Shabbos Parshas Korach (Chukas in Eretz Hakodesh) - The Meaning of Ra'aya Mehemna

00:00 There was a chossid named Reb Reuven Dunin, one of the great chassidim of our generation. Reb Reuven Dunin was [unclear], and lived in Haifa. In his younger years, he went through a serious decline, a deep fall in his service of Hashem and in his Jewish observance. Later, he returned and began following the path of teshuvah, becoming a genuine baal teshuvah—truly genuine. He even traveled to the Rebbe as a young man. He arrived at the Rebbe in 5718, [unclear], around Shabbos. He stayed with the Rebbe for another six months, until the month of Menachem Av. After that, he would return to the Rebbe every few months, every year. He was among those closest to the Rebbe. The Rebbe saw him as a genuine baal teshuvah. While he was with the Rebbe, he would go in for yechidus from time to time. He did not necessarily go in at a prearranged time; sometimes he would simply come up, knock on the door, and the Rebbe would open it for him. He would go in and receive detailed guidance from the Rebbe—real guidance, just like a father with a child. More than that, the Rebbe devoted himself to him throughout his life and gave him all the direction and guidance he needed to follow the path of Hashem. One of the things the Rebbe strongly demanded of him was dedication, mesirus nefesh down to the smallest details. Not only in spiritual matters, but in material matters too. The Rebbe would even ask whether he had eaten yet, what he had eaten, how

01:43 he was feeling, whether he was healthy—in every detail. It was a special relationship and bond. One of the things the Rebbe strongly demanded of him was joy. The Rebbe always insisted that his service of Hashem, including his work of teshuvah, be done with joy. From time to time, he would go in for yechidus, and sometimes he would burst into tears and ask the Rebbe for ways to make amends and for advice on how to correct his past ways as part of his teshuvah. And the Rebbe always, always insisted on joy. One story he told was about a time he waited an entire night. It was a yechidus night, when the Rebbe would receive people for yechidus. People were going in; hundreds were waiting and entering one after another. There were nights when yechidus did not end until six or seven in the morning. He waited all night because he had no set appointment. He waited for everyone to leave so that he could knock on the door and go in, say what he needed to say and ask what he needed to ask. He waited the whole night. It was already morning, and the Rebbe was preparing to go home. He knocked on the door of the Rebbe’s room, went in, and began to cry and ask the Rebbe to help him. And the Rebbe

03:08 told him, among other things, to go to his room and say Krias Shema She’al Hamitah with concentration, with heartfelt feeling, but with joy. That is what the Rebbe said. Reb Reuven said to the Rebbe, “It’s already morning. It’s light outside; the sun is already shining.” And the Rebbe said, “Nu, so what? Lower the blinds. It will be dark, and then you can say Krias Shema She’al Hamitah with concentration and an awakening of teshuvah, but with joy.” Reb Reuven would later recount that he said that Krias Shema She’al Hamitah with tremendous joy, and that he had never in his life experienced an awakening of teshuvah like the one he felt during it. At another yechidus with the Rebbe, also a few days after Simchas Torah, he entered the Rebbe’s room and again cried and asked the Rebbe to guide him in this matter. The Rebbe looked at him and said, among other things, “Reuven, we’ve just had Simchas Torah, and you’re crying? Chassidim, after joyous days, Jews are filled with joy, [unclear], and you’re brokenhearted and crying?” Reb Reuven was known for the way he could speak. He was certainly [unclear]; he was very sharp. He begins to speak—he feels that with

04:36 the Rebbe he can speak honestly, in his own distinctive way. So he says to the Rebbe, “I saw that the Rebbe really cried. You know, it was during Chassidus, [unclear], and the Rebbe is sitting there crying.” And he said, “I saw the Rebbe crying.” The Rebbe told him, “I did cry, but my crying is because the Shechinah is in exile. I am living in a time of exile. As the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya, ‘Weeping is lodged in my heart on one side.’ In other words, on one side there is heartbreak over the Shechinah in exile, and at the same time, ‘Joy is lodged in my heart on the other side.’” Then there is joy. In other words, he understood the Rebbe to be telling him: It is one thing to cry over the Shechinah in exile. That is crying connected to exile, and that crying leads to joy. But, you know, the crying the Rebbe saw in Reb Reuven was a different kind of crying; that was not what he should be doing. This was the Rebbe’s guidance. The Rebbe took a Tanya, opened it, and read him the lines in chapters 30 and 33 that speak about what true joy of the soul in serving Hashem looks like, and what it should be. And in connection with this, there is the subject of Raya Mehemna. There is also the well-known teaching written about Moshe Rabbeinu in the

06:06 Zohar. This entire section, too, is called “Raya Mehemna.” When the Zohar speaks about Moshe Rabbeinu, it calls him “Raya Mehemna.” We need to understand: What does “Raya Mehemna” mean, this name by which Moshe Rabbeinu is called? And we should know, as explained in Chassidus, that this does not refer only to Moshe Rabbeinu: in every generation there is a Moshe of that generation. The Zohar says this plainly: the Moshe of each and every generation. In every generation, too, there is a Moshe Rabbeinu of that generation, who has this quality, this role of “Raya Mehemna.” And what does “Raya Mehemna” mean? Its simple meaning is “faithful shepherd.” That is, Moshe Rabbeinu is the faithful shepherd of the Jewish people. Indeed, the Torah says of Moshe Rabbeinu, “And Moshe was a shepherd.” As the Midrash relates, Hakadosh Boruch Hu tested Moshe Rabbeinu while he was tending the flock. “And Moshe was a shepherd”—the leader of the Jewish people. Hakadosh Boruch Hu saw how Moshe Rabbeinu treated the flock: when one lamb ran away from the herd, Moshe Rabbeinu put everything else aside. He did not say, “I’ll just stay with my flock; I’ll remain with the herd.” He saw a little lamb running away, and went after it, running through the desert in pursuit. He followed it to the place it had reached—

07:24 the lamb had gone there, and he saw that it was thirsty. He gave it water, lifted it onto his shoulders, and returned. Then there was a revelation of G-dliness: Hakadosh Boruch Hu saw that Moshe Rabbeinu was fit to be a shepherd. And this led to [unclear] in relation to the Jewish people. We should know, as explained in Chassidus, that “And Moshe was a shepherd” does not refer only to the physical sense. On the contrary, the main meaning of “And Moshe was a shepherd” is specifically spiritual. As brought in the holy Baal Shem Tov’s teachings, Moshe Rabbeinu’s flock are the souls. What did Moshe Rabbeinu then do with these souls, with his disciples? What is Moshe Rabbeinu’s work? He gathered the sparks and brought them under the wings of the Shechinah, as the holy books explain. But in simple terms, [unclear] it means a positive approach toward everyone, [unclear] and in the Midrash, we should also mention King David and his uprightness. What does [unclear] mean? Hakadosh Boruch Hu tested him too, and the Midrash tells of the sheep—that David was a true shepherd. The Midrash says that he gave the tender grass to the young sheep, and to the older ones, the aged ones—

08:46 [unclear] And this is the mark of a truly faithful shepherd of the Jewish people: he gives each of his students and those who receive from him according to where they stand, regardless of how far they have already progressed or how far they have yet to go. That is the simple meaning of “Raya Mehemna.” And the illuminating, inner meaning of “Raya Mehemna,” as the Alter Rebbe explains in Torah Or on Parshas Mishpatim, and at greater length on Parshas Ki Sisa—the Alter Rebbe cites Tikkunei Zohar: What does “Raya Mehemna” mean? That he nourishes and sustains faith. The Rebbe also explains at length in this maamar that every Jew truly has simple faith. We receive faith as an inheritance. This inheritance is not unique to us; we are believers, the children of believers. Avraham Avinu is the first of the believers, and from him this faith was passed down as an inheritance. And the Rebbe explains in Tanya that every Jew has a natural, simple faith inherited from Avraham Avinu. Yes, every Jew believes in Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and this is simple faith, present even in the most wayward Jew. But it is still possible for that faith to remain makif—something that surrounds a person without being internalized. Sometimes a person has faith, but it remains in some lofty realm. He believes, but he does not conduct his life according to that faith; he may even act in direct contradiction to it. As the Gemara says, “A thief at the mouth of a tunnel calls upon the Merciful One.”

10:24 “He calls upon the Merciful One”: he stands at the entrance, about to steal, to commit a transgression against Hashem’s will, and at the very moment of the theft he asks Hashem to help him carry it out. In other words, he has faith. He believes in Hashem and asks Him for help, but in practice he acts in precisely the opposite way, because his faith remains something that surrounds him, on a higher plane. It does not penetrate his inner self, his day-to-day life. And this is the meaning of “Ra’aya Mehemna,” the faithful shepherd. The maamar explains this at length and in a wonderful way: the Rebbe is the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu’s daas. Moshe Rabbeinu brings daas into faith. The tzaddik, the Rebbe, Moshe Rabbeinu, brings daas into faith so that it is not merely faith, something that surrounds a person, but faith experienced as daas. Daas means awareness, feeling, attachment, and connection. A person knows it; it becomes something internal. And it becomes central, penetrating every part of his life. He feels and recognizes what he believes in, and it becomes the main thing. It enters his inner self, his entire being—his emotions, thoughts, speech, and actions. That is how one lives with faith. As the verse says, “Nourish faith”: he draws sustenance from faith; faith becomes something central and internal to him, something alive.

11:55 This is something we receive from Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu brings daas into faith. As the Alter Rebbe explains the verse in Tanach, “I will sow the house of Israel with the seed of man and the seed of beast.” Among Jews there is the seed of man and the seed of beast. The souls of tzaddikim, souls of Atzilus, Moshe Rabbeinu, are the seed of man: they have an awareness of G-dliness. The Jewish people as a whole, by contrast, are the seed of beast. Like an animal, which on its own does not know, they have no awareness of spiritual matters, of G-dly matters. And this itself is the extraordinary power of the tzaddik, of the Rebbe, who shepherds the flock: he tends and nourishes our faith so that Jews can live their faith inwardly. He brings it within them so that even the “seed of beast,” the souls of the Jewish people, can have daas and awareness of G-dliness, an inner connection with Hashem. This is the deeper meaning of the name “Ra’aya Mehemna.” As discussed in the well-known maamar that the Rebbe published—the last maamar the Rebbe edited and instructed to be printed, which the Rebbe personally distributed to men, women, and children a few days before, may Hashem protect us, the event in 5752 when the Rebbe was not in good health, G-d forbid. It was a few days earlier, on Purim Katan 5752. The Rebbe distributed this well-known maamar, which chassidim study with enthusiasm, particularly in our time.

13:26 The maamar “Ve’atah Tetzaveh” discusses this subject at great length. “And you shall command the children of Israel”—Moshe Rabbeinu is the one who commands. “Tetzaveh” is related to the word for togetherness and connection: he binds and connects Jews with Hashem. The maamar discusses this at length, and the Rebbe adds a deeper idea. It goes deeper than what is discussed in the earlier maamarim: “Ra’aya Mehemna” means not only that he causes faith to penetrate us inwardly, but that he elevates faith to a higher level. There are two levels of faith, as explained at length. A Jew has faith in Hashem. Why does a Jew believe in Hashem? Where does this simple faith, without questions or doubts, come from? Because the soul above sees—“his mazal sees,” in the words of the Gemara. The soul above, the mazal, sees the truth; it sees G-dliness. And because it sees the truth above, that also brings about simple faith here below. When someone sees something, it is obvious to him; he has no doubts. Because the soul above sees Hashem, the soul below also has this certainty: it knows that there is a G-d in the world. About that, it has no doubts. But this is still not true faith. This faith stems from something above, something that is not my own being.

14:48 There is a deeper, higher level of faith, called in Chassidus an “essential bond,” yechidah. A Jew’s faith in Hashem is not because the soul sees Hashem, but because the soul is “a part of G-d above,” because the soul is, in its very essence, truly one with Hashem: “a yechidah to unite with You.” And when the soul and Hashem are truly one, one essence, my faith in Hashem is not like faith in something outside me, which I have seen and which is therefore obvious to me. This is who I myself am; it cannot be otherwise. This is my true being. In this sense the Alter Rebbe said: A Jew does not want to, and cannot, be separated from Hashem. Not only does he not want to—he cannot. He cannot because it is impossible, because there are not two separate things here, because a Jew and Hashem are truly one. This is a higher level of faith. When this level of faith shines powerfully, separation from Hashem is impossible. And then, as we see in Jews whose simple faith reaches the point of actual self-sacrifice, nothing can separate them from Hashem. This reveals, in the deepest way, what a Jew always has within: a Jew wants Hashem; he wants there to be

16:00 a revelation of G-dliness, and the absence of that revelation leaves him feeling broken. He awaits the complete Geulah, when we will be able to see the truth with certainty. This aspect of faith is “Ra’aya Mehemna,” what Moshe Rabbeinu brings about within us. And Moshe Rabbeinu in our generation is the faithful shepherd, and his [unclear], Moshe Rabbeinu who is present at this time, when, despite the darkness, the destruction in the physical realm and the destruction in the spiritual realm—this is not at all a time of decrees. But we are still in exile, and what is more, Moshiach has still not come and Hashem is not revealed in the world. And this is “that our lives are not broken, G-d forbid” [unclear], prayer, prayer again and again and again. And there is [unclear] that G-dliness is my life, my essence, my very being, and without G-dliness I cannot live [unclear]. And so he always carries that sense of brokenness, together with the thirst, the plea, and the demand: “May my soul be like dust before all” [unclear]—may the complete Geulah come right now. This is the meaning of “Ra’aya Mehemna.” And in the parshiyos we study during these weeks, by Divine Providence, in the days around Gimmel Tammuz—Parshas Korach—we see this aspect of Ra’aya Mehemna, Moshe Rabbeinu [unclear] for the entire Jewish people. Likewise in Parshas Chukas, where we see his role as Ra’aya Mehemna both physically and spiritually. When Jews need food, Moshe Rabbeinu gives them the manna. When they need water, and there is no other [unclear], Moshe Rabbeinu [unclear]. The manna, the Clouds of Glory, Miriam’s well. Jews have physical needs, and

17:42 Moshe Rabbeinu gives them everything they need. Jews have spiritual needs, and Moshe Rabbeinu gives them everything they need—in Torah, in avodah, in Chassidus, in every respect. This is the role of “Ra’aya Mehemna.” And this, quite simply, is Moshe in every generation. This is what we mean when we speak of our Rebbe, our nasi, and his eternal presence: he gives life to every aspect of the chassidim’s lives and to every aspect of the world, so that Jews can receive everything they need. May we prepare ourselves, awaken the thirst and the hope for [unclear], and continue to inspire anticipation of the complete Geulah, and immediately live lives of Geulah in practice. May the complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu come right now. Amen, so may it be His will.