Explanations of the Prayer - Yehi Chevod Hashem - Part 1

00:00 Speaker 1 Israel. Here, throughout the second half of this chapter, he begins to explain the revelation of Hashem’s glory in the world. Then he says what effect it has on the world, on the nations, and on the Jewish people. Regarding the nations, he brings these verses here. There are several verses. The verse speaks about the nations—those who hate the Jewish people, interfere with them, and cause them trouble. Hakadosh Boruch Hu nullifies all their decrees, all their schemes, all their thoughts. They also explain that “peoples” and “nations” refer to the sparks as well. That is a more spiritual interpretation: the sparks of holiness found in the kelipos, which are also called “the thoughts of the peoples” and so on. And in the present, as we discussed last time, this also refers to the animal soul, which is likewise called “peoples” and “nations” within a person’s soul. So there are three ways to explain these verses. He says as follows: “Hashem is King forever and ever; the nations have vanished from His land.” Yes. When the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is revealed in the world, the nations—whether that means the nations, the kelipos, or the animal soul—“have vanished from His land.” In other words, as it is explained here, refining the spark brings about that they no longer have any existence. “Hashem has thwarted the counsel of nations; He has frustrated the thoughts of peoples.” This continues the previous verse: Hakadosh Boruch Hu nullifies and frustrates them. “Frustrates” also has the sense of removing, as Rashi explains. “But if her father restrains her”—from last week’s parsha. It means removal; he removes it. Yes, Hakadosh Boruch Hu thwarts the counsel of the nations and removes the thoughts, the thoughts

02:11 Speaker 1 that the peoples have. There must be an explanation here of the repeated wording in this verse, but I don’t remember it right now. “There are many thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—that will stand.” A person has many thoughts, but the counsel of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is what will endure. What does it mean on the plain level? The plain meaning is that a person thinks all sorts of thoughts and makes all sorts of plans, but in the end, what Hashem wants is what will happen. “The counsel of Hashem—that will stand.” A person dreams all sorts of dreams, thinking that he decides what happens in his life. But what will happen is that “the counsel of Hashem—that will stand.” This is part of the whole idea of [unclear]: a person is in the hands of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. What Hakadosh Boruch Hu decides is what will be. This verse is explained in many places. One explanation of “There are many thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—that will stand” gives it a deeper meaning: When a person thinks that he is the one thinking the thoughts, that he is the one deciding, that is called “many thoughts in a person’s heart.” As though he is the one thinking, he is the person in charge, he is the boss, he knows. He knows how to decide what happens in his life and how to run it. He has control. He has control over his life. He will decide what happens to him today, tomorrow, and next year. All of that is included in “My strength and the might of my hand have made me this wealth.” A person thinks he will manage his life with his talents and his wisdom. That is “many thoughts.” But Hashem’s will—when they are “many thoughts in a person’s heart,” they do not endure. That is

04:31 Speaker 1 because they are in a person’s heart; they come from the person. But Hashem’s will—in the plain sense, if Hashem wants something, that is what will happen. The deeper meaning is that if a person connects his thought with Hashem—in other words, “Hashem’s will” means a thought a person thinks with the awareness that it comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that it is Hashem’s will. He does it for the sake of Heaven. He does it thinking that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will give him the strength. That is what endures. In other words, of all the thoughts, the one that endures is the thought a person had with Hashem’s will, with the thought and knowledge that Hakadosh Boruch Hu would give him the strength. That is why it says in the sefarim that “im yirtzeh Hashem” is abbreviated as “iy”h”—“if Hashem wills.” This is the source for always saying “im yirtzeh Hashem.” A person should get into the habit of saying “im yirtzeh Hashem.” It’s the other way around, right? Hei, yud, daled, alef, yud, gimel. Alef, yud, gimel. Huh? A person should always get into the habit of saying “im yirtzeh Hashem.” When someone asks him something, or he plans to do something, he says, “Im yirtzeh Hashem.” If Hakadosh Boruch Hu wills it. What kind of question is that? Often you ask someone, “Will you learn the maamar?” “Im yirtzeh Hashem.” But surely Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants you to learn the maamar! “Im yirtzeh Hashem.” Still, it’s our habit to say “im yirtzeh Hashem.” It says that this verse alludes to saying “im yirtzeh Hashem.” When a person gets into the habit of saying “im yirtzeh Hashem” about everything, about every thought connected with the future, then that is what will stand. That itself is “im yirtzeh Hashem.”

06:18 Speaker 1 This trust, when a person places himself in Hashem’s will, itself gives his decision, his desire, his thought, the power to endure and be carried out. There’s a story people tell about a man who was once walking down the street when a poritz suddenly stopped him. A poritz—a local nobleman—was passing by. A Jew was walking down the street, and the poritz stopped him and asked, “Reb Jew, where are you going?” The Jew answered, “I don’t know. Wherever Hashem takes me.” The poritz became angry with him. “You say you don’t know? What do you mean, you don’t know? You leave your house and don’t know where you’re going?” He had him imprisoned. Well, he spent a few days in prison, and then came the hearing. “How dare you speak to the poritz that way? He asks where you’re going and you don’t answer him.” The Jew said, “Look, I really thought I was leaving home to go to shul and daven, and instead I was taken to prison. So clearly, a person doesn’t know where he’s going. Wherever Hashem takes me, that’s where I’ll go.” Now, that’s a story people tell. But the point is that this is the meaning of “the counsel of Hashem—that will stand.” They say that the Rebbe would often repeat this vort—that’s how Reb Nissan Mindel tells it. Reb Nissan Mindel worked together with the Rebbe, after all. Often there were matters to resolve, or questions, complications. He said, “I never heard it from the Rebbe myself, but he heard the Rebbe say it in the room, in the office, as they say.” So the Rebbe would often use this saying: “There are many thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—that will stand.” The counsel of Hashem found within all those thoughts is the one that will endure, of all

08:29 Speaker 1 the plans. There’s another vort brought in the sefarim, an interesting vort. It’s a homiletic interpretation rather than the plain meaning, but it’s nice too. “There are many thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—that will stand.” The Gemara says that when a person goes up to Heaven, they ask him why he didn’t behave properly, why he didn’t learn, why he committed aveiros. There are three kinds of excuses. One person says he was rich: he had many business affairs and many worries because of his wealth, so he couldn’t learn. They bring Rabbi Elazar ben Charsom before him. The Gemara says he was very wealthy. He owned many properties and towns, and nevertheless he learned. Another person says he was poor and needy. He had no money; he was poor and needy, so he couldn’t learn. They bring Hillel the Elder before him, who was poor and needy, yet he sat and learned. Then there are people who say they had a very strong yetzer hara, that they faced temptations involving physical beauty. The yetzer hara put them to the test, and so they couldn’t learn. They bring Yosef Hatzaddik before them. Yosef Hatzaddik was handsome and faced a test, yet he withstood it. So that is the meaning, since this is what the Gemara says. Based on this, they explain: “There are many thoughts in a person’s heart” means that a person has many excuses in mind. He thinks that when he comes before the Heavenly Court, he’ll use the excuse that he was poor, that he was rich, that he was... So they tell him, “But the counsel of Hashem—that will stand.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu will bring Hillel, Yosef, and Elazar ben Charsom—their initials spell “hi,” “that”—and they will stand up. They will show that none of those things was an excuse. They fulfilled the word of Hashem. There is no excuse for a person not to behave properly.

10:39 Speaker 2 That’s the explanation.

10:40 Speaker 1 Hillel. Yosef. Yehudah. So the teaching, and with it: “The counsel of Hashem stands forever, the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.” Right? Consejo. The counsel of Hakadosh Boruch Hu always stands, forever. “The thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.” So, yes. What does it mean? It says in Chassidus that “the counsel of Hashem” refers to the Torah. That is the plain meaning of “the counsel of Hashem”—it refers to the Torah. It is called “the counsel of Hashem.” Now, “the counsel of Hashem stands forever”: the straightforward meaning is just as it sounds—what Hakadosh Boruch Hu decides is what will endure forever. What Hakadosh Boruch Hu thinks will endure for generations. But there is an interpretation that “the counsel of Hashem stands forever” means the Torah, which sustains the world. In other words, Hashem’s counsel, Hashem’s thought—the Torah—is what sustains the world. That is what gives creation its continued existence. “The thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.” It says that “the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation” means the same thing: “the thoughts of His heart” also refers to the Torah, which is what makes the world endure from generation to generation. It says in a sefer that the meaning also extends to—here, too, the verse speaks about avodas habirurim, the work of refinement. The verse says that the refinement of physical things, the refinement of the world that is accomplished through Torah, is an enduring refinement. It says there are different kinds of refinement. Some are achieved through struggle, and some through tranquility. Now, with refinement through struggle, even something that has been refined can become sullied again. By contrast, refinement through tranquility lasts forever. That is the meaning of “The counsel of Hashem stands forever, the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation”: it means that the refinement accomplished here is an enduring refinement. “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood.” Why? “The counsel of Hashem” explains the question: Why does what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants always endure?

13:24 Speaker 1 It is because “He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood.” Because when Hakadosh Boruch Hu speaks, it comes to be. That is, what Hakadosh Boruch Hu says comes into being just as He says it. What He commands stands. Here, too, there are many explanations. Yes. They explain “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood.” One explanation is that the first part of the verse, “He spoke, and it came to be,” refers to the Ten Utterances, and the second part refers to the Ten Commandments. So it says, “For He spoke, and it came to be.” “He spoke” refers to the Ten Utterances. Hakadosh Boruch Hu speaks the Ten Utterances, and through them the world exists. So because the entire world’s existence depends on the Ten Utterances, the world has no independent existence. Therefore, there is no need to fear the thoughts and plans of the nations. All that we said earlier. And then it adds, “He commanded, and it stood.” This refers to the Ten Commandments. “Commanded”—a command, mitzvos—that is the Ten Commandments. “And it stood.” As it says in the Midrash, until the Ten Commandments were given, the world had no lasting existence. There was a world, but its existence was not secure. “And it stood”—the world gained stability, lasting existence, strength and firmness. That came specifically through the Ten Commandments. That is the meaning. In other words, “He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood.” First came the Ten Utterances, which brought the world into being, and afterward He Himself commanded the Ten Commandments—“and it stood.” That gave the world strength, because it was connected to the Ten Commandments. That is the meaning.