24 Teves - Parshas Shemos: Such a Great G-d in Such a Small Book - the Alter Rebbe and Parshas Shemos

00:00 There is a matter connected with 24 Teves, the yahrzeit of the Alter Rebbe. The stories about the Alter Rebbe are well known. One of his closest friends and companions was Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the holy Berditchever. Both studied under the Maggid of Mezritch and were his students at the same time. The Berditchever was [unclear] of the Alter Rebbe, and they were together. Later, too, they were truly dear friends who remained in very close contact. Many stories describe the relationship between the Alter Rebbe and the holy Berditchever. As is well known, they had a special connection. There were several marriages between the Alter Rebbe’s grandchildren and the Berditchever’s grandchildren, bringing the two tzaddikim together at the weddings. There are a number of stories about this, which we will still see. There is also the well-known letter from the period of the dispute concerning the tzaddikim in Eretz Yisroel, in response to some of the slander being spread at the time. There were supposedly various claims against the Alter Rebbe and against [unclear] Chabad Chassidus. There were a number of claims. As is well known, the Berditchever wrote a letter to

01:44 the tzaddikim, the Maggid’s students, who were in Eretz Yisroel. There we see how he writes about the greatness, preciousness, wonder, and affection that the Maggid of Mezritch had for the Alter Rebbe. As he writes in that letter, it was plain to see that the Maggid of Mezritch had a special affection and esteem for the Alter Rebbe. There is a well-known saying that the Frierdiker Rebbe quotes in one of his sichos. The Berditchever said, “We all ate from the same plate.” He was speaking about his fellow students of the Maggid: We all ate from the same plate, but he, the Litvak—the Alter Rebbe; they used to call him “the Litvak” because he came from the towns of Lithuania—the Litvak, the Alter Rebbe, took the cream. In other words, he took the depth, the inner depth, the cream of the Maggid’s teachings. One story that the Rebbe once told, which can be mentioned in connection with 24 Teves, concerns the time the Alter Rebbe sent the Tanya to be printed. As is well known, the Alter Rebbe also sent it to several of the Maggid’s students. We are familiar, in particular, with the two students of the Maggid who lived in Anipoli: Reb Zusha of Anipoli and Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen. These were two tzaddikim, students of the Maggid, who lived in Anipoli. Anipoli is the town where his holy resting place remains to this day. That is where

03:19 the Maggid of Mezritch’s ohel is. Those two students of the Maggid lived there, and the Alter Rebbe asked them for their approbations. The approbations of Reb Zusha of Anipoli and Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen still appear in the Tanya today. But there is a story the Rebbe once told at a farbrengen: A copy of the Tanya reached the holy Berditchever, and he sat the entire night studying it. There are further details to the story. The Berditchever then said, “It is truly astonishing! How did the author”—he meant the Alter Rebbe—“how did the author put such a great G-d into such a small book?” That was how he expressed his tremendous amazement and joy at the depth of the book: How did he put such a great G-d into such a small book? It is known among chassidim that the Tanya lay on the Berditchever’s table every day. There are a number of stories about this. In connection with this, the Rebbe once spoke at a 24 Teves farbrengen. The Rebbe asked: What does this mean? Does anyone know the meaning of this statement? Surely, the holy Berditchever was not playing with words. It is not merely a turn of phrase. The great book, it’s...

