28 Sivan - Hiskashrus

00:02 Speaker 1 Since today is 28 Sivan, a day connected with the Rebbe—as the notices put it, the day of the Rebbe’s rescue. The Rebbe was saved... And it is also the day the Rebbe arrived in the United States. As explained in the sicha, this is connected with the whole idea of “your wellsprings shall spread outward,” bringing the Geulah to America too, and to the lower hemisphere. We are also now close to 12–13 Tammuz, days connected with the Rebbe as well. So these are very, very significant days, auspicious days and days of Divine favor in general, and especially for chassidim. In particular, they are auspicious days for each person to strengthen his hiskashrus with the nasi, with the Rebbe, the nasi of the generation, the collective soul—to strengthen that bond, renew it, awaken it, and so on. The Alter Rebbe speaks about this in several places in Tanya: the idea of a rav and of hiskashrus with a Rebbe. This is one of the foundations of Chassidus, one of the things revealed by the Baal Shem Tov when Chassidus began to be revealed. As explained in several sichos, since the Baal Shem Tov began the process of bringing Moshiach... The Baal Shem Tov was the beginning, as the Rebbe cites in a sicha, as a preparation for Moshiach. That is the whole idea of “your wellsprings shall spread outward,” and Moshiach, after all, will be a human being.

01:59 Speaker 2 There will be one king who will bring the complete Geulah to the world.

02:05 Speaker 1 The idea of a Rebbe is the beginning of that. That is already the beginning of what the Baal Shem Tov started. There was always the concept of a nasi, of Moshe Rabbeinu. We have a Moshe in every generation, but for many generations this was not openly apparent; it was hidden. There was not always someone whom people knew openly to be the nasi of the generation. At some times it was more apparent, and at others it was hidden. There were times when there were several, and so on. Then the Baal Shem Tov began the concept of a Rebbe, a nasi who is the overall nasi of the entire generation. This began with Chassidus in general, and afterward became the concept of Chabad Chassidus with the Alter Rebbe and all seven of our nesi’im, from the Alter Rebbe through the Rebbe. Since this is a foundation of Chassidus—the idea of a tzaddik, a rav, “the tzaddik lives by his faith”... receiving life from the nasi—we find several places in Tanya where the Alter Rebbe discusses it. What is a rav? What is a tzaddik? When you look closely, you see that in each place the Alter Rebbe is addressing a different point. So let’s take the opportunity, now that we are in such lofty, auspicious days, and especially in a Tanya class, to speak a little about this idea of a rav as it is explained in Tanya, as far as I know. That is, as far as we can understand the distinctions between one place and another. In general, Tanya discusses the idea of a rav in four places. It is mentioned a few other times, but there are four places where it is discussed at length. First, in chapter 2 of Tanya: “and cleaving to Him,” as though one were cleaving to the Shechinah itself, because through cleaving... Simply.

04:12 Speaker 1 And the desire, and the whole point the Alter Rebbe explains there: each person’s attachment to Hakadosh Boruch Hu through the leaders of the Jewish people, through the nasi. That is chapter 2. The second place where the Alter Rebbe speaks about the idea of a Rebbe is chapter 42 of Tanya. He explains the verse, “And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you but to fear Him?” The Gemara asks: Is fear such a small thing? What does it mean, “but to fear Him”? Is fear of Heaven a small thing? The Gemara says: For Moshe, it is a small thing. So the Alter Rebbe asks: What does “for Moshe” mean? The verse is speaking to everyone. He explains that every person has an aspect of Moshe within him, and in every generation there is a Moshe Rabbeinu who imparts vitality and daas to every Jew, and so on. Through this, fear of Heaven is within everyone’s reach; it is a small thing. That is chapter 42, the second place. The third place where the Alter Rebbe speaks about a Rebbe is Igeres Hakodesh, section 27, and its explanation. In that lengthy letter, written to the chassidim of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk about their Rebbe, he discusses histalkus, but primarily he speaks about what a Rebbe is. He explains that the life of a tzaddik is not physical life, life of the body, but spiritual life: faith, fear, and love. He explains several aspects of this. How do we receive life through the tzaddik—spiritual life? There is also physical life that the tzaddik imparts, and various other details that we’ll discuss shortly, time permitting. Then, in section 28 of Igeres Hakodesh, there is another letter concerning a Rebbe and a tzaddik in general. In particular, he discusses atonement through the passing of tzaddikim: “Why was the passage”

