fifteen years when he was together with his father and grandfather and they studied Torah together. That bond with them helped him stand firm, face everything with strength, and overcome every challenge. Even in the darkness of Lavan’s house, this would not be merely a descent. On the contrary, he could accomplish the greatest ascent there. That is Yaakov Avinu: “The man prospered exceedingly.” And this is a lesson for each of us, wherever we may be. To overcome the challenges of galus, when there is “a great stone over the mouth of the well,” when the darkness is doubled and redoubled and we are in the darkness of galus. And not only the usual doubled and redoubled darkness in which we now find ourselves; on the contrary, even today,

25:27 they come by land, sea, and air. We too need all these flocks. This concerns each person individually. After all, we must connect everything to current events and learn something from everything. We see how especially relevant this is in these days, when we are in a time of “trouble for Yaakov.” In Eretz Yisroel especially, a difficult war is being fought, may Hashem have mercy, against our fiercest enemies. One thing we see now in the way the war against our enemies is being conducted—and may it end in these very days, and may there be peace in the land—is something we speak about all the time: the enemy is being fought on every front, by land, sea, and air. In other words, the enemy is attacked from every direction. The point is that from this galus we are discussing, from this “great stone over the mouth of the well”—indeed, from everything in the world, as the Rebbe [unclear] taught—we must learn a lesson in serving Hashem. Now, too, we must act on every [unclear]. People ask: What should we do now so that Moshiach will finally come? What should we do so that there will finally be peace in the world? What should we do so that the war will finally end and salvation and the complete Geulah will come? The answer is: “All the flocks gathered there.”

26:48 We need to sit and learn, we need to daven, we need to give tzedakah, and we need to act [unclear] to bring [unclear] closer to Judaism. All the flocks must gather together—in the air, at sea, and on land. In other words, all the middos—love, awe, and compassion—must be expressed fully, along with all these other things. Then we can accomplish this in the fullest way. The Rebbe once spoke about several very interesting things. We are in the month of Kislev, and this is especially relevant when studying Parshas Vayeitzei during Kislev. Kislev is a chassidic month, associated with the revelation of Chassidus and with 19 Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. Before that come 10 Kislev and 9 Kislev, along with all the great Yom Tov days in Kislev. Here we find something interesting. The Rebbe pointed out that among the early leaders of Chassidus—the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid of Mezritch, and the Alter Rebbe—we find the same span of fifteen years. The Baal Shem Tov passed away in 5520, and the Alter Rebbe was born in 5505. From 5505 to 5520 is exactly fifteen years. Here again we find the number we are discussing: fifteen years. The Rebbe added another explanation: What is the particular significance of fifteen?

28:20 As is known, fifteen corresponds to the letters yud and hei. Those two letters of Hashem’s name have the numerical value of fifteen. Their significance is also known: the Rebbe says in Tanya that yud alludes to chochmah, and hei to binah. Chochmah and binah are associated with Torah study, particularly the study of the inner dimension of Torah. Through Torah study, one can bring all these middos together. By nature, it is difficult for a person, both in relation to himself and to others, to act with both kindness and strength, with both love and awe. A person has his own makeup, his own nature; that is how he is used to serving Hashem. But chochmah and binah—through Torah and the study of its inner dimension, the teachings of Chassidus revealed to us in this month of Kislev—give him the strength to bring things together. That is the advantage of mochin, of intellect: it elevates a person so that he can bring chochmah and binah together, bring kindness and strength together, and unite all the middos. Then “all the flocks gather there,” and through this “they roll the stone from the mouth of the well.” And how should we do this work? It must be in the manner of “Shir Hamaalos,” a song of ascent: “song” means joy. Even in a time of galus, despite the doubled and redoubled darkness and the bitter exile, a Jew is not daunted by galus. Rather,

29:40 as with Rabbi Akiva, as the Gemara relates: Rabbi Akiva saw the destruction and the exile and was joyful, because within the destruction he saw the great ascent that would follow, as the Gemara relates at the end of Makkos. Similarly, Yaakov Avinu recited Shir Hamaalos. It is explained in the sefarim that the letters of “Rabbi Akiva” can be rearranged to spell “Abir Yaakov.” Since Rabbi Akiva had the soul of Yaakov Avinu, we find the same thing with Yaakov Avinu: when he was in the darkness of Lavan’s house, he recited Shir Hamaalos, because he saw the great ascent that would come from that descent. By [unclear] what Yaakov did—bringing things together, uniting all the middos, which is a means to Ahavas Yisroel, to being together and serving Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the manner of “all the flocks gathered there”—and by doing so with joy, may we merit very soon to see the verses of Shir Hamaalos fulfilled. From “I lift my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come?” to the Shir Hamaalos recited at [unclear]: “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of Hashem.’ Our feet stood within your gates, Jerusalem.” May this come with the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, when we will see the Beis Hamikdash, as it says in [unclear], that Avraham and Yaakov Avinu saw all

31:01 three Batei Mikdash. May we merit to see the Third Beis Hamikdash speedily in our days. Amen, may it be His will.