The Baal Shem Tov and Achiyah HaShiloni - Yud-Ches Elul, Parshas Ki Savo

00:00 Speaker 1 This was a 19 Kislev farbrengen in 5693. The Frierdiker Rebbe was still in Europe then, in Riga. At that farbrengen, which was a very large one, he revealed a number of remarkable things and stories about our Rebbeim. Among other things, he spoke about the Yom Tov of 18 Elul. He related that his wedding, the Frierdiker Rebbe’s wedding, took place on 13 Elul 5657, the eve of Shabbos. On 18 Elul of that year, 18 Elul 5657, which fell on a Wednesday, chassidim held a farbrengen as part of the sheva brachos. Chassidim came to the wedding from all across Russia. It was a very important wedding. The Frierdiker Rebbe was an only son, and chassidim came from every direction. There were older chassidim there who had come from different countries and towns to farbreng at that wedding. On 18 Elul they sat in Lubavitch and farbrenged, and the conversation turned to 18 Elul. The chassidim spoke about the way chassidim of earlier generations used to farbreng on 18 Elul. But in general, at that time and in those years, 18 Elul was a hidden Yom Tov. There was a chossid there, Reb Sholom Reb Hillel. Reb Sholom Reb Hillel was a close disciple of Reb Hillel of Paritch. He attended to Reb Hillel of Paritch and was his close disciple.

01:37 Speaker 1 When they called him Reb Sholom Reb Hillel, it was not because he was Reb Hillel’s son; he was a chossid, a close associate, and a devoted disciple. Reb Sholom Reb Hillel related what he had personally heard from Reb Hillel of Paritch: Reb Hillel said that he had heard from the tzaddik Reb Mottele of Chernobyl. As is known, before Reb Hillel came to Lubavitch, before he became a chossid of the Mitteler Rebbe, he was a chossid of Reb Mottele of Chernobyl. He heard from Reb Mottele of Chernobyl, who said in the name of his father, Reb Nochum of Chernobyl, concerning the Yom Tov of 18 Elul: 18 Elul is the day of the Baal Shem Tov’s revelation in body, soul, and spirit. He said that, in body, the Baal Shem Tov was born on 18 Elul 5458. In soul, his renowned teacher and master, Achiya Hashiloni, revealed himself to the Baal Shem Tov. As is known, the prophet Achiya Hashiloni revealed himself to the Baal Shem Tov on 18 Elul 5484. The Baal Shem Tov was twenty-six years old, the numerical value of the name Havayah. Ten years later, on 18 Elul 5494, when the Baal Shem Tov was thirty-six years old, came the revelation in spirit: this was the revelation of Chassidus, when the Baal Shem Tov became known as the founder and leader of the general teachings of Chassidus. That is what he related in the name of Reb Hillel of Paritch, who had heard it from Reb Mottele of Chernobyl in the name of Reb Nochum of Chernobyl. And Reb Hillel said that, really, 18 Elul should have been

03:16 Speaker 1 established as a Yom Tov, a day of feasting and rejoicing. But since only a Rebbe can establish a Yom Tov, it was not established. Reb Hillel concluded by saying that this may be why 18 Elul remained a hidden Yom Tov. Since the Baal Shem Tov corresponds to the sefirah of keser—as is known, and as we have discussed regarding the order of the Rebbeim’s sefiros—the holy Baal Shem Tov is associated with keser, and keser is something hidden, the opposite of revelation. That is why it remained a hidden Yom Tov. The Frierdiker Rebbe related this in 5693. Ten years later, in 5703, when he was already in America, during the war years, the Frierdiker Rebbe revealed a number of remarkable, hidden secrets, particularly matters concerning the holy Baal Shem Tov. He revealed a number of details about why it was called a Yom Tov. In the name of his father, he related that this was the practice of our Rebbeim: beginning on 18 Elul, they would wish one another “Gut Yom Tov,” with blessings and all that went with them. What is the significance of 18 Elul? There are three aspects that have been mentioned, and I will tell you about 18 Elul as the Alter Rebbe’s birthday. On 18 Elul 5505, the Baal Shem Tov was forty-seven years old, and he related a number of stories, matters, and revelations: it was a great day, a great festival, the birthday of the two great luminaries of Chassidus.

05:03 Speaker 1 They are the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chassidus and the founder of Chabad Chassidus. Almost a year ago, if you remember the details, 5784 marked exactly three hundred years since Achiya Hashiloni revealed himself to the Baal Shem Tov, in 5484. So today I will speak a little about the connection, the special connection the holy Baal Shem Tov had specifically with Achiya Hashiloni. It is an interesting matter: the Baal Shem Tov received the teachings of Chassidus from Achiya Hashiloni. This is indeed written in the books of the Baal Shem Tov’s disciples. In particular, the Toldos—the author of Toldos Yaakov Yosef—is known as one of the Baal Shem Tov’s greatest disciples and one of the principal people who recorded his teachings. In Parshas Balak, Toldos Yaakov Yosef brings this: my Rebbe, the holy Baal Shem Tov, revealed concerning his teacher Achiya Hashiloni that Achiya Hashiloni was among those who left Egypt. And the Gemara in Bava Basra says that Achiya Hashiloni lived even in the days of Amram. As the Gemara says in Bava Basra, “Seven spanned the entire world”: Achiya Hashiloni saw Amram and was among those who left Egypt. Later he was a member of Dovid’s court, and afterward he was the teacher of Eliyahu Hanavi and the teacher of my Rebbe, the holy Baal Shem Tov. That is what Toldos Yaakov Yosef writes. So what is the significance of Achiya Hashiloni? And what is the Baal Shem Tov’s connection with Achiya Hashiloni? The Lubavitcher Rebbe once spoke and wrote about this. It was at the beginning of the Rebbe’s leadership, in the very first year, still in 5710, shortly after the passing of the Frierdiker Rebbe. It was after Yud Shvat 5710, at the farbrengen on Shabbos Parshas Vayakhel-Pekudei, Shabbos Mevarchim Nissan 5710. The Rebbe said something very powerful then. He spoke

07:18 Speaker 1 about what the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote in his final maamar, Basi Legani. As is known, Basi Legani 5710 was the final maamar the Frierdiker Rebbe prepared for publication before his passing, and he did not finish writing the entire maamar. Additional sections that existed in manuscript were published afterward, for Purim or later, after Nissan, so that twenty chapters of Basi Legani were published. In that maamar, the Frierdiker Rebbe speaks, among other things, about netzach, about winning a war: the king spends all his treasures to win the war. He speaks about spending those treasures for victory, and explains that it is so on high as well. We also find this at the end of the era of ikvesa d’Meshicha, when the war will take place. To bring victory in the war between holiness and kelipah, to bring victory for the Jewish people—“The Eternal One of Israel will not lie or relent”—the King, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, spends all His treasures, amassed by His fathers, His fathers, His fathers. Matters that were sealed and hidden generation after generation are also brought out and revealed to win the war, without any calculation. And the Rebbe said at the farbrengen that it was surely Divine Providence, remarkable Divine Providence, that this subject appeared in the final maamar published in connection with the Frierdiker Rebbe’s passing. We can plainly see that the Frierdiker Rebbe devoted himself to this spending of treasures. We saw that in his later years he revealed such matters, such treasures, such remarkable things from among the most sealed and hidden matters, which had been concealed from every living eye: teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, including teachings

09:08 Speaker 1 of the Baal Shem Tov that he heard from Achiya Hashiloni. Other such matters—practices and customs that had been deeply hidden—were revealed specifically in those later years, a time of spending the treasures. The Rebbe later spoke at an 18 Elul farbrengen about how the Yom Tov of 18 Elul is one of those treasures. The point is, as we have said, that 18 Elul had been a Yom Tov in the past, up to a certain point, and through the Frierdiker Rebbe it was brought into the open, with all its details and all its aspects. It is one of the treasures that had been sealed and hidden from every eye. But for the sake of winning the war, to bring Moshiach, the significance of 18 Elul was revealed. Let us return to the farbrengen at which the Rebbe spoke on that Shabbos of Vayakhel-Pekudei: he spoke about how the Frierdiker Rebbe revealed a number of things that the holy Baal Shem Tov had heard from Achiya Hashiloni—customs, practices, and teachings. The Rebbe asked: Why the connection specifically to Achiya Hashiloni here? And he said that we find several details here connected specifically with the revelation of Chassidus through the holy Baal Shem Tov. First, we know who Achiya Hashiloni was: as mentioned, Achiya Hashiloni was [unclear] a member of Dovid’s court, and he was the teacher of Eliyahu Hanavi. Already here we see a connection

10:33 Speaker 1 To the true and complete Geulah: the matter of Moshiach, of King David and the kingdom of the House of David, and the matter of Elijah the Prophet, about whom the verse says in Trei Asar, in the well-known verse at the end of Trei Asar, in Malachi: “Behold, I am sending you Elijah the Prophet, of blessed memory, before the coming of Hashem’s great and awesome day.” The revelation of Elijah the Prophet comes before the revelation of Moshiach, and Achiya HaShiloni was connected both to King David, who stands at the head of the kingdom of the House of David through to King Moshiach, and to Elijah the Prophet, who heralds the Geulah. In addition, we find in the Zohar and in works of Kabbalah a special connection between Rashbi, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and Achiya HaShiloni. Sefer HaGilgulim cites the Arizal as saying that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was a reincarnation, a spark, of Achiya HaShiloni. That is what it says there. And there is the well-known story about Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai: on Lag BaOmer, when he was with his students at the Idra Zuta and revealed the Torah’s secrets, he said that he had disappeared because he needed to find himself a place in Gan Eden, and he chose to be together with Achiya HaShiloni. That is to say, Rashbi, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, [unclear],

12:08 Speaker 1 the inner dimension of Torah, who revealed secrets from the inner dimension of Torah, the secrets of secrets—their souls were connected to Achiya HaShiloni in the deepest way. So much so that we also find a version in the Yerushalmi and the Midrash according to which, when Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said, “I can exempt the entire world from judgment,” and “If there are two,” and so on, in the full wording that appears there, there are two versions. According to one version, he said that if Achiya HaShiloni were together with him, “I can exempt the entire world from judgment” until the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. From this we can understand, in general terms, Achiya HaShiloni’s connection to the holy Baal Shem Tov. For the Baal Shem Tov, as we know from the story, was in Moshiach’s chamber and received from Moshiach the message that Moshiach’s coming would be through “your wellsprings spreading outward.” And the Baal Shem Tov spread this throughout the entire world. This is also connected to what is said in the well-known passage of the Zohar, in Raaya Mehemna: “With this book of yours,” meaning the Zohar, “they will emerge from exile with mercy.” That is to say, the Zohar is a book of the inner dimension of Torah, and through this book, through the revelation of the inner dimension of Torah, we emerge from exile. And this comes down into practical expression, as a form of sustenance. And this is what the Baal Shem Tov accomplished with regard to

13:46 Speaker 1 the continuation of Rashbi’s work: he took the teachings of the Zohar and the inner dimension of Torah, and what had previously been confined to those [unclear], to those ways of serving Hashem, became something every Jew can attain in a way that is [unclear]. And especially after the Alter Rebbe, who clothed these teachings in Chabad Chassidus, Chassidus—the inner dimension of Torah—became a teaching and a path for the many, which every Jew can reach and connect with. This is clearly the connection between the Baal Shem Tov and the teachings he received from Achiya HaShiloni, who is connected to Elijah the Prophet, to King David, and to Rashbi. All these matters are connected to the revelation of Moshiach, to the revelation of the inner dimension of Torah, which is Moshiach’s concern. This is the preparation of “your wellsprings spreading outward,” through which we bring King Moshiach. That is one point. And the Rebbe points to another detail. When we look in Tanach, we find that the story involving Achiya HaShiloni was about the division of the kingdom into two kingdoms. Until then, King David had been the sole king over the entire Jewish people, and before him, King Shaul. Afterward, King Shlomo was the sole king. He was followed by Rechavam, Shlomo’s son, and then came the split, the division,

15:10 Speaker 1 in which there were two kings. Rechavam was king over the kingdom of Yehudah and Binyamin, while Yeravam ben Nevat, who was from the family of the House of Yosef, was king over the ten tribes. Who gave his approval to this? The verse says, “And the two of them were alone in the field”—Achiya HaShiloni the prophet together with Yeravam ben Nevat. And the Gemara in Sanhedrin explains that Yeravam ben Nevat was on the same level as Achiya HaShiloni and was great in Torah: “And the two of them were alone in the field”—all the Torah scholars seemed like grasses of the field before them. And they brought about the division into two kingdoms. This led to the division of the Jewish people into two kingdoms, with Yeravam ben Nevat, and the entire matter developed from there. But alongside Yeravam ben Nevat, it was established that “the scepter shall not depart from Yehudah,” and that there would be “a lamp for David My servant all the days”—that the dynasty of the kings of the House of David would continue always, all the days, until the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. That division needs to be repaired. Who brought about the repair? Elijah the Prophet, Achiya HaShiloni’s student. He repairs the division through his service. And this is Elijah the Prophet’s role: he unites the Jewish people. As we know, Elijah the Prophet is Pinchas: “Behold, I give him My covenant of peace.” Elijah the Prophet comes to every

16:40 Speaker 1 bris milah and sees the greatness of the Jewish people. And of Elijah the Prophet the verse says: “Behold, I am sending you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of Hashem’s great and awesome day, and he will turn the hearts of fathers toward their children and the hearts of children toward their fathers.” The Mishnah in Eduyos says, and the Rambam also cites this in Hilchos Melachim U’Milchamoseihem, that Elijah the Prophet, who will come soon, comes neither to bring people near nor to distance them, but to bring peace to the world. And this is the preparation for Moshiach’s coming: bringing peace to the world, creating unity among Jews. That is how Moshiach can be revealed, as is known. And Elijah the Prophet did this, also as Achiya HaShiloni’s student, in order to repair this matter. When Moshiach comes, what is said in Yechezkel’s prophecy will be fulfilled: “They shall no longer be divided into two kingdoms”—there will no longer be two kingdoms, but “My servant David shall be king over them, and one leader shall be for them all.” The leader, King Moshiach from the tribe of Yehudah, will be king over the entire Jewish people. And this began through Elijah the Prophet, and similarly through the Baal Shem Tov. When we look at the history of the Baal Shem Tov, we all know that one of his main concerns, besides revealing the inner dimension of Torah mentioned earlier, the wellsprings of Torah, was that he revealed Ahavas Yisroel: the depth of Ahavas Yisroel, the greatness of a simple Jew, and love for Jews,

18:05 Speaker 1 because this is more

20:15 Speaker 2 the yechidah of Torah. This is the very essence of the inner dimension of Torah, the yechidah of Torah, which reveals the yechidah of the soul, and this is a preparation for the revelation of the collective yechidah through King Moshiach. Achiya HaShiloni was a master of chayah-yechidah; that is, his concern was especially with chayah-yechidah. Therefore, the work is especially bound up with the Baal Shem Tov’s revelation: revealing the yechidah of Torah and preparing for the revelation of Moshiach ben David in the world. And this gives us a wonderful subject for a farbrengen. There is also a wonderful point to note: there is a maamar of the Frierdiker Rebbe from 5696, “Ashreinu Mah Tov Chelkeinu.” The maamar was printed in a kuntres [unclear]. The Frierdiker Rebbe’s maamar was printed in Sefer HaMaamarim 5696. “How fortunate we are, how good is our portion, how pleasant is our lot, and how beautiful is our inheritance”—these are three matters. It is a wonderful maamar, and it gives a good explanation of portion, lot, and inheritance. It speaks about the essence of the Jewish people, about the levels found among Jews, [unclear]. “Our portion” refers to nefesh, ruach, and neshamah—the revealed powers of the soul. “Lot” refers to the encompassing level of chayah in the soul, and “our inheritance” to the essence of the soul, the yechidah of the soul. On this subject, the Frierdiker Rebbe writes in the maamar that he heard from the Alter Rebbe: “Our Alter Rebbe, who received from my teacher the Maggid, who received from my teacher the Baal Shem Tov,” that my teacher heard this from my teacher, Achiya HaShiloni. And regarding the yechidah of the soul—what is the yechidah of the soul? “It is the oneness of our roots in our Father in Heaven.” In other words, Achiya HaShiloni revealed this to the Baal Shem Tov, and the Baal Shem Tov passed it on to the Maggid, to the Alter Rebbe, until these teachings reached us.

22:07 Speaker 2 And the way to reach this is through the yechidah of the soul. But why is it called yechidah? Yechidah comes from the word yachid, “the One,” because it receives from the One. And for a Jew, the essential point, the pintele Yid, is “the unity of our roots in our Father in Heaven.” A Jew knows that he is one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and therefore he does not want to, and cannot, separate himself from G-dliness. That is the yechidah of the soul, and that is what Achiya HaShiloni revealed. In this way, we reach a new and deeper understanding of what it means that Achiya HaShiloni was the Baal Shem Tov’s teacher. So when we come to a day like this, it is a time to reflect and strengthen ourselves—especially on a day like Chai Elul, and particularly at the three-hundred-year mark. In 5664, it was two hundred years; today it is three hundred years—this very year marks three hundred years since the revelation of Achiya HaShiloni. It is an especially fitting time. Each and every one of us must be stirred to make an effort and strengthen our study of Chassidus, the teachings of Chassidus, the inner dimension of the Torah, and the work of “spreading your wellsprings outward,” which the Baal Shem Tov uncovered and revealed. Each person should resolve to study Chassidus, spread Chassidus, and follow his ways, especially in Ahavas Yisroel: to love a Jew simply because he is a Jew. To recognize that in every Jew there is “the unity of our roots in our Father in Heaven”—the pintele Yid, the yechidah of the soul. Then we look at Jews from that perspective, and [unclear], that we must have this with all Jews.

23:44 Speaker 2 It is one single thing. And by Divine Providence, this year it falls on Shabbos Parshas Ki Savo. “When you come into the land”—as in the well-known teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, revealed by the Rebbe Rashab, who heard it himself in his room in Gan Eden on Chai Elul 5662: “And it shall be, when you come into the land.” “Land,” eretz, refers to will and desire, the will that every Jew possesses. A Jew naturally has within him an essential desire for Hashem. And the verse continues: “Which Hashem your G-d gives you as an inheritance”—a Jew receives it as a gift. [unclear] the yechidah of the soul, the desire, [unclear]. “When you come into the land” means bringing it inward; “and you shall inherit it and settle in it” means taking what Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives and internalizing it. This was the foundation of Chabad Chassidus—chochmah, binah, daas—and it finds expression in thought, speech, and action, down to the simplest matter. And this was passed down from generation to generation, from Rebbe to Rebbe, to the Baal Shem Tov, who received it from Achiya HaShiloni. The Chai Elul custom of saying three chapters of Tehillim each day, in order, until completing the entire Tehillim on Yom Kippur, along with the customs brought in Hayom Yom—this is one of the customs transmitted by Achiya HaShiloni and revealed by the Baal Shem Tov. May Hashem help that this happen soon, [unclear], and may we see, openly and in the flesh, the [unclear] of King Moshiach, and may there be revealed

25:17 Speaker 2 the inner dimension of the Torah, the Torah of Moshiach, openly and in the flesh.