04:59 It is a remarkable expression: “Such a great G-d in such a small book.” The Tanya is a small book, and G-d is great. How did he put Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Who is so great, into this little book? We are talking about tzaddikim, true tzaddikim, great Torah sages. It is hard to say that he said this merely to make a clever remark. We cannot say that. There is certainly depth upon depth in this statement. Here the Rebbe offered a wonderful explanation, prefaced by another point. Concerning 24 Teves: the Alter Rebbe’s passing was on Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Shemos, 24 Teves. As is well known, the Alter Rebbe passed away on Motzaei Shabbos. The Rebbe once discussed this at a farbrengen in a very interesting sicha and explained the apparent difficulty. Regarding Motzaei Shabbos, the Gemara in Kesubos says that if someone dies on Erev Shabbos, it is a good sign for him. He enters Gan Eden immediately; he does not need to go through the entire process. But if someone dies on Motzaei Shabbos, it is not a good sign. Yet we say that the Alter Rebbe passed away on Motzaei Shabbos. What is more, the Tzemach Tzedek wanted to emphasize this and specifically wrote “Motzaei Shabbos,” even though it was already Sunday. What does this mean? The Gemara says that Motzaei Shabbos is not a good sign. The Rebbe gave a wonderful explanation.

06:39 So what is the significance of saying that a tzaddik dies specifically on Erev Shabbos? It means that he enters Gan Eden immediately. If he dies on Motzaei Shabbos, he has to go through the entire process, all its stages and everything involved, throughout the week until he reaches his place of rest. On Erev Shabbos, he enters Gan Eden immediately. That is true of a tzaddik in general. But when we speak of a leader of the Jewish people, a shepherd of the Jewish people—someone who never thought of himself throughout his life, who devoted his heart, soul, and very being to every Jew, and for whom that was his entire purpose—when we speak of a leader who gave himself for the Jewish people, it is exactly the opposite. He is in no hurry to rush to Gan Eden. There will be time for Gan Eden. The first thing he must do is look after his flock and make sure they will be all right. When his soul ascends on high and he leaves his flock behind, G-d forbid—what will become of them? What will happen to them?—the first thing he wants is to make sure that he remains with them, cares for them, and fulfills “I am with him in distress,” seeing to it that all their needs are met in full. Only afterward will he visit Gan Eden. This is the point of the Tzemach Tzedek’s precise wording about his grandfather: for him it was

08:14 specifically on Motzaei Shabbos. But there is something else to understand here: Why do we say “Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Shemos”? The Tzemach Tzedek could have written that it was the eve of Parshas Vaeira. Yet he specifically writes “Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Shemos.” The Alter Rebbe passed away before midnight, and the Tzemach Tzedek writes “at the eleventh hour.” That is, it was at ten at night, eleven, eleven. It was before midnight, and according to halachah, before midnight there is still a connection to Shabbos in various respects, such as Tachanun. As is well known, the radiance of Shabbos is still present until midnight, more so than after midnight. So we can understand why he emphasizes that it was on Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh, connected to Parshas Shemos. But why Parshas Shemos specifically? The question is even stronger: In Parshas Vaeira, the Geulah already begins. In Parshas Vaeira, the momentum and vitality already begin: “I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov as El Shaddai, but by My name Havayah I was not known to them,” and “I will take you out,” “I will save you,” “I will redeem you,” “I will take you,” “I will bring you,” and “You will know that I am Hashem.” In Parshas Vaeira, the light of the Geulah already begins to shine. But Parshas Shemos is a bitter parsha. Parshas Shemos is entirely exile. The Jews descend to Egypt; “Yosef and all his brothers died,” and then “they made them work” begins, and the bitter exile begins. After that, “the Children of Israel groaned because of the labor,” until the end of the parsha: “Let the work be made heavier for the men.” The parsha is full of exile and darkness. Yet it is this parsha that he emphasizes as the time of the Alter Rebbe’s passing: Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Shemos. Now, on the plain level, the Rebbe once explained this connection simply, including its connection to the Alter Rebbe’s passing. For it is well known that

10:26 The Alter Rebbe’s passing was connected with exile—exile within exile. At the time, Napoleon was at war with Russia, and the Alter Rebbe put his life on the line so that Russia would defeat Napoleon. As is known, the Alter Rebbe sent a letter to his student, the chossid Reb Moshe Meisels, telling him that in the coming days there would be a war [unclear]. This was an allusion to his passing, because he wanted Russia to defeat Napoleon, since that would strengthen the Jews spiritually, and so on. There are profound matters involved here. As is known, the Alter Rebbe was forced to flee his home. Napoleon knew that the Alter Rebbe was working through spiritual means to bring about his defeat. [unclear] Napoleon was looking for the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe had to flee, and from Menachem Av 5572 until Kislev 5573, he was on the road, suffering and wandering through the cold of winter. It was a bitter state of exile within exile. And there were other [unclear]. This appears in several stories, certainly well-known and remarkable ones. All of this was part of the Alter Rebbe’s situation, [unclear]. The Alter Rebbe, in particular, became ill from it.

