0720 - Pirush Rashi Based on Kaballah - Somewhat of a Source to the Story

00:01 In the year Tov Shin Chof Hei, from Parshas Noach on, the Rebbe started speaking on Rashi. And he spoke on Rashi for a year, which obviously seemed that it was connected to the fact that it was the year of aveilus after your mother. And therefore, after that end of the year, he stopped. But then after a few weeks, he started again because people started writing to the Rebbe to continue. So he continued for many, many, many years with a lot of Rashis he explained. Why he started speaking on Rashi in the year of aveilus is not really known. What people were saying is because some say because his mother taught him Chumash with Rashi, and this was the year of aveilus after her mother, but I don't know how true that is. Also, people were saying that it says in Sforim that Limud of Rashi is a zgula for Aliyas Neshamah, which again, I don't know if this is true, and I'm just saying it because what people said. But there is one thing I do want to say. There was another thing that people said. The Rebbe kept on quoting the Alter Rebbe that Rashi is Yeini Shel Torah. Now, therefore, he would explain the Rashis according to Chassidus, not only Pshuto Shel Mikra at first, but also most of the Rashis he would also, not every mamesh, every Rashi, but most of the Rashis the Rebbe would explain also al pien shtel al Chassidus, which means Druish and Kabbalah even in Rashis. And

01:23 people say, people said then, that's what I heard from many people, a story that there was once a Mekubal who wanted to write a Pirush on Chumash al pi Kabbalah. But he wanted it should not be so revealed, the Kabbalah should not be so obvious. So he wrote his Pirush, but when he finished writing his Pirush, he went and reviewed it, and he saw that it was too begiluy. Kabbalah was too open, and he wanted to hide it even more. So he rewrote his Pirush al pi Kabbalah, hiding it more, not in such a revealed way. When he finished the second time and he reviewed his Pirush, again, he saw that it was still too open Kabbalah, too much revealed. So he rewrote the Pirush a third time, hiding the Kabbalah even more. And when he finished and he looked at his Pirush, he reviewed it, he saw that his Pirush were the words of Rashi. In other words, this shows that the words of Rashi really are Kabbalah, just begiluy, it's Pshuto Shel Mikra, but they are Kabbalah, like this Mekubal who wrote his Pirush al pi Kabbalah, but hiding the Kabbalah turned out to be the words of Rashi. That was a story that was floating around then, which is connected to what the Rebbe quoted many, many times, that the Alter Rebbe said that Rashi is Yeini Shel Torah, which means Has Pnim Yitater. But there's no source to this that I know of, so we know who do this as people

02:49 were talking. Once when I was in Antwerp, and I was farbrengen, there were a lot of non-Labavischer Chassidim there, and I mentioned this, that there is a vort, I have no idea if this is true or not, a story with a Mekubal, et cetera, et cetera. So there was one person there, he says, "What do you mean you don't know if it's true? I could guarantee you it's true." So I said, "How do you know it's true?" Because he heard that story from Reb Yankele in Antwerp. One of the Rebbes in Antwerp was Reb Yankele Pshevorskir. He was the son-in-law of Reb Itzik Pshevorskir, and he was one of the big Rebbes, and he was known to be a Adam Gadol. And he told this story, so he says, and he, this person who told it, who said this to me, was a Chossid, I guess, of Reb Yankele. So he said, "I'm telling you the story is true, the story of this Mekubal, because I heard it from Reb Yankele." So obviously, this is a stick of mokir to this story, B'negei Rashi. Not that we need a mokir to what the Alter Rebbe said, Rashi is Yeini Shel Torah, but this story makes it even stronger, and it seems like there is some kind of mokir to the story from a Bar Samcheh.