Maamar Ve'atah Tetzaveh 5741 - Points in Avodas Hashem That We Can Take From This Maamar for Our Own Service

00:01 Well, in this class we’ll discuss several points from the maamar “Ve’atah Tetzaveh” that have practical bearing on our service of Hashem. Among chassidim, when speaking about Chassidus, there’s an idea of living with a word. Yes, there’s living with a maamar, and there’s living with a word. Living with a maamar is one of the foundations of Chassidus. A maamar isn’t something you should only study; you have to live with it, live with the maamar. When you study the whole subject, it isn’t only chochmah and it isn’t only binah; it’s a matter of bringing it close to your feelings. You have to live with the maamar. But among chassidim, the pinnacle was not only to live with the maamar, but also to live with a word from it. After all, a maamar itself contains many different ideas. And among chassidim, there were times when they lived with a single word. We know from the sichos and stories about chassidim that some could repeat the entire maamar; others could repeat half of it; others remembered only a few lines; and others remembered nothing but its opening words. And famously, this reached its height with the niggun “Shuvah Yisroel,” with the niggun “Tiku”—“Tiku.” Yes, there were those who remembered only the verse, and they lived with that verse their whole lives after hearing the Rebbe say the

01:46 verse in the maamar. That is living with a word. A maamar is like a spring. The Rebbe explains, in connection with “Basi Legani,” in the well-known sicha of Yud Shvat [unclear], in which the Rebbe spoke about “Basi Legani,” that the maamar “Basi Legani” must be studied in a way that engraves it within us. It must be like a spring, and a spring purifies with even the smallest amount of water. Even a single point—and that point penetrates inward. And similarly, of course, for us, in our generation and our time, there is the maamar “Ve’atah Tetzaveh.” This is a maamar we don’t study only for understanding and comprehension, for chochmah and binah: to understand the maamar, study it, review it and the Rebbe’s words, and try to understand as much as possible. Boruch Hashem, the people here have participated in several classes [unclear] on this maamar; they study it and review it, and so on and so forth. But then comes the matter of living with it, of having the maamar penetrate a person as though engraved within him. Incidentally, this year the weekly parsha is Parshas Chukas. The maamarim discuss how “Chukas” is related to the word for engraving: the idea penetrates a person. It becomes part of him, one with him, and his entire being becomes engraved with it. And these are the “living waters” discussed in the parsha. What’s more, living waters are a spring, which purifies with even the smallest amount of water. A word from the maamar, just that one word from the maamar,

03:20 a point from the maamar that penetrates inward and changes a person completely. So I’ll speak about a few points, as time allows, and may the words find receptive ears. First, I want to discuss four points from the beginning and end of the maamar, even before we enter into its main subject. There are two points in the intellectual discussion of the maamar that are not necessarily its central ideas, but I think we should pause over them. They are particularly relevant in our time, when we have been in exile for so long. These are points in the maamar. Incidentally, the Rebbe edited this maamar. It is associated with 13 Adar I, and it was the last maamar the Rebbe edited and distributed, on 13 Adar I, to men, women, and children. Certainly, by any account, this is something deeply personal, something inward, and particularly relevant to our generation. There are two points at the beginning of the maamar and two at its end that seem to be essential points, particularly now. The first point at the beginning is the relationship between head and feet that the Rebbe brings up. In section 2, the Rebbe cites the idea of head and feet: “The six hundred thousand people on foot, among whom I am.” It appears in the maamar only as a parenthetical remark, in parentheses, but it is nevertheless an essential point.

04:57 The Rebbe says in the maamar that there is the idea of “the six hundred thousand people on foot, among whom I am.” Moshe Rabbeinu is called the head of the Jewish people, and the Jews are called the feet, Moshe’s feet. And the maamar presents both sides: the feet need to receive from the head, and the head also needs to receive from the feet. It’s like a person: for the feet to walk, the person’s will must reach the feet; and through the people’s feet, Moshe Rabbeinu gains an added quality. This is also explained in the maamar “VeKibel HaYehudim.” At first glance, in “VeKibel HaYehudim,” on Megillas Esther, it seems to be a side point. There, the subject of [unclear] is brought up. It is included there [unclear], but here in the maamar it becomes clear that this is an essential point, the entire basis of “and they shall bring to you”: the Jews are Moshe Rabbeinu’s feet. Our whole understanding of this idea—and even more, the emphasis on putting it into practice, particularly for us today, at Gimmel Tammuz and thirty years later, with everything that entails—is that we must always remember that we are “the people on foot,” that there is a relationship between head and feet. “The six hundred thousand people on foot, among whom I am” is an essential idea that a chossid must always live with.

06:26 As we heard from the Rebbe on 11 Nissan 5745, when the Rebbe devoted an entire sicha to the question of why he held a farbrengen on his birthday. The Rebbe asked: At first glance, doesn’t holding a farbrengen on one’s birthday involve a sense of self-importance, of pride? It was a very interesting sicha. And the Rebbe said then that there is the idea of “the people on foot.” That was a point in the sicha of 11 Nissan 5745: every Jew needs to know that he is the feet of the leader of the generation. The Rebbe then told the story about the chair: there was a rabbi who was small and thin, and so on, and people questioned why he in particular had been chosen as rabbi. He said: The chair is large, and it needs legs down here; the leg can therefore be small and thin. The Rebbe even explained this in terms of our service: there is the leader of the generation, and he is the chair. The chair is large, and everyone belongs to the chair of the leader of the generation, but there are also the legs. And the Rebbe spoke about this in a very rich sicha: every chossid needs to know that he is the feet of the leader of the generation. In other words, the leader wants to act here in the world, to bring about and accomplish things, to illuminate and carry out everything that “Ve’atah Tetzaveh” seeks to accomplish, and—

07:50 he accomplishes this through the feet. The feet are the chassidim, the feet are the shluchim, the feet are every member of the generation who dedicates himself to the leader of the generation. The feet devote themselves [unclear]; a person devotes himself to being the Rebbe’s feet, and thereby brings the Rebbe’s intention into practice. This is one point we must always [unclear]: remember that we are no more than feet, and [unclear]. First, the feet are subordinate to the head; the feet really are feet, and do not become a complete person on their own—quite the opposite. We must remember that they are “the people on foot.” Second, we must know our mission: to do [unclear] in our own part as Moshe Rabbeinu’s feet, and bring his concerns down into the world. And then the maamar adds another insight: through the feet, a higher quality is added. Jews add something; the power of the chassidim brings about an elevation in the Rebbe’s [unclear], as explained later in the maamar. That is one point, a form of service we need to keep in mind from the outset. A second point at the beginning of the maamar, which really seems small but which we need to feel inwardly, is the term “Raya Mehemna,” which the Rebbe explains as “the faithful shepherd of Israel.” In the maamar, he gives two interpretations of “Raya Mehemna.”

09:11 The first interpretation is “the faithful shepherd of Israel.” The second interpretation of “Raya Mehemna” is that he “nourishes and sustains the Jewish people in their faith.” Throughout the maamar, the Rebbe deals mainly with the second interpretation: What is the connection between Raya Mehemna and faith? What is faith? What does it mean for faith to become inward? What does it mean to “nourish and sustain,” with all the novel insights and wonders that the Rebbe explains in the maamar? But before entering into the second explanation, the Rebbe also gives the first. We study it and immediately move on to the second explanation, because the first is straightforward. I’ll put it briefly: the maamar does not elaborate on it; it merely says that the simple meaning of “Raya Mehemna” is “the faithful shepherd of Israel,” and immediately moves on to the second meaning. What I want to emphasize is that when we live with the Rebbe, live with [unclear], it is important to reflect on these words too. Yes, that the Rebbe is with us and is the faithful shepherd of Israel, and that itself is something we have. To feel the plain meaning of “Raya Mehemna” before entering into the intellectual ideas of Chassidus, its explanations, all the matters of faith and knowledge and everything else. Simply to feel that faithfulness: that the Rebbe is the faithful shepherd. And when we study in the maamar that

10:29 5742, in which he mentions “For the conductor, by David, to recall,” and the role of the shepherd: he cares for every Jew, and even when the little sheep run away, the shepherd runs after them, looks after them and tends to them. And afterward [unclear] what King David gave to the elders and the young men. This is the faithfulness of the leader of the generation, who cares for each person and relates to each one according to his abilities and his circumstances, [unclear], giving him what he needs, nourishment suited to him. For us, this idea of the “faithful shepherd of the Jewish people” naturally brings to mind “As water reflects a face, so does the heart of one person reflect another.” On the Rebbe’s side, there is the faithfulness with which the faithful shepherd devotes himself to us. If so, what about our faithfulness in return? Yes, that is one of the foundations for us in Chassidus: a chossid’s faithfulness to the Rebbe must be in the same spirit. Faithfulness and devotion—specifically the kind of faithfulness that lets the Rebbe rely on us to do what he needs and wants, in the way he understands and wants. The whole

11:45 idea of the faithfulness a chossid must have toward his Rebbe follows from the fact that, for us, [unclear] the Rebbe is the raya mehemna, the faithful shepherd of the Jewish people. That is the second point at the beginning of the maamar. At the end of the maamar there are two points that I think are very, very important for us today. I’m moving now to the end of the maamar, to what is printed at the end of section 11. What is the point there? The idea of a “perpetual lamp.” At the beginning of the maamar, the Rebbe asked four questions. The fourth was about the “perpetual lamp”: why does one verse say, “to kindle a perpetual lamp”—that is the first verse, “And you shall command the children of Israel to bring you pure olive oil, crushed for the light, to kindle a perpetual lamp”—while the second verse says, “from evening until morning”? The Alter Rebbe also asks this in Torah Or. The Alter Rebbe explains it, and this is the distinction [unclear]. There is an explanation of it in Torah Or, but here the Rebbe gives a different explanation. The whole maamar, from both sides, revolves around this. What is the explanation here? That “from evening until morning” describes the avodah of mesirus nefesh. With the avodah of mesirus nefesh, there is

13:14 avodah in a way of “from evening until morning.” In other words, the avodah is not only for the nighttime, the time of being crushed, the time of evening. When there are concealments and obstacles, that is precisely when the impulse toward mesirus nefesh awakens in him. It happens specifically at night. When morning comes, when things become bright and good, his mesirus nefesh falls asleep again. That is why it says there must be a “perpetual lamp.” As the Rebbe discusses in the maamar, through the avodah of “crushed for the light,” through the avodah Jews do here, it must be settled within them, even in their inner faculties, that there must be light, and that light must shine. And the whole idea of being crushed is to be “broken and contrite.” Because of this, even in his inner faculties, a person must demand G-dliness of himself, and this brings about a “perpetual lamp.” What does a “perpetual lamp” mean? As the Rebbe explains in the maamar, its true meaning is a lamp that is not subject to change, to any change at all. This is also how the point applies in our time, in our avodah. And of course, this is itself a point that touches the very soul of every chossid today: to reach the state of a perpetual lamp. In simple words, by human nature, a person is flesh

14:37 and blood. A person is subject to change, as he says in the maamar. A person’s nature in this world is to be subject to change, so things naturally change. Something is new, and then it grows old; time passes, and things cool and weaken. “Comes into being and passes away”—that is human nature: coming into being and passing away. And as he says in the maamar, even with mesirus nefesh, which touches the essence of the soul, beyond change—that is the point in the maamar concerning mesirus nefesh, the essence of the soul—there are nevertheless differences even there. At times it is more openly felt. Precisely when there are more concealments and obstacles, it emerges with greater force; when things become easier, it falls asleep in him. In other words, that is the human condition: change. But here what is called for is a perpetual lamp, without any change. And of course, this means that in our avodah today, too, we must hold fast to our bond with the leader of the generation, without any change. Thoughts arise: here people say one thing, here they think another, here they feel one thing, and here they no longer say it. But there is also this consideration: when you hear the number, when people say “thirty years,” [unclear], it can shake you. But

15:59 there is also the side of the animal soul: many years have passed, and things cool off. As is well known, there is the famous letter the Rebbe wrote that was neither printed nor actually sent—the well-known portion of a letter the Rebbe began writing but did not send. You can see it; it was discovered only in recent years. In that letter, from Rosh Chodesh Elul 5711, the Rebbe says: “A summer has passed, a winter has ended.” Yes, time passes, and, G-d forbid, the initial warmth of the bond with the Rebbe can weaken. What is needed here is the sense of “These are the words that Moshe spoke,” of “On this day Hashem your G-d commands you”—that “on this day” must mean this very day, as though the words are new. This idea of a perpetual lamp is, one could say, exactly what matters to every one of us today. We need to know that we have the strength for it. These are the strengths we are discussing in the maamar: the strength of the source of light, the strength of “crushed for the light,” the strengths that Moshe Rabbeinu instills in us. And we need to bring into this the inner strength discussed in the maamar, and that brings about

17:21 a state of “a perpetual lamp that is not subject to change.” In other words, living with the Rebbe, our connection to the Rebbe and being with the Rebbe must be a present reality. Not a Rebbe of the past; not a grandfather, as people call it—things from Grandfather, stories from the past, “heritage.” I don’t know all the English words people use for it. Grandfather; things as they once were. No. Our connection to the Rebbe must be alive in the present: the Rebbe is with us now; the spirit [unclear] is truly among us now. And specifically this “truly”—in a real, enduring way. This “perpetual lamp” is a central matter for our time. Then comes the fourth point, in section 12. This is the point the Rebbe makes in section 12, and it transforms the whole maamar: the plain meaning of “And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall bring you” is that the strength for “they shall bring you” comes from “you shall command.” Until now, the Rebbe has said in the maamar that there is what Moshe instills in a Jew, and there is what a Jew adds to Moshe. Moshe instills in a Jew that deep realization that he is a Jew, the essential bond. Moshe gives

18:44 the essence to the Jew, and the Jew must bring his conscious faculties into it. That depends on our choice, on our avodah, yes: that we bring our inner faculties into it, so that a person, in all his particular qualities, feels that this is his entire being. That depends on us; that is “they shall bring you.” Through this, something additional is brought about: [unclear] oneness with the Rebbe is revealed, as explained in the maamar. Then the Rebbe comes to section 12. What does the Rebbe say there? Something wonderful. Even the plain meaning is that “they shall bring you” comes from Moshe Rabbeinu: “And you shall command”—Moshe commands that there be a “they shall bring you.” Here the Rebbe says in the maamar that we can understand from this on the inner level, too, that Moshe Rabbeinu connects Jews in such a way that he gives them the strength for “they shall bring you” itself. Even the very fact that he requires them to do the avodah through their own strength comes from Moshe Rabbeinu. And the Rebbe concludes: “So, too, it is understood regarding the Moshe of our generation, my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, leader of our generation: his avodah is to awaken and reveal the faith within every Jew that comes from the essence of the soul, in such a way that they then carry out this avodah through their own strength. To the point that they become a perpetual lamp that is not subject to change, even with respect to their conscious faculties.” Yes. In other words, the Moshe of our generation, the leader of our generation, through his avodah of awakening and revealing within every one of us the essence of the soul, the essential bond, he

20:10 He awakens this in such a way that he gives us the strength to carry out the avodah afterward through our own efforts. Avodah through our own efforts is in a way of a “constant lamp,” with no change. And here questions arise, and a great deal of explanation is needed. Anyone who studies these lines immediately [unclear]—a shiver runs through him, as they say—because the Rebbe really put something here into action. I still remember that right at [unclear], when this period began, when there was [unclear] Gimmel Tammuz, people began studying this maamar. And from within this concealment, from within this depth, the maamar’s innovation is that these lines always stand before every chossid’s eyes: the Nasi gives us the strength for avodah through our own efforts. In other words, there is a time when there are fewer revelations—yes, [unclear] the maamar—meaning that we do not have the vision, that same vision we see in [unclear]; there was concealment in this regard. And about this the Rebbe says in the maamar: Know that “Ve’atah Tetzaveh”—Moshe Rabbeinu instills in a chossid, in a Jew, this feeling, this essential bond, so that he can carry out the avodah through his own efforts, and do so as a “constant lamp,” without any change. So

21:32 Accordingly, let’s put it this way: If we reflect on these four points at the end of the maamar, we can learn from them and draw lessons for our lives, for our avodah, at this time. That is by way of summing up the lesson in the maamar and how we live with it. Now let’s talk about the content of the maamar. First, let’s say l’chaim. The Rebbe wants us to learn all these matters inwardly. And particularly at the end of the maamar, when the Rebbe says that the main thing is in the physical world—that we should see these matters physically. So of course this concerns us: After all the stories, all the points, and everything we learn from the maamar, we simply need to pray that these things will be realized physically, that we will see them in our own lives. L’chaim. In any case, as for the content of the maamar—what is its explanation? The Rebbe explains the two levels of emunah, and the two levels within emunah itself. Moshe Rabbeinu’s unique quality is that he nourishes and sustains emunah itself. He reveals the deeper connection, the deeper dimension,

23:12 he reveals the essential core of emunah, and that a Jew’s emunah is such that the essence is “entirely one”—one reality with G-dliness. And this has three results, three aspects that reflect it. That is the general content of the maamar. Moshe Rabbeinu’s role, the matter of daas, is discussed in the maamarim of our Rebbeim, from Torah Or and Derech Mitzvosecha to Ateres Rosh. And this is the meaning of “Raaya Mehemna,” the faithful shepherd. What is new in our maamar is this: If you studied the maamarim that preceded “Ve’atah Tetzaveh,” what would you have understood? That this is a distinct mode: Moshe Rabbeinu draws down daas, and that is the role of Raaya Mehemna. Raaya Mehemna nourishes and sustains emunah inwardly, bringing it into the person as daas—that was the understanding. This maamar introduces something new: No, that is actually a result. The central point is the essential bond; the result is that it also enters daas. Until then, the understanding was that learning Chassidus, understanding an idea in Chassidus—even a single idea in Chassidus—is the way of Raaya Mehemna, and through that the essential bond is felt. The Rebbe explains in the maamar that as long as it remains emunah, it does not necessarily become internalized. It is specifically when it enters daas that it becomes something internal, but through this

24:46 the essential bond is drawn forth, and because the essence shines through every aspect, it also permeates daas, the intellect; it is not merely one part of a person’s existence. This is one aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu’s work. Then there is a second aspect, an effect of the essential bond: mesirus nefesh. When there are trials, decrees, and difficulties for Jews and Judaism, Moshe Rabbeinu comes. That is what happened with Mordechai: In his time, at Purim, when there were decrees against Judaism, against Torah and mitzvos, he revealed the level of mesirus nefesh in the Jews, through which they overcame every trial. The level of mesirus nefesh means that a Jew cannot become separated from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. As the Rebbe says in the maamar: Separation is not possible for him. From the standpoint of his other faculties, separation could, G-d forbid, be possible for him. But from the standpoint of the essential bond, the essence—the very nature of the essence—is entirely above all the kelipos, above any possibility of separation. He receives the capacity for mesirus nefesh from this, from Moshe Rabbeinu. Then there is a third aspect that the Rebbe speaks of, and this is really the maamar’s innovation: Even when there are no trials for Jews and Judaism, there is still exile, the very fact of exile. Not because of trials and decrees against Jews and Judaism, but because in exile G-dliness is not revealed. G-dliness does not shine; G-dliness does not shine in the world. The revelation of G-dliness is missing; the revelation itself is missing. And this gives Jews a broken heart. This is the inner upheaval, a stirring of the essence itself.

26:33 One must be “crushed” because we are in exile, because G-dliness is not revealed to us. And this is the main meaning of “crushed for the luminary,” as the Rebbe explains in the maamar. These, broadly speaking, are the three aspects, the three ways in which the mashpi’im, the shepherds of Israel, reveal the essence of the soul. That is what we see in the maamar as a whole. The Rebbe speaks about three periods, and in each period it takes a different form. That is the content of the entire maamar. Broadly speaking, these are Moshe Rabbeinu, the Frierdiker Rebbe, and the Rebbe also speaks about our period. With Moshe Rabbeinu, it is a matter of daas, of learning Chassidus. The Rebbe brings up the account of Moshe Rabbeinu and the Jewish people several times in sichos, and explains it in terms of daas: Moshe Rabbeinu reveals daas within Jews. Then comes the second aspect, with the Frierdiker Rebbe, when there were decrees against Judaism, and there it was a matter of mesirus nefesh. Then comes the third period, in our time. The Rebbe says in the maamar that this is a time when there are no decrees against Torah and mitzvos as such. And not only that, but in the world there is [unclear]. What happened in Russia belonged to a different period. Today there are all kinds of good things, as well as

28:18 abundant and beautiful things, both spiritually and physically. But something is missing: We are in exile—and with that, the heartbreak, the need for a Jew to feel broken and begin yearning for the Geulah. This is especially relevant in our generation too. Our generation is a time when, on the one hand, there is abundance both physically and spiritually. The Rebbe always emphasized that our generation is a generation of wealth, both material and spiritual, with all the things we have been given: so many books, so much Chassidus, so many opportunities to earn a living, and so on and so forth. Yes, but at the same time we are still in exile. And exile itself must awaken in us a sense of distress, thirst, and heartbreak, which are connected with an essential bond to the essence of the soul. And of course, a chossid must know that the way to understand the maamar is not just to speak about it as something historical. Rather, these things must be part of our lives. In other words, even today, right now, in 5784, all three aspects are present for us. We are talking about our Rebbe, [unclear]. And of course, all three aspects the Rebbe discusses in the maamar are three things that every chossid receives from the Rebbe; they are three

29:43 Matters in which every chossid can see our effort, our dedication, our mesirus nefesh, and [unclear] “Ve’atah Tetzaveh,” together with “And how can I go?” in every area of life today. The three matters we discussed in the previous classes—of course, I’m not saying anything new here. I want to relive these things and internalize them. There is the matter of [unclear], which is, of course, primarily the study of Torah—the Rebbe’s sichos and maamarim. A person needs to know that every single day, as the Rebbe writes in many letters—and the Rebbe emphasized this greatly—there must be Torah study. We need to study the teachings of the Nasi, the Rebbe’s maamarim and the Rebbe’s sichos, so that matters of G-dliness become internalized within us. The Rebbe teaches this in practical terms, of course, and also brings his depth of explanation, understanding and comprehension to the deepest matters of G-dliness, the loftiest matters of G-dliness—matters that, in themselves, are entirely beyond understanding and comprehension. What we see especially clearly with our Rebbe is that, in his maamarim and teachings, the deepest matters in Chassidus become more accessible in a way that is [unclear]. In the Rebbe’s maamarim, there is a clarity and an order, as we can plainly see. We see it here in

31:13 the learning we do together in this group. Everything we’re learning in this maamar, we learned from the Alter Rebbe and from the maamarim of our other Rebbeim. And when we come to this maamar of the Rebbe, we see how the Rebbe takes the deepest of the deep—the cream, so to speak, the most delicate point, the deepest point—and draws it out and explains it in a way that, as far as possible, makes it practical and brings it down both to understanding and to lived experience. And of course, all of this is found in the sichos too, even more so. In certain respects, the sichos address practical life more directly and offer more explanation. We see the Rebbe take the deepest matters in Chassidus and explain and bring them down in a way that anyone can understand. In a sicha, it really comes down to practice. It’s similar to something Reb Yoel would repeat several times: the Alter Rebbe said that Moshiach would be a misnaged. Seemingly, he’ll be a chossid, because the misnagdim are... yes? But chassidim, and Kabbalah too... That is what the Alter Rebbe said. Reb Yoel would ask: What does it mean? How can we understand such a statement at all? He said it means that Moshiach will teach the inner dimension of Torah in the language of the Gemara, in the language of

32:34 the Rambam. That is what “Moshiach will be a misnaged” means. This isn’t a Chassidic interpretation; it’s the plain meaning. It means he will take the deepest matters of G-dliness and teach them so that even a misnaged can study them. He takes the Rambam, and the Rambam is the first point of departure, [unclear], but all these Chassidic ideas are there in the Rambam, every one of them—in the subjects addressed by the Rambam, in the Gemara, in the hadranim. That is the meaning. Yes, the Rebbe really brought these truths down in a way that they could become part of one’s very flesh and blood. Then, in the sichos the Rebbe delivered to women and children, he brought them down even further, [unclear]. Yes, the Rebbe truly brought the deepest matters down in such a way that everyone could understand. In the later years—I think it was in 5750 or 5751—there was a sicha the Rebbe delivered to women. It comes to mind now. He spoke about hashgachah pratis, Divine providence, and the Baal Shem Tov’s innovation concerning it. The Rebbe wanted a Jewish woman to understand hashgachah pratis in simple terms. Because for a Jewish woman, in her home, every detail matters in many ways that I won’t go into now.

33:51 Sometimes there is a piece of jewelry or some other object that has been moved off to the side. And because of that, as far as the woman is concerned, the whole house is not quite in order. That one detail—not being exactly where it belongs—makes the whole house feel out of order. Not to the husband; he really doesn’t understand the whole thing. But to the woman—this is how the Rebbe took a subtle idea about hashgachah pratis and brought it down until it became part of one’s very flesh and blood. In any case, what am I trying to say? That here, in Ve’atah Tetzaveh, when we speak about what the Rebbe says, we are talking, quite simply, about studying, understanding and connecting to the Rebbe’s teachings—to his maamarim and his sichos. And I’m not even talking about the whole subject of the letters, where this is present even more, much more. The Rebbe’s letters: they are Chassidus in life itself. Yes, the ideas in those letters—every letter from the Rebbe is simply [unclear], showing how it enters everyday life and gives life to each day. It really is like that. In any case, this is what it means that Moshe Rabbeinu gives this to us: he gives us the inner grasp, the understanding and comprehension, so that G-dliness becomes more deeply internalized. Then there is another matter,