06:10 Speaker 1 “about Miriam placed next to the passage about the red heifer?” That is precisely in Parshas Chukas, the parsha associated with Gimmel Tammuz. We see that it brings about atonement... Before getting to the essence of what he explains there, that it has the same power as the red heifer. In any case, we’ll come to that shortly. So there are four places where the Alter Rebbe discusses what a tzaddik is, and in particular the idea of a nasi, of a rav. Broadly speaking, the difference between the first two places and the last two is that in the first two, the Alter Rebbe speaks about a tzaddik, a Rebbe, during his lifetime, when his soul is clothed in a body. In the last two, sections 27 and 28 of Igeres Hakodesh, he speaks about the tzaddik’s influence after his lifetime in this world. But when you look more closely, you see that the Alter Rebbe discusses different matters in each place. You could say that they progress from the easier to the more difficult, from below upward. The Alter Rebbe mentions different things that we need to know we receive through the Rebbe—that all of their influence passes through the Rebbe. Let’s begin with the first place, chapter 2. What is chapter 2 about? In chapter 2 of Tanya, the Alter Rebbe is still at the beginning of his explanation. As he explains what goes on within a person’s soul, the opening chapters of Tanya do not yet discuss what we must do. That begins afterward, in chapter 4. The opening chapters describe how a person functions, what a person is made up of. Every person has a... soul, with ten sefiros and all that. He has two... and there is good and there is

08:06 Speaker 1 evil. There is holiness, there is impurity, there is gold, there is Egypt. In the first ten or eleven chapters of Tanya, the Alter Rebbe gives a kind of panorama, an overall picture of how a Jew functions and what all his faculties are made up of. In chapter 2, the Alter Rebbe speaks about the neshamah. He explains what a Jew is. He speaks about a Jew’s essential reality before any avodah, before Torah, before mitzvos, before anything: the essential nature of a Jew, a Jew’s essential identity. The Alter Rebbe explains that a Jew is “a veritable part of G-d Above.” A Jew’s essence is a part of the Essence, truly a part of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This applies to every soul. No matter how many different types there are, all of them are “a veritable part of G-d Above.” Why, then, are there so many different levels? There are lofty souls and lower souls, even the lowliest people and the sinners of Israel, down to the very lowest. The Alter Rebbe explains that this has to do with the descent of Jewish souls. A soul descends from level to level: some souls remain on a higher level, while others descend to a lower level. Nevertheless, says the Alter Rebbe, even the lowest souls, which are like fingernails—meaning that they are at the very lowest level, like fingernails, where there is only a tiny measure of vitality—even they receive life from the brain in the head. In other words, even after, as in the physical analogy, a child is born and becomes an independent person, there is still a connection between his fingernails and his father’s brain. Through what? Through the child’s brain. Since the fingernails are connected to the child’s brain, and his brain, in turn, has a connection to his father’s brain, the fingernails too are connected to his father’s brain

10:01 Speaker 1 Through the brain of the son. He says that this is also true of the souls of the Jewish people: a Jew’s connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu is through the leader of the generation, through the Rebbe. The Rebbe is like the brain of the Jewish people as a whole. He is their head and brain, and all the Jews of the generation are limbs and parts of that whole, connected to the brain, to the Rebbe. There are even fingernails, and they too—the fingernails, the very lowest levels—receive life from Hakadosh Boruch Hu through the brain of the son, meaning the Rebbe. This is the meaning of “whoever attaches himself to a Torah scholar.” What does that mean in simple terms? We’re talking here about the first, most basic connection we need to understand: as Jews, in order to be Jewish in the most basic sense—simply to be a Jew and belong to G-dliness, before any avodah or anything else—we receive even that through the Rebbe. That is why the Alter Rebbe speaks about the essence of the soul before discussing any details. He is speaking about a Jew’s very being. For a Jew to be connected to G-dliness, so that, G-d forbid, there is no separation between his soul and Hakadosh Boruch Hu, this connection must pass through the leader of the generation. And this explains why the Alter Rebbe emphasizes what happens with the sinners and rebels, those who oppose this very idea. It is precisely here that the Alter Rebbe stresses, “And the sinners and rebels against the Torah scholars.” Why is that relevant? Why tell us what happens to a sinner and rebel? It’s understandable: here we’re talking about the essential point, a Jew’s essential connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the basic connection. And the Alter Rebbe says it comes through the leader, through the Rebbe. If so, everyone must receive it this way. How, then, can there be sinners or rebels? How do they receive it? How do they have a soul? So we have to say that they too have a connection. It’s just—

11:54 Speaker 1 what kind? That depends on whether you want to receive from the aspect of the “face” or the “back.” If you are a chossid, if you are connected, you receive from the Rebbe’s “face,” and through that you receive your soul in a more inward way. If you oppose him and are a sinner or a rebel, you receive your life-force from the aspect of the “back.” But this connection has to exist; without it, there can be no Jew. In terms of avodah, we can put it this way: this is the basic connection that must exist between a chossid and the Rebbe even before he begins doing mitzvos and learning Chassidus. Before he begins any particular avodah, he needs to be in an atmosphere of Chassidus. He is a chossid. There is such a thing as saying of someone, “He is a chossid.” It may even be that the only way this shows is in outward matters. What makes him a chossid? It may show in his davening according to the Arizal’s nusach. He puts on tefillin as prescribed by halachah. He follows the practices and customs of chassidim, even their outward customs. Through that itself he already has this connection of being attached—“whoever attaches himself to a Torah scholar.” One needs to be attached to a Torah scholar, so that if someone asks me who I am, I say, “I’m a Chabad chossid.” As the Rebbe relates, at [unclear], a young man would come to [unclear], and he would be asked, “Who are you?” He would answer, “A young man of Reb Moshe the chossid.” He said it with a certain pride—pride, good pride. Not with aggressiveness, and not with embarrassment: “A young man of Reb Moshe the chossid.” That was his whole identity. There is the story the Rebbe tells about a soul arriving Above and being asked, “Who are you?” If he is a Chabad chossid, the first thing he says is, “A Chabad chossid, a chossid of the Rebbe.” But then they begin asking him—

13:47 Speaker 1 “Did you learn Chassidus? If you’re a Chabad chossid, did you learn Chassidus? Did you daven with avodah?” And then he starts feeling uneasy. But the first thing is that a Jew arrives as a Chabad chossid: he has a great Rebbe. In any case, this matter of identity—simply being able to say, “I’m a chossid; I’m connected to the Rebbe”—is attachment to a Torah scholar. I’m the Rebbe’s chossid, and I live in the atmosphere of [unclear], the Rebbe’s atmosphere. This kind of attachment, so to speak, doesn’t require any preparation: he’s holding the handle, he’s holding the—how do you say it?—the door handle, and that alone means he’s already attached; he already belongs. In chapter 42, the Rebbe is already speaking about avodah. The Alter Rebbe begins chapter 42 in the context of yiras Shamayim. Chapters 41 and 42 are where the Alter Rebbe demands yiras Shamayim of every single person. It is the beginning, the main thing, and the root: before anything else, one must have yiras Shamayim. It isn’t something you can put off. It doesn’t depend on anything; you don’t wait for the right atmosphere. You must have yiras Shamayim. It is the foundation of a Jew’s entire service of Hashem. At the outset, before anything else, one must have yiras Shamayim. He speaks there about “Behold, Hashem stands over him”—taking in, as it were, feeling that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is with him and watching him, and so on. Yiras Shamayim at every step. Here we’re already speaking about avodah; yiras Shamayim is already being demanded. Then the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya that even for yiras Shamayim, you need a Rebbe. Yiras Shamayim without a Rebbe is difficult. To make it “a small matter,” so that I can bring myself to have yiras Shamayim—a term that simply means being a Jew who is afraid to commit a transgression, afraid to do something against His will—for that, we need a Rebbe.

15:44 Speaker 1 Here the Alter Rebbe is speaking about a deeper point. He begins explaining how we attain yiras Shamayim. The Alter Rebbe explains that Moshe Rabbeinu is a collective soul, the aspect of daas, and that he channels vitality and G-dliness to the souls of the Jewish people. Notice: this is our connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which is what yiras Shamayim is about—the sense that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is there, that “Hashem stands over him,” that the fear of G-d is before my eyes. We receive this from Moshe Rabbeinu. He channels vitality and G-dliness to the souls of the Jewish people. But what does it take to awaken this? It takes deep daas, contemplation and connection—to contemplate and delve deeply. The Alter Rebbe says that we receive this too from Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu is the aspect of daas, and he brings daas into the souls of the Jewish people so that... This ability to know G-dliness—not just to know, but to understand and connect; to be able to learn and connect with what we learn, to live with it until it gives us the sense that “an eye sees and an ear hears”—this yiras Shamayim comes to us through Moshe Rabbeinu. So here we’re already speaking about a connection received from Moshe Rabbeinu that relates to avodah, the avodah of yiras Shamayim. Yiras Shamayim is the beginning of avodah, the first avodah. The Alter Rebbe then continues in Igeres Hakodesh, section 27. There he speaks about an even higher level. In section 27 of Igeres Hakodesh, the Alter Rebbe explains that a tzaddik is faith, awe and love. As is known, the life of a tzaddik is faith, awe and love. A tzaddik’s life is no ordinary life; it is faith, awe and love. And if I want to receive faith, awe and love, we’re no longer speaking of yiras Shamayim as the beginning of avodah. We’re already—

17:47 Speaker 1 We’re talking about high levels in serving Hashem: fear of Hashem, even awe of G-dliness, love of Hashem, and faith. But here we’re already talking about avodah on a more advanced level. So the Alter Rebbe says that everyone needs to know that faith, fear, and love come to them through the tzaddik. And here the Rebbe explains that while the tzaddik is alive, he influences people in a way called “lights.” In other words, the tzaddik has his own soul and his own faith, fear, and love, but they are connected to his body. What we receive from the tzaddik during his lifetime comes in the form of lights: his students receive it by following his path and studying his Torah. The Alter Rebbe says that afterward, when the tzaddik no longer has the limitations of a body, those limitations are gone, and each person can readily receive a part of his Rebbe’s spirit within himself. In other words, it can become much easier to attain fear of Hashem, love of Hashem, and faith in Hashem. Right? All the high levels of avodah—through what? Through the connection with the tzaddik. How do we bring this about? The Alter Rebbe says that a person must exert himself, following the path his Rebbe taught. In simple terms, this means studying Chassidus. Here, study is already required: studying the Rebbe’s Chassidus, studying his maamarim, and heeding his enactments and instructions. We do this by studying his Torah and observing his enactments. The Alter Rebbe also adds that there must be love—a feeling of love for the Rebbe. Not just doing the minimum to fulfill an obligation, but awakening a feeling of inner connection, a feeling of love. Through this, we can attain love of Hashem, fear of Hashem, and the highest levels in serving Hashem. And there, in chapter 27, the Alter Rebbe explains another point. At the end of the chapter, the Alter Rebbe adds

19:56 Speaker 1 that we receive from the tzaddik not only spiritual sustenance in serving Hashem—faith, fear, and love. There is something loftier. Here the Alter Rebbe adds a loftier idea: the tzaddik has another way of influencing us, one that is makif, encompassing. Until now, we’ve been discussing influence that is internal. From the tzaddik we receive understanding and spiritual sustenance in serving Hashem. The tzaddik teaches us paths in avodah and tells us how to connect to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, how to attain fear of Hashem, love of Hashem, and faith. But here the Rebbe adds another point: there is influence from the tzaddik that is makif. What does makif mean? As they say in Argentina, indirecto—indirect. It means it isn’t something overt. It isn’t something I receive through a sicha or by seeing it. The tzaddik awakens thoughts of teshuvah and good deeds within every Jew’s soul. That’s what the Rebbe says: when a person has thoughts of teshuvah, it’s because the tzaddik is thinking about him. The tzaddik prays for him in an encompassing way. We don’t know exactly how it works directly, but sometimes I suddenly awaken with thoughts of teshuvah or a desire to do good deeds. That comes from the tzaddik. He brings an example from the Zohar. At night, when the sun is below the earth, it influences the stars: the light the stars have is an illumination from the sun. Even though the sun is below the earth and isn’t openly visible, it continues to exert an encompassing influence. The light of the stars is a reflection of sunlight. So says the Zohar. The same applies here. Even when the tzaddik does not influence us openly, he influences us in an encompassing way, giving us thoughts of teshuvah and good deeds. So the conclusion of chapter 27 is that there are two different kinds of influence we receive from the tzaddik in our avodah:

22:07 Speaker 1 direct influence and encompassing influence. What does that mean for us? What do we need to do? Direct influence is easy to understand. Every chossid must study Chassidus, study sichos, study maamarim, because that is where we learn faith. The Rebbe teaches us faith there. Studying Chassidus, studying the Rebbe’s Torah, strengthens faith and awakens love of Hashem—when we study with the aim of coming to love. The Rebbe gives us a path in avodah. There are many paths in avodah, but a chossid needs to know our path. This is the path my Rebbe gives me, and that is how I know how to serve Hashem with faith and love. The same applies to observing the enactments. There is the study of Rambam, going out on mivtzoim, and doing the other things the Rebbe instituted. In particular, in recent years there have been a number of enactments. By observing them, following the instructions, and studying Chassidus, we receive direct influence from him. But the Rebbe does not write how we receive encompassing influence, because makif means it has no vessel. It comes from above. Nevertheless, in a number of the Rebbe’s sichos there is advice for this too—for receiving influence in an encompassing way. Everyone wants to have thoughts of teshuvah. Everyone wants to have the desire to do good deeds and all these things that come through encompassing influence. So in several places the Rebbe speaks about one thing: a picture of the Rebbe. In other words, since the influence is makif, the way to receive it is also makif, through things that are makif. One such thing is

24:00 Speaker 1 a picture of the Rebbe. The Rebbe spoke several times about every chossid needing to have a picture. The Rebbe often encouraged everyone to keep a picture of the Rebbe in a pocket or wallet and look at it from time to time, because seeing works in an encompassing way. Sight is not something internal. It is on a higher level than faith and intellectual understanding, and looking at the picture can bring a person to thoughts of teshuvah. For example, the Rebbe speaks about a picture of the Rebbe. Indeed, the same can be said of saying the Rebbe’s kapitel and looking at his picture. Through these practices we also receive the kind of influence by which the Rebbe awakens thoughts of teshuvah within us in an encompassing way. After this, in chapter 28, the Alter Rebbe comes to the loftiest idea in the chapter. The Alter Rebbe explains the connection between tzaddikim and the parah adumah. What is special about the parah adumah? It says that it brings atonement even for impurity connected with death, which derives from the three impure kelipos. Other offerings atone only for unintentional sins, but the parah adumah atones even for intentional sins and for the three impure kelipos—extremely serious matters for which there is no ordinary remedy. In terms of purification, it addresses these too. Tzaddikim are compared to the parah adumah to tell us that this also brings atonement for the three impure kelipos. But the Rebbe explains there that when the day arrives on which the tzaddik completes his avodah, reaching its perfection, all the mitzvos and good deeds he performed throughout his life are awakened Above. This draws down such an abundant influence from Above that it atones for the most serious matters. In other words, through the power of the histalkus

26:02 Speaker 1 Through the Rebbe, atonement can be brought about even for the most serious matters, matters connected with the three impure kelipos. Even these can be corrected and atoned for through hiskashrus with the Rebbe. How is this expressed in practice? Through writing. The Rebbe does not say this explicitly here, but this is certainly the point: writing a pidyon nefesh to the Rebbe. That is why chassidim have the custom, when a day like this comes—a special, elevated, auspicious day—to write a pidyon nefesh. Gimmel Tammuz, 28 Sivan, Tisha B’Av—these are days when one writes a pidyon nefesh. And the power of a pidyon nefesh applies even when a person knows within himself that he has stumbled in the most serious matters. Sometimes a person may have stumbled in matters of the impure kelipos, or in very grave transgressions, where correction is not possible by natural or ordinary means and requires tremendous effort. So there is a special day and a special power in a chossid writing to the Rebbe. Of course, one must write with some thoughts of teshuvah. But by writing a pidyon nefesh to the Rebbe, one arouses abundant mercy, correcting and atoning even for the most serious matters of the three impure kelipos. The reason is that the Rebbe is the yechidah. A Rebbe is not merely a tzaddik; a Rebbe is the yechidah. The Rebbe can therefore connect a Jew to, and reveal, his essence—his essential bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu—and through this, even the most serious matters are atoned for. So, if we draw a conclusion, we see that in these four places in Tanya, the Rebbe takes us from beginning to end. Everything a chossid needs to know, the way to receive it, is through hiskashrus with the Rebbe. Let us begin. First there is the actual cleaving to Torah scholars, so that the root of the soul will be revealed.

27:57 Speaker 1 Then one needs to be G-d-fearing, and for that too one needs the Rebbe. One needs the Rebbe to have faith, awe and love—inner avodah. And one needs the Rebbe even for matters that come from beyond oneself: thoughts of teshuvah prompted by tefillin, which come in an encompassing way. This extends all the way to correcting the most serious matters. We receive all of this through the Rebbe. This is something we need to know. A bochur who learns Tanya needs to know these things. There is another point we have not discussed: the Alter Rebbe explains in Igeres 27 that material blessings also come this way. Until now we have been speaking about spiritual matters, but the Alter Rebbe says in Igeres 27 that this applies to material blessings too. Tzaddikim protect the world even after their passing, and a tzaddik bestows material blessings in the world—not only during his lifetime in this world. Even afterward, the tzaddik continues to bestow material blessings. In every area of life, whatever a person needs materially also comes through the nasi. That is why chassidim customarily ask for material things when writing a pidyon nefesh: for health, for a livelihood, and for whatever each person needs. Material matters, too, come through the Rebbe’s influence. We need to know this, especially as days like these approach. It is now the month of Sivan, and Gimmel Tammuz is coming. Each of us needs to strengthen and awaken our hiskashrus with the Rebbe through all these things. First, by being immersed in Chassidus in general, simply feeling how fortunate we are to be chassidim—but not stopping there. Then we need to work on being G-d-fearing and know that we receive that through the Rebbe too. When I daven and think,

29:41 Speaker 1 when I contemplate with focus, I awaken that sense of being G-d-fearing within myself. Then we need to know what it means to be a chossid and to maintain the connection, through which we receive faith, awe, love and everything needed for inner avodah. Then there are also the encompassing influences through which we receive thoughts of teshuvah. And we need to know that if there were things in the past that were not good, by connecting myself to the Rebbe and devoting myself to the Rebbe and the Rebbe’s concerns, the Rebbe will take my burden on his shoulders too. He will atone for all those matters, and I will be able to continue serving Hashem with joy and a glad heart. All these matters are written in Tanya; they are just in different places. Of course, anyone who wants to strengthen his hiskashrus can take these passages in Tanya and look at them inside. Which passages? Chapter 2, chapter 42, Igeres 27 and Igeres 28 in Igeres Hakodesh. Study them. The main thing is to take them to heart, for each of us to strengthen our connection with the Rebbe. And above all, may what is written in the maamar be fulfilled, and may we merit that he be revealed here below, in a body, within ten tefachim of the ground.