From the teachings of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok n"e - the matter of the day of Shabbos and explanations in Tractate Shabbos on the subject of the letters

00:01 Speaker 1 Okay. The Rebbe very much asked that people study the teachings of the one whose yahrzeit we are marking, Reb Levi Yitzchak. In connection with 20 Menachem Av, there is a letter from the Rebbe in 5744, which was the fortieth year. The Rebbe made a “heartfelt request”—that is his wording—that everyone make an effort to study the teachings of the one whose yahrzeit it is. Reb Levi Yitzchak’s teachings are not easy. There is a lot of Kabbalah, though there are also discussions of the revealed dimension of Torah, and so on. So we’ll discuss a little of Reb Levi Yitzchak’s teachings in connection with the tractate currently being studied in yeshivah, Tractate Shabbos. The chapter being studied now is the chapter Haboneh. So first we’ll discuss the general subject, and then we’ll discuss the chapter Haboneh. That brings us to Shabbos. By Divine Providence, there is a maamar in Sefer Hamaamarim Melukat, the maamar of 20 Menachem Av 5723. It was edited by the Rebbe and appears in volume 4. In that maamar, the Rebbe shares an insight from his father about Shabbos—the word Shabbos. What is Shabbos, the day of Shabbos? He says that Shabbos can be read as the letter shin followed by bas, “daughter.” What does that mean? He says that Shabbos refers to the sefirah of Malchus. In Chassidus, we know that “daughter” generally refers to the sefirah of Malchus, because a daughter represents a recipient. And Shabbos is the day of Malchus. Shabbos is connected with the sefirah of Malchus, the seventh day. What is the shin? He says it represents the drawing down of mochin, the intellectual faculties, into Malchus. The idea of Shabbos is that Malchus is elevated. On Shabbos there is a special flow, when mochin are drawn into Malchus. The letter shin is connected with mochin for several reasons. Chassidus generally explains that shin has three lines. Those three lines are Chochmah, Binah, and Daas, and they are connected to one another. That represents the joining and integration of the intellectual faculties of Chabad, their unity. Also, the name of the letter shin is related to studying and reviewing Mishnah. So shin also alludes to understanding and comprehension—to studying and reviewing. And there is another point that Reb Levi Yitzchak makes.

02:40 Speaker 1 He cites the Zohar on Parshas Beshalach. That passage of the Zohar begins with the verse, “See that Hashem has given you Shabbos.” And that is where the subject of Shabbos first comes up in the Torah, in connection with the manna. That is its connection with the parsha, which discusses eating the manna.

03:24 Speaker 2 “And [unclear] and the manna ceased.”

03:27 Speaker 1 So he cites the Zohar on Parshas Beshalach: “See that Hashem has given you Shabbos.” Immediately afterward, the Zohar says, “Rabbi Chizkiyah opened and said: ‘From the depths I have called to You, Hashem.’” It brings that verse and connects it to “from the depths I have called to You.” Reb Levi Yitzchak writes that the numerical value of maamakim, “the depths,” is shin. In other words, the word maamakim has a numerical value of three hundred. You can work it out afterward. So Shabbos is shin-bas: the shin represents “the depths.” “The depths” refers to Chochmah and Binah. In Kabbalah and Chassidus, they are called the depths. He explains that the depth of Chochmah and the depth of Binah are called maamakim. So that is the meaning of the word Shabbos: something is drawn from the intellectual faculties, from Chochmah and Binah, into Malchus. In the maamar, the Rebbe explains this more in terms of our Divine service. This is the idea of Shabbos, which is connected with the manna. It is well known that eating the manna is connected with Shabbos, and so on. That is why no manna fell on Shabbos: on the contrary, Shabbos is the source of all the sustenance for the entire week. That is also why the commandment of Shabbos was given together with the commandment concerning the manna. He explains that, in our Divine service, this refers to studying the inner dimension of Torah. There is the well-known distinction between bread from the earth and bread from heaven: bread from the earth refers to the revealed dimension of Torah, while bread from heaven—the manna—refers to the inner dimension of Torah. So Shabbos is a time for the inner dimension of Torah. It is a well-known principle that Shabbos is the primary time for studying the inner dimension of Torah. So this is the explanation of Shabbos: the shin—the intellectual faculties, the inner dimension of Torah, maamakim, the depths of the inner dimension of Torah—is drawn into bas, the sefirah of Malchus. That is why Shabbos is a time to be engaged in studying the inner dimension of Torah, and within that study itself there are several approaches.

05:33 Speaker 1 There is studying the inner dimension of Torah with comprehension, and, beyond that, studying it with a sense of seeing: “See that Hashem has given you Shabbos.” These correspond to Chochmah and Binah. Anyway, that is an insight into the name Shabbos, the name of the tractate as a whole. Now let’s talk about the chapter Haboneh. In that chapter there is a section that you may not have learned yet, but it is easier—it is the aggadic material. Perhaps some of you have already covered it in your reading, or [unclear]. Yes, you learned Haboneh in your reading, so there is this whole aggadic section that perhaps will not be covered in in-depth classes. In any case, we’ll discuss it today in connection with 20 Menachem Av. Toward the bottom of page 103b, leading into page 104, there is a discussion of the letters. The Gemara discusses them here, and we’ll get to the letters. We’ll mention several points from Reb Levi Yitzchak on this subject. First, if you look at the bottom of page 103b, it brings up the water libation. Rabbi Yehudah ben Beseira says: “On the second day it says ‘their libations’; on the sixth, ‘its libations’; and on the seventh, ‘according to their law.’” The extra letters spell mem-yud-mem, mayim, “water.” From here we find an allusion in the Torah to the water libation. That is what the Gemara says here. What is this about? We know that the water libation is performed on Sukkos. There is a mitzvah of pouring water on the altar, but it is not written explicitly in the Torah. The Torah speaks of the wine libation at length in Parshas Shelach and Parshas Pinchas, but it does not explicitly mention the water libation. We learn it from what is written here. It is a tradition, a law given to Moshe at Sinai, and we find an allusion to it in the passage about the libations. In other words, among the offerings for Sukkos in Parshas Pinchas, where the Torah lists how many offerings were brought each day, there are three letters

07:45 Speaker 1 that appear in unusual forms. Three words are written differently from what we would expect—the three words mentioned here. In “their libations,” where we would expect it to say “its libation,” it says “their libations”; the mem is extra. Elsewhere it says “its libations”; the yud is extra. And on the seventh day it says “according to their law”; the mem is extra. So there are three extra letters here: mem, yud, mem. From them we learn about the water libation. The Gemara then asks: But that last mem is a final mem. How can you read the letters as mayim, “water”? You have mem, yud, mem, but one of the mems is a final mem, while the first is an open mem. So the Gemara says that an open letter becomes closed and a closed letter becomes open. What does that mean, and what does it have to do with the water libation? This is one of the practices that we know the Sadducees did not observe: they did not perform the water libation. That is why Simchas Beis Hashoevah was celebrated with such a stir and such emphasis. The joy of Simchas Beis Hashoevah was the greatest joy. The Alter Rebbe explains in Likkutei Torah why the water libation is not written explicitly in the Torah. He explains that, on the contrary, the water libation is on a much higher level than the wine libation. The wine libation is associated with an openly felt joy. When a person drinks wine, it brings physical pleasure and joy. It is sweet, it tastes good, the alcohol affects you a little, and wine brings joy: “Wine gladdens the heart of man.” It is in the nature of wine to bring joy. So there is nothing surprising about the wine libation bringing joy. That is why all the Yamim Tovim are times of joy; this is connected with the wine libation. But when Sukkos arrives, there is something new: water brings joy, even though water does not naturally bring joy. When you drink water, it generally does not make you joyful. So that is remarkable. That is

09:51 Speaker 1 That is the innovation. What does it mean? When Sukkos arrives, a Jew reaches such a high level that the yechidah of the soul is revealed. Through all the work of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a Jew draws down from an even higher place, so that even water—water represents self-nullification; it has no taste—even the self-nullification of kabbolas ol is filled with joy, and indeed, with great joy. The Alter Rebbe explains in Likkutei Torah the essential reason for all this. Why is it not written openly in the Written Torah? Because the Written Torah corresponds to the sefirah of binah. Among the sefirot, that is its level. The sages, who derived the allusions in the verses, are on the level of chochmah, which is higher than binah. In the Alter Rebbe’s words, the Written Torah is called the sefer, the book, while the Oral Torah is called divrei sofrim, the words of the scribes. There is the book and there is the scribe. The young men probably remember this from their bar mitzvah. What does the bar mitzvah maamar say? There is a book and there is a scribe. The book corresponds to binah, because a book contains the details—what is written down. Yes, the details. That is binah. The scribe is the source; he writes it, so he represents chochmah. The scribe is the chochmah behind the book, and therefore the words of the scribes are more stringent than the words of the Torah. It is specifically divrei sofrim, the words of the sages, that come from the sefirah of chochmah, which is above binah. That is why the sages are called “the eyes of the congregation”—the eyes of the congregation—the level of chochmah above binah. This is the significance of water and wine according to Kabbalah. According to Chassidus, wine represents binah, because wine is connected with understanding and comprehension. As we said, wine has taste. It has, it has, it has—it gives pleasure, which is connected with the sefirah of binah, and so it naturally brings joy. Water has no taste. So water alludes to chochmah.

11:55 Speaker 1 And that is the innovation. That is why it was specifically the sages, whose words are divrei sofrim and who represent chochmah above binah, who revealed the concept of the water libation. It is alluded to in a verse, but is not stated openly. Now, why is the allusion found in a closed mem? The Gemara says that the closed one becomes open, but the Torah’s allusion to water is not written with the ordinary mem; it is specifically a closed mem. What is the explanation? Reb Levi Yitzchak explains here the significance of the closed mem. There is an open mem and there is a closed mem. What is the difference between them? Further on, on page 104, the Gemara says that some children came to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. They had discovered allusions in the letters of the alef-beis, and they explained what each one meant. The Gemara says there, “Even in the days of Yehoshua bin Nun, things like theirs had not been said.” “Alef-beis”—learn understanding. “Gimel-daled”—give to the poor. It goes through the entire alef-beis, explaining each letter’s name. Not just the letter: the word has a meaning, and the Gemara explains it. When we get to the letter mem, what does the Gemara say? “An open mem, a closed mem—a statement that is open, a statement that is closed.” Rashi says: “A statement that is open, a statement that is closed. There are matters that the expositor is permitted to expound, and others that you are commanded to keep concealed, such as the account of the Divine Chariot.” So Rashi tells us that an open mem and a closed mem mean an open statement and a closed statement. In other words, there are things in the Torah that are open, that one can study and understand, and there are things in the Torah that are concealed, that one cannot understand. Broadly speaking, that is the difference between the revealed dimension of Torah and the inner dimension of Torah, and so on. We’ll discuss that in a moment.

14:08 Speaker 1 But to return to our subject: the open mem and the closed mem indicate that it is specifically the closed mem that represents a higher level. The open mem is the revealed dimension of Torah, the revealed world, while the closed mem is the inner dimension of Torah, the hidden world. So this connects with what we are saying here: the water libation is not written openly in the Torah, but appears there as an allusion. It is not stated openly; it is alluded to. That means the level of the water libation is connected with the closed mem. We can therefore understand why the Gemara derives the water libation specifically from a closed mem. The whole idea of the water libation is beyond reason and understanding: water brings joy, water arouses rejoicing, though that makes no sense according to reason and understanding. It comes from a higher place, from chochmah above binah, and therefore it is also alluded to by the closed mem. Another point: we say that the water libation is derived from three days—the second, sixth, and seventh days. Those are the three days where the letters appear. Why those particular days? Every detail in the Torah is precise. Why is one of the three letters written in connection with the second day of Sukkos, one with the sixth, and one with the seventh? These are the three days from which we derive the letters mem, yud, mem. The explanation is that the second day of Sukkos is when the Simchas Beis Hashoeivah began. There was no Simchas Beis Hashoeivah on the first day of Sukkos. Why? Because the Mishnah in tractate Sukkah says it could not be held on Yom Tov. Playing the flute was forbidden because of the prohibition concerning musical instruments, lest someone repair an instrument.

16:16 Speaker 1 So they did not hold the Simchas Beis Hashoeivah on the first night of Sukkos; they began only on the second night. That means the main rejoicing of the Simchas Beis Hashoeivah began on the second night. That, then, explains the second day. There is even an opinion in the Gemara in tractate Sukkah that not only did they refrain from holding the celebration, they did not even perform the water libation. There is a disagreement about when the water libation began. According to one opinion, it too began only on the second day. In any event, that explains the second day. The seventh day—what is special about the seventh day? The seventh day is Hoshana Rabbah. We all know that Hoshana Rabbah is the greatest time of Simchas Beis Hashoeivah. Hoshana Rabbah is when we pray for water. That is central to all that we do on Hoshana Rabbah. Why do we recite the Hoshanos on the seventh day? There are seven circuits and everything else because that is when the judgment concerning water takes place. That is why, throughout the prayers of Hoshana Rabbah, we keep asking for water. The hoshanos themselves grow by water. That is why we use hoshanos, make the circuits with them, and beat them. All of this is because the seventh day, Hoshana Rabbah, is when the flow of water is at its height. That explains why the last day is mentioned too. And the sixth day: the sixth day is connected with Yosef Hatzaddik, the sefirah of yesod. As is known, among the seven shepherds, each day of Sukkos is associated with one of the sefirot, one of the middos. The sixth day is connected with Yosef, “the righteous one, the foundation of the world.” He represents yesod, which channels the flow of blessing. So Yosef, too, represents water, because he is the one who channels that flow—yesod.

18:25 Speaker 1 It is what draws the influence down from above. That is why the yud in “mayim,” the middle letter, appears specifically on the sixth day. So the second day, the sixth day, and the seventh day are three days. These three days in particular are connected mainly with water. That is why we learn the practice of the water libation from these verses. There are many more details according to Kabbalah, but this is enough for our purposes. Let’s move on. What does the Gemara go on to say? We’ll come to the matter of the closed mem. The Gemara says: “The mem and samech in the Tablets stood by a miracle.” Yes, that is the continuation of the Gemara. It says that the mem—the closed mem—and the samech stood by a miracle. What does that mean in plain terms? It means that the letters on the Tablets were engraved all the way through, from one side to the other. We know there are several ways to engrave. On the Tablets, the letters were engraved from one side to the other. Whichever side you looked at, you could see the letters, because they were engraved all the way through. The miracle was that all the other letters had something holding them in place. You can engrave them all the way through, but a final mem and a samech—how do you engrave a final mem all the way through? You have to hold up the small piece in the middle of the final mem or the samech—the square one and the round one. It has to be attached to something. You see this sometimes with children’s letter stencils. There’s a piece of plastic with letters, and children draw using it. So what do they do with the final mem and the samech? There’s a little strip holding the middle in place. There’s no choice, because you can’t draw, you can’t cut out a completely closed samech. How would the middle stay in place? On the Tablets, it stood in midair. That was the miracle: the mem and the samech stood by a miracle. That’s the plain meaning.

20:32 Speaker 1 That’s the plain meaning of the Gemara. What is the explanation behind it? There are several things here in the Gemara. First it says, “The mem and samech in the Tablets stood by a miracle.” Okay, let’s talk about that first. Then we’ll discuss what comes next. What is the point of this? It’s a beautiful thing. That is what happened physically: the mem and samech stood by a miracle. But what does it mean? Here Reb Levi Yitzchak says some wonderful things. He says that, as we mentioned earlier, mem stands for maamar, a statement. In other words, mem alludes to learning, to Torah. It is also connected to the fact that the Torah was given over forty days. The letter mem has the numerical value of forty, and “at forty, one attains understanding.” In general, mem is a letter associated with binah, Torah, comprehension, and learning. That is the idea of mem. But as we said, there is an open mem and a closed mem. What is the difference? An open mem, we said, represents understanding and comprehension. It is open; you can understand it. A closed mem—Rashi says it represents a “closed statement,” things that are hidden and cannot be understood. So that is the part of Torah that is beyond comprehension. But samech is also closed on all sides, like the closed mem. It follows that both the closed mem and the samech allude to the inner dimension of Torah, the secrets of Torah, matters beyond revelation. What is the difference between them? The closed mem is square; the samech is round. What is the difference between square and round? Something square has edges. Something round has no edges. That means you can set something square down. It has an edge; it can stand. Something round rolls. It has no—no, it has no

22:45 Speaker 1 stability. So Reb Levi Yitzchak says that the closed mem and the samech represent two levels in the inner dimension of Torah, two levels in the secrets of Torah. When we study these secrets, we learn that there is a “near encompassing light” and a “distant encompassing light.” Both are encompassing, but one has some connection to comprehension—the near encompassing light—while the distant encompassing light is beyond comprehension. The yeshivah students who studied Hemshech 5672 learned about this in connection with “wondrous” and “concealed.” There is a level that transcends comprehension but still has some connection to it, and there is a concealed level that has no connection to comprehension at all. These are the two things represented by the mem and the samech: the near encompassing light and the distant encompassing light. Sometimes, he says, in Kabbalah these are described as the encompassing light of chochmah and the encompassing light of binah. In any case, in the language of Kabbalah they are called a circle and a square. Both are encompassing, but one is more accessible, while the other... So the Gemara says that the mem and samech in the Tablets—these two things—stood by a miracle. These are miraculous things. All the other letters represent matters that are open to understanding and comprehension, so there is some way to relate to them. But the mem and samech in the Tablets refer to those parts of Torah that are its secrets, and within those secrets there are two categories: secrets of Torah represented by mem and secrets of Torah represented by samech, the near encompassing light and the distant encompassing light. Or, in the more familiar language used when studying maamarim, razin and razin derazin—secrets and secrets of secrets. These are two levels within the secrets of Torah: the secrets of the Torah and the secrets of its secrets. That is the closed mem and the samech. They represent these two things. That is why it says they “stood by a miracle.” Yes.

24:43 Speaker 3 Again, why is mem connected to Torah?

24:48 Speaker 1 An ordinary mem?

24:49 Speaker 3 Yes.

24:50 Speaker 1 Because the Gemara here says that mem means maamar—an open statement. Also because mem is forty, corresponding to the forty days during which Moshe Rabbeinu received the Torah, and because “at forty, one attains understanding.” There are other reasons as well. Those are some of the reasons here. Yes.

25:12 Speaker 3 Why is it by a miracle?

25:13 Speaker 1 What?

25:14 Speaker 3 Why is it by a miracle?

25:14 Speaker 1 The straightforward meaning is a miracle. The idea of a miracle is that it transcends measure and limitation; it is beyond reason. So just as there are two levels in Torah, razin and razin derazin, represented by the mem and the samech, there are also different kinds of miracles—miracles and wonders, different levels of miracles. That is the difference between the mem and the samech. What does the Gemara go on to say? The Gemara says, “The five final letters—mem, nun, tzadi, pei, and chaf—were stated by the seers.” These are the five letters that the seers stated. Who said this? Rabbi Yirmiyah, or some say Rabbi Chiya bar Abba. What does he say? “The five final letters were stated by the seers.” What does that mean? The seers—who are the seers? Huh? I can’t hear you.

26:21 Speaker 3 Which ones?

26:22 Speaker 1 The seers are the prophets. No, it doesn’t say that explicitly here. I have it here in the margin... “the prophets of the generations.” Rashi in Megillah. The Gemara appears in Megillah as well. Yes, the prophets of the generations. The Gemara asks what this means: prophets cannot introduce something new. Rather, it had been forgotten, and then they revealed it. The five final letters were revealed by the seers, meaning the prophets. So first of all, it is interesting that they are called “seers.” Why use such an unusual name? Why doesn’t it simply say “prophets”? What does the term “seers” imply? There is an explanation that the Hebrew acronym for the five final letters, manatzpach, sounds like “min tzofayich”—“from your seers.” So the name itself alludes to their having been revealed by the seers, the prophets. It is as though the seers, the prophets, were the ones who revealed these final letters. But what is the reasoning behind that? Why were the prophets the ones to reveal the final letters? What are these letters? Reb Levi Yitzchak says the following: in the language of Kabbalah, these letters are called the five gevurot. They have to do with gevurah. Why are they called gevurot? What is the idea of the five gevurot? In general, there is a concept of five gevurot. Just as there are five chassadim, there are five gevurot. There are five fingers on the right hand, corresponding to the five chassadim, and five fingers on the left hand, corresponding to the five gevurot. But what characterizes the five gevurot? Gevurah means limitation, tzimtzum—contraction. These five letters—after all, what are they? They are letters that end a word. Whenever you want to end a word, you have to write... That is, words ending in a final mem, a final nun, a final tzadi,

28:45 Speaker 1 Final peh, final kaf—these are letters that appear specifically at the end of a word. They mark the boundary. An ordinary letter, apart from the five final letters, can have something after it. Yes, there can be more letters. But when you have a final mem, a final nun, a final tzadi—that’s it. You can’t continue beyond them. A final letter expresses the idea of gevuros. That is the idea of the letters mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf: they represent gevurah. He also points out their numerical value. If you add up mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf, those five letters come to 280. You can work it out afterward. For now, trust me: they come to 280. What is 280? It is the numerical value of the letters peh and reish. Peh-reish—what does that mean? It is the beginning of parah adumah, the red heifer. We’re talking about gevuros. Yes, the red heifer and its gevuros. The whole matter of the red heifer is connected with its redness, with gevuros. So parah is peh-reish-hei: the 280 of those five letters, together with the hei, representing the five gevuros. That’s it. But what does he say? Now we’ll get to our subject. He says those five letters are letters of gevuros. Who taught them? He says, “The prophets taught the final forms of mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf.” Why does it say “prophets”? Well, the word used there is tzofim, “watchmen.” What was the role of the prophets? Their role was gevurah. After all, the prophets came primarily to admonish the Jewish people, to warn them and ensure that they behaved properly. So the main role of the prophets was to exercise gevuros, yes? To make sure things were as they should be, that Jews observed the words of the Torah. In the maamar of [unclear], the Rebbe cites the

30:52 Speaker 1 Midrash, yes, that the entire purpose of the prophets was to instruct people concerning the words of the Torah, to safeguard what mattered. That is why they were the ones who revealed the gevuros, the matter of those five final letters. And this also hints at why they are called “your watchmen,” tzofim, rather than prophets. What does the word tzofim mean? A tzofeh is someone who stands on a wall, looking out and keeping watch. That is the job of a watchman. Yes, Har Hatzofim—“Mount of the Watchmen.” A lookout, yes: someone standing on the wall. The guards are watchmen; they look out and make sure the walls are guarded. So that is why the prophets here are specifically called “your watchmen,” from the word tzofim. They are the ones appointed over the gevuros. They make sure—how do you say it—that there are gevuros, that things are as they should be. And they also ensure the sweetening of the gevuros. Besides needing gevuros, limits, and measures so that a person knows how to fulfill all the mitzvos properly, one must also make sure there are not too many gevuros. That too is the role of the watchmen: to ensure the gevuros are sweetened. All of this is hinted at in the idea of guards, of watchmen. He also says that the word tzofim is related to metzupeh, “covered.” That too is gevurah. To cover something means concealing it, so that is another sense of metzupeh. It too falls under the category of gevurah: a garment, a covering. So here you see how everything is hinted at; every detail is precise. When you look into the matter more deeply, you discover several very interesting ideas in it. In connection with what we’re saying about the letters mem and samech, which stood miraculously, there is also a very, very beautiful teaching from Rabbi Levi Yitzchak. Perhaps I’ve told you this before, but

