Yom Kippur - Parshas Haazinu 5686 "Yimtza'eihu Be'eretz Midbar" - The Preciousness of a Soul Revealed on Yom Kippur

00:00 Reb Peretz Mochkin, one of the great chassidim, a student of Tomchei Temimim in Lubavitch and one of the great mashpi’im, relates the following story. In his later years, he lived in Montreal and served as a mashpia for the Chabad community. He tells of a young man in Montreal, from a chassidic family, who had unfortunately left the path of Judaism. Reb Peretz tried to draw him close and asked him to write a letter to the Rebbe. This was in the early years of the Rebbe’s leadership, in the 5710s. The young man wrote to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe replied that he wanted to meet him: he should come to New York, and the Rebbe would be happy to see him. The young man wrote back that he thought it would be better not to meet, because when the Rebbe saw how he dressed, how he walked and how he behaved, the Rebbe would certainly not be pleased with his conduct. The Rebbe replied: “Even though I do not see you face to face, I believe you have great strength. I believe in your strengths, I believe in your abilities, and I am certain that when I see you face to face, I will believe in your strengths even more.” Eventually, the young man returned to the path of Torah and raised a family of G-d-fearing, observant Jews. We are now in the season of Yom Kippur, the time for teshuvah. This is the time of the essence of Yom Kippur itself, the time when “the spirit returns to G-d Who gave it.” Yom Kippur touches the yechidah, the highest level of the higher teshuvah. “The spirit returns to G-d Who gave it”—this is a Jew’s essential bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and it reveals

03:16 the depth of the joy, from which all the days of “the season of our rejoicing” then follow. We read Parshas Haazinu during this period. In some years, we read Parshas Haazinu during the days of teshuvah, and in other years, on the Shabbos between Yom Kippur and Sukkos. The central point our Rebbeim discuss—the greatness, wonder and depth of Yom Kippur—is evident in Parshas Haazinu as well. This is especially so as the Frierdiker Rebbe explains it in a maamar, and then in maamarim from other years, through the maamarim of our Rebbe, our Nasi. Among them is a maamar of the Rebbe’s that I saw twice, once in 5742 and again in 5746, in which he addresses the verses in Parshas Haazinu. There it says: “For Hashem’s portion is His people.” Parshas Haazinu is, of course, the song of Moshe Rabbeinu—the Song of Haazinu, the entire parsha. And as he also cites [unclear]. In several sichos, he also speaks of the great virtue of studying Parshas Haazinu, the song, and knowing it by heart, and brings out a number of remarkable points when discussing the song. Among its verses are some extraordinary ones. Chassidus speaks in particular about the verses concerning the lofty stature of the souls of the Jewish people. There is the verse that says: “For Hashem’s portion is His people; Yaakov is the lot of His inheritance.” Jews are a portion of Havayah. This is the meaning of “an actual part of G-d above,” which the Alter Rebbe explains at length in Igeres Hateshuvah, chapters 4 and 5. This verse

05:10 tells us what a Jew is, what a Jew’s essence is, and how a Jew is bound to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “Hashem’s portion is His people”—a Jew, a soul, a Jewish soul, is a portion of Havayah, a portion of the Divine Name Havayah. All created beings, even the angels, are associated with the name Elokim—“sons of Elokim.” A soul, by contrast, is a portion of Havayah and “an actual part of G-d above.” And within this itself, “Yaakov is the lot of His inheritance”: when a soul descends below—“He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu places the soul in a body. There is a rope, a cord connecting the soul below with its source above, with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, all the way to His Essence and Being. In general, this is the rope of the 613 mitzvos: the 613 strands connecting the soul below with its root and source above in G-dliness. The following verses continue on this theme. There, where the Torah tells us what a soul is—“For Hashem’s portion is His people; Yaakov is the lot of His inheritance”—the Torah goes on to say: “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling wasteland; He surrounded him, He gave him understanding, He guarded him like the pupil of His eye.” Yes, on the plain level, this speaks of Hakadosh Boruch Hu finding the Jewish people in Egypt and then in a “desert land,” which the commentators, including Rashi, explain to mean the

06:39 desert, in connection with what took place at the Giving of the Torah. The holy Ohr Hachayim says it refers specifically to Egypt. He calls Egypt a “desert land” because the Jews turned Egypt into “a deep sea without fish,” “a deep sea without fish,” “a deep sea without fish.” In other words, after they had brought out all its sparks of holiness, Egypt became a desert land. In any case, as the verse says, Hakadosh Boruch Hu found the Jewish people. He found them when they were on the verge of falling into the fiftieth of the fifty gates of impurity, may Hashem protect us. And this expresses their great worth: Hakadosh Boruch Hu found them in a desert land, “in the howling wasteland.” Yes, amid dark kelipos and filth in which they were immersed at the time. Yet Hakadosh Boruch Hu accepted them and raised them up: “He surrounded him, He gave him understanding, He guarded him like the pupil of His eye.” Just as one guards the pupil of the eye—yes, with great care—so too, “whoever touches them is as though he touches the pupil of His eye.” That is how Hakadosh Boruch Hu guards the Jewish people. The verse then continues: “Like an eagle that rouses its nest and hovers over its young.” Yes, like an eagle that “rouses its nest and hovers over its young.” The compassion an eagle has for its little ones, for its offspring—yes. In the same way, Hakadosh Boruch Hu guards the Jewish people, has compassion on them and

08:05 carries them—“He bears him on His pinions,” carries them on His wings. And as the verse concludes: “Hashem alone guided him, and no foreign god was with Him.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu guides the Jews alone, without any other nation. And there is no [unclear] there, only Yisroel and their King. Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself guides the Jews. Now these verses, as explained in the maamarim, deal specifically with the days of the season we are in now: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkos and Simchas Torah. All the themes of the month of Tishrei are alluded to and expressed in these verses. The holy Shelah writes that the themes of the parshiyos are connected to the festivals; when we read this parsha at this time, there is an inner connection between them. And as we said, there is an inner connection between these verses and the time in which we find ourselves. The Alter Rebbe explains in maamarim that this speaks of Jewish souls at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The verse says, “He found him in a desert land,” and before that it says, “For Hashem’s portion is His people; Yaakov is the lot of His inheritance.” A Jew reaches this time of year, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and then “He found him in a desert land” takes place within him—meaning the work of teshuvah. A Jew takes stock of himself, reflects on where he stands, and discovers that he is in a desert. And the Alter Rebbe explains that there is

09:37 the category of a city, the category of a field, and the category of a desert. When a Jew, may Hashem protect us, stumbles in undesirable matters, he is in a desolate desert. He is in a place where “no man dwelt”; he stands in a desert. A desert is a place where “no man dwelt.” “Man” refers to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the Supernal Man, and “no man dwelt” means that the Supernal Man is not found there. The person is in a desolate desert, “a place of snakes, fiery serpents and scorpions.” This is what the verse means when it says, “They wandered in the desert.” A Jewish soul, which comes from a lofty level, from the point of being “an actual part of G-d above,” descends below into this physical world, into an animal soul, [unclear] with the three impure kelipos. And there are also matters of sin and blemish, of straying from the path. Here, even if it was not fully [unclear], a Jew nevertheless stands on Rosh Hashanah, reflects on where he stands, and feels that he is in a desert land. And of this the verse says, “He found him”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu finds a Jew. That itself expresses how extraordinary it is, how great [unclear], how precious the Jewish soul is to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. As the Rebbe said, in his words in [unclear], even for Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself it is a great wonder that He finds Jews whole, even when they are in a desert land. In other words, so to speak, Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself takes pride in this as something extraordinary

11:08 All the more so. How could Jews have withstood all these tests while down here in this physical world, in exile and in redoubled darkness, and still remained steadfast? And it happens like an unexpected find. He says that a find is something that comes when one is not thinking about it. So to speak, even Hakadosh Boruch Hu finds that the souls of the Jewish people—that the Jewish soul—always remain whole. And even if a Jew has stumbled, G-d forbid, he still retains his faith in Hashem, awakens the soul within him, the part of G-d within him, and is moved to do teshuvah. As we see in the maamarim about teshuvah, this expresses the extraordinary nature of the soul: nothing can sever a soul from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and it always wants to do teshuvah. Immediately afterward, the verse says, “He surrounds him”—that inner point awakens within him. Whether this comes from above, his whole soul awakens to teshuvah, out of [unclear], and he runs to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We see this especially during the time of teshuvah, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: even Jews who were utterly distant throughout the year, when Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur arrive, their souls awaken, they are moved to do teshuvah, and they return to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is what the verse says: “He finds him in a desert land, in a desolate, howling wasteland.” And it goes on: “He surrounds him, He grants him understanding.” On Rosh Hashanah and Yom

12:35 Kippur, “He finds him” takes place. Hakadosh Boruch Hu finds the soul, and the soul finds Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is when father and son meet. This is the analogy brought in the maamarim: the father sees the child, is drawn to him, plays with him—yes, loves him and plays with him. This is the great love and affection awakened during the time of teshuvah, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Then comes “He surrounds him.” “He surrounds him” alludes to Sukkos. The revelation of [unclear], the revelation of [unclear], awakened through the teshuvah of Jews: they leave the “desert land,” leap up and run to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, return to Him, and this in turn awakens Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s greatest love and affection. “He surrounds him”—He envelops them on Sukkos. The holy Pri Eitz Chaim explains that the sukkah’s enclosure is an embrace. Yes, “He surrounds him”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu envelops the Jew. A sukkah has three walls and another handbreadth. The three walls, he says, are like a person embracing someone: in an embrace, he encircles the person’s body with the two sections of his arm, like this, and then with his hand—that is the handbreadth. This is the idea of the embrace: so to speak, Hakadosh Boruch Hu embraces the Jew, “He surrounds him,” envelops him. The enclosure of the festival of Sukkos is therefore the time when the essential love is revealed, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu envelops the Jew. And then it says, “He grants him understanding”—the ten utterances of Havayah [unclear], the Jew’s love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s love for the Jew. That is why it becomes “the season of our rejoicing.”

14:19 Then, as the verse continues, comes “He grants him understanding.” “He grants him understanding” refers to Simchas Torah, to Shemini Atzeres, to the Torah. That is when we finish the Torah and begin it anew, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives the Jew “understanding”: He gives him the power to understand and grasp concepts, so that he can study Torah, understand Torah, and connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu anew. He then goes on to say, “He guards him like the pupil of His eye.” Because Hakadosh Boruch Hu loves a Jew with an essential love and accepts the teshuvah Jews do during these days, it follows that “He guards him like the pupil of His eye.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu protects the Jewish people, and His protection is “like the pupil of His eye”—the dark center of the eye. About this, we say that “whoever touches them is like one who touches the pupil of His eye.” If anyone touches a Jew or starts up with him, G-d forbid—nations, non-Jews, the non-Jewish world—if they start up with a Jew, it is “like one who touches the pupil of His eye”: as though they were touching, G-d forbid, the pupil of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s eye. And as the Alter Rebbe [unclear], what they do to the pupil of His eye is connected to what we are discussing here, the idea of teshuvah. He says that “the pupil of His eye” is the black part of the eye. The eye has a white part and a black part, and “a person sees only through the black part.” This is brought in the Midrash: when we see, we see through the black part of the eye. The Alter Rebbe explains this in spiritual terms, that...

15:54 the blackness of the eye refers to the avodah of teshuvah. Blackness is darkness; it is the descent of the soul below, into desolation. “In a desert land, in a desolate, howling wasteland”—that is where the blackness begins: blackness, gloom, redoubled darkness; here there is always darkness. And precisely from there comes sight, through the blackness of the eye. This is the unique quality of teshuvah. It is precisely in this power: the distinction of a baal teshuvah is that he comes from the lowest depths, from a world of darkness. And from the blackness of the eye, precisely there, comes [unclear]. This is the great elevation of the Ten Days of Teshuvah, and of what takes place on Yom Kippur: transforming darkness into light and bitterness into sweetness. The darkness itself turns into light, and this brings him to sight, to the profound level of seeing G-dliness. In the words of the verse, “Hashem is among my helpers, and I shall look upon my enemies.” Precisely through the enemy, through the opposing force, one comes to sight, to a profound vision of G-dliness. It comes precisely from a world of darkness. This is what he means by “He guards him like the pupil of His eye”: through the avodah of teshuvah, one reaches the pupil of His eye. Precisely out of the darkness, out of the distance, this happens through teshuvah. Of this it is said, “In the place where baalei teshuvah stand, even perfectly righteous people cannot stand.” All of this comes about through the avodah of teshuvah. About this the verse says, “Like an eagle that rouses its nest, hovering over its young, it spreads its wings, takes it, and carries it on its pinion.” Chassidus explains this: an eagle has a great measure of compassion. The eagle demonstrates this quality. On the one hand, the eagle is one of the creatures of the Divine Chariot; that is, it occupies one of the highest levels—the creatures of the Chariot, the face of an eagle. On the other hand, we are told that the eagle is an unkosher bird, an unkosher bird. And King Shlomo asks a question

