Parshas Vayeira (5786) "And Hashem said, Shall I hide from Avraham" - The elevation that comes through the service of trials

00:00 In 5676, in the month of Cheshvan, around 17 Cheshvan, the Rebbe Rashab left Lubavitch. It was the last time he was in Lubavitch. In time, he arrived in Rostov. This was a major change, a great upheaval, connected with the war at the time. It was the period of the First World War, and the situation had become life-threatening. It was no longer possible to continue living in Lubavitch as they had until then. The Rebbe Rashab and his entire family had to move elsewhere. During that period, the Rebbe Rashab was delivering the famous hemshech, the well-known series of maamarim of Chassidus, one of the longest hemshechim in Chassidus, and perhaps the longest of them: Hemshech Beshaah Shehikdimu 5672. The Rebbe Rashab began the hemshech in 5672, and its maamarim continued from 5672 until that Shabbos, Shabbos Parshas Vayeira 5676. In other words, he delivered the hemshech over about four years. It is a rich and remarkable hemshech, dealing with profound concepts in Chassidus. It lays out an entire framework and helps one understand the deepest concepts through illustrations, analogies, elaborations and many explanations, in exceptionally rich language. As is known, the Rebbe was deeply immersed in this hemshech, to the point that the Rebbe himself

01:43 devoted himself, at great personal sacrifice, to having the hemshech printed, and there is a whole story behind that. In any event, as mentioned, the hemshech continued until the last Shabbos the Rebbe Rashab spent in Lubavitch, Shabbos Parshas Vayeira 5676. After he left Lubavitch, he did not continue delivering it. There is an entire additional section written in his holy handwriting, from which another volume of the maamarim of Hemshech Ayin Beis was published. Those maamarim were not delivered orally; they exist only in writing, and they have the same richness and depth, and so on. At that time, there was one of the great chassidim, a chossid from the Rebbe’s family, named Reb Baruch Shneur—Reb Baruch Shneur Schneersohn. He was known as the Rabash. That is, he was a grandson of the Tzemach Tzedek through his eldest son, Reb Baruch Shalom. He was also the Rebbe Rashab’s cousin. He was very close to the royal household and to the Rebbe Rashab’s household, and during that period he kept an extensive diary. This is the diary published in recent years under the title Reshimas HaRabash. In it he wrote about various matters from those years—conversations, sayings, aphorisms and stories he heard and recorded

03:18 from the Rebbe Rashab during his final years in Lubavitch. There he relates—and this is the last story in the diary—what happened on the Friday and Shabbos of that departure. He says he was there that Shabbos and describes several things they discussed that Shabbos, before a farbrengen, and so on. He also relates that he had a yechidus and heard various things from him. He goes on to describe the day the Rebbe Rashab set out: the entire community came to bid him farewell, receive a parting blessing and offer their good wishes. At that moment, the Rebbe Rashab said to that chossid, Reb Baruch Shneur: “Everyone should review Chassidus. Wherever they go and wherever they stand, they should speak Chassidus. The main thing is to speak Chassidus.” And he concluded: “May your wellsprings spread outward.” All this was, of course, during the farewells and the exchange of blessings. From what he said, we can understand the significance of the moment. The Rebbe Rashab sensed then, with ruach hakodesh, that a new era was beginning. He was leaving Lubavitch, the place where the Rebbeim had been since the Mitteler Rebbe, through the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Rashab—more than a hundred years of the revelation of Chassidus. A certain era had come to an end.

04:52 What does it mean for Chassidus to be everywhere in the world? As mentioned, this was seen tangibly afterward with the leaders of Lubavitch, in what the Rebbe called “the ten exiles,” the exile from Lubavitch. The Rebbeim began traveling, leaving Lubavitch and going to other places. They reached Rostov, then traveled to Leningrad, to Petersburg; later they left Russia and were in other countries, in Poland and elsewhere, until they reached us here in America. These are the ten exiles of our Rebbeim, intended to bring Chassidus and spread it throughout the entire world. And that is indeed what happened. The chassidim, too, had the privilege of spreading the ideals of Tomchei Temimim and Chassidus throughout the world, in a manner of “May your wellsprings spread outward.” That is what the Rebbe Rashab said at that moment: everyone should review Chassidus, speak Chassidus, and bring about “May your wellsprings spread outward.” The last maamar the Rebbe Rashab delivered that Shabbos was “V’Hashem Amar Hamechaseh Ani MeiAvraham.” I will speak about just one point from the maamar, a very rich point connected with everything we are discussing here. He cites the verse and its straightforward meaning: Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “And Hashem said: Shall I conceal from Avraham”—why should I hide from Avraham Avinu what

06:29 I am about to... On the plain level of the verse, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is, as it were, saying to Himself: Why should I keep secret the fact that I am about to overturn Sodom, and all that follows? “Shall I conceal from Avraham”—why should I hide this whole secret from Avraham? Then the verse continues: “And Avraham shall surely become a great, mighty and numerous nation.” A great nation is destined to descend from Avraham Avinu, “a great, mighty and numerous nation.” It goes on: “For I have known him, so that he will command his children”—this refers to affection. “I have known him,” Rashi says, is an expression of affection. An intrinsic affection: Hakadosh Boruch Hu loves Avraham Avinu. “And they will keep the way of Hashem, doing righteousness and justice.” These are all the virtues Hakadosh Boruch Hu lists about Avraham Avinu in connection with what is about to happen in Sodom and everything that follows. Here the simple question arises: What is the connection between these things? And more generally, what does “And Hashem said: Shall I conceal from Avraham” mean? On a basic level, the wording needs to be understood. If He wants to tell him, He should tell him. There is no need to give a reason. The verses before and after say, “And Hashem said.” Why does Hakadosh Boruch Hu express all this in the negative: “And Hashem said: Shall I conceal from Avraham”? Why should I hide it? What is being concealed here, and why must it be phrased as a question, “Shall I conceal from Avraham”? And what really connects these things? After all, “And Avraham shall surely become a great, mighty and numerous nation”—how does that enter into this? What is its relevance? Are there not enough

08:05 things to say about Avraham Avinu that we need to enumerate his virtues and praises here? Do we not know who Avraham Avinu was and what he did? Avraham Avinu has many qualities and virtues in his own right. “For I have known him, so that he will command his children and his household after him, and they will keep the way of Hashem, doing righteousness and justice”—this is about educating children to follow good paths. What is the connection between the verses that calls for mentioning it here? Incidentally, this subject appears in the Rebbe Rashab’s maamarim. As mentioned, this is the last maamar delivered in Hemshech 5666, and it was delivered in Lubavitch. There is also the earlier series, the well-known Hemshech 5666. As is known, in 5666 the Rebbe Rashab delivered one of the most profound hemshechim in Chassidus, connected with the time of Moshiach’s coming, and so on. The Rebbe Rashab said then that it was the time of the end, and that this would be revealed in Hemshech 5666. Indeed, it is one of the great foundational hemshechim in Chassidus. Hemshech 5666 also contains a maamar called “V’Hashem Amar,” from 5667, likewise connected with the time of Parshas Vayeira in Cheshvan, when the Rebbe Rashab’s birthday falls. It, too, discusses similar matters. What is interesting is that the Rebbe once related, in connection with this maamar, that in 5667 the Rebbe Rashab was

09:34 outside Lubavitch for most of the year. He left Lubavitch and stayed in Würzburg. There is a long story about the circumstances; we do not have room to go into it now. But that year, 5667, the Rebbe Rashab spent almost the entire year in Würzburg, Germany. He was in Lubavitch for only a very short time. Most of Hemshech 5666 is from the year 5666, from Rosh Hashanah to Rosh Hashanah. But there are also several maamarim delivered in 5667. The maamarim delivered in 5667 and included in Hemshech 5666 are those up to Shabbos Parshas Vayeira, when he was in Lubavitch, from Rosh Hashanah through Shabbos Parshas Vayeira. Immediately afterward, he traveled to Würzburg. So there is a break, and only later, on Shavuos, does he return. It was a long period during which he was not in Lubavitch. There is a whole, very interesting story surrounding this, connected with his interpretation of the verses in the maamar based on the Midrash. The Midrash says that “Shall I conceal” is connected with bris milah. And with bris milah there is a covering—the foreskin that covers the bris. The Rebbe shows that when Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Avraham Avinu the mitzvah of circumcision—“The secret of Hashem is with those who fear Him”; Hashem’s secret is bris milah—this is the secret through which the covering is removed. Through

11:08 When the covering of the foreskin is removed, the covenant is revealed—the essential bond between a Jew and Hashem. This is a fundamental principle in a Jew’s service of Hashem. To reach the deepest level of a Jew’s connection with Hashem, the concealments and veils must be removed. This is the deeper meaning of the verse, “And Hashem said: Shall I conceal from Avraham?” What do the words “Shall I conceal” emphasize? All the coverings that exist in the world: Hashem created the world with the first tzimtzum, which is the basis of all the tzimtzumim, and with many barriers, concealments, veils, and parsaos, as they are called in Kabbalah. Parsaos are dividing curtains, barriers that conceal. There are all kinds of barriers, things that hide and conceal, and divisions throughout the entire order of creation. All the more so are there concealments and veils in this physical world, including those that come from the body, the animal soul, and the yetzer hara. As the Alter Rebbe writes in Tanya, this physical world is a world of kelipos and sitra achra, where the wicked prevail. The purpose of all this concealment is for a Jew, through his work, to break through it and perform the bris milah. And bris milah is not only the physical mitzvah of circumcision. In a person’s service of Hashem, it encompasses breaking free of all concealments and veils and standing firm through tests,

12:44 as we find with Avraham Avinu, the first Jew: Avraham Avinu was tested with ten tests. Each test was a covering, a concealment of G-dliness. By standing firm through all of them, Avraham Avinu did more than grow stronger, reveal his bond with Hashem, and break through those concealments. Through them, he reached the deepest inner level, a revelation of G-dliness beyond all else. This is what the verse “Shall I conceal” alludes to. The revelation of the essential concealment exposed the depth of the darkness, through which they attained the advantage of light that comes from darkness—the deepest advantage of light, which comes precisely through those concealments. This is the idea the Rebbe explains at length. As he explains at length in the Hemshech of 5666, it is like something we see in the physical world: a river flows quietly until it meets an obstruction. The water reaches rocks or other things that stop it from flowing onward. It collects in one place, and as it gathers, the force of the current breaks through all the obstructions of

14:15 the rocks blocking it. When the water breaks through that barrier, it begins to flow with tremendous force. It takes the obstruction itself and turns it into a source of power for its surge. The water flows onward, passing beyond all boundaries. This is one example in a person’s service of Hashem: precisely through the tests and concealments, Avraham Avinu reached the deepest inner level of his soul. As we discussed in the previous parsha, Lech Lecha—“go to yourself”—Avraham Avinu reached his true inner self precisely through those concealments. The same is true for each of us: we reach the deepest inner level of the soul precisely by going through tests and concealments and breaking through them. Then the essential depth is revealed. And as the Rebbe, whose soul is in Eden, brings out later in [unclear], he applies this idea to our service of Hashem in connection with a teaching in the Zohar. The Zohar speaks of the revelations of Moshiach, about which a well-known verse concerning the revelation of Moshiach says, “No eye has seen, O G-d, besides You, what He will do for the one who waits for Him.” The revelations of Moshiach are so immense that “no eye has seen” them. All the prophets prophesied, but they did not see the revelations of “besides You.” The true revelation of “besides You” that will take place

15:44 in the World to Come is something that “no eye has seen.” The verse goes on to say, “what He will do for the one who waits for Him.” In its plain meaning, those who wait for the Geulah will merit this. The Zohar interprets “waits”: it does not mean merely waiting, but looking forward expectantly. In Yiddish there is a difference between waiting and anticipating. Waiting means waiting calmly. Anticipating means searching, demanding, standing in eager expectation of something. [unclear], says the Zohar. Who will merit the true revelations of G-dliness of “besides You,” the revelations that “no eye has seen,” the loftiest and deepest revelations of Hashem? Those who have labored throughout the exile, as each person reveals G-dliness through every mitzvah and every effort in Torah and mitzvos, especially Torah study, as each person [unclear] at length. This is also the point we are making when we say, “And Hashem said: Shall I conceal?” Through these coverings, Hashem concealed Himself. But what else does a person come to grasp? That all these coverings have a source—and where do they come from? They come precisely from the innermost level, from the essence, from the higher intent, so that we should break through these coverings and transform them. A Jew reveals the “I,” Hashem Himself, who is present within all these coverings. And through this, “Avraham will surely become a great and mighty nation.” This entire work of birurim—what is a “great nation”? A “great nation” is not only the Jewish people in the physical sense,

17:16 but also all the sparks of holiness found in the kelipah of sitra achra, in exile. By practicing iskafya and is’hapcha, fighting the yetzer hara, going through tests and concealments, and breaking through them, he brings out those sparks of holiness, elevates them, and transforms all of it—“into a great and mighty nation”—all those sparks of holiness, all these things. This is the revelation of the future, the revelation of Moshiach, which comes through this work. And this is what we mean when we say: we see all the concealment of exile now. When we reflect on it, as the word “exile” itself indicates, there is concealment and darkness, and we are in a state of “because of our sins, we were exiled from our land.” Nevertheless—and this is the point—precisely through all the concealments of exile, with all its redoubled darkness, the deepest inner power of mesirus nefesh within Jews is awakened, the deepest inner level of the yechidah of the soul. This reveals the deepest inner dimension of the Torah, to the point that we find that the deepest teachings were revealed precisely during the most difficult time of exile’s darkness. [unclear] This was so particularly in our generation, in the period when the Rebbe Rashab, the Rebbe [unclear], revealed the deepest teachings of Chassidus, precisely at a time when there was

18:33 war, a world war. Those were the most difficult times, when one could plainly see the darkness growing. In Russia especially, that period saw the beginning of the whole Communist era, and so on. And precisely then the Rebbe [unclear] revealed the deepest teachings of Chassidus and began preparing the world for the revelation of Moshiach. He discusses this at length in the final maamar, to help us understand: we can see clearly in a person’s soul that when there is concealment, a person does not become weaker. On the contrary, he becomes even stronger. It awakens deeper powers within him, his essential strength, as he explains at length. When we understand what essential strength is, we understand that precisely during exile it is awakened: a person searches for Hashem and pleads with Him. And the greater the darkness, the deeper the love becomes, with greater intensity and richness. This is what is awakened in every Jew precisely during exile. In these days, we can plainly see how the soul shines in Jews, even Jews who had been utterly distant and cut off from Judaism. Precisely the concealments revealed their deeper bond with Hashem. This is also what the verse is saying here: “And Hashem said: Shall I conceal from Avraham?” Hashem revealed to Avraham what

19:51 the inner purpose of all the concealment of exile is: through concealment, we reach the deepest revelations. This is “And Hashem”—the revelations of the future, the revelations of Moshiach, the revelations of Hashem’s oneness; “for I have known him,” an expression of affection—essential affection, essential love, essential affection, essential delight. Hashem [unclear], and from this he draws the inner dimension, the delight, the inner dimension of the Torah, the Torah of Moshiach, which will be revealed soon, speedily in our days, through our righteous Moshiach.