12:07 He caught a chill, and that was the blow, may Hashem protect us, that led to his passing on 24 Teves. So there is an aspect of exile in this, too. Accordingly, on the plain level, the connection between Parshas Shemos and the Alter Rebbe’s passing is that all of this was, in fact, a matter of exile. But of course, as is the way of our Rebbeim, there is another reason, one that becomes apparent when we look a little more deeply into the inner meaning of things. Let us return to what the Rebbe said about the words of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. I will come back to what the holy Berditchever said. He said: “Such a great G-d in such a small book!” What does that mean? Speaking of the Tanya, the Alter Rebbe put such a great G-d into such a small book. We need to understand that. After all, we know what the Alter Rebbe’s principal innovation was, and how he differed, let us say, from the Maggid’s other students. For the Maggid’s other students, the emphasis was on faith. It was the approach of “a tzaddik gives life through his faith”: serving Hashem through faith, through attachment to the tzaddik, faith in the tzaddik, and faith in Hakadosh Boruch Hu that transcends the intellect. The Alter Rebbe came and clothed the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings in the garments of Chochmah, Binah, and Daas. As is known, the Alter Rebbe’s principal innovation was to bring these ideas in. He took the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings. The Baal Shem Tov revealed boundless matters, insights from the Baal Shem Tov’s wisdom. He revealed the true oneness of Hashem. He revealed matters from the inner dimension of Torah, matters concerning the inner dimension of the soul and the inner dimension of Hakadosh

14:06 Boruch Hu. But what the Baal Shem Tov revealed, and afterward the Maggid of Mezritch, was mainly in matters beyond the capacity of vessels, in a way of [unclear]. The Alter Rebbe took the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov and clothed them in an inner vessel of understanding and comprehension, in the intellect of Chochmah, Binah, and Daas, so that the human mind could understand G-dliness. That was the purpose of the Tanya. As is known, the Tanya is called, in the Alter Rebbe’s own words, “The Book of the Beinoni.” The Tanya is the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. That is, the Baal Shem Tov did not write down his teachings; he revealed them orally. The Alter Rebbe took all the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings and put them into letters and words, into the fifty-three chapters of Likkutei Amarim and the twelve chapters of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. There he clothed all the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings, but in language that can be understood and grasped. He conveyed them in the language of the intellect, of Chochmah, Binah, and Daas, with a complete structure and an orderly sequence. That is the Tanya. The Alter Rebbe brings all these matters down into understanding and comprehension, with explanations, analogies, and examples through which the human mind can connect with them. And this is what is meant by “such a great G-d”: the G-dliness the Baal Shem Tov revealed, the boundlessness of G-dliness, its richness, the

15:52 infinity within Jews, within the soul, within Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and within Torah. Yet all of that is brought into a small book, into the measures and limits of the intellect. Why? Because that is the whole point of the true oneness of Hashem: that a person should become a vessel for G-dliness. That was the path the Alter Rebbe wanted: for G-dliness, its infinity and boundlessness, to permeate and descend into the terms of physical reality, into this physical world, into the human mind, into exile within exile, into the world as it exists within its measures and limits. Within all of that, the boundlessness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu should shine, and in every detail of the world one should sense that “there is nothing besides Him.” Some wanted to flee the world, to flee the challenge of a person engaging with this world, entering into it and being immersed in it. And there were students of the Baal Shem Tov who advocated this approach. They took from the teachings of Chassidus this idea of faith and intellect—of going beyond limitations, not being immersed in the world, negating the world—and followed that path. As is known, the Rebbe’s sichos mention chassidim who were called “the tolk chassidim.” That is what they were called back then. What does “tolk” mean? These were chassidim who would make noise in the streets and do all sorts of things to negate this world, without taking the world into account. The Alter Rebbe said of this that it was not the way. “Tolk” is not “tolk.” That was his answer; he