18:02 in Mishlei: “Three things are too wondrous for me—the way of an eagle in the heavens.” How does the eagle reach the heavens? That is King Shlomo’s question. How can it be an unkosher bird, yet the eagle is in the heavens? Of course, the question concerns what is written there, but we are speaking about the eagle. And there is another difficult question: Chassidus and Kabbalah explain that the eagle represents the middle line, the attribute of compassion. You can see compassion in the eagle; later in the verses it says, “hovering over its young.” That comes from compassion, because it cares for them. These are details brought there, and Rashi explains them. This is the attribute of compassion found in the eagle; it is on the highest level of compassion. And King Shlomo wonders: how can an unkosher bird be at such a height? The explanation according to Chassidus is that the direction is reversed, and it reaches even higher. The fall is transformed. Although it was an eagle—a Jewish soul—it strayed from the path, G-d forbid, fell from its lofty place, and became distant. And G-d forbid, it may have descended very far, all the way to the lowest depths. An eagle—it sheds its place and falls and falls, descending to the furthest possible distance. And that is the very wonder: how does that same eagle reach the heavens and the highest heavens? Through the avodah of teshuvah, it can ascend and reach such a profound level. What level? “On His pinion.” Chassidus explains: what is meant by “on His pinion”? It is a level above Torah and mitzvos, which are limbs. For the Rebbe cites in Tanya that the 248 positive mitzvos correspond to the 248 limbs; these are the “limbs of the King,” so to speak, Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s limbs—the 248 positive mitzvos. That is “on His pinion.” But a baal teshuvah reaches even higher than a tzaddik, through the fact that he

19:56 In a movement of teshuvah. From the distance at the outset, from the darkness at the outset, the baal teshuvah reaches “on His pinions,” beyond Torah and mitzvos. For the Jewish soul is rooted even higher than the Torah: “Israel preceded it,” as the Midrash says. And all this brings us back, in order, to what we are learning now, to the time of Yom Kippur. He says: “Hashem alone guides him, and no foreign god is with Him.” This describes the closing of the gates, as explained in Chassidus. At Neilah, the gates are closed, and only the souls of Israel remain with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the two of them alone. That is “Hashem alone guides him.” And this is revealed especially afterward, on Simchas Torah. It is brought in the sefarim that Simchas Torah is the time of “Hashem alone guides him, and no foreign god is with Him”: then Israel and the King are alone together, through joy. This is the great joy of these days, after going through the work of teshuvah. These verses express the richness, the wonder, the preciousness of a Jew, and the way one looks at him. That must be our work in these days, and especially in the month of Tishrei: to grasp deeply and inwardly what a Jew is, how precious a Jew is, and to take it to heart. Even if, rachmana litzlan, and especially in our times, Jewish children stumble and stray somewhat from the path and so on, we must look at them with great love and great compassion, “like an eagle.” For when looking at a Jew, we must look at his soul, see him through his soul. Then we can bring the love to light, bring the essential love to light, and take to heart how precious and exalted a Jewish soul is to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And through this, we will not get caught up

21:43 That is what we are talking about—and it illuminates and awakens the hidden powers, the essential powers. This is how one can truly [unclear] and connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and this is how “Hashem alone guides him, and no foreign god is with Him” will truly be fulfilled. And especially, we ask for the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu. May we merit, during the holy days of the seventh month, to see all these things fulfilled openly and tangibly: “Hashem alone guides him, and no foreign god is with Him.” This also relates to the verses of Geulah. There too it says, “Hashem alone guides him”—that Jews are always... Jews are always one unique nation, and that this should be revealed. May it be so in our days, openly and tangibly, with kindness and mercy. Gmar chasimah tovah, a good and sweet year, a year of the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu.