Parshas Bamidbar and Shavuos - Moshe Rabbeinu, the True Father of the Jewish People

00:00 There was a chossid named Reb Shalom Posner. Reb Shalom Posner was one of the great chassidim, one of the Temimim of Lubavitch, who came to America nearly a hundred years ago. He was among the first chassidim, the first shluchim, and the first Temimim in Pittsburgh. There he was a chassidic Jew, a devoted soldier. The Frierdiker Rebbe sent him on shlichus to America back in those years, before the war. Later, he became one of the great shluchim and chassidim, drawing rabbis, heads of yeshivos, [unclear], and tens, hundreds, and thousands of Jews closer to Judaism. Reb Shalom Posner was one of the Temimim who studied in Lubavitch under the Rebbe Rashab, back in those days. That is, he was one of the Temimim at Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch, in Lubavitch, Russia. He was there when the First World War broke out. During those years, in the middle of the war, the Rebbe Rashab had to leave Lubavitch because it was no longer possible to live there. The place was dangerous, and he went to live in Rostov, elsewhere in Russia. The Rebbe Rashab remained there until the end of his life in this world. The yeshiva stayed in Lubavitch for a while longer, but after a year or two it too closed and moved away.

01:33 It moved to Kremenchug, with all the stories of what happened then. During that period the Communists took control, and it became very difficult to run a yeshiva. They had to flee from place to place, and so on. Those were very hard years, with major pogroms. At the time, [unclear] were roaming around, causing trouble and persecuting people. Simply traveling from one place to another was a danger to life. But the chassidim wanted to be with the Rebbe. Chassidim and young Temimim wanted to come for Yom Tov, and they were told it was dangerous and that they should not travel. Even so, quite a few went and did everything they could to reach the Rebbe. That was the chassidim’s heartfelt wish: to be with the Rebbe on Yom Tov and see him. To get to Rostov, where the Rebbe Rashab was then staying, they had to take a train from the city where they were studying. During the journey, at one of the stations, those wicked men boarded the train—men from the [unclear], who were looking for Jews and were thirsty for blood.

03:07 All they wanted was to persecute Jews, kill them, and rob them, Hashem protect us. The young men were on the train, and when the murderers entered, they had to jump off while it was moving. They had to jump from the train; their lives were truly in danger. Others, Hashem protect us, Heaven have mercy, were even killed in that incident. Others were in mortal danger. It was a terrible situation. Reb Shalom Posner relates that the Rebbe Rashab was in Rostov at the time. He was in his room and knew that several young men were expected to arrive. The train came, but they were not on it and had not arrived. Everyone understood that something had happened along the way, but they could not know whether the young men had been pursued, whether they were alive, where they were, or whether they had managed to escape. There was great turmoil. People knew several young men were due to arrive, because they had expected them on that train. The train arrived in Rostov, and the young men did not get off. No one knew what had happened along the way, where they were, or where they had disappeared to. There was great distress and fear. The Rebbe Rashab knew they were supposed to arrive, and every hour, every moment, he came out of his room to ask what was happening with the young men and whether they had arrived yet. This went on for many hours. And through open miracles—through open miracles—

04:50 There was a great miracle, and the young men managed to get off the train. After several hours, or however long it took, they arrived. In the end, they arrived. When the Rebbe Rashab saw that they had come, there was tremendous joy. The Rebbe Rashab was truly overjoyed. The joy was so great that the Rebbetzin, the Rebbe Rashab’s wife, said, “Ah, from now on, the love for the young men is like the love for our own children.” And the Rebbe Rashab said, “Yes, like our own children—and one could even say more than that.” That was how the Rebbe Rashab expressed his love. He felt that love for the Temimim: they were like his children, and one could even say more than that. And this itself is connected to Parshas Bamidbar. In Parshas Bamidbar, we find that the Torah says, “These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe.” These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe. What does that mean here? The parsha is telling us about the kohanim. Parshas Bamidbar deals with the census of the tribes, the number of the Jewish people, and then the census of the tribe of Levi and the kohanim. And here it says, “These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe.” Who are the kohanim? Aharon’s sons. The verse reads, “These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe on the day Hashem spoke to Moshe.” Rashi explains this. What question is Rashi asking? At first glance, what is Moshe doing here? This is about Aharon’s descendants; Moshe’s children are not mentioned in the parsha at all. And it is clear why: the parsha is speaking about the kohanim. So the question is why Moshe’s name is mentioned too—“These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe.” What connection does Moshe have to this? Rashi says: “This teaches that anyone who teaches Torah to another person’s son is regarded by Scripture as though he had fathered him.”

07:03 When a person teaches Torah to someone else’s son, he is regarded as though the child were his own. Rashi then continues. He explains the words “on the day Hashem spoke to Moshe.” Rashi says: “On the day Hashem spoke to Moshe”—on the day Hakadosh Boruch Hu spoke to Moshe, the day the Torah was given—“they became his descendants, because he taught them what he had learned from the Almighty.” They were Aharon’s sons, but they were also like Moshe Rabbeinu’s sons, because he taught them what he had learned from the Almighty. So far, Rashi. And this seems difficult, quite simply difficult. At first glance, it is not clear what Rashi means here, and his lengthy wording seems completely unnecessary. What does the second comment of Rashi add to the first? He already said about “These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe” that “anyone who teaches Torah to another person’s son is regarded by Scripture as though he had fathered him.” He already said that. Then Rashi says again, about “on the day Hashem spoke to Moshe,” that “they became his descendants, because he taught them what he had learned from the Almighty.” Why does Rashi need to say it again? When he says “anyone who teaches Torah to another person’s son,” he has already said that it is “as though he had fathered him.” So what does “they became his descendants, because he taught them what he had learned from the Almighty” add? He has already said that Moshe taught them Torah. But here Rashi is hinting at something fundamental and wonderful. The Rebbe explains that, beyond the simple meaning, Rashi is teaching us a major principle.

09:09 In one of the sichos, the Rebbe discusses this Rashi. Rashi has a question concerning the plain meaning of the verse: If we say that “anyone who teaches Torah to another person’s son is regarded by Scripture as though he had fathered him,” then, seemingly, it is only “as though he had fathered him.” In other words, he receives a reward as though he had fathered him. Fine. But here the Torah says something more. It places Aharon and Moshe together in the same verse. Yet these are two different things. Aharon is their actual father; Aharon fathered them, and they were literally his sons. But Moshe—how can we say that he is on the same level as Aharon? He taught them Torah, so it is “as though he had fathered them.” That is all well and good, but how can that be placed on the same level as someone who actually fathers a child and brings a new person into being? This is what Rashi comes to resolve. Rashi says there are two things: There is a good, devoted teacher who teaches Torah to another person’s son. Of him we say “as though he had fathered him”—he is regarded as though he had fathered him.

10:50 [unclear]. But that is not yet what happened here. Moshe Rabbeinu was closer than that. Moshe Rabbeinu’s self-sacrifice, his efforts, and his devotion to the students who learned with him were such that it was not merely “as though he had fathered them”—these students were regarded as his own. Moshe Rabbeinu’s devotion to his students, to [unclear], to Aharon’s sons, was such that they were not merely “as though he had fathered them.” Rather, they were truly regarded as his, as though he had brought a new reality into being within them, just like his own sons. How is that possible? Rashi answers: This is what the Torah emphasizes—“on the day Hashem spoke to Moshe.” “He taught them what he had learned from the Almighty.” Rashi helps us understand how Moshe taught the children: When we say “from the Almighty,” at the Giving of the Torah—what happened at the Giving of the Torah? What took place “on the day Hashem spoke to Moshe”? What happened on the day when “Hashem spoke to Moshe”? On the day when “Hashem spoke to Moshe,” the day the Torah was given, on Shavuos, Hashem revealed Himself on Mount Sinai, [unclear], and Hakadosh Boruch Hu devoted Himself to the Jews, His treasured people, [unclear]. Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself devoted Himself to the Jews. [unclear] with Jews, [unclear].

12:27 [unclear]. And so the Jews became a new reality. That is why we sense that something extraordinary happened at the Giving of the Torah: a transformation took place among the Jews. [unclear] A new reality among the Jews. [unclear]. And specifically “from the mouth of the Almighty,” meaning from Hashem at the Giving of the Torah. Why does the Gemara specifically say “from the mouth of the Almighty”? Because there is a point to that. [unclear]. It is not just information, not just knowledge; it is Torah and mitzvos. [unclear], it is a new reality. But after they received the Torah, a new reality came into being, a new foundation [unclear]. Therefore, “on the day Hashem spoke to Moshe”—Moshe Rabbeinu [unclear]. Hakadosh Boruch Hu spoke the Ten Commandments, [unclear], but Moshe Rabbeinu taught this. In truth, when he taught the Jews, it was not merely teaching Torah so they would understand [unclear]. It was the very essence of [unclear]. When Moshe Rabbeinu taught them what he had received from the mouth of the Almighty, [unclear] the Torah with the Jews, it was truly a new reality. And therefore, “these were considered his students”—they truly belonged to Moshe Rabbeinu. His children [unclear]. Physically, Moshe Rabbeinu [unclear]; spiritually, truly [unclear], mesirus nefesh. [unclear] his children, [unclear].

14:20 Moshe Rabbeinu. This is mesirus nefesh, the true faithful shepherd of the Jewish people. [unclear] Moshe Rabbeinu, who truly [unclear]. That is the difference between this and a teacher-student relationship in general. After all, it says, “And you shall teach them diligently to your children”—these are the students. Students are called children, but here [unclear]. There are many aspects to it, many qualities—devotion, mesirus nefesh, love—all well and good, but with Moshe Rabbeinu, it was such that they truly became his. That is what “these were considered his students” means—they were his. That is why we study Pirkei Avos. [unclear] from the Giving of the Torah. It is interesting: Why do we study Pirkei Avos around the Giving of the Torah? Why is the tractate specifically called “Avos”? The Mishnah says, “All Israel have a share in the World to Come, as it is said: ‘And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting...’” [unclear]. We study Tractate Avos on Shabbosos [unclear]. It is called Avos. [unclear] the Tannaim. And that is Pirkei Avos. Pirkei Avos speaks about the chain of Torah transmission. The Tannaim traced back to Moshe Rabbeinu. [unclear] through the receiving of the Torah, and the chain continues through the Tannaim up to Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, who arranged the Mishnah. In other words, the Tannaim are our fathers. In Shas, they speak about Tannaim [unclear].

16:06 And in Avos, receiving the Torah is not merely an intellectual matter, not just wisdom and not just knowledge. Students are called children, and Torah scholars are called fathers. But the reason Torah scholars are fathers is straightforward: as the Alter Rebbe explains in chapter 2 of Tanya, Torah scholars bring a Jew’s essential bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu into the open. This is the bond between father and son, just as, physically, the bond between father and son is not an external one. Do you understand the difference? There is a teacher-student bond, and there is a father-son bond. The teacher-student bond is an external one: it is formed through Torah, through wisdom, because the student lacks understanding and knowledge. But in the essential bond between father and son, the father gives of his very essence. The father places his own mind into the child, as the Alter Rebbe explains in chapter 2 of Tanya, and it passes on to the child. So the child is truly an extension of the father’s very self. The father’s mind and the son’s mind are literally one, because every detail in the son’s mind was contained in the father’s mind. And as the Alter Rebbe concludes in Tanya, through connecting with the tzaddikim and sages, the heads of the Jewish people in every generation,

17:31 a Jew’s bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu is formed. Even a Jew who is the simplest of the simple, the least observant of the least observant, a transgressor or an unlearned person—because he is connected to the head of the Jewish people, connected to the Moshe Rabbeinu of his generation, to the Nasi of the generation, to the head of the Jewish people, he is connected to the son’s mind. And that connects him to the father’s mind, which is literally one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is why every Jew receives life and sustenance from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, from G-dliness, and that is the pure soul, “an actual part of G-d above.” That is why every Jew is prepared to show mesirus nefesh, and every Jew has a bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu—the essential bond brought about through connecting with Moshe Rabbeinu. The Alter Rebbe explained this at the very beginning of Tanya. And that is the point of Pirkei Avos: the tractate is called Avos to tell us that the Torah sages, the heads of the Jewish people, who are an extension of Moshe in every generation—just as “Moshe received the Torah from Sinai,” Moshe Rabbeinu was not simply a teacher, not simply a rosh yeshivah. Moshe Rabbeinu was the father, the true father. As it says, “These were his students.” In the same way, the extension of Moshe in every generation, the tzaddikim of the generation—their bond with their students, with those who receive from them, with their chassidim and the people of the generation, is that they instill in them the very essence,

18:52 the connection between a Jew’s essence and the essence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which is revealed through the tzaddik of the generation, through the Nasi of the generation. That is why it is a true bond. And that is the real meaning of Avos. The tractate is called Avos because the true fathers are indeed the Torah sages, who bring about a Jew’s essential bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And that is why we say the Mishnah, “All Israel have a share in the World to Come.” People ask: Why all Israel? A Jew who studies Torah deserves the World to Come. But “all Israel,” without exception, “have a share in the World to Come”—why every Jew? And the answer is Avos. Because every Jew has a connection through the fathers, through the Torah sages, through the Moshe Rabbeinu of every generation, every Jew has a connection to the very essence of the Torah, to the very essence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which is bound up with the very essence of a Jew. Even an unlearned person, even the least observant of the least observant, even transgressors among the Jewish people—the essence of their soul is connected to Moshe and to Hakadosh Boruch Hu through the tzaddik. So he is truly a child, and a true child has a share in the World to Come within him. All Israel—every Jew has a share in the World to Come within him, as it says: “And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, in which to take pride.” Moshe Rabbeinu instills in every Jew the connection, the bond, the essential bond of a child with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And this is the Yom Tov of receiving

20:18 the Torah, and this [unclear] of the season of the Giving of our Torah. And [unclear] of Parshas Bamidbar, we enter the festival of Shavuos. “On the day Hashem spoke to Moshe”—the Giving of the Torah brought about that Jews became children of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Jews became “All your children will be taught by Hashem, and great will be the peace of your children.” Jews became the children of Hakadosh Boruch Hu; Jews became the children of Moshe Rabbeinu. “On the day Hashem spoke to Moshe”—Moshe Rabbeinu is not merely a teacher who teaches us to study Torah. Rather, Moshe Rabbeinu brings the soul of the Torah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, into the Torah, and brings about that a Jew becomes a new reality, not what he was before—that a Jew is born anew. “For they are our life and the length of our days”—that we should grasp that Torah is our whole life, that through Torah we have true life, G-dly life, and that a Jew becomes a Torah Jew. And this is the approaching time, the festival of Shavuos. Shavuos is the time of Moshe Rabbeinu, of Dovid HaMelech, of the Baal Shem Tov, each of whom was an extension of Moshe in his generation. Each revealed and gave expression to “on the day Hashem spoke”: that Jews connect to G-dliness through the Torah, to “Israel, the Torah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are all one.” And we hope that we merit to receive the Torah with joy and inwardly, and that we merit a “new Torah” with the Geulah of Moshiach, of the “first redeemer and the final redeemer,” Moshe Rabbeinu, the “first redeemer and the final redeemer,” with “a new Torah will go forth from Me” from the mouth of Moshiach.