Parshas Emor - Matzah, the Omer, and the Shtei HaLechem in Avodas Hashem

00:00 There was a chossid named Reb Avraham Wolf Kozhevnikov. He was a chossid of the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Maharash. When he became close to Chassidus, the Tzemach Tzedek sent him to Reb Hillel of Paritch. Reb Hillel was one of the veteran chassidim, from the early years of the Tzemach Tzedek. The Tzemach Tzedek would send young men to study Chassidus with the veteran chassidim. Reb Hillel of Paritch was one of them, and one of the greatest and best-known chassidim of the Tzemach Tzedek’s time. Years later, Reb Avraham Wolf told stories from the period when he became close to Chassidus and stayed with Reb Hillel. He related that Reb Hillel had a set way of guiding young men who were learning to deliver Chassidus themselves. He would teach them niggunim; before delivering Chassidus, there was an entire sequence of niggunim. In addition, every week he would tell a story. Afterward they would farbreng about the story, dwell on it, and learn lessons from it about serving Hashem. Reb Avraham Wolf related that one of Reb Hillel’s stories concerned something that happened when he was a chossid in the early years of the Mitteler Rebbe. This

01:37 It is known that Reb Hillel of Paritch became close to Chassidus during the Alter Rebbe’s lifetime. He very much longed to see the Alter Rebbe, but in fact he never saw him face to face. There are several stories about this, but in any event, Reb Hillel did not meet the Alter Rebbe. After the Alter Rebbe’s passing, some months later, during the Napoleonic War and [unclear], following all those journeys and events, the Mitteler Rebbe traveled to Lubavitch. There he established the foundations for the continuation of Chabad Chassidus. That was the beginning of the town of Lubavitch as the home of Chabad Chassidus, as is well known. This was on Shavuos 5574, a year after the Alter Rebbe’s passing. The Alter Rebbe passed away on 24 Teves 5573, and here we are speaking of Shavuos 5574. By then, the houses and shuls had been built, and even the foundations of the court in Lubavitch had been laid. The Mitteler Rebbe worked hard to establish the foundations of the Lubavitch court. At that time, many chassidim who had been with the Alter Rebbe came to spend that Shavuos with the Rebbe—his son, the Mitteler Rebbe. Reb Hillel related that

03:17 this was his first visit to the Mitteler Rebbe, and he stayed there for that Shavuos. He was there with many of the veteran chassidim who had been with the Alter Rebbe, and they farbrenged throughout Shavuos with the Mitteler Rebbe. As is well known, the Mitteler Rebbe would deliver Chassidus at great length. That was his way of delivering Chassidus: at length, with breadth and depth. During those days of Shavuos, the Mitteler Rebbe delivered a maamar on “And you shall count for yourselves.” In it, he spoke at length about Sefiras HaOmer in spiritual service: what Sefiras HaOmer means, and what “And you shall count for yourselves” means as explained in Chassidus. The foundation of these ideas appears in a maamar of the Alter Rebbe in Torah Or, and the Mitteler Rebbe expanded on them [unclear] for many hours. He certainly spoke about all the middos and sefiros, the seven middos: what does each one mean in serving Hashem? He delivered a rich, lengthy maamar, and the chassidim reviewed it, discussed it enthusiastically, and then sat for hours delving into it. Other maamarim were delivered as well, but this was one of the maamarim Reb Hillel absorbed. And in this maamar itself, when the Mitteler Rebbe

04:44 explained the middos—what does each middah mean in a person’s inner service? What is chessed? What is gevurah? What is tiferes? What is netzach? What is hod? What is yesod? And what is malchus?—he then spoke in greater detail about chessed within chessed, gevurah within chessed, and tiferes within chessed. He spoke about the particulars of the middos as they exist in the animal soul, and how they must be transformed into the particulars of the middos as they exist in the G-dly soul. [unclear] seven weeks, corresponding to the seven middos. Among the matters the Mitteler Rebbe explained when discussing the middos, he came to the middah of chessed. One of his explanations was that chessed is a natural inclination to do good. The middah of chessed—chessed within chessed—means that a person has a geshmak in doing someone a favor. How can one do good? There is a natural inclination for it, but with chessed within chessed, there is a geshmak, pleasure and delight in doing someone a favor. That was one point among many discussed in the maamar, in the Mitteler Rebbe’s words. Reb Hillel related that afterward, when the chassidim sat and farbrenged, there was a great awakening over this entire maamar, and over other maamarim delivered on that Yom Tov, when the Mitteler Rebbe

06:15 the Rebbe spoke Chassidus abundantly. From that emphasis, the chassidim held on to this teaching, which they discussed and farbrenged about as one of the foundations. What is more, when they left Lubavitch and traveled back to their towns, Reb Hillel was in Bobruisk and farbrenged with chassidim there. They sat in the beis midrash and farbrenged. With all the [unclear], they sat and farbrenged, and among the matters they discussed was this verse: to hear it and understand that it has an inner meaning—that chessed means doing someone a favor, while chessed within chessed means taking pleasure in doing that favor. Reb Hillel related that as they sat there farbrenging, one man sat off to the side. This Jew was one of the secluded scholars, a man who kept to himself and studied Torah day and night. He was one of those Jews who would simply [unclear], remaining in the shul from one Shabbos to the next, immersed in Torah and avodah. He was not involved in any of this; he sat alone to the side, occupied with his own affairs. But as the chassidim farbrenged and discussed the subject, [unclear], and it turned out that this man had been listening to what was said at the farbrengen. He heard how they explained chessed within chessed, how excited they were about the idea, and how they discussed it.

07:42 They kept trying to understand it, returning to this verse again and again during the farbrengen and discussing it at length. Then [unclear], suddenly, while they were in the room [unclear], the man got up, approached the table, and said, “I am excited about chessed within chessed. I want to tell you the meaning of chessed within chessed that I received from my rosh yeshivah, my teacher, my rabbi, who taught us what chessed within chessed means.” And he told us what he meant: In the middle of winter, someone comes and knocks on the door. You are at home, and suddenly, in the middle of a winter day, there is a knock at your door. You open it, and there stands a poor man, bruised and battered, with torn clothes and torn shoes. The poor fellow has nothing suitable to wear on his feet, and the cold is getting at him from every direction. You take pity on him and go looking for another pair of shoes, a slightly better pair, to give him. You go to your storeroom, where all the old rags are kept, and find an old pair of shoes you left there.

09:11 A stick. And you give him the pair of shoes—that, too, is chessed. But the shoes really are not in good condition, so you also get him a shoemaker, give him something with which he can repair the shoes you gave him—that is chessed within chessed. Giving him the torn shoes is already chessed, but then providing a shoemaker so he can repair them is a double kindness. That, in the simplest possible terms, is chessed within chessed. And what is the power of this idea? As the Rebbe said, after that [unclear], as they continued to farbreng, and after several more farbrengens, they brought out the derher, the new insight and the central point that Chassidus introduced. To understand the difference between the chessed within chessed described by the Mitteler Rebbe and the understanding of chessed within chessed after Chassidus: it follows that Chassidus can be present in the [unclear]. When you do someone a favor, even if it is an imperfect favor, you are doing him a favor, and that is already chessed. Everyone agrees on that. When you do the favor more completely, that is chessed within chessed. Chassidus comes along and says, “No. Even if you do a favor for a Jew and do it fully—giving him not torn shoes but intact ones, truly giving him what he needs in full—it is still only chessed. The

10:38 Chessed shebechessed means taking pleasure in doing a favor for a Jew. That same act of kindness, giving the shoes, must be done with all one’s pleasure, all one’s vitality, all one’s strength and all one’s enthusiasm. Chessed shebechessed—the pleasure of doing a favor for a Jew.” Sefiras HaOmer appears in today’s weekly parsha, Parshas Emor. First, let’s discuss what today’s parsha says about the days we are now living through, during Sefiras HaOmer. This is the time between Pesach and Shavuos, and it is precisely this time that today’s parsha discusses. What should we learn from it? Let’s discuss the subject as Chassidus explains it. There are three things in today’s parsha that relate to this time, and all three relate to bread. The first is Pesach, about which the Torah says, “For seven days you shall eat matzos.” That is the mitzvah to eat matzos on Pesach. Then it speaks about the counting of the Omer: “On the day after the day of rest”—the day after the first day of Pesach, its second day. The Torah then says that the Omer offering must be brought. This, too, is connected with the subject: they prepare and bring the Omer offering, which then permits eating from the new crop.

12:11 Then there is a third matter: as we said, we count the days from Pesach—“You shall count fifty days”—until we reach Shavuos. There the Torah again speaks about the two loaves. So there are three kinds of bread, at three points in time, connected with this whole period. On Pesach, the bread is matzos. Then comes the Omer, which is also a kind of bread, an Omer of barley; through it, eating the new crop becomes permitted. Then comes Shavuos, and again there is bread—the two loaves. But what is the difference between these three? Matzos are, simply put, wheat bread. What is bread usually made from? Wheat. Matzos are also made from wheat, but they must specifically be matzah. Matzah must be made in a way that [unclear], so that it does not rise, yes, [unclear]. It has to be matzah. That is the defining requirement of matzah, the bread of affliction. Then comes the Omer: the Omer must be specifically from barley, not wheat. This is the Omer offering, brought on the second day of Pesach. And what does the Omer offering accomplish? Once the Omer has been brought, the new crop may be eaten; it permits the new crop throughout the land. That means—

13:54 When people are hungry and want to eat from the new crop throughout the land, they must wait until the second day of Pesach, in Nissan, when the Omer offering is brought. After the Omer has been brought, all the new grain may be eaten, but for offerings to Hashem in the Beis Hamikdash, even on the altar—not yet. In other words, offerings on the altar, meal offerings and all such things, still cannot come from the new crop; they must come from the old crop. Then comes Shavuos. On Shavuos, the Torah speaks about the two loaves. The two loaves must once again be made from wheat, not barley—specifically wheat. But on the other hand, they must be chametz. The first two matters are connected with matzah, whereas here it must specifically be chametz. Right? They must be made specifically from wheat, but the wheat must be made into chametz. There must be two loaves, and sheep were offered together with the two loaves. As we said, the two loaves were waved together with the sheep, and this was the Shavuos offering. Now, since the Torah is eternal, and the word Torah means “instruction,” the Torah’s laws are not merely laws that were once observed in practice in the Beis Hamikdash. And we hope that speedily in our days, when the Beis Hamikdash is built—as we say in the text of Sefiras HaOmer, “May the Beis Hamikdash be built speedily in our days”—we will once again be able to observe

15:36 the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer and all the laws connected with the giving of the Torah, in every detail. But the Torah also [unclear] teaches us about the work within the human soul. Chassidus comes and explains: What are these three matters within the soul? What is the meaning of matzah—wheat, the bread of affliction? What is the meaning of barley? What is the meaning of the Omer? And what is the meaning of the wheat of Shavuos, which must specifically be made into chametz—the two loaves, together with the sheep? And why does the Omer permit eating throughout the land, but not in the Beis Hamikdash, while the two loaves are the first “new meal offering to Hashem”? From then on, it was possible to bring barley to the Beis Hamikdash as well, onto the altar. What do all these things mean in our avodah, and how are they explained? Chassidus explains that there are three elements in every Jew’s avodah. These are three times, three elements, three stages in serving Hashem. The first thing, the first stage in serving Hashem, is eating matzah. What does eating matzah mean in the work of the human soul? First we’ll say it briefly, in three words, and then explain it in detail. The point of matzah is to strengthen emunah, faith: “the food of faith.” In other words, to bring a person’s faith to shine within him; and for that, it must specifically be matzah, so that the matzah

17:05 will be there. The point of the barley is to work on the character traits of the animal soul. That is the significance of the barley Omer, since barley is animal fodder. Then comes the next matter, the two loaves, which are again specifically connected with wheat, human food. This is the work of sanctifying the body through the power of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Let’s explain this in greater detail. When the Jewish people were in Egypt, they were in a state of utter lowliness. When we look at all the details, we see that the Jewish people were in a state of utter lowliness. They were enslaved in backbreaking labor, in abject poverty and utter degradation—I want to mention that, too. This also brought them to a low spiritual state. They were completely subjugated and neglected, and went through all the troubles, suffering, hardships and everything else they experienced. The Jewish people were utterly broken, not only physically but spiritually as well. It caused them tremendous weakness. And as they descended and fell, the familiar expression is that they fell toward the gates of impurity, almost to the forty-nine gates of impurity, to the very lowest states. But at the same time, they had faith. They had a very simple faith, even if it was deeply hidden; their faith remained intact. [unclear] Moshe Rabbeinu [unclear]. And the Rebbe gave him

18:33 it says: “… each and every day …” And this was the new point: Moshe Rabbeinu saw that “they believed,” but their faith was in a state of smallness—dormant, constricted, in exile. It had no feeling, no direction, no richness. And how is this expressed in serving Hashem? Moshe spoke to them, spoke to the people. The Tzemach Tzedek says: They were immersed in the grime, in the hardships of backbreaking labor and all these things; where would they find the strength? The faith exists, but [unclear]. Faith is in a state of smallness; it does not find expression, it does not have enough expression. In actual practice, the faith does not shine within a person. And this, the Zohar says, is like a king’s son who was ill, G-d forbid, and was also in a state of [unclear]. What does one do? When Pesach came and Hakadosh Boruch Hu told the Jews to eat matzah, eating matzah was meant to bring their faith to life. This is “the food of faith, the food of healing,” as the Zohar says. They ate the matzah, and it strengthened the Jews’ faith and brought healing for all the ailments they had suffered in the darkness of

19:52 the exile in Egypt, awakening and strengthening their faith. Chassidus explains that this is the significance of wheat: “A child does not know how to call ‘Father’ until he tastes grain.” A small child cannot speak. What abilities does he already have? He can walk, he can stand, he sees and hears, but he still cannot speak. The power of speech comes last. And what does the Gemara say—when can a child begin to speak? When he eats grain. As soon as you give him grain, wheat and bread, [unclear] happens within him. He already knew that this was his father; before then, he simply could not say the word “Father.” But he already felt that this was his father. He just did not yet have the power to reveal it, to express it. As soon as he tastes wheat, the wheat brings strength to his daas, his understanding. As explained at length in the maamarim on Pesach, wheat brings daas into faith. That enables him to call out to his father. This was the foundation of faith that the Jews received through eating matzah. And this is wheat bread. Wheat bread represents daas; wheat brings daas into expression. Chassidus explains that the numerical value of the word for wheat is twenty-two, corresponding to the twenty-two letters, as with a child. A child, when

21:22 When we want to teach a child to learn, the first thing we teach him is the alef-beis. The alef-beis is not yet learning; it is just the alef-beis. But it is the foundation: once he understands the alef-beis, he can go on to learn from the siddur, Chumash, Mishnah, Gemara, Chassidus, Kabbalah, and all the deeper subjects. Everything rests on the alef-beis he learned when he first began. It is the same with faith: when a child says “Abba,” he does not yet understand the depth of what a father is—his father’s role, his qualities, what he has and what he gives, and all the details. But he knows that this is his father. That bond is the foundation on which his entire relationship with his father will later be built, a relationship from which he will always learn, all his life. And all this comes from the feeling he received when he first ate bread made from wheat, from grain. It is the same with a Jew’s service of faith: eating matzah on the night of Pesach, during the festival of Pesach, strengthens and awakens it—“the food of faith and the food of healing.” It makes the child healthy and awakens his powers of faith, bringing them into the open. It brings understanding to faith. This is the foundation of our service. This is what the Jewish people are about. This is the foundation of our service. This is Pesach. The Jewish people were born

22:44 as a nation. And this is expressed in every Jew, in every generation and every day. “A person is obligated to see himself as though he left Egypt today.” Because every day has its own service. That is the point of eating matzah: to awaken and strengthen simple faith. But what is it? It is the bread of poverty. It is not yet the ultimate goal; it is only the foundation. It is like a child saying “Abba.” His trust in his father, the depth of that trust—that his father will have compassion on him, and all that his father will give him—none of this has yet developed. There is the foundation, the alef-beis. The building will be built on that foundation, but in itself it is still the bread of poverty. It is only the foundation of faith. His inner faculties, his middos and his intellect, have not yet been refined. For that comes the second stage: the barley offering, the barley harvest. The barley harvest is precisely the work to be done with the faith he received through matzah, the bread of poverty. It is the bread of poverty, the bread of the poor; it is a matter of compulsion. He does not yet feel it or understand it. He has the core, he has the foundation. On that foundation, we build. The foundation is, after all, the most important thing; without it, there is nothing. But we cannot remain with the foundation alone. We must build on it. That is the work of the 49 days of Sefiras HaOmer.

24:15 And this brings us to barley bread. Barley bread is [unclear]. The Gemara says in Pesachim—and in Pesachim the Gemara says that when they were still [unclear], when Aharon went out to the fields, they asked there, “What is happening in the field? Has the wheat grown?” They were told, “No, the wheat has not grown yet. The barley has grown.” But [unclear]. When the barley grew, that was good news. For whom? For the horses and donkeys. What does that mean? It is [unclear]. Barley is [unclear]. Barley is used to feed [unclear]. Wheat is [unclear]. And that is what he means by “for the horses and donkeys.” That is the [unclear]. And as for what the Gemara says in Sotah: Why do we bring barley? The sotah’s meal offering is made of barley. All the other meal offerings are made of wheat; the sotah’s meal offering is made of barley. The Gemara says, “She acted like an animal; therefore her offering is animal food.” In other words, barley is associated with animal-like behavior. Why, then, is the Omer offering specifically made of barley? The only two offerings brought from barley are the sotah’s meal offering and the Omer offering. Why is the Omer offering brought from barley? This too is [unclear]. Because the animal is animal-like behavior; that is to say, here the [unclear] with the animal soul is already expressed. In other words, as I see it, this is [unclear]. Eating matzah relates to the faith of the G-dly soul. Faith resides

26:07 in the G-dly soul. “The people believed”; we are believers, children of believers. It is an inheritance from our forefathers. This is the matter of [unclear]; this is the soul. Through eating matzah, [unclear] the faith in the soul. The G-dly soul began to shine, began to radiate. But this is no longer just the G-dly soul. It is no longer [unclear]. It is [unclear]. Now we have to see how this reaches all the soul’s faculties. That is where the struggle begins. There is the animal soul. A person is also clothed in a body, in the animal soul, in [unclear], in bad middos. We also need to [unclear]. That is where the barley comes in. We use it, [unclear], to awaken the middos, correct them, and work on them so that they are all directed to Hashem alone. This is also the matter of chesed, gevurah, tiferes, netzach, hod, and yesod. As I see it, this is [unclear]: all seven middos must be changed and corrected; a person must correct his middos. And this is done through intellect, through [unclear]. Regarding this, [unclear], which is the [unclear], because Sefiras HaOmer lasts seven weeks, corresponding to the seven middos. And we say in [unclear], on the day after [unclear], chesed within chesed, gevurah within chesed, and so on. But that is how it is, [unclear]. Intellect is [unclear]. Without it, one cannot correct one’s middos. [unclear]—this, as I see it, is life. It says that life is [unclear], the life of two worlds; life

27:49 is light. Intellect is light. When a person studies, studies Chassidus, and delves into the G-dly soul, the light of the intellect also shines within his middos, so that they become good middos, refined middos, middos devoted entirely to Hashem alone. Chesed will be expressed properly as chesed, and gevurah will also be expressed properly; each middah will become what it ought to be. [unclear] in order. That is why everything about the Omer offering was connected with three: three se’ah, three baskets. As the Gemara relates the whole procedure, they would ask, “Is today Shabbos?” “Is today Shabbos?” “Is today Shabbos?” “This sickle?” “This sickle?” “This sickle?” “Shall I reap?” “Shall I reap?” “Shall I reap?” Everything was three, three, three, three. This corresponds to chochmah, binah, and daas—the three intellectual faculties. This is what the Omer offering is about; this is the idea of Chabad. Then comes Sefiras HaOmer, to reach the 49—the middos of his soul as a whole. And this is specifically the work of barley, animal food. Regarding this, the Gemara says that the animal food, the barley—which represents work with the animal soul—permits the new grain throughout the land. What does “permits the new grain throughout the land” mean? “Throughout the land” means when he goes out into the street, moves through the world and deals with matters of this world, with the animal soul. He has to engage in worldly matters. So that when a person enters into the affairs of this world—out in the land—eating, drinking, conducting his business, dealing with business, livelihood, and material concerns, going out into the street, then

29:25 there is “All your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven” and “Know Him in all your ways”: he can sense G-dliness in all of it. This comes through bringing the Omer offering. By bringing the Omer—barley, animal food—we begin to refine the animal soul. Through refining the animal soul, we can sense G-dliness in all worldly matters, out in the land. When a person eats, his eating can be for the sake of Heaven, eating properly in order to [unclear]. This is the work of Sefiras HaOmer, counting in order. After a person has worked on his middos and refined his animal soul, he is ready to prepare for the Giving of the Torah, for Shavuos. Shavuos, the Giving of the Torah, is the service within holiness itself. This is already the service of a human being. There is the animal and there is the human being: the animal corresponds to the animal soul, and the human being to the G-dly soul. This is the service of the G-dly soul, but not as it was on Pesach. Pesach was faith alone—faith and a foundation. After refining the animal soul, he has gone through the counting, Sefiras HaOmer; he has risen through the sefiros, a word associated with brightness, refining and illuminating his middos. Then comes the service of Shavuos, to which the two loaves belong. The two loaves point to the Torah. Torah is service within holiness, a wondrous union. The Alter Rebbe says in Tanya that when one studies Torah, and studies it in depth, there is “a wondrous union, the like of which, or anything comparable to it, is not found at all in the physical world: to become one, truly united on every side.”

31:01 And a corner. It has one concern: Hashem. The work in holiness is on the level of man. This is the G-dly soul, whose intellect and emotions are permeated with holiness. And this is the work of Shavuos, “a new offering to Hashem”: a new period, a new revelation, a new connection to Torah study, in which a Jew becomes a vessel capable of studying Hashem’s Torah. But how do we do that? It is precisely here that we are told that the two loaves are not for the country, but for the Beis Hamikdash. This is the work within holiness itself, the service of Hashem. But what is the way to serve Hashem? How do we do it? The Torah says: the two loaves—and the two loaves must be brought together with lambs. The Alter Rebbe explains this in terms of our service: the two loaves allude to the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. Just as the Torah has these two parts, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, so too there are two loaves. What does this allude to in our service? To the joining of the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. In other words, when studying Torah, we must feel its holiness. In the Written Torah, the Torah’s holiness is emphasized; in the Oral Torah, its intellectual dimension is emphasized. We must study the Oral Torah, understand it, toil over it, and delve into its discussions. At the same time, that study must be permeated with the G-dliness of the Written Torah. As we will see, he goes on to explain that this is the [unclear] of the inner dimension of Torah and the revealed dimension of Torah—the two loaves. Torah is bread: “Come, partake of My bread.” The Alter Rebbe says in—

32:34 Tanya that this adds life to the soul within a person, and he lives. That life is Hashem. When we study Torah, it adds to the soul. The two loaves are the two parts of Torah, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah—or, in other words, the revealed dimension of Torah and its inner dimension. But alongside the two loaves there must be lambs. The Alter Rebbe asks: What do the lambs teach us? Why do we need lambs together with the two loaves? The lambs teach bittul, self-nullification. What is distinctive about lambs? A flock teaches us bittul: “like sheep to the slaughter.” Lambs follow the shepherd; they give themselves over. Jews have something of the sheep’s nature within their souls: they give themselves over, leave their usual habits behind, and are in a state of bittul. That is why he says that “lambs,” kevasim, also evokes “conquering,” kovesh: to conquer oneself, to have bittul, to put oneself aside and subdue oneself. This is Torah studied with bittul, with a willingness to put oneself aside. That is what is required when Shavuos arrives. Here we are not speaking only about serving through Torah and mitzvos. Here the Torah says that the two loaves must be chametz, not matzah. There is a stage when the service must be matzah: faith without flavor, without geshmak, simple faith—matzah. But once we have gone through the entire refinement of the animal soul, after the Counting of the Omer, the work of Shavuos begins. Torah study must be specifically with delight, specifically with geshmak: “They shall be baked as chametz.” Chametz means that there must be an uplifted spirit and a sense of elevation in holiness—

34:12 “His heart was elevated in the ways of Hashem.” In holiness, there must be a sense of elevation. And so Torah study must involve understanding, comprehension, and careful examination. This is the lesson of the two loaves being specifically chametz: to study with reason and understanding. But alongside that there must be lambs; we must put ourselves aside. In this there is a connection to Hashem, [unclear]. These are the three things Parshas Emor tells us about, and this is the period we are in, when we must serve Hashem in three stages: eating matzah, the bread of poverty, which teaches bittul and simple faith. It must specifically be matzah, the bread of poverty, without reason and understanding—that kind of service. Then comes the refinement of the animal soul. That requires work to correct the intellect and emotions, and this is the lesson of the Counting of the Omer, which involves animal food. After that comes food for man, the Beis Hamikdash: what is required is service within holiness—studying Torah consistently, diligently, and in depth, with a sense of connection. We must become accustomed to understanding—specifically “They shall be baked as chametz,” with geshmak and appreciation. But alongside that must come the lesson of the lambs, the lesson of bittul and putting oneself aside, so that the Torah is absorbed within us as the Torah intends, including the soul of the Torah. A person must attune himself to Hashem’s wisdom and will, as Hashem desires. May Hashem help us make use of the holy days, the greatest days—

35:30 that we are now in, to prepare properly to receive the Torah. And may we truly merit, very soon, to receive the Torah with joy and inwardness, and may “A new Torah shall go forth from Me” be fulfilled through our righteous Moshiach.