Is the dime worth it?

00:00 For example, I’ll tell you a story about Reb Yoel. This was in the early years of the Rebbe’s leadership. [unclear] The yechidus appointments would usually end at three or four, and that was normal. But sometimes they went on until eight in the evening, until one at night. Guests came, people came from far away, [unclear], and people were still going in for yechidus at one in the morning. Reb Chadakov would go home before the Rebbe finished the yechidus appointments, and afterward he would accompany the Rebbe home. The Rebbe would walk home with Reb Chadakov and talk, I don’t know, presumably about general matters that had come up in yechidus. Reb Chadakov would understand, [unclear]. The Rebbe told Reb Chadakov about a yechidus in which a chossid had come in, and asked him to explain it to Reb Yoel. [unclear] The point is that [unclear] someone came to the Rebbe and said that he devotes hours each day to yechidus. He does something like that, something holy [unclear], three hours, four hours, with so many matters and stories. But in fact, he isn’t doing it for that purpose; he’s doing it with a material motive. Honor, things like that.

01:43 The Rebbe said: What does that mean? [unclear] The Rebbe gave this analogy: A man is a businessman, [unclear]. He’s negotiating a million-dollar deal, and off to the side there’s a ten-cent coin. An ordinary person, any normal person, is absorbed in the deal; he won’t bend down to pick up the coin while he’s occupied with a million dollars. Along those lines, this is the point the Rebbe made: When you learn Torah—that’s a million dollars. When you do a mitzvah—that’s a million dollars. Reb Chadakov said: But mitzvos are worth far more than a million dollars. Still, when you reckon the value of mitzvos [unclear], he’s negotiating a million-dollar deal. It’s an analogy one can understand. Even though we know that a mitzvah is higher than the wisdom of Atzilus [unclear], the Rebbe chose the analogy of a million dollars and a ten-cent coin. That’s the substance of it. And when there’s a personal motive, a desire for honor, [unclear], it’s exactly like being busy with the big deal and spotting a ten-cent coin. [unclear] That’s exactly the point of the story.

03:32 [unclear] was there. [unclear], and the Rebbe presents the analogy, which is the practical side of it. Someone says: That’s not true! The Rebbe said “a ten-cent coin,” and the Rebbe said [unclear]. What happened? [unclear]. The Rebbe said, he calculated [unclear] the matter, and from that follows what we understand. Well, that changes. [unclear]. Sometimes there’s a chossid [unclear], he sees and he counts. [unclear] before a chossid reached that point. The human mind can grasp that richness; people can even feel it. And when they feel it, [unclear]. Even [unclear]. After all, sometimes you can see desires, and [unclear], all those things [unclear], but this is different. [unclear].