Explanation of the Concept of a Chassidishe Bochur

00:00 First, I’ll open with today’s Hayom Yom in the Shulchan Aruch. We’re talking about being a chassidisher bochur. The Hayom Yom for 14 Kislev speaks about a chossid. It discusses what a tzaddik is, what an upright person is, what a wholehearted person is, and what a chossid is. It explains that a tzaddik is associated with a certain path, and an upright person with a certain path. Of a wholehearted person, it says that this is earnestness. In other words, it includes both together. Then it says that above them all is a chossid. What is a chossid? It gives three levels. First, worldly matters do not disturb or confuse him. That is the first level of a chossid: worldly matters do not confuse him. It says that each and every person can reach this level, and each and every person is obligated to reach it. Everyone can, and everyone must, reach the point where the world does not confuse him. The second level is that all worldly matters are G-dliness. Not only does this world not confuse him, but he sees G-dliness in everything. That is already a higher level. It says that this is a path in Chassidus, not an exceedingly high level, but it does not apply to each and every person. In other words, it is not so high, but not everyone can attain it either. Then comes the third level, the highest level of a chossid, as it says in Tikkunei Zohar: Who is a chossid? One who acts with kindness toward his Maker, toward His dwelling place. And as explained in Sefer Shel Beinonim: to unite the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah in the lower realms, and not merely to satisfy his own soul. The third level of a chossid is that he acts with kindness toward his Maker. What does that mean? Toward His dwelling place. In other words, he does nothing for himself, to satisfy his own soul; he does it so that Hashem will have a dwelling place in the lower realms. That is the highest level of a chossid.

02:11 So the Hayom Yom for 14 Kislev, the birthday of the Rebbe’s chassidim, gives us three explanations, three levels, each higher than the last, of what it means to be a chossid. That brings us to the chossid. Now we come to the bochur. There is the story of the Rebbe’s wedding. We mentioned it yesterday in the Tanya class, and now we’ll look more closely at the Rebbe’s wording. The Rebbe told this story at the farbrengen of 14 Kislev 5714. It was the first time the Rebbe held a farbrengen in connection with his wedding, on its twenty-fifth anniversary. At that farbrengen, the Rebbe said the well-known words that the wedding was the day that connected me with the chassidim and the chassidim with me, and so on. Those well-known words were said in a sicha. Before that, the Rebbe tells this story. It is in Toras Menachem, section 8 of the farbrengen, for anyone who wants to look it up afterward. The Rebbe says that at the wedding meal, the Frierdiker Rebbe went around the tables and distributed mashke. When he reached the students, he instructed the mashgiach to distribute the mashke to them, and he delivered a sicha. What was the sicha about? The teaching of our Sages: “The Torah endures only in one who puts himself to death for it.” The Frierdiker Rebbe said the following, as the Rebbe recounts here. He told them: “Know, Temimim, that you must nullify yourselves completely. You must nullify yourselves entirely, and that is the path you are on—that is what you stand for and where you are headed: complete and utter bittul. Study Torah with effort, both nigleh and Chassidus. Then I bless you.” The Frierdiker Rebbe was saying: Now do what you need to do as bochurim—study both nigleh and Chassidus with effort. I bless you. Then the Rebbe goes on to explain that there must be both study of nigleh and

04:16 study of Chassidus, which are like a body and soul. You cannot have a body without a soul, or a soul without a body. The soul gives life to the body, and so on. There has to be study. The Rebbe explains this whole point, and then says those words: Today is the wedding day, which connected me with you and you with me, and together we will work to bring the true and complete Geulah. Then it says further that the Frierdiker Rebbe concluded the sicha with a blessing that we should see good fruit from our labor. Then it says that the Rebbe asked the bochurim to say l’chaim and to ask for success in their studies, in nigleh and Chassidus. The Rebbe waited for all the bochurim to say l’chaim, and he said l’chaim with them. That is the story from the farbrengen of 14 Kislev. So that is where we are. We have two sides to the question we are discussing today: what it means to be a chassidisher bochur. Today’s Hayom Yom speaks about a chossid, and this sicha about the Rebbe’s wedding speaks about a bochur. We need both together: to be both a chossid and a bochur. That is what “chassidisher bochur” means. It combines being a bochur with being a chossid. Someone can be a chossid but not a bochur; someone can be a bochur but not a chossid. What the Rebbeim want from us is to be both chassidim and bochurim. Put the two names together, and that is a chassidisher bochur. There is a chassidisher young married man, a chassidisher householder, a chassidisher rabbi. There are all kinds and levels of chassidisher people, and here we are talking about being a chassidisher bochur. So there are two elements here: being a bochur and being a chossid. That is what we are going to explain. We already have a wonderful explanation of a chossid in Hayom Yom, and in this sicha of

06:15 the Rebbe, a wonderful explanation of a bochur. We need to see how the two come together. If we look closely at what the sicha and the Hayom Yom have in common, we see that it is bittul—self-nullification. If we had to choose one word that appears in both, it would be bittul. The Hayom Yom also speaks about bittul, and in fact describes three levels of it. There is a level of bittul where worldly matters do not concern him or occupy a place in his mind. It is one kind of bittul: the various matters of this world do not confuse him. There is a higher level of bittul, where he sees G-dliness in everything. And there is a still higher level, where he does nothing for himself. Everything he does is solely for the purpose of making a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower realms. These are three levels of bittul, each deeper than the last. And in the sicha we just studied, what does the Rebbe say? What did the Frierdiker Rebbe say to the bochurim? “The Torah endures only in one who puts himself to death for it.” Putting oneself to death means bittul. He said, “You must nullify yourselves completely”—nullify my entire sense of self, completely. But along with that, you are going to study Torah, both nigleh and Chassidus. So we see the point they have in common, in both the sicha and the Hayom Yom: a person must nullify himself completely. Within that, there is what is demanded of bochurim and what is demanded of a chossid. So let’s explain it a little more. When we speak about a bochur, his role is to study Torah. We are speaking about a bochur. The main point of being a bochur is straightforward: he needs to sit and learn. A yeshivah bochur. That is a bochur’s entire task, simply speaking, without getting into deeper ideas,

08:13 No complicated arguments. There’s no need for all that... A bochur is a yeshiva student, and what does it mean to be a bochur? It means that all the burdens, worries, and other concerns are taken off his shoulders. He doesn’t have to worry about his food, his bed, or anything else. He just has to sit and learn nigleh and Chassidus, as Hashem wants. That’s what a yeshiva bochur is. There’s a well-known, very famous sicha in which the Rebbe discusses the role of yeshiva students. There the Rebbe explains the familiar principle that their primary occupation is learning Torah and immersing themselves in it. The innovation of Tomchei Temimim is that this learning includes both nigleh and Chassidus. Yeshivos elsewhere learn only the revealed dimension of Torah; they don’t learn Chassidus, the inner dimension of Torah. Some yeshivos learn mussar, but that’s something else. Where else do you have this? This gift we were given: Torah in its fullness, both nigleh and Chassidus, both soul and body, both the inner and outer dimensions. That’s the gift of the yeshiva Tomchei Temimim. So being a bochur means sitting and learning nigleh and Chassidus. Then we say: he has to be a chassidishe bochur. What’s a chossid? The Rebbe says in today’s Hayom Yom that a chossid is someone who serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu. There are three explanations there, but one point runs through all three. The common point in all three levels described in today’s Hayom Yom is that a chossid rises above his own sense of self. By nature, a person is drawn to material things, to this world. That’s our nature. We have an animal soul, desires, and wants. A Jew can observe Torah and mitzvos and be G-d-fearing, but that doesn’t necessarily connect him with G-dliness or with bittul.

10:16 A person can be G-d-fearing by nature. It can be “the rote practice of people who have been taught”—that’s how I was taught. He may be G-d-fearing because of the education he received at home or because he’s grown used to it. As the Tanya puts it, he may be a beinoni who perseveres in his learning by nature, yet is not serving G-d. It has nothing to do with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It has become his way of being, his foundation, his nature—whatever you want to call it. Then Chassidus comes along, and Chassidus demands avodas Hashem. Chassidus speaks about bittul. That’s a chossid. A chossid is someone who puts himself aside. The point is that he isn’t thinking about himself; he’s thinking about Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But within that there are three levels. The first is that a chossid is expected not to let this world distract him. A chossid learns Chassidus. He learns about the true oneness of Hashem. The Baal Shem Tov revealed that this world is not an independent reality. The Baal Shem Tov revealed the concept of Hashem’s oneness. So a chossid who learns Chassidus, who learns about Hashem’s oneness and about the bittul of the worlds, understands that the material world is not what he should make primary. It shouldn’t loom so large for him. What matters most to him should be avodas Hashem and matters of G-dliness. That’s the first level the Rebbe describes in the maamar: worldly matters don’t distract him. That’s the difference between being a chossid and being a Jew without Chassidus. A Jew can, as we said, observe Torah and mitzvos, learn Torah, and perform mitzvos, but that alone doesn’t include this. And the material world need not present any contradiction. You can enjoy life, enjoy this world, and live a good, comfortable life. There’s no contradiction with this world. What’s

12:07 the problem? It’s permitted. It’s permitted according to the Torah. So why not enjoy it? Why not have a good time? [unclear] said there aren’t two separate things. The entire foundation of Tanya, the entire foundation of Chassidus, revealed this point: anything that is not nullified to G-dliness is kelipah and sitra achra. That’s the foundation of the Tanya. So what follows? Within this itself, there are three levels. The first level is that it doesn’t distract him. A bochur learns Chassidus, learns [unclear], learns nigleh—he learns Torah. So the comforts don’t distract him. What does that mean? Not every little thing has to be exactly as I want it. Maybe my bed isn’t exactly the way I want it, or the food doesn’t have the taste I like, and so on—all kinds of things. The material conditions aren’t quite right. That doesn’t distract him. He serves Hashem. Why? Because for him, the spiritual is primary, G-dliness is primary. Material things belong to this world. This is something within everyone’s reach, as it says in Hayom Yom. Then there’s an even higher level. When a bochur truly engages with the inner dimension of Torah, contemplates G-dliness, and comes to recognize that even the physical is G-dliness, that’s already a higher level. It’s not merely that the world doesn’t distract him. On the contrary, he sees the G-dly aspect of everything in the world; he sees the G-dly life-force within each thing. That’s a still higher form of avodah: not setting the world aside, but drawing G-dliness into the world. That’s a higher level of avodas Hashem. Then we come to the third level, the highest level described here in Hayom Yom: uniting Hakadosh Boruch Hu with the lower realms. What does the avodah of uniting Hakadosh Boruch Hu with the lower realms mean?

13:50 That’s what it means to be a chossid. He is so utterly devoted, so dedicated to the Divine purpose and to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that he doesn’t care about himself at all—not only about his material needs, but even about his spiritual needs. He isn’t seeking perfection for himself. He isn’t seeking his own perfection in avodas Hashem. He isn’t even seeking his own spiritual good. What is he seeking? To give Hakadosh Boruch Hu nachas. What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu want? The Rebbe speaks about this constantly in his sichos. The Rebbe’s teachings are filled with this point: we must not think about ourselves at all. Our whole being should be devoted to the Divine purpose—making a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower realms, bringing the coming of Moshiach. We should think about how our avodah advances that ultimate purpose. So this, as described in Hayom Yom, is the highest level. When we look in Tanya, it’s the level of a complete tzaddik. In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe brings this in connection with a complete tzaddik, one of the “bnei aliyah.” What are bnei aliyah? People who don’t think about themselves. All their avodah is for the sake of the One Above. [unclear] He brings it back to this: uniting Hakadosh Boruch Hu with the lower realms. That’s the level of a complete tzaddik. Bnei aliyah is the level of a tzaddik who has only good within him. But here the Rebbe brings it in connection with a chossid. And when we look at the Rebbe’s sichos about the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe demands this of every single person. What’s the reasoning behind that? Have you ever thought about it? Guys, what is it—where’s the contradiction? You learn the Rebbe’s sichos about the Baal Shem Tov. The Rebbe’s whole answer is given in this language: we have to be devoted to the Divine purpose and not think about ourselves. And a bochur’s whole focus has to be on the Divine purpose of making a dwelling place in the lower realms. No,

15:39 A bochur has to go about everything he does with this in mind: Why do I learn, why do I go on mivtzoim, and why do I do all of this? Why? To bring Moshiach. So that there will be a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower worlds, to draw G-dliness into the world. I’m not thinking about myself at all. That’s the whole thing; that’s the education the Rebbe gave us. The Rebbe educated us in every detail. We go on shlichus, run a Chabad House, think about another Jew. This whole point—seeking wholeness—has to be for Hashem’s honor. When you look in Tanya, that’s the level of a tzaddik who has only good within him. Those are the “men of ascent.” And here, too, this is the third level, the highest level of a chossid, but the Rebbe calls him a chossid here, not a tzaddik. What’s the explanation? It’s very simple. It has to do with a chossid’s hiskashrus to the Rebbe. This is where the whole idea of hiskashrus comes in: a chossid means someone who has a Rebbe; he isn’t alone. And when you’re connected to the Rebbe, you can naturally reach levels that, on your own, you have no connection to. The Rebbe lifts you up to a place that is beyond your own level. On our own, we could never have reached it. So I can’t say, “I’m a tzaddik, and a tzaddik who has only good within him.” If only we were at that level—if only we were even resha’im who have some good within them. What exactly should we say? After all, as far as our own level goes, each person knows where he stands with his thoughts and his words. But because I’m a chossid—what does it mean that I’m a chossid? I have a Rebbe. I’m not alone. I stand on the Rebbe’s shoulders. [unclear] The Rebbe is called a nasi. What does nasi mean? The Rebbe explains that “the nasi is everything.” What does nasi mean? Nasi—[unclear]—nasi. A nasi lifts you up and raises you; he raises us.

17:38 To a place we could never reach on our own. So when the Rebbe asks chassidim to do things that make you say, “But what connection do I have to that?”—that’s exactly the point. You’re a chossid, and the Rebbe raises you to such levels. It doesn’t mean you’ve become a complete tzaddik. No. On your own, you remain who you are. But in certain points, certain matters and details—at any rate, in your avodah—this is what happens. You can see it in practice. It’s remarkable when you think about how the Rebbe takes chassidim and asks us for kinds of avodah that, you’d say, under ordinary circumstances—and before the Rebbe—you couldn’t ask a person to be on that level. These are the very highest levels. Take this whole point that we have to do everything to bring Moshiach. Everything the Rebbe spoke about from the first day: our task is to draw the Shechinah down here, to bring Moshiach. Think about it. In previous generations, you couldn’t ask that of an ordinary person. That’s what tzaddikim are for. They think about the community as a whole; they think on our behalf. We’re simple Jews, occupied with Torah and mitzvos. We learn and observe them. Of course, ultimately, through all the actions everyone does, Moshiach will come. But who has to think about the big picture? Who has to think about the overall purpose? That’s the Rebbe’s concern. What does it have to do with a chossid? Chassidim? I have my own personal struggle, my own troubles, my own battle—in thought, speech, and action. I do what I can and carry out my avodah. Then the Rebbe has to see to it that, through all these things together, the time will come for Moshiach to arrive. The Rebbe took this from the very first day and said: This is everyone’s task. That’s the whole point of Basi Legani

19:28 of 5711. The Rebbe says it so plainly: it doesn’t apply only to a select few, but to each and every person. Everyone is the seventh. Everyone. Everyone needs to know that the ultimate purpose of our avodah is to draw the Shechinah down here. Moshe Rabbeinu—there was only one Moshe Rabbeinu. But all chassidim have to think like Moshe Rabbeinu. All chassidim have to see themselves as being in the seventh generation and needing to bring Moshiach. That is something new the Rebbe introduced. In any case, what comes out of this? And now we get to our subject, which is really what the Rebbe says in Hayom Yom. We’ve reached the third level of a chossid. We said: Do you know what a chossid is? Someone who acts “for the union of Hakadosh Boruch Hu and His Shechinah in the lower worlds,” not merely to satisfy his own thirsty soul. Don’t think about your own wholeness or your own level. Instead, devote yourself to the higher purpose: making a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower worlds. Moshiach has to come. The kingship of the House of David has to be restored; we have to bring Moshiach. So, to that end, do everything you need to do as a chassidishe bochur. Learn niggunim, learn Chassidus, daven, do mitzvos—do everything the Rebbe wants for this purpose. In any case, all of this is by way of explaining the point. What does it mean to be a chassidishe bochur? So, to be a chassidishe bochur—first of all, there’s the matter of being a chossid. The essence of being a chossid is bittul. He sets aside his ego, sets aside his sense of self, and puts himself to one side for something higher. And within that itself there are several levels. There’s bittul with respect to desire: physical concerns shouldn’t distract him. Beyond that, they should become distasteful to him. And beyond that, he doesn’t think about himself at all, even in spiritual matters, but only about

21:15 the purpose of making a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower worlds. And within that itself, when we say “a chassidishe bochur,” what do we mean? Where should this chassidishkeit, this bittul of a chossid, find expression in him? In his being a bochur, in the avodah of a bochur: learning nigleh, learning Chassidus, in his avodah as a bochur and as a chossid. That’s a general point to explain the subject as a whole. Now I’m going to address some of the questions that came in. Bochurim asked very interesting questions, and we’ll see how far we get. Not all the questions are relevant to today’s topic, but we will address the ones that are. There was one question I particularly liked, so I want to address it first. I liked many of the questions—don’t misunderstand me, all the questions are good—but there was one interesting question that’s also a general one. Someone asked this: When a bochur serves Hashem, should he look at the big picture—fulfilling the higher purpose—and not at his own personal picture, his desire to be a chassidishe bochur, to become complete? A very good question, and it’s exactly what we’ve just been discussing. Yes. It’s a very, very fundamental question. Should a bochur be a chassidishe bochur because of the big picture or because of his personal picture? A very good question, and the answer is really in the question itself. A wise person’s question is half the answer. Yes, so that’s right: we were just talking about Hayom Yom. Today’s Hayom Yom speaks about exactly this—what the third level of a chossid is. But from that we understand that you don’t necessarily have to jump straight to that level. A bochur who serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu while thinking about his own growth is still a chassidishe bochur. As we said, there are several levels. Yes, so a bochur who wants to be a chassidishe bochur.

23:51 So of course, even if he’s thinking about himself—he wants to be a chassidisher bochur so that he’ll do the right thing and conduct himself as he should—that’s very important. But the deeper goal is certainly for a bochur to reach the point where he understands the broader purpose. After learning Chassidus, the Rebbe’s teachings and the Rebbe’s directives, he should come to see the big picture, as it says here—the broader picture—and feel connected to that broader purpose. Then all of his Chassidus becomes part of it. That is certainly the ideal. It’s the most important thing, but you don’t necessarily have to be at that level from the outset. The second question that same bochur asked—at least, that’s how it looks from the handwriting—is also a very good question: Is Lubavitch one size fits all? He wrote it in English, so I assume he’s one of the shluchim or one of the American bochurim. I don’t know. The question is whether Lubavitch is “one size fits all.” Okay. In other words, is there just one type, and everyone has to fit into it? Is there only one type of Lubavitcher bochur? A good question. I’ll read a few more questions of this kind that bochurim asked. Someone asks here: Is a bochur who does everything with kabbolas ol, without any feeling, considered a chassidisher bochur? That’s related to this as well. Someone asked: What is the daily schedule of a chassidisher bochur? That question belongs here too. When you have two things to do—learn or take part in mivtzoim—which should you do? And if you decide based on what you want, how do you know that it comes from holiness and not from the yetzer hara? Another question along the same lines. Can you explain

26:27 the different types of bochurim and their natures? Does that make a difference in their Chassidus? Do you understand? Hm? As I understand it, the question is whether it depends on the nature of the bochurim. There are different types of bochurim, and accordingly their Chassidus will differ as well, and so on. Okay, that’s enough. There are more questions here. But the general point is that the answer is very, very simple. The answer is clearly no, of course not. There isn’t just one type of chassidisher bochur. Just as people’s faces are not alike, so too their minds are not alike, and therefore what is demanded of each person is not the same. One concept explained many times in Chassidus is Tzivos Hashem. “Tzivos” has three meanings, and one of them is related to “colors”: there are many different ways of serving Hashem, and all of them are needed. So it’s clear that it isn’t one size fits all. There are, however, certain shared points. That’s a different matter. Each person’s service of Hashem has to be suited to who he is—to his character, his talents and his shortcomings. No two people have the same avodas Hashem. We’ll explain that in more detail shortly. But there are general points, essential points, that chassidim have in common. Take, for example, what we spoke about earlier: the quality of bittul. There is certainly a general point about bittul that distinguishes a chossid from a misnaged. A chossid has bittul. A chossid has a rav; a chossid has kabbolas ol. These are general points. You can’t say that some people don’t need them. There are fundamental, general points that every single person needs. But when we speak about a person’s individual avodah—what it means to be a chassidisher bochur—then certainly it depends on the individual,

29:07 because, after all, what we said about a chassidisher bochur, about a chossid, is that he serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He isn’t thinking about himself; he’s thinking about Hakadosh Boruch Hu, in whatever way and at whatever level he can. The defining thing about a chossid is avodas Hashem. And especially when we learn Tanya, where the Alter Rebbe explains that the whole point is to be “one who serves G-d.” There is “one who serves Him” and “one who does not serve Him.” So each person’s avodas Hashem will be entirely different. For one person, sitting and learning is no problem; it isn’t avodah for him. He loves learning. For him, davening is avodah. Another person doesn’t find it hard to deal properly with other people, but his relationship with G-d is hard for him. And for someone else it’s the other way around. So if we’re talking about a chossid, a chossid is someone who looks for where his avodah lies—where he needs to work, to exert himself, to sweat—and focuses precisely on that. That is where he will put his strength. He will do what comes naturally to him, and then look for what he can do that goes beyond his nature. [unclear] So for one bochur, his main avodah may be developing good character traits. For another, his main avodah will be learning. For a third, it will be avodas hatefillah. It depends very much on the bochur’s nature, his qualities, who he is and the makeup of his soul. So certainly, when we speak about Lubavitch—on the contrary, one of the things Chabad Chassidus has accomplished is precisely that not everyone has to fit into the same box. Again,

30:56 there are general foundations. Suppose someone asks: Does a Lubavitcher bochur have to learn Chitas? Of course he does. If he doesn’t learn Chitas, he is missing something fundamental to being a Lubavitcher bochur. What do I mean by a Lubavitcher bochur? Every bochur has to learn Chitas. It’s a basic requirement, just as every Jew has to put on tefillin. Can you say that Moshe Rabbeinu had to put on tefillin, and [unclear] and [unclear] also put on tefillin, and therefore Moshe Rabbeinu and [unclear] and [unclear] are on the same level? Of course not. Moshe Rabbeinu’s avodah is the avodah of Moshe Rabbeinu, and a simple person’s avodah is the avodah of a simple person. But both have the same obligation to put on tefillin. The same applies to Chassidus. Yes, a bochur who doesn’t learn Chitas lacks a connection to the Rebbe. That’s the ABC. Being a chassidisher bochur without learning Chitas doesn’t work. Nevertheless, one chassidisher bochur needs to put more into learning. Another needs to put more into avodas hatefillah. Another needs to put more into mivtzoim. As we’ve discussed here recently, the Rebbe said, “I would like every bochur to be involved in everything. But if he has more enthusiasm and strength for one area than another, he shouldn’t be pushed away because of it.” In any case, it follows that Lubavitch, thank G-d, has great richness. There’s room for everyone. Each person can find his own qualities and use them in serving Hashem, to be a chossid in his own distinctive way. But there is a central shared point: bittul, and the work and effort we spoke about. So that answers the questions they asked. And accordingly, also

32:47 Yes, what’s the question? What happens if a bochur does everything with kabbolas ol, without feelings? Is he a chassidishe bochur or not? It depends on the bochur. For some bochurim, kabbolas ol comes naturally. They have a feel for it, and they do things out of kabbolas ol. They don’t need more than that. Now, on the one hand, of course a person also needs to work on his feelings and develop his inner faculties. That matters. But it doesn’t mean he isn’t a chassidishe bochur. This has to do with a person’s nature. Some people are naturally inclined toward kabbolas ol. Others are naturally more emotional. A person whose nature is kabbolas ol will find it harder to arouse his middos. Someone who is emotional by nature will have a harder time with kabbolas ol. You can see it in practice: there are bochurim who find it very hard when you talk to them about kabbolas ol, but at a farbrengen, when the talk turns to feelings, they’re engaged the whole time. It’s a type of character; it’s their nature. Some are emotional, some are inclined toward kabbolas ol, and some are neither. They are people of understanding, people of intellect. They like to work. For them, everything is about working on themselves. Of course, an intellectual person needs kabbolas ol, a person inclined toward kabbolas ol needs to use his intellect, and an intellectual person also needs to work on his feelings. There has to be work in every area. We learn in the Rebbe’s sicha that each of these is needed. Yes, one alone isn’t enough; you need the others too. But if, for one person, kabbolas ol is central, it works better for him, and it’s his strong point, you don’t need to take issue with that. Don’t confuse him. It doesn’t

34:34 mean he can’t be a chassidishe bochur because of it. So what’s the answer to the question? A bochur who acts with kabbolas ol but without feeling—is he a chassidishe bochur? Yes, he is. Is it good? Should he stay that way? No. He also needs to work on his feelings, but that doesn’t make him any less of a chassidishe bochur. On the contrary, take that kabbolas ol and work on it too. It shouldn’t be just his nature; it should go beyond his nature, and so on. And the same applies in the other direction. This leads to the question: What do you do in your free time? A bochur asks: if he has free time, should he go on mivtzoim? Should he learn? What should he do? The truth is, there’s no single answer. There’s no black-and-white answer. It depends very much on the bochur. And yes, in Lubavitch the question is asked: Is this really coming from a holy place? Who says it does? Maybe it comes from the yetzer hara? It could be, and there’s no problem if the yetzer hara is involved too. In other words, it’s not a problem if the animal soul enjoys it as well. There’s no sin in that. There’s a story about the Alter Rebbe—you know the story—that the Alter Rebbe saw a chossid sitting and learning with great enthusiasm, very, very quickly. So he told him, “And you shall perish quickly from upon the good land.” You have to get rid of the speed. Don’t rush; don’t be so automatic. Let your animal soul enjoy the learning too, not only your G-dly soul. There’s another point along these lines brought in a sicha of encouragement for Beis Hamelech: it’s not a problem if a bochur learns because he’s enthusiastic about learning and his animal soul enjoys it too. During the scheduled study periods, though, you have to learn what the schedule calls for. If the schedule calls for Nigleh, you learn

36:28 Nigleh because that’s the schedule. If it’s time to learn Chassidus, and a bochur learns Nigleh instead during the Chassidus period, that’s a problem. That’s what I mean. But in his free time, a bochur can learn what his heart desires. And if his heart desires it, his animal soul enjoys it too. That’s not a problem. It’s fine; it’s good. Let him keep learning. With Hashem’s help, over time he’ll also work on bittul. He’ll reach that higher level of putting himself aside—the third level of a chossid—when he learns not because of the enjoyment, but for the G-dly purpose. But don’t dismiss what he’s doing now. Don’t dismiss it. That’s the general point. Of course there are details to it. I’m speaking generally. There are a few more points. There was a very good question here. A bochur asks: Is being a baal-habatishe bochur incompatible with being a chassidishe bochur? If I like food and clothes, does that mean I can only be a chassidishe bochur if I wear dirty clothes?

37:36 My friend, the question here is simply mixing up two different things. It’s not... In other words, part of the question is valid. Part of it doesn’t really get off the ground. But there’s a similar question from another bochur: What’s the point of being a chassidishe bochur in yeshiva? Soon I’ll get married and become a baal habos. So the first bochur’s question was whether you can be a baal habos while you’re in yeshiva. The second asks what will happen when he becomes one. He knows he’s a chassidishe bochur now, but eventually he’ll be a baal habos. So what’s the point? Another bochur asks: Is it possible to be a chassidishe bochur in yeshiva? Once I leave yeshiva, I won’t be a chassidishe bochur anymore. Can someone in shiur gimmel become a chassidishe bochur? That’s a question for the bochurim in shiur gimmel. Or is it impossible? Can a bochur who has already finished yeshiva still be a chassidishe bochur, a student? Or once he’s finished yeshiva, is that it—ciao, it’s over? Here’s the point. First of all, what does this come down to? What is a baal habos? To understand the question, we need to know what a baal habos is. As explained in a number of places—in the Rebbe’s sichos and letters—the definition of a baal habos is someone who observes Torah and mitzvos fully. A baal habos is not a coarse fellow, G-d forbid. That’s not what a baal habos is; [unclear]. A baal habos is someone who observes Torah and mitzvos and keeps the Shulchan Aruch completely. That’s the definition. He has fixed times for learning, and he learns and davens and does everything. What makes him a baal habos? It means the world matters to him. The world has a place in his life, and he also attaches importance to worldly life. He davens three times a day, davens with a minyan, and keeps the Shulchan

