Explanations of the Prayer - Yehi Chevod Hashem - Part 2

00:00 Speaker 1 “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—it will stand.” And here we’re saying, right? “Many are the thoughts.” I’m talking here about how Hakadosh Boruch Hu is King over the whole world. He is the One who leads it, and the whole world accepts His kingship. And those who do not accept His kingship, those who want to interfere—when they want to interfere with the Jewish people—Hakadosh Boruch Hu nullifies them. Hakadosh Boruch Hu brings them to nothing, and He thwarts all the undesirable plans the nations devise against the Jewish people, both materially and spiritually. This also applies to the thoughts of the yetzer hara, that “non-Jew” within a Jew, which also wants to interfere with our service of Hashem. Hakadosh Boruch Hu makes sure that none of its schemes and confusion can come to pass. He helps us nullify all the undesirable forces. Now, continuing, it says: “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—it will stand.” A person has all kinds of thoughts, but the counsel of Hashem will stand. What Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants is what will happen. On the simple level, certainly.

01:25 Speaker 2 Thoughts.

01:28 Speaker 1 Right. He isn’t talking here about thoughts of wealth, but about bad thoughts. “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart”—from the context of the verses here in chapter 69, this also refers to the nations and the thoughts in their hearts. Thoughts that come from the heart. The point here is that they hate the Jewish people, and so they devise all kinds of bad plans to bring them down. These aren’t thoughts about wealth. They are thoughts tied to the heart. They come from their hatred, from their hatred of the Jewish people. So we say that although they have many thoughts, all kinds of plans, the counsel of Hashem—what Hakadosh Boruch Hu has in mind—is what will stand. This is discussed here at length. In other words, the meaning of this verse is very deep according to the inner dimension of Torah, and especially according to Chassidus. Chassidus explains that, in the end, we bring about “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—it will stand.” That is what remains from all the thoughts themselves. Nothing remains of the person’s own plans. But the counsel of Hashem within them—that is what ultimately brings about a revelation of G-dliness. That is regarding [unclear]. This is also how it is brought in Chassidus: every single person has these “many thoughts,” meaning the multitude of thoughts a person has about this world. And the same applies there. “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart.” A person has all kinds of thoughts, all kinds of confusion and plans and things: what he is going to do with his life, what will happen, and all kinds of confusion. So there, too, we say, “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart.” A person has all kinds of thoughts and plans, and the counsel of Hashem—it will

05:02 Speaker 1 stand. The simple meaning is that Hashem’s counsel will stand: whatever Hakadosh Boruch Hu decides is what will happen. But the point is the counsel of Hashem within all those thoughts. In other words, within those thoughts there is something that is Hashem’s counsel, through which Hakadosh Boruch Hu guides the world. For example, a person thinks he wants to travel to Argentina to study because he thinks he’ll be able to study who knows what there, and there are chadarim there, and he has all kinds of halachic reasons why he wants to go study there. In the end, he doesn’t go to study in Argentina; he goes to study in Australia. He thinks it was his own decision—that first he thought one way, then another, and then he made up his mind. But the truth is that within all of this is Hashem’s counsel. In the end, it all comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The Baal Shem Tov teaches us that His counsel is present within all these things. What actually comes to pass is not what the person planned, with all his plans, but the counsel of Hashem within all those thoughts—that is what will stand. The Rebbe would often use this verse. I heard Reb Nissan Mindel relate that when various matters came up in the Rebbe’s own life—when people wanted to change different things, to change the telephone or change the room, to expand it or build things connected with his personal life—the Rebbe would often say: “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—it will stand.” Whenever something came up, he would say, “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart.” The meaning is that a person has all kinds of plans. In the end, what comes to pass out of all a person’s thoughts is Hashem’s counsel. What Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants out of all a person’s thoughts—that is what is going

06:43 Speaker 1 to happen. So there is no need to worry. Sometimes a person starts worrying a great deal, thinking of doing this and that, and he gets confused and tangled up in it. He worries. He can’t sleep at night. We need to know that, in the end, whatever is decided will be what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. That is what will stand. That’s one teaching. Then there is another teaching from the Baal Shem Tov on this verse. I told him a short teaching, one that was recounted during shivah: there was once a meeting of rabbis—Motl said he heard this from Rabbi [unclear]—a meeting of rabbis at [unclear], of chassidim in Russia, with the Rebbe. This was back in the difficult years, 5684 or 5685, during the hard times in Russia. There was a large meeting in Leningrad about the chadarim and the yeshivah, when the whole situation was difficult, and about how to organize things. Among other things, they discussed the Communists’ schools and said that there were things to learn from them; they had many advantages. Communists, G-d forbid—kelipah. But their schools were very orderly and clean, and they maintained them well. So the Frierdiker Rebbe said something then that applies to all sorts of things. Sometimes it applies to shlichus and other matters. The Frierdiker Rebbe once said that a teaching is quoted in the name of the Baal Shem Tov on “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—it will stand.” The Baal Shem Tov said that the Hebrew word for “it will stand” is an acronym for “Learn by a kal vachomer from them.” Meaning, from this world, from kelipah: a person should learn lessons for life by a kal vachomer from this world. That is the meaning of “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart.” A person has all kinds of thoughts and worries. If you want to know the counsel of Hashem, what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants, sometimes you need to learn by a kal vachomer from kelipah how things should be done in holiness. If on the side of this world they conduct something in a way we can learn

08:43 Speaker 1 from, then all the more so should it be done that way in holiness. He was alluding to the fact that their schools were cleaner and more orderly, and so on and so forth. So we need to learn by a kal vachomer from kelipah, to learn from it in this way and in all kinds of other matters. The Rebbe even said this in the name of the Baal Shem Tov. [unclear] Whether the Baal Shem Tov actually said this teaching, I don’t know. I don’t have a reliable tradition for it. It isn’t certain that the Baal Shem Tov really said it, though it is quoted in his name. But it is true that we need to learn good things from this world. The Chofetz Chaim once said that this is also the meaning of the teaching, quoted in the name of the Baal Shem Tov: “Who is wise? One who learns from every person”—even from a non-Jew. In other words, sometimes there really are things we need to learn from this world. So that, too, is alluded to here in “the counsel of Hashem—it will stand.” Then there are other lines of thought. Let me explain it this way. Let me explain. We’re talking about a verse. I want to tell you a nice teaching. I once heard this explanation of “Many are the thoughts in a person’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem—it will stand.” Listen to this nice thought. The Gemara says that when a person goes up Above and is asked why he did not study Torah, there are three excuses. One is: “I didn’t have money, so my mind wasn’t at ease and I couldn’t study.” The second is: “I had quite a lot of money, so I was preoccupied with my wealth”—people don’t understand the troubles wealth brings. That’s an excuse. The third excuse is: “I had a yetzer hara, a strong yetzer hara that interfered with me, and desires—desire for women and things like that.” So about this the Gemara says

10:26 Speaker 1 They bring three people before him. If he claims that he faced the challenge of poverty and had no money, so he could not learn, they bring Hillel the Elder before him. Hillel the Elder was poor, and nevertheless he learned Torah. If he says he had a great deal of money, they bring Rabbi Elazar ben Charsom before him. Rabbi Elazar ben Charsom was a Tanna who possessed enormous wealth, and nevertheless he learned Torah. And if he says he had a desire for women and a powerful yetzer hara, they bring Yosef HaTzaddik before him. Yosef HaTzaddik faced that too, and nevertheless he managed to overcome his yetzer hara. So this is the meaning of “Many are the thoughts in a man’s heart, but the counsel of Hashem will stand.” The initials spell Hillel, Yosef, and Elazar—those three names. This is the meaning of “Many are the thoughts in a man’s heart”: a person has all sorts of excuses in mind for why he did not learn. He thinks all those excuses justify why he does not learn, why he does not daven, why he does not behave properly. So they tell him that “the counsel of Hashem will stand”: Hillel, Yosef, and Elazar will come and show that it is possible to be a good Jew and do what Hashem wants. In any case, “The counsel of Hashem stands forever, the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.” Yes, the verse goes on to say, “The counsel of Hashem stands forever.” What Hakadosh Boruch Hu has in mind has a lasting connection to the world. “The thoughts of His heart from generation to generation”—they always come to pass. Sometimes it takes time, but ultimately, one need not be alarmed by obstacles. There are people who do not learn, but ultimately it is Hashem’s counsel—what Hakadosh Boruch

12:10 Speaker 1 Hu wants—that comes to pass. “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu spoke, and that is what came to be. “He commanded, and it stood firm”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu commands, and that is what comes to pass.

12:25 Speaker 3 “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.” “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.”

12:33 Speaker 1 No. “He spoke, and it came to be”—what He said came to be. “He commanded”—He gave the command. And that is what... that is how it is. The point is that even if, for example, you see that something has not yet come to pass, you do not yet see it openly, you should still have patience. Sometimes a person asks: Where is everything that was promised? The Torah gives a promise. After all, it is written: “If you follow My statutes... I will give your rains in their season.” If I learn Torah, my material circumstances should be as they ought to be. I learn Torah, and my material circumstances still are not as they ought to be. All the conditions written there are written there, but what about Hashem? I do this and that, as Hakadosh Boruch Hu said to do, and nevertheless I do what is written in the Gemara and still do not see deliverance or healing. Sometimes there are all sorts of such claims in spiritual matters. Bochurim say that, according to what is written in a maamar, they follow all the advice given in the sefarim, and nevertheless they do not see results. They do not see their yetzer hara going away. What is going on with this yetzer hara? There are all sorts of claims like that. Many will say: The Rebbe spoke, and what the Rebbe said in recent years [unclear][?], and we certainly do not see how those things are coming to pass in practice, and so on. To this we say that one must know that, ultimately, “the counsel of Hashem stands forever.” That is what “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm” means: what He said is what comes to pass. The concealment in the meantime does not mean, G-d forbid, that anything will change with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is what is known from the Rema. Yes, the Rebbe cited it. The Rema rules this as halachah: once a word has begun, it will certainly be completed. Sometimes it takes a little time.

14:09 Speaker 1 One needs patience, but it will certainly come about. Besides that, the Gemara says about this verse, “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.” The Gemara says, as it also says in Tanya, “‘For He spoke, and it came to be’—this refers to a wife.” How does it go? “‘He commanded, and it stood firm’—these are the children.” How exactly is it worded in Tanya? In any case, children are needed. And about this they say, “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.” What does that mean? It means that, on his own, a person would never want to get married. What do I gain from getting married and bringing a child into the world? It is not something a young man relates to. One day he will. In truth, a person, a soul, needs all these things, including marriage. Those thoughts are just distractions: I could have sat and learned. Hakadosh Boruch Hu made it this way: “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu made a person need to do these things. In other words, this is part of what Hakadosh Boruch Hu decreed: that a person should be attached to his children and his family, even though, at first glance, it would not have to be that way. If we were to reason it out, a person should leave his children as animals do. They nurse them for the first few days, and afterward send them off to manage on their own. The fact that there is love, that the heart is naturally bound to them, comes from “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu made it part of the nature of creation. Yes, and nevertheless, Tanya also says that although this is the nature of creation, a person needs to work on himself. And although... and so on. I have already written about this part of Tanya. Everyone can learn it

15:52 Speaker 1 on their own. Yes, that is enough for today.