32:54 Speaker 1 I’ll repeat it, because it’s very geshmak and fits so well with everything we’ve discussed. We say that mem and samech are two letters that allude to the inner dimension of chochmah. Mem is more connected with comprehension and working through the subject, which is why it is square. Samech is beyond working through and comprehending the subject, which is why it is round. So Rabbi Levi Yitzchak says the following about final mem and samech. He says something wonderful. The Gemara in Berachos says that Abaye and Rava were small children, and they were with Rabbah, who was teaching them something. Then it was time for Birkas Hamazon, and Rabbah asked them, “To whom do we make the blessing? To whom do we address Birkas Hamazon?” They answered, “The Merciful One, Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” He asked them, “Where is Hakadosh Boruch Hu?” Rava pointed to the ceiling of the house, to the roof, while Abaye went outside, looked up at the sky, and pointed to it. Yes, that is how the Gemara tells it. So Rabbah said, “A pumpkin is recognizable from its stem.” He could see that these little children would become very great sages. What does that mean? What wisdom did he see here? What had they said? A roof is square. Generally, an ordinary house has a roof shaped like a mem. But Abaye looked at the sky, and the sky is round. Each of them—and this is what Rabbah meant when he said, “A pumpkin is recognizable from its stem”—showed in the way he looked toward Hakadosh Boruch Hu what his manner of learning would be. Abaye would learn in a way associated with the sky, a circle, a more distant encompassing perspective; Rava would learn through a closer encompassing perspective, through comprehension and working through the subject. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak brings another point. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah says that Rabbah and Abaye were both

37:00 Speaker 1 Kohanim descended from the house of Eli. Hakadosh Boruch Hu had said that those descended from the house of Eli would not live long lives. And then, what does the Gemara say there? Rabbah lived forty years, and Abaye lived sixty years. Rabbah, because he studied Torah, lived only forty years. Abaye, who also engaged in tzedakah, lived sixty years. Forty and sixty correspond to mem and samech. So here too, it is precise: Rabbah was associated with mem, and Abaye with samech. Based on this, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak explains several things about the divisions of the alef-beis. The letters gimel and dalet are also grouped together. Then come hei and vav. What do hei and vav mean, according to the Gemara? They refer to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, to His name. Yes? Zayin and ches, tes and yud, kaf and lamed: if you occupy yourself with Torah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu nourishes you, grants you favor, does good to you, gives you an inheritance, and binds a crown for you in the World to Come. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak asks: How are we to understand this Gemara? All right, these are beautiful allusions, but how do the ideas follow one another? Rabbi Levi Yitzchak explains it this way. He says that alef-beis and gimel-dalet, the first four letters of the alef-beis, represent a person’s avodah. There is a union of alef-beis and a union of gimel-dalet. According to Chassidus, alef-beis represents chochmah and binah. In simple terms, the letter alef is connected with the sefirah of chochmah; alef is chochmah. Beis represents binah. It also means a house, connected with understanding and comprehension. The union of alef-beis is the union of chochmah and binah, which is why it says, “Learn understanding.” In other words, the union of alef-beis is connected with Torah study. Gimel-dalet is the union of Ze’ir Anpin and Malchus, because gimel

39:58 Speaker 1 and dalet together make seven. Yes? Three plus four is seven, corresponding to the seven middos. So the union of gimel-dalet is the union of the middos, the union of Ze’ir Anpin and Nukva. That is why it is connected with tzedakah. That is the idea of gimel and dalet. There is a union that a Jew brings about through Torah study, the union of chochmah and binah: the union of alef-beis. And there is a union a Jew brings about through acts of tzedakah, the union of male and female: the idea of gimel-dalet. Now, what do hei-vav mean? Alef, beis, gimel, dalet are what we do—our avodah. Torah study and the avodah of tzedakah are our avodah. Hei-vav represents what is given to us from Above as a reward, so to speak: Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the One who bestows. What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu give from Above? What does it say next? Hei-vav, zayin-ches, tes-yud. He says that zayin-ches means, “He nourishes you and grants you favor.” Rabbi Levi Yitzchak says this too is connected with what came before. Nourishment, food, is an inner form of influence. Favor is an encompassing form of influence. Favor is not an inner form of influence; it is a sense of affinity, which is already encompassing. So Rabbi Levi Yitzchak says: Through the union of alef-beis, chochmah and binah, which is an inner union, like food, “He nourishes you”—there is an inner influence from Above. Through the union of gimel-dalet, the matter of tzedakah, where there is an encompassing influence, like a garment, “He grants you favor.” And indeed, that is how the ideas continue: “He does good to you and gives you...” In other words, there is an inner influence and an encompassing influence. Since there are two aspects of a person’s avodah here—Torah study and tzedakah—the influence from Above also comes in two ways: an inner influence and an encompassing influence.

42:25 Speaker 1 Of makif. Now, as for the letters, we’re already talking about the letters here. In Chassidus there are many explanations of the letters. One example, which the bochurim know from Basi Legani, is where the Rebbe discusses the letters kuf, reish, and shin. He explains the difference between reish and dalet, and between kuf and hei. You can see that in Chassidus, the letters are a whole subject in themselves. Here in the Gemara it’s written briefly, but in Chassidus there are very, very deep and wonderful explanations of each letter, going deep into the meaning of the letters. For example, regarding gimel, dalet, and hei, Chassidus explains—and this is also connected to our Gemara—that gimel represents one who gives, a mashpia. Dalet, from the word dal, “poor,” is the recipient. This is also hinted at in their shapes. As the Gemara says, gimel has a leg extending downward, indicating the giving, as though the mashpia is giving. Dalet has a point behind it, representing the recipient’s receiving in a manner of “from behind.” The poor person—the dal, as in dalet, from the word for poverty—has it only in that manner; it is not yet his own. He needs to receive it and make it his own, and then it becomes hei. Hei represents wealth: it has entered inside, and that is the hei, the idea of wealth. I once heard the Rebbe speak about this in a sicha connected with Purim. The Rebbe discussed gimel, dalet, and hei. He said that gimel is the mashpia—Hakadosh Boruch Hu, who gives to us. Dalet is the recipient, but the recipient has not yet received fully; it is still in that manner of “from behind.” Then comes hei, which represents wealth. The Rebbe went on to connect this with the 14th and 15th of Adar, the two days of Purim. The 14th is Purim throughout the world, Purim in unwalled cities. The 15th is

45:54 Speaker 1 Purim in walled cities. So the Rebbe discussed this idea of poverty and wealth: on the 14th, the first day of Purim, we are not yet wealthy in the fullest sense. When is wealth complete? On the 15th. The Megillah is read on the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th—five days on which the Megillah can be read, primarily the 14th and 15th. The Rebbe discussed this as well. Similarly with Pesach: the 14th is Erev Pesach, and Pesach itself is the 15th. Erev Pesach, too, represents the recipient, while Pesach itself is already a matter of wealth. And then there is the whole matter of the festival of Pesach. The same applies to a number of other matters. In any case, these are a few points and interpretations connected with the Gemara we’re learning now. The main thing is that at long last He should redeem us, and that we should merit to hear the Rebbe of our generation with the coming of Moshiach.