39:36 Aruch in full. He takes everything in the Shulchan Aruch seriously, the lighter requirements as well as the more stringent ones. But being a baal habos means that he lives a worldly life. For a yeshiva bochur, that certainly isn’t his world. The outlook of a baal habos is the opposite of the outlook of Torah. That isn’t written in Chassidus; it’s written in the Shulchan Aruch. It’s not a chassidishe saying. The outlook of a baal habos is the opposite of the outlook of Torah. It says in Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat, that you may not appoint a baal habos as a judge on a beis din, because the outlook of a baal habos is the opposite of the outlook of Torah. That’s a matter of halachah, not a chassidishe saying repeated at farbrengens. Yes. So what does “baal habos” mean? In halachic terms, it’s a person who lives in the world, works, earns money. As a result, the world becomes something that matters to him. A worldly outlook and a Torah outlook don’t go together. Once you see things through the eyes of the world, your underlying assumptions sometimes change. It’s a matter of assumptions, of outlook. Then suddenly things aren’t quite the same. Look, sometimes the approach is not to take practical realities into account. But you see the world as a reality, and you take that reality into account. So certainly, being a chassidishe bochur and being a baal-habatishe bochur don’t go together. Now, does not being a baal-habatishe bochur mean wearing dirty clothes? Is that what being a bochur means? That has nothing to do with it. They’re two completely unrelated things. A chassidishe bochur who isn’t a baal habos should be dressed cleanly and neatly. There are many letters from the Rebbe and the Frierdiker Rebbe about Temimim, about bochurim, needing to wear clean, neat clothes. The Rebbe writes about this very sharply and cites there

41:32 There’s a story that the Rebbe Rashab, of blessed memory, once expelled a bochur from the yeshiva in Lubavitch. He was one of the greatest ovdim in the yeshiva—a chassidisher bochur, an oved and a maskil, all of that. But he didn’t take care of his hygiene, and other bochurim complained that he smelled bad. He didn’t brush his teeth, and he had bad breath. So the Rebbe Rashab sent [unclear] to tell him to start brushing his teeth. A few days later, he still hadn’t listened; he had dismissed it. So the Rebbe Rashab said to expel him from the yeshiva. A bochur who doesn’t know how to keep himself clean, and doesn’t care that he smells bad and that it bothers others—that isn’t chassidishkeit. It isn’t chassidishkeit. It comes from seeing only yourself and not thinking about the other person. It doesn’t come from Chassidus. It’s the opposite of the whole point. So you see that when we talk about Chassidus and about being a balabus, we have to know what that means. A bochur should dress well, normally. A bochur should be clean, normally. But to be preoccupied with clothes, for them to matter so much to you—which label, which style, exactly this kind and not another, and these glasses, this hat, this yarmulke, these pants... Today every item of clothing has all sorts of fashions and variations. That is certainly the opposite of what is intended. It’s the opposite of being a chassidisher bochur rather than a balabus. Certainly, if that’s what “balabus” means, the two don’t go together. Ah, but if the question is, “When I get married, will I become a balabus?”—which is what a bochur here is asking—then the answer is well known. The Rebbe Rashab famously said that in yeshiva, you stoke the furnace so that its warmth will last you your whole life. Just as at home you turn the heat up to a thousand so that inside

43:33 the house it will be warm at a hundred, so too, in yeshiva, a bochur has to demand of himself that he be a chassidisher bochur in the deepest, loftiest way. Then, for the eighty-six years that follow, he’ll have the vitality and the light of Torah that he received in Tomchei Temimim. There are a few more questions, but time is short and the work is great. So [unclear] all week.