Parshas Eikev - 20 Menachem Av "Vehaya Eikev Tishme'un" - The Avodah of Ikvesa DiMeshicha

00:00 There was a chossid called Reb Chaim Tashkenter. He was one of the Jews who risked their lives back in Russia. Eventually, he left Russia in the well-known “exodus from Egypt” after the war, in 5706–5707, during the time of the Frierdiker Rebbe. At first he lived in Paris, France, and later he moved to New York, to the Rebbe’s immediate surroundings. He was a cheerful chossid, a pleasant man, sincere and unassuming, very warm and very happy. He was always in good spirits and always had a kind word to say. Yes. That is how people who knew him in his later years remembered him, too. Reb Chaim Tashkenter related that he held a position working for the government. Because of that position, he was able to act even during those difficult days in Russia. Yes. Since he had a job with the government, his circumstances were a little easier. That enabled him to help chassidim and do many things. They called him Chaim Tashkenter because many chassidim had come to Tashkent. During the war, when people fled to distant places within Russia, they fled to Tashkent. Many Jews and chassidim were there, and they were able to get by there during the war years. He looked after them and helped them. He acted with tremendous self-sacrifice to help

01:35 Jews and chassidim get through those difficult years. He related that this was around 5701. At the time, he was traveling on a train from Tashkent to Kazakhstan. He was traveling for his government work, and the train passed through the town of Chiili. Chiili was a simple non-Jewish village, but in those days the holy tzaddik Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, the Rebbe’s father, was staying there. As is known, the Rebbe’s father, whose yahrzeit falls this week on 20 Menachem Av, had been a great and distinguished rabbi in Yekaterinoslav. Then he was arrested. In 5699 they took him to prison. After many months of suffering and the trials they subjected him to, after making his life miserable, they sentenced him to five years of exile. They sent him to Chiili, a simple non-Jewish village, where he had to spend those five years among non-Jews, in distress and under very harsh conditions, and so on. The train passed through that town and stopped, and Reb Chaim got off for four minutes. He saw a Jew sitting there beside the train. When he saw him, his eyes lit up, and he went over to see who it was: Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, the Rebbe’s father. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak looked at him and said, “Ah, from the look of you, you’re a Tomim from Lubavitch.” He answered, “Yes.” “Well, you’re chassidim of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.” Then he told him, “You should know, I am

03:25 a relative by marriage of the Lubavitcher Rebbe”—he meant the Frierdiker Rebbe. Yes. “My son is the son-in-law of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.” This was a tremendous revelation, and Reb Chaim Tashkenter remembered how he introduced himself, with such a holy face. Yes. Before him stood a tall, broad man who looked terribly worn by suffering. Yes. But one could see that he was an extraordinary person. He introduced himself with that deeply holy expression. They spoke for a few minutes. Among other things, he told Reb Chaim that they could not talk for too long, because they had to be careful about everything; people were afraid, and terror prevailed there. Yes. So he said just a few words to him: “Know that every mitzvah that comes our way makes things easier for us.” In other words, when an opportunity to perform a positive mitzvah arises, you have to strengthen yourself: Yes, I can do this; I can take this on. He also asked Reb Chaim to put him in touch with the people he wanted to help him with his affairs. Years later, when Reb Chaim Tashkenter traveled to the Rebbe for the first time—this was later, when the Rebbe was already Rebbe, sometime around [unclear]—he traveled from Paris to America and went in for yechidus. The Rebbe asked him for every detail of what he had seen of the Rebbe’s father.

05:16 He had met Reb Levik during his exile, and the Rebbe wanted to know every last detail, as mentioned, [unclear]. He told the Rebbe that Reb Levik had said to him that he had come with green [unclear]. The Rebbe wept deeply, he related afterward. [unclear]. Then the Rebbe continued asking what he had looked like there. [unclear]. He said that was how he had been. [unclear]. The Rebbe asked him, “How—how did he look there?” He answered, “He looked like a prince, a king’s son.” The Rebbe recoiled and said to him, “A prince? What? Only a prince? The king!” In any case, that is the story, one of the details of what Reb Zusha experienced when he was with Reb Levik. Today’s parsha is Parshas Eikev. “And it shall be, because you will listen.” At first glance, there is the question all the commentators ask: Why does it say “because you will listen”? It should have said “if you will listen”; why does it say eikev, “because”? [unclear]. The holy Or Hachaim says something [unclear] about the word eikev. [unclear]. But the Tzemach Tzedek focuses on the wording: “And it shall be, eikev, you will listen”—this refers to ikvesa d’Meshicha, the period leading up to Moshiach, and there is a source for this.

07:14 In the Midrash. The Midrash says on the verse “And it shall be, because you will listen”: “I will give you the reward at the end.” In other words, the true reward will come specifically at the end. We are living through the whole exile; when we receive the true reward, we must already be leaving exile. But the Rebbe says further that eikev comes after all the work [unclear]. The Tzemach Tzedek says that this is not yet speaking about the reward, but about the work itself. “And it shall be, eikev, you will listen”—this refers to ikvesa d’Meshicha, to the time of exile. In other words, at the end, during the time of exile, there will certainly be “you will listen.” Here eikev does not mean “because,” for certainly during the time of exile [unclear]. After all, the Rambam states: “The Jewish people will ultimately do teshuvah at the end of their exile, and they will immediately be redeemed.” The Rambam says: “The Torah has promised that the Jewish people will ultimately do teshuvah at the end of their exile, and they will immediately be redeemed.”

08:15 [unclear]. It is certain that then, in ikvesa d’Meshicha, there will be “you will listen.” Then [unclear], we will merit to “listen,” to “listen” in the fullest sense, and consequently we will merit to be redeemed immediately, in the words of the well-known Rambam. According to this, the entire parsha [unclear] the work of teshuvah, specifically in ikvesa d’Meshicha. What is distinctive about the work of teshuvah in ikvesa d’Meshicha? For example, the Rebbe says, as he spoke at the 20 Menachem Av farbrengen, in the maamar “Vehayah Eikev Tishme’un,” “Vehayah” [unclear]. We studied that maamar then. It was on Shabbos, 20 Menachem Av. The Rebbe cited the Tzemach Tzedek’s verse then [unclear] and incorporated a teaching of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak. Yes. This will help us understand the depth of the work in ikvesa d’Meshicha. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, as is known, was in exile. He wrote notes on the Tanya and on every book he had, on the books in his possession. [unclear]. The story is well known: Rebbetzin Chana, the Rebbe’s mother, made an effort to gather herbs and prepare ink from them, cooking the ink so that he would have something to write with. They had no paper. So he wrote on whatever papers and books he had. He had some volume of Mishnah, he had [unclear], he had a Tanya. On those papers he wrote whatever he could. They are in the Rebbe’s library to this day. Yes, what is remarkable is the writing in red, blue, and green, in every [unclear].

10:17 [unclear]. We are studying Tanya, chapter 37. The Alter Rebbe continues from chapter 36. After explaining in chapter 36 the teaching of our Sages, “Hakadosh Boruch Hu desired to have a dwelling in the lower realms,” the Alter Rebbe goes on to explain the full depth of that teaching: the entire purpose of creation, the ultimate intent in creating the world, is for there to be a dwelling in the lower realms. That is, for the very Essence and Being of Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself to be revealed below. How does all this come about? Through what a person does, all the [unclear]. The Alter Rebbe says in chapter 37, [unclear]: “Now, this ultimate perfection of the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead depends on our deeds and our service throughout the period of exile.” The entire ultimate perfection of the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead is connected to our deeds and our service during exile. This is a profound point the Alter Rebbe makes: all these revelations, this ultimate perfection, the great revelations that will take place in the future, in the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead, depend on our deeds and our service. Not only that, but he emphasizes “during exile” specifically. A Jew serves Hashem at all times, including when the Beis Hamikdash stood. Why does he say “during exile”? Because it is specifically the service during exile that prepares for the revelations of Moshiach. As explained in Chassidus: during exile, specifically in exile, when it is a time of “we have not seen our signs,” a time when G-dliness is not revealed and one cannot see and feel the greatness [unclear].

12:18 [unclear] the revelation of the Beis Hamikdash. And that is why, precisely then, the soul serves with greater strength and self-sacrifice, [unclear] all the obstacles and all the trials, standing firm and serving with kabbolas ol and self-sacrifice. And this very service is the deepest service; from it come the revelations of the future. The revelations of the future are exceedingly lofty, and they depend specifically on self-sacrifice, on the service performed during exile. But here comes a wonderful teaching from [unclear], in which he notes a repetition in the Alter Rebbe’s wording. The Alter Rebbe does not simply say one thing; he says “our deeds and our service.” What is the meaning of this repetition, “our deeds and our service”? Similarly, he mentions two things: “this ultimate perfection of the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead.” He speaks of two aspects of service and two aspects of [unclear]. There are “our deeds” and “our service,” and there are the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak points out that these are two distinct things and refers us to Tanya, Igeres Hakodesh, section 12, where the matter is explained. As is well known, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak writes briefly. He merely says that we should look there, in Tanya, Igeres Hakodesh, section 12, and that is how we understand the matter. What is more, the two levels, the two periods that will come in the future—the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead—depend on the two aspects of “our deeds and our service.” [unclear].

13:59 [unclear]. He spoke about these matters in a wonderful way. In any case, the point that matters for practical service is this: What is the difference between “our deeds” and “our service”? The Rebbe says in Igeres Hakodesh that “our deeds” means that a person serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu through Torah study, avodah, prayer, tzedakah—in every area—and does these things because it is his nature. That is his nature, and he enjoys it. Habit becomes second nature, and he does it because his nature moves him [unclear]. Yes, a baal teshuvah, too, has an inherent nature to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu. After all, a Jew inherently has, as we know, the traits the Gemara speaks of: “This nation has three distinguishing traits: they are compassionate, modest, and perform acts of kindness.” So when a person expresses and reveals his nature, he serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu in accordance with that nature. The Alter Rebbe says: When a person serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu by revealing the nature of his soul, all of that is still in the category of “our deeds”—he is doing something. But “our service” is something else. Service involves toil. It is when something is difficult for him, and he has to exert himself, sweat, labor, and break his nature. It is when a person pushes himself beyond his nature and his habits, serving Hakadosh Boruch Hu beyond his usual practice in every area. In Torah study, he studies more than his nature and habits would lead him to. This is like what the Rebbe cites in Tanya, chapter 15, concerning “one who reviews his lesson one hundred times” and “one who reviews his lesson one hundred and one times.” That is what the Gemara says in Chagigah.

15:55 This is the meaning of the phrase “a servant of G-d.” “Servant” here means work and toil. As explained in Chassidus, the word for “servant” is related to the word for “tanning hides.” When hides are tanned, you take the hide, the pelt, and rub it. Thus Chassidus explains that precisely during exile, and especially at a time when “we do not see,” a time when the revelation of G-dliness is deeply concealed—“and we cannot ascend and appear and bow before You”—we do not see the greatness; the revelation of the Beis Hamikdash is missing. Nevertheless, precisely then, the soul has the strength to go forward with self-sacrifice, amid the pain, all the obstacles, and all the trials, to stand firm and serve with kabbolas ol and self-sacrifice. And this service is the deepest and most fundamental service; from it come the revelations of the future. The revelations of the future are exceedingly lofty, and they depend specifically on self-sacrifice, on the service performed during exile. But here Rabbi Levi Yitzchak offers a wonderful explanation. He points out that the Alter Rebbe uses a double expression: “our deeds and our service.” Why the double expression, “our deeds and our service”? Similarly, when speaking of the ultimate goal, he also names two things: this ultimate perfection of the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead. He speaks of two aspects of service and two aspects of the ultimate goal. There are “our deeds” and “our service,” and there are the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead. And the Rebbe says, Reb...

15:55 Rabbi Levi Yitzchak points out that these are two distinct things and refers us to Tanya, Igeres Hakodesh, section 12, where the matter is explained. As is well known, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak writes concisely. He writes that one should look there in Tanya, in Igeres Hakodesh, section 12, to understand the matter. He also shows that the two levels, the two periods that will come in the future—the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead—depend on the two aspects of “our deeds and our service.” What does he mean? The Rebbe discusses this matter, [unclear]. It is a fascinating discussion of these subjects, but we should at least return to the point that matters for practical service: What is the difference between “our deeds” and “our service”? The Rebbe says in Igeres Hakodesh that “our deeds” means something like a person taking a hide, tanning it, and rubbing it. It is dirty, it has a smell, and a great deal of work is needed to prepare the hide. And what does it become? Parchment. From that hide comes something very beautiful and fully kosher. This work requires tremendous effort. And that is what “our service” refers to: toiling against the nature of one’s soul. As the Rebbe teaches on this very point, toiling beyond the soul’s nature does not mean only beyond the nature of the animal soul, but even beyond the nature of the G-dly soul. This is a wonderful insight: Even the G-dly soul, which is a part of G-d above and naturally wants to draw close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu—but...

17:01 That is its nature, its own nature. It is a G-dly nature, but it is still a particular nature, with a defined character, with measures and limits. Service means going beyond not only the nature of the animal soul, but also the nature of the G-dly soul. In other words, serving Hakadosh Boruch Hu not because I want to, because it feels good to me, or because the G-dly soul has a natural attraction to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, but because He commanded it. Because G-dliness, because Hakadosh Boruch Hu, demands that we serve Him. And this is especially relevant during exile. During exile, things do not shine clearly. The soul is amid concealments, even many layers of concealment, and consequently there are many considerations. A person may find satisfaction in a particular part of his service and feel that he is doing what he needs to do, that his situation is apparently good, that apparently “the Merciful One exempts him,” and so on. And what he is doing is serious enough; he is doing something definite and appropriate. But despite all that, toil is required of me: to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu beyond one’s nature and habits. To come to Torah study and study more than one is obligated to according to halachah, in the areas of law one is studying. As the Rebbe describes it, he takes time from his working hours and devotes it to serving Hakadosh Boruch Hu, to study, and also takes time from his personal hours of rest, and so on. This is what it means to be a servant: he toils, he prays with effort, beyond his usual practice, with, with...

18:25 With self-sacrifice. And likewise with tzedakah: giving much more than a tenth, and even more than a fifth, as the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya, that to emerge from one’s inner exile, one may give even more than a fifth. “A person will give all that he has for his life.” This is the meaning of the heel, the heels, in “Because you will listen”: our service, which goes beyond our deeds. And on this the Rebbe says that through “our deeds and our service”—the two ways of serving Hashem—there is the way of “our deeds”: revealing the soul’s nature, revealing its inner powers. This is the service of revealing what a person has within his nature, bringing his holy nature out of concealment into the open. But “our service” means rising above nature—not only the nature of the animal soul, but also the nature of the G-dly soul. This is a new kind of service, a service of renewal: breaking one’s nature and rising above measures and limits. And then one reaches the loftiest level of the revelations of the future. This is reflected in the two periods of revelation in the future: the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead. And the Rebbe explains: What is the difference between the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead? And how does this follow from “our deeds and our service”?

19:56 In the days of Moshiach, it says, “The world will follow its natural course.” The Rambam writes this at the end of Hilchos Melachim. The days of Moshiach will be a world of peace, tranquility, and rest: “There will be no war, no hatred, no jealousy, and no competition.” But this is still “the world following its natural course”: nature, only nature at its fullest perfection. After that will come the second period, the era of the Resurrection of the Dead, when there will be revelations in the world involving changes to the natural order: the Resurrection of the Dead and all the other changes, and “the wolf will dwell with the lamb” in the literal sense. All these things will happen literally—changes to the natural order. And this is measure for measure. Through our deeds during the time of exile, we will merit the days of Moshiach. Through our avodah, we will merit the Resurrection of the Dead. This is what the Rebbe tells us in Tanya: all the revelations of the World to Come, in their ultimate perfection, are the days of Moshiach and the Resurrection of the Dead. And this, “eikev,” depends on our deeds and our avodah during the time of exile. Through our deeds, through our avodah, we must reach all these things, the revelations of the World to Come. This is the new point the Tzemach Tzedek makes in the Siddur: “And it shall be, because you will listen”—certainly. Each one of us, in the time of ikvesa deMeshicha [unclear]. These are our deeds; this is our avodah: the work of revealing the power of the G-dly soul, and the work of breaking through the G-dly soul’s nature—avodah in a way that brings something new, beyond nature. Here too, bringing something new into our avodah is beyond all measure and limitation. And each one of us has the tools the Rebbe gives us at the end of the time of exile, in ikvesa deMeshicha, to do this work. Then certainly, certainly, it will happen for us speedily in our days. And the Rebbe says in the maamar that, as it was then [unclear], when one had to undergo actual mesirus nefesh and bodily suffering, all those things—and that has already

21:50 happened now [unclear]. Today, it comes specifically with abundance. And the Rebbe tells us at the end of the maamar that “you will listen”—certainly. In our generation, when the children, sons, builders, students, [unclear], it comes specifically with abundance; this is “you will listen”—certainly. And then, in the very near future, we will merit to see with our physical eyes the fulfillment of the promises of the true and complete Geulah through our righteous Moshiach.