35:11 mesirus nefesh. When we speak about mesirus nefesh, we may think of the mesirus nefesh there was in Russia, which the Rebbe mentions in the maamar—the mesirus nefesh witnessed there. But there is also mesirus nefesh that we speak about in America. The maamar on Terumah—yes, they included the maamar on Terumah 5741 in the booklet. The maamar the Rebbe delivered on Shabbos Parshas Tetzaveh, Terumah 5741. Yes, he says—I haven’t reviewed the maamar yet, but I’m glancing at it—that there the Rebbe discusses a Jew being “crushed.” And he explains: What does it mean for a Jew to be “crushed” in our times, as the Rebbe explains it? Well, essentially, the whole matter is the test of wealth. Yes, there are two aspects, as they appear in the maamar. There is the way it finds expression in the test of wealth, when it isn’t apparent; sometimes it is a matter of a person’s standing. And then the point is, in other words, “Do not be ashamed before those who mock.” There is mesirus nefesh in every era, at every time, and its form depends on the circumstances. Yes, that is the point: mesirus nefesh at any given time takes the form called for then. In other words, in our time there are things—each person knows within himself—over which he needs to show mesirus nefesh. Things in which

36:45 he faces concealments and obstacles. There is “Do not be ashamed before those who mock.” There is the test of wealth. There is the duty of the generation. It all comes back to the same point. In other words, [unclear], as the Rebbe discusses in the maamar from 5710. Who is studying here? Yes, because there is the matter of seventy years. So what else must the situation be? There must be the service of [unclear] constantly against it. We now see two things: “Do not be ashamed before those who mock,” and the drive of mesirus nefesh. What is mesirus nefesh? What is it that the Rebbe gives us the strength to stand firm with mesirus nefesh, as it applies in our generation? One aspect, if we bring this down to practical terms, as we discussed in previous classes, is going out on mivtzoim, going to [unclear], going to places where the people are less to your liking, getting involved in these things and going out at such times. Yes, even the [unclear]. You’re somewhere—on a plane, or in... all sorts of places where it would be easier and more pleasant to stay in your seat and [unclear]—and nevertheless you approach them and say, “Come, put on tefillin.” All these are forms of mesirus nefesh as it finds expression in our generation. This requires the very point he explains in the maamar: when

38:07 the essential bond is revealed, there simply can be no other possibility. Then he will not feel the mockers or the concealments and obstacles, and he will carry out his work as he should. We spoke about this in one of the classes, about the Rebbe’s words on Shushan Purim Katan: “Do not be ashamed before those who mock,” as explained in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s maamar, means that a person is in a state where the concealment has no significance for him at all. There is depth to this matter of mesirus nefesh. It is not that he has to [unclear] while it still matters to him; he rises to a level of [unclear]. The maamar explains that the true point is that the world, entirely, has no significance at all. Similarly, in one’s service there must be a movement of dedication in which the concealment and obstacles have no significance whatsoever, and so on. That is the second point. Then comes the third point. Then comes the third point, which is the main innovation of our maamar, the Rebbe’s main innovation. And the point in the maamar is “crushed for the luminary.” When we speak about “crushed for the luminary,” that is a difficult word. Yes, it is a difficult word. Why is it difficult? Because

39:28 When you speak about feelings, you have to be there yourself. Among chassidim, talking about an emotion you weren’t experiencing was unthinkable. Either you are feeling it or you aren’t. But delivering sermons about feelings—some people have a knack for that—was not the way of chassidim. What does it mean to talk about being broken inside? Either your heart is broken or it isn’t. So what is the point here? I just want to raise one point. First, a general issue that people get wrong—or at least, I see it often among young men, and I offer it as a caution: the word “broken” seems, on the face of it, to contradict everything we constantly speak about in the Rebbe’s name: joy. After all, it sounds like bitterness, brokenness, depression, dissatisfaction. That doesn’t seem to fit with the point we speak about so much in the Rebbe’s name, in the seventh generation. The Rebbe spoke so much about joy, about vitality, about serving Hashem, and so on. Then suddenly, at the end, the Rebbe speaks about being broken. But it was apparent even in his Adar... the last sicha of... Certainly, everything the Rebbe said was like this, and it raises a question.

40:56 But the Rebbe explained this matter of being broken... The Rebbe once spoke about it in a sicha. What is the point, really? What do we actually mean when we say “broken,” “crushed,” utterly crushed? It means being “crushed,” yes—if only everything were different, if only everything were different. And a Jew [unclear], but that it should not be this way—oh, what is the point? Later I want to bring what Reb Ber said about this, so we can refresh our memory a little and understand this section. But what is the point, in simple terms, without reaching that level? The point is that brokenness goes together with joy; there is no contradiction here at all. Brokenness does not mean that a person is in a negative state. It does not mean that you are depressed and withdrawn. Brokenness means that you are asking for something. There is something you want. It carries a sense of longing. And that longing not only does not contradict joy; on the contrary, it goes together with joy. We know—and this is one of the themes of the maamar—that true joy is not what people commonly take it to be. Joy does not mean satisfaction. Joy does not mean being content,

42:31 “I’m satisfied. Good, I’m satisfied.” As explained, joy carries with it a sense of bittul. A person knows that, fundamentally, he has nothing—and not only does he have nothing, he is not entitled to anything. So what does he say? “How fortunate we are, how good is our lot”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu has given to us; Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives me the strength and all these things, and so he is joyful. It is explained that joy comes when a person knows that, fundamentally, he is not entitled to anything and needs nothing. No one... On the contrary, and so on—that is what he awakens within himself. So he rejoices in the very fact that Hakadosh Boruch Hu chose him, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives him strength, and that everything he has is a gift from Above. He is grateful. Joy is a feeling of gratitude, a joy in what he sees before him: the very fact that he is a chossid, the very fact that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave him the opportunity to serve Him and devote himself to it. When joy is of this kind, there is also a broken heart. In other words, it becomes clear to you that this is not about you. If the foundation is “me,” if the foundation is my own self, and my joy is built on myself, then

43:59 joy and being crushed are opposites. Either I feel satisfied because I am good, or I am broken because I am not good. In other words, if the “I” is myself, those two things cannot go together. But when the “I” does not begin with me—it is not about me; I am not the point. It is about something higher, about G-dliness. That is the whole point of the maamar. When you rise to a level of essential connection—what does essential connection mean? It means that G-dliness is the true reality, and there is nothing besides G-dliness. When, for you as a Jew, that is your world—yes, that is a Jew’s true reality. What is a Jew? A Jew is someone for whom there is nothing besides G-dliness; nothing else has a place. On the one hand, this arouses the greatest joy. Like the story of the Berditchever, who stood up in the morning and said, “Who has not made me a non-Jew,” and began to dance. In other words: I am a Jew. Take in the value of a Jew, the wealth of a Jew. Yes, when you study the maamar “Ve’atah Tetzaveh” and grasp the “they will believe in You,” [unclear], that is faith itself. And what is the truth of that faith? That I am a Jew, meaning

45:14 that G-dliness is my entire concern. It is G-dliness. That is my whole being; there is no other reality. And this brings a person boundless joy. Along with it comes a broken heart: Why isn’t it more revealed? If this is the truth, if this is what matters, why isn’t it more revealed? Why don’t we hear it? Why don’t we feel it? Why doesn’t it sink in? Yes, why doesn’t it penetrate my inner faculties? Then, even in his revealed faculties, in his inner faculties, a person seeks G-dliness. He wants to grasp G-dliness, for G-dliness to permeate his entire being, so that no [unclear] within him remains where G-dliness does not shine. He wants it to be revealed. This is the connection between the essence and its revealed expressions, as explained in the maamar—the idea of “crushed for the luminary.” That is the point, the point of the teaching the Rebbe gives in this maamar. That is what it means to be “crushed,” to have a broken heart: G-dliness must shine and be more present. That is how joy and a broken heart go together. I remember, we were in Australia. Gimmel Tammuz is the yahrzeit of Reb Zalman Serebryanski. He passed away in 5751, and I was in Australia then. On Shabbos, Gimmel

46:33 Tammuz, 5751. Yes, the funeral was on Sunday, 4 Tammuz. Reb Zalman Serebryanski was a chassidic Jew. I still had the privilege of hearing him farbreng a little when he was already advanced in years; I had the privilege [unclear], but it was a pleasure to farbreng with him. At any rate, right after he passed away, his son called a few of us shluchim over and gave us a bundle of various writings, letters and other things that... that... that... were [unclear], I don’t know. He asked me to see whether any of them could be published. There were very interesting letters, interesting items, notes. Among them was a letter that was, in fact, later published. I don’t know how widely it was printed, but it was published. The shluchim were working with those letters then, and it was later printed in Kfar Chabad. After that, I don’t know; presumably it is in books now too. There was a letter written by a chossid, Reb Itche Goldin. Itche Goldin was a friend of Reb Zalman Serebryanski. Itche Goldin was one of the Temimim in Lubavitch; you know, he was a little older than Reb Zalman Serebryanski. They kept in touch, and he

47:49 wrote a letter; by then he was living in New York. The letter is from 5712. Itche Goldin was living in New York, and Reb Zalman Serebryanski was in Australia. This was not long after the histalkus, in 5712—only two years after the histalkus. It is a very warm chassidic letter. You can see how a chossid writes. It is a letter full of substance, a very interesting letter. At any rate, among other things, he writes to him: yes, Reb [unclear] had not yet seen the Rebbe; he was still in Australia and had not yet traveled. In any case, he writes to him about the Rebbe—yes, a young Rebbe, [unclear]. But he speaks about the Rebbe and says that it is a delight to gaze at the Rebbe’s holy face. He says: When you look at his face, at his holy face, you see a joyful and broken man of G-d. That is the phrase Itche Goldin wrote: “a joyful and broken man of G-d.” That phrase has stayed firmly in my memory: “a joyful and broken man of G-d.” In other words, that is the Rebbe. When you look at the Rebbe, what do you see? What did a chossid see in the Rebbe’s holy countenance? In the Rebbe one always saw a sense of joy, but quite simply, like anyone, like any child, the Rebbe

49:20 Always with his hands, always with joy, yes. But when you look a little deeper, what do you see? That he is a joyful and broken man of G-d. There is joy, but it is a joy bound up with brokenness, with the brokenness of [unclear]. That is one explanation, yes. But in the maamar, it would seem that the plain meaning is that the brokenness comes from the fact that things still do not shine. Why? The truth, the truth—“the truth of Hashem endures forever”—the truth of G-dliness, the truth of “the truth of Hashem,” the truth, yes—why does it not shine in a [unclear] way? And one could say that this is the depth of the matter, yes. In any case, this is what we need to draw forth. The depth of the matter, the depth of the matter, at this point in the maamar, is the distinction the Rebbe makes: there are two aspects—the essence of the soul as it is defined as an essence, and the essence of the soul as it is rooted in Atzmus. And then, in the essence of the soul as it is rooted in Atzmus, its particular form and its essence are one thing, yes. In other words, there are three levels. There is the level of the inner faculties, and there is the level of the essence, yes. There is a level of revelations—that is one level. And there is the level of the essence, yes, which is the essence from the standpoint of

50:43 [unclear] through the revelations, through the inner faculties. But there is a soul that stands as an essence, and there is also a level at which we say that everything is one. The essence and the faculties become one thing, and therefore, yes, this too is from the standpoint of [unclear]: the particular form of the faculties is one with the essence. This would seem to be a deep matter, and it needs a full explanation to understand the point of [unclear]. This is the novel insight in “the truth of Hashem,” yes. The point in the Rebbe’s teachings is the novel insight in “the truth of Hashem,” a novel insight in “the truth of Hashem.” We heard this from the Rebbe, particularly in the later years, yes. This is the point the Rebbe spoke about at great length, and specifically with great simplicity, in the later years. If you look, yes, particularly in the 5740s, [unclear]. I’ll give an example. There are sichos of the Rebbe from the later years in which the Rebbe spoke with chassidim, [unclear], yes. Then, in the sicha, he moves into “the truth of Hashem” and continues into the new subject, yes, of “the truth of Hashem.” And presumably [unclear] about how the Rebbe explains the advantage of “there is nothing else besides Him” over “there is nothing else.” “There is nothing else” is “there is nothing else.” “There is nothing else” is “there is nothing else.” That is not—this, this is the precise expression, that’s it, yes. It is not memalei kol almin, it is not sovev kol almin, it is not [unclear].

52:11 It is not the unity of G-dliness; it is “there is nothing else.” “There is nothing else” is an expression from the standpoint of Atzmus, but Atzmus is the negation of [unclear]. In the later years, the Rebbe introduced a deeper point here. It need not even be relevant at all. From the standpoint of [unclear], from the standpoint of the truth of Atzmus, it need not even be relevant at all. What you are saying is indeed a movement, a movement of negation. When you say “besides Him,” the meaning is that everything is G-dliness. The existence of the world is G-dliness. This is not a movement of nullification, but a movement of unity. That is, the very definition of the world is G-dliness. On the subject of Hashem’s unity, the Rebbe goes deeper and deeper each time, particularly in the later years. One of the farbrengens etched in my memory—by Divine Providence, we are now in Parshas Chukas—is a wonderful farbrengen of the Rebbe’s on Parshas Chukas 5748. At that time, [unclear], there was an entire Shabbos farbrengen that revolved around the niggun “Nyet Nyet Nikavo.” It was very rich, very interesting. This was already in 5748, just after 22 Shvat. Some in the audience even explained why the Rebbe spoke so much about the niggun: it was connected to the Rebbetzin, because she had brought the niggun. It was the Rebbetzin who brought the niggun “Nyet Nyet Nikavo.” The story [unclear] that—

53:37 The Rebbe was even excited about it. It was something the Rebbe had heard from the Rebbetzin; [unclear] in Paris. The Rebbe spoke about this niggun throughout the entire farbrengen of Parshas Chukas 5748. What is the depth of the niggun “Nyet Nyet Nikavo”? “There is nothing else besides Him.” The novel insight is that this is not only from the standpoint of [unclear], but from the standpoint of the world itself. Look at the sicha; it is a very rich sicha. The whole matter of the true unity of Hashem, [unclear]. The whole [unclear]: from the standpoint of the true unity of Hashem, the world itself, in its very form as a world, is G-dliness; it is “there is nothing else besides Him.” In our maamar, the Rebbe explains this in such a way that the matter of the true unity of Hashem is, consequently, not a matter of the essence [unclear]. It is not a matter of the essence; the point is that the definition of the world, the definition of its particular form, the person [unclear]. In other words, [unclear] is connected to G-dliness. What Moshe Rabbeinu, the “And you shall command,” reveals within us is this essential bond with the true meaning of G-dliness, [unclear]. The true meaning of G-dliness is that a person, with all his faculties—intellect, emotions, thought, speech, and action—has no aspect that is not G-dliness. This is the truth of G-dliness; this is the meaning

55:04 of Hashem’s unity, and this is the revelation of Atzmus: that a person’s particular form, his entire being, all that he is and his particular form, are one with G-dliness. And therefore, as long as Moshiach is not here, as long as “there is nothing else besides Him” does not shine in the world, that is the “crushed.” The truth of Hashem’s unity must shine, must radiate, must be visible inwardly. L’chaim, l’chaim. May we merit, may we merit, may we merit to have a connection to this entire matter. And today is Gimmel Tammuz; may we see [unclear] with our physical eyes, literally, in the physical world, below ten handbreadths. May we have the “And you shall command” in such a way that we not only study the maamar, but see it in the physical world, literally.