17:26 said: That is not the goal; that is not what the Baal Shem Tov intended. The intention is that Chassidus should come down into the world, into reality, into the intellect and into nature, and there the truth of “there is nothing besides Him” should be felt. This is what it means for the greatest Rebbe to bring himself into such a small world, into such a small book. And this is connected specifically to Parshas Shemos, as the Rebbe emphasized. This is precisely the innovation of Parshas Shemos: Shemos is about measure and limitation—Mitzrayim, straits and boundaries. Yes, we arrive in Mitzrayim. A person’s greatest straits and limitations are in his own intellect. The limits of intellect and understanding—after all, intellect and understanding are lofty things. Understanding, cool-headedness—everyone says you have to know and understand. Intellect. And the Alter Rebbe himself said: Intellect—there is nothing colder than intellect. Intellect measures and limits; it is cold. But that is precisely where the Alter Rebbe introduced something new: he put the greatest G-dliness into this small book, and in the same way brought “there is nothing besides Him” into Mitzrayim, so that the truth of G-dliness would be felt there. This is the precise point the Rebbe makes: the Alter Rebbe’s passing was on Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh of Parshas Shemos. Not on Parshas Shemos—on Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh of Parshas Shemos. In other words, here we emerge from Parshas Shemos. There is Parshas Shemos, there is exile, there is a world, there are measures and limits, there is intellect, there is

18:59 reality, there are boundaries, and there is this world. And it is precisely there that Moshe Rabbeinu comes and illuminates the exile. He brings G-dliness into reality. This is Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh: one can emerge from the exile within the world, but within the world itself, loftiness will be felt; “the truth of Hashem endures forever” will be felt. For that is what “the truth of Hashem endures forever” means: the truth of G-dliness, but within the world. There, the richness, the truth, and the boundlessness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu will be felt. And this is the teaching that, as is known, the Alter Rebbe gave on this matter. Chassidus relates a number of times that the Alter Rebbe spoke about “Yisroel, one nation on earth.” The prayer of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—where is the prayer of Hakadosh Boruch Hu written? “What is written in the tefillin of the Master of the World?” “And who is like Your people Yisroel, one nation on earth?” The Alter Rebbe explains: What does “one” mean? “One nation” means bringing oneness “onto the earth.” The truth of “the truth of Hashem endures forever” should shine within the world. This is the mission of Chabad, of 24 Teves, the mission of the Alter Rebbe. As the Rebbe once [unclear] said about this, the name Schneur Zalman—yes, what [unclear] said about the Alter Rebbe in a letter he wrote—the point of “Zalman” is that its letters spell “into time.” “Schneur” is the revelation of the Alter Rebbe’s Torah. He taught us Chassidus, Tanya, Shulchan Aruch; the Alter Rebbe had “two lights.” But the letters of “Zalman” spell “into time”: the Shechinah [unclear] into time.

20:32 The “lazman,” the “Zalman”—the idea of measure and limitation within time. And this is the central innovation of ruach hakodesh in Chabad: within time, within space, within the intellect, within the world, within exile—precisely there, the truth of the infinite will be heard. And since this is the true point, when 24 Teves arrives, the main way to study the Alter Rebbe’s Chassidus is to study it so that our minds are entirely immersed in G-dliness. This is the [unclear]: that the greatest G-d should descend into the small book, into our small human minds, into the world of [unclear]. And through this we prepare for the promise, “As in the days of your exodus from Egypt, I will show him wonders,” to be fulfilled, and may we merit the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu.