המלך בשדה

00:00 Speaker 1 Okay, this is Igress. This may be our last or one of our last year that we're going to be discussing volume twenty-eight letters from exactly fifty years ago of the year Tav Shin Lamed Gimel. And I saved three letters for the very end. These are the three letters in which this year in which the Rebbe talks about HaMelech B'Sadeh, the fact that there's a king in the field. I assume by now we all have background in this. This is something that we are born and bred on, but it's actually, I don't think a lot of people know this. It's a mashal from the Alter Rebbe. The reason why I say I don't think a lot of people know this is because it is taken for granted among the Jewish people right now that it has always been a thing that in Elul the king is in the field. As far as I know, nobody ever said that before the Alter Rebbe said it, meaning it is a very new idea in, uh, I mean, it's, it's spread throughout the entire Jewish people. It spread like wildfire. Everybody talks about the king in the field. It is the Alter Rebbe's invention. It's his mashal. He came up with it, Likutei Torah. I don't believe there's an earlier source for it, and if, uh, if I'm wrong, somebody who's listening should pipe up now or should send me a message when they're listening on the recording. I believe he invented it. In any event, uh, the time

00:54 Speaker 1 of Elul is the time of the king in the field where the king is available and anybody can come up and visit him, and he shows everybody a happy face, and he's willing to meet everybody. And then he takes all the people who met him in the field during Elul, everybody who worked hard during Elul, and he brings them into his palace for Rosh Hashanah. A question that I wanna ask today, that's sort of the guiding question of this, of this sheer is, uh, what do I do if I messed up my Elul? Let's say that I didn't spend a lot of time with the king in the field or no time with the king in the field. Can I still have Rosh Hashanah? This is a reasonable question only because the Zohar strongly implies that you can barely have a Shavuot if you didn't count the Omer. You can barely have a Shavuot if you didn't count the Omer. Of course, you can celebrate Shavuot, and I'm sure that there's some Perush Al Pi Chassidus that means that everybody has access to Shavuot because that's just the way things work in our tradition. But the section that we learn in the Tiqqun for Shavuot night is, uh, there's a statement made in the Tiqqun, in that part of Zohar, that says that somebody who didn't put in the legwork perfecting themselves for forty-nine days really doesn't have a chelek in Shavuot. Is that the case with Rosh Hashanah? Does somebody who did not put

01:50 Speaker 1 the work in during Elul have a chelek in Rosh Hashanah? And follow-up question, if everybody gets to go to Rosh Hashanah anyway and everybody gets to accept the king in his palace anyway, then why did I have to do anything during Elul, right? So does Elul give an advantage? If so, what do I do if I missed it? And if not, why did I do it in the first place? That's what I wanna cover today. We're gonna come at it sort of around about because we're gonna look at two other letters first that just kind of talk about the king in the field with interesting neon in the third letter, more or less addresses this question than a couple of sichas we're gonna look at at the end tries to provide answers. That's the outline. Let's look at some letters. This first letter is Yud Tav Tav Tzadik Alef. It is from the days of Chodesh Elul, which is Chodesh HaRachamim, Tav Shin Lamed Gimel. And here, the Rebbe is thanking the students who took part in Mitzvat Tzedakah. You may remember from something that we discussed a couple of weeks ago that near the end of Tav Shin Lamed Gimel, throughout the entire summer and throughout the beginning of Tav Shin Lamed Daled, the Rebbe was pushing all sorts of mitzvaim around little kids. That is, the children need to be involved in a, in a kinnus, in a tekkes, and of all these sorts of, um, group prayer sessions among small children, and

02:50 Speaker 1 also that small children should be giving tzedakah. And only after the Yom Kippur War, which broke out the following year, did the Rebbe say that he himself didn't know why he was pushing these things, but this was clearly why. So one of the things the Rebbe had pushed was a mitzvah tzedakah, that all of the kids should give tzedakah, and they did it. So in response to them doing it, the Rebbe thanks them. He says, "Simchasi le'adiyot shel shemile be'kachasi li yesh li shluchei mitzvah u'mesirat tzedakah shaliach kasha zeh b'nin shel Torah bezevit tzedakah mi'shel hahem." The Rebbe had asked them in a couple of letters prior, I believe we even saw it at some point, the Rebbe had asked that some of his money be put toward the children giving money to tzedakah, that they take some of the Rebbe's money and also some of their own money and give it to charity. So the Rebbe gets a report that that's exactly what they did, and he thanks them for being the, for being his shluchei mitzvah, for sending along his tzedakah money to tzedakah. "Va'al pi sheh bechol nimshat mitzvot shehu ra'eiseh ein makom le'toda'et al zeh mi'basar v'dam." I, I think this is just a really interesting paragraph. The Rebbe says, "I shouldn't be thanking you for doing a mitzvah. You're not allowed to thank a person for a mitzvah. Sh'ah ne'etzem ki ha'mitzvot m'mili ratzon HaShem Yisbarach u'sgar ava ei shehamiti achri gado." The fact that you fulfilled it is the

03:49 Speaker 1 reward and the great-- and the joy that is the, uh, that in, in the greatest possible joy. There is no room for thanking you for doing a mitzvah. "Ki maimar azal sgar mitzvah mitzvah. Aval yesh makom le'toda'ah be'ad m'li shlichuti." But I can thank you for fulfilling my shlichut because that is not necessarily a mitzvah. You don't have to be my shliach. "Ve'al zeh be'toda'ah toda'ati rava le'cholech hem ve'echad hem." And on that, I wanna thank every single one of you, not for doing a mitzvah, but for fulfilling the shlichut that I gave you to give tzedakah. "U'vezman hazeh u'et this opportunity ke'imich nichnasu l'chodesh Elul." We're now entering the month of Elul. "Ka'anan makom lehazkir et hapa'am al davar segulah s'meich chodesh zeh." I wanna talk about, says the Rebbe, the segulah of this month, Chodesh HaRachamim, the specialness of this month, the month of mercy. "Shehu ha'chanah l'Rosh Hashanah l'chol ha'shana chadashah baal linah le'teivah." It's a preparation for Rosh Hashanah and for the entire coming year. "Al pi birah yedua shel ha'ma'aseh hazakin." Based on the well-known parable from the Alter Rebbe, let's tell the story. "Mashal HaMelech, once upon a time, there was a king, shepo kedem ba'ir." Before he comes to the city, “yetzim anshei ha'ir likratsei.” The other people come out, the, uh, “yetzim anshei ha'ir likratsei,” the people of the city come out to greet him, “u'mekablim panav b'sadeh,” and he comes to meet all of them in the field. “Ve'azal reshain komi shretel le'teit zach la'akbe panav.”

04:52 Speaker 1 Theref- uh, during this time, everybody has permission to come see the king. “Tu mekabel es kulam m'seiv panav yafeis.” He greets them all with a smiling face. “U'mareh panav seicheh kes lekulam.” He shows a, I don't know, laughing face to all of them. “Ve'ach tach,” a very happy face. “Ve'ach tach uveileichem ha'archusei.” When they finally come to his palace, “ein nichnasim ki im b'reshut.” Only people, people can only come in if they have permission. “Vach gam zeh sim im karim she'am yechidei segulah.” And then even then, only the m- very most special people and the people who are yechidei segulah, uniquely qualified to enter the king's palace. The time of Elul is a time when the king is in the field, and anybody, even somebody who normally can't enter the palace, is allowed to meet the king. “Ve'zel hinian kol yemei chodesh Elul.” This is the point of the whole month of Elul. “She'az melech malkei malchei ham'lachim HaKadosh Baruch Hu machriz u'mediah shehu nimtzah b'sadeh.” The king comes out and he, he announces, "I'm in the field." “Bechol echad ve'echad yikham legeish et davar.” Anybody can come see him. “Bli kol t'na'im v'hishtadlus.” You don't have to have any t'na'im. That doesn't have to be difficult. There's no hishtadlus necessary. There's no effort necessary to meet the king in Elul. Normally, and we're gonna see this theme develop over time in the Rebbe's work, there is normally effort required to meet the king, and the point of Elul really is that it's the only

05:54 Speaker 1 effortless time you can have a relationship with God. In all other cases, significant preparation is necessary. “L'cheireh yesh l'sh-el.” We could ask, “ma hu ninyan zeh shel gisha el ha'melech b'sadeh?” What does it mean to meet a king in a field? “Keimich ein lei demut guf ve'ein ha'guf chass v'shalom.” He doesn't have a form of a body or a body. “K'lashon hakahatzov hilaryeism kol t'muna.” This is a problem that my children have come up to me with, uh, more than once over this month of Elul. Cheder Chabad Mansi does a wonderful job of teaching HaMelech B'Sadeh, but they also do a, uh, a, a simplistic job, I guess, 'cause they're little kids. Two of my children have asked me this question. One of them, I can't remember if it was my, my Menachem or my Idel Raphah. Two of my older ones said, "How can Hashem be in a field? He's everywhere." That was a question that I got. Good question. He can't be in the field. He's everywhere. And unfortunately, or a little bit hilariously, but unfortunately, my little barrel, my four-year-old, he came home with a stick puppet that has a king on it. Yeah, uh, maybe some of your kids came home with this. It's a piece of paper that has a king on it with a-- it's like a stick puppet, yeah? And he brought this to me and he said, "It's Hashem." That, "Oh, this is a problem." He brought me a getshken and says, "It's God." I go, "Why

06:50 Speaker 1 do you think that's God?" He said, "Because the Morah told me that the Melech is in the field, that the king's in the field, and this is a king in the field, and she told me that Hashem is the king in the field, so this is Hashem." I said, "No, no, no, no, no. This is, this is not Hashem. This is the king in the field. The king in the field is Hashem." Okay? It's a picture of-- It's a picture of a king. It's a picture of Hashem. No. So we, uh, we had to just table it for the time. But in any event, the Rebbe asked this question, what does it mean when the king-- Hashem is, uh, is, is not-- He doesn't have a body or a form of a body. What's it mean that he went to a field? Who cares? Who, who cares that even in, even in a mashal, even though he's closer to you, what does it mean to be closer to something that is everywhere? Uh, HaReaAdmor says, "Ki le'hisam kol t'muna," Tell that to my barrel. HaReaAdmor z"l amshil levareish in gisha zu kasha b'tefila. So the Alter Rebbe explains that coming close to the king means davening, meaning that normally the king is somebody you can daven to only with some difficulty and some distance, but during the month of Elul, you can daven to the king very easily and very directly. What it means that he's close is that it's easier to daven. That's all

07:44 Speaker 1 it means. Shetefila bechalav prat yam elul hu halderech sh'nameh yarish am panav eilecha. Tefila, davening during this time of year is a time of yarish am panav eilecha. This is where God's face is looking toward you, panim bepanim, face to face, ve'hispalel im neihech pnei haMelech. And davening works better. This is a month where you don't have to try hard to daven well. That's what it means that the king's in the field, um, which is not something you get in a lot of sichas in my ma'amarim, but you are getting this in the letter. That the king in the field simply means that it is easier to daven during Elul. Note: Omar shevechteshi yehi lezeh ki umachizeh bepayot tzadik levavim yehi nerut tzedakah vechesed. And the Alter Rebbe goes on to explain that if you want this to actually show up in your life, and you want the tefilas to feel that way, you're going to need to increase in tzedakah, tzedakah, and chesed. The Rebbe then gives them a berakhah, they should go from strength to strength. So we have our first letter on HaMelech B'Sadeh, and I think the big observation from this first letter of HaMelech B'Sadeh is the Rebbe sort of redefining, I don't think redefining, the Alter Rebbe says it too, but, uh, emphasizing a different angle of HaMelech, HaMelech B'Sadeh. What is the month of Elul? What does it mean that the king is close to us? It means, according to this letter, that it is easier to daven

08:41 Speaker 1 during the month of Elul. So then, is there such a thing as a missed opportunity in Elul? Yeah, it's a missed opportunity to daven easily. However, it shouldn't have anything to do with whether I get to, uh, to go visit the king on Rosh Hashanah. That's the first letter's approach in sort of a, in a, in a vacuum. We have another letter here, also in Taf Shin Lamed Gimel. This is from Tes Vav Elul Taf Shin Lamed Gimel. The letter is Yud Taf Taf Kuf Heih, and is a much shorter letter. I'm gonna skip the honorifics at the top and just say, HaRei eis rotzon hi vehaMelech B'Sadeh. The time of Elul is an eis rotzon and HaMelech B'Sadeh, the king is in the field. V'makom pneikolech ve'achech ve'eseh ve'panim yaafes mar p'nim shechech kes lakulam. He's showing them a happy face. God is there ready to meet you in the field. Shemizeh gam muvan shehaMelech metzapeh kiviyafo sheikablu panav. The Rebbe writes in the letter that this shows us by the fact that the king is smiling at everybody, this shows that the king wants to greet you in the field. It's not just that he makes himself available, and anybody who wants to gets a chance to approach the king. It's that the king is kind of begging for an audience with you. Shemizeh gam muvan shehaMelech metzapeh kiviyafo sheikablu panav. Zeh guf hanisinasehach mehaMelech hazeh. Therefore, the king himself is giving you the power during the month of Elul to greet him

09:42 Speaker 1 because he wants you to greet him. There was something like that in this letter too, um, that the Kaddish particle, machriz meidia sheunim tzedek. We have here a very needy king, um, chas v'shalom, but we have here a very needy king. That is, the king is saying, he's announcing, "Look, I'm here. I'm here, over here." In this letter, we have him saying that, uh, he's metzapeh, he's hoping to see us. He's giving us a nesinas keach to come meet him. This isn't a passive king in the field, you have the chance. This is a time where the king gives you a hisorerus milimaila to have a relationship with him. One more letter from our letter collection from Taf Shin Lamed Gimel. Yud Taf Taf Kuf Chaf Daled, another short letter. This is Shilei Elul, the final days of Elul, and this is the one that I was thinking about today. I did a third, but it's the one that's foremost on my mind. The Rebbe thanks somebody who, uh, donated some money for Chayai Elul. Um, and he says, as it says in the Torah, that gives nachas ruach lima'alah. Uh, okay, here's the part. U'miyuchad, specifically, ShehaMelech mesayem atah sh'huzah b'sadeh. These are the days, these moments, these final moments of Elul, the king is finishing his time in the field. That's where we are right now. We're, uh, we're at two days before Rosh Hashanah. Two days before Rosh Hashanah, the king is finishing off his time in the field. U'machar yevomatzeh velech

10:48 Speaker 1 ha'irah. Tomorrow, he's not gonna be in the field. Not tomorrow for us, but two days from now for us, he's not going to be in the field anymore. He's going to be walking toward the city. U'meilah nasa, I think that's sachako, mi heym sh'aleim nema harah heym heich lamacherah. So now, I think-- Do you know what this means? Sachako mi heym sh'aleim. I think, uh, meilah nasa sachako, maybe now he's making a final calculation of who is going to be the people who will be following him into the palace, meaning what happens at the transition point? He's in the field, anybody can meet him. And then there's a Rosh Hashanah where he enters the palace. And it seems like there's a transition point right around now, these last two days, where God takes stock and says, "Okay, who took advantage of the field? Who was with me in the field? And who gets to come to the palace?" Because remember the mashal, the mashal is anybody who comes to greet the king during Elul and has a relationship with the king during Elul, they get sort of grandfathered in and they get to come to the palace. Otherwise, only Yichdeh Segulah are allowed in. Otherwise, only special people get in. It sounds like from this letter that if you didn't nail Elul, you're not gonna be allowed in for Rosh Hashanah. That is the implication here, that in these final days, he's figuring out who is going to get to harah heym heich lamacherah, who's

11:47 Speaker 1 going to be somebody who follows the king into the palace, who's going to be velech ha'irah. Is that the case? Is that the case? Is the case that if I didn't do Elul right, I can't come into the city on Rosh Hashanah? Well, the, uh... Where is this? Did I, did I-- I think I might have deleted something I needed. Hope I can find it again. No, I just moved a, a heading, I think. One second. Yeah. This is just in the wrong place. Give me two seconds to fix the sheet so I don't confuse myself. I was worried I was missing a sicha that I needed. Baruch Hashem, it's just in the wrong place. There. Okay. Uh, this is in volume one of Todes Menachem. The Rebbe said this, I believe bef-- I don't wanna say before the Nesius. I'm not one hundred percent sure. I think before the-- Yeah, the whole volume one's before the Nesius. He starts it in two. This is before the Nesius. The Rebbe clarifies even before the Nesius that this is not the case, that even somebody who did not use Elul properly will one hundred percent be able to come into the king's palace on Rosh Hashanah. Look at the lashon. Derech hamigeh lashon habez. He's talking about how the Friediker Rebbe, when he tells the story of HaMelech B'Sadeh, he changes certain words from the Alter Rebbe. One of them is that he doesn't say, harah heym heich lamacherah, that the people who met the king

12:52 Speaker 1 get to follow him. They say, the Alter-- the Friediker Rebbe says, "Kulam, all of them will get to go." Kulam heich lamacherah. So the Rebbe says- In the time of the Alter Rebbe, it was enough to say that those who follow him to the city, they are going to come with him. That all the people who met him in the field will come with him to the city. And it was understood that these are the people who were discussed earlier. But for our generation, the Freidiker Rebbe sent a message out to everybody around the world that everybody gets to follow the king into his palace, no matter what they did during Elul. In order to clarify clearly so that there would not be room for error, the error that I'm making in my assumption, right? So that there can be no room for error. The kavana is everybody, literally everybody. There can't be any errors about this. Everybody gets to enter the king's palace. Even those who the king smiled at and it didn't help them at all. 'Cause the king smiles at everyone. That's whether or not you show up. The king smiles at everyone, and some people approach the king and take advantage of it. Even the people who did not take advantage of Elul by dint of existing as Jews on Elul they all get to go. Which returns us now to question number two. We have two questions here. Question number one is, does-- do I need to have a good

14:08 Speaker 1 Elul in order to have a good Rosh Hashanah? Now it sounds like not. If so, what's the point in having a good Elul? So now we return to question number two. Given that everybody gets to go, why bother? If I do nothing during Elul, I'll also get to come. Now, there are two reasons that I found in Sifas, uh, for why everybody gets to come. It's-- On the surface, I mean, I'm a bit of an elitist, so maybe this is just my own problem, but I feel like everybody shouldn't be allowed to come, right? I mean, if the whole point is that if the mashal works, so the king's in the field, and the people who make friends with the king in the field get to come back to the palace, I don't know why the Rebbe's letting everybody in. There are two reasons given in Sifas why the Rebbe is letting everybody in. Reason number one is in Todes Menachem, volume twenty, page two twenty-five. The Rebbe says, Besides the fact that the king is revealing himself to everybody, First of all, there's the simple advantage of Elul that even if you are a farmer who is in their farm clothes, you're wearing your overalls, you're allowed to meet the king during Elul. There is a deeper advantage of the king being in the field. This is the king allowing you to get a promotion. This is the king allowing you out of the caste system. If you are a farmer, tomorrow you could

15:12 Speaker 1 be somebody walking into the palace. Why? Why is the king gonna let us into the palace? We were farmers. Leave us in the field. Since the king was in the field or during the time the king was in the field, we clung to the king. He can't get rid of us anymore. Is that the king came out to the field, and we latched on. Whether we intentionally latched on or not, the king kind of walked in the field, and he got, he got bri-- he got, uh, he got brambles stuck on his cloak. We're stuck on the king now. We're following the king because he walked into our territory, and now we are drawn to him. So reason number one why everybody, whether or not they used, used Elul properly, is gonna get swept up is because when the king walks into the field, he grabs everybody and everybody gets dragged back to the palace with him almost automatically. There's a second reason in Sifas that is a little more Kabbalistic. You'll find this in Todes Menachem, volume fifty, five-zero, page three fourteen. The Rebbe says, um, "Despite the mashal when he goes to the city it says in the mashal you can only come in with permission ." Although in the mashal only special people get to go into the palace, in the nimshal, the-- when it comes to the Jewish people and Hashem, everybody gets to go into the and he explains why Because at the moment of Rosh Hashanah, we all become

16:37 Speaker 1 Because on Rosh Hashanah, it re-- what-- the the pinpoint, the deepest part of our soul where we're all connected, that is revealed on Rosh Hashanah. And at that level, we are all We are all princes, special people who belong in the palace. Therefore, we are found in the king's palace So the Rebbe has a slightly different approach here. It's that you think you're a farmer who doesn't deserve to be in the palace, and you need to, uh, to, to make nice with the king for him to let you in 'cause normally only a prince would be allowed in the palace. The fact is, you're not a farmer in the first place. You're really a prince. And on Rosh Hashanah, it's revealed that you didn't have to be grandfathered in by meeting the king in the field. You always deserved to be in the palace because you were always a son. So what we have here is a very strong defense for the idea that you don't have to do much during Elul to have a great Rosh Hashanah. Which brings us to the question, um, that I don't have a clear answer to, but I'm gonna present you with an idea, and then maybe we can discuss it. Why bother with Elul given that everybody gets in anyway? If the whole point of Elul is ha'chana for Tishrei and for the year, and everybody's going to get a good Tishrei end of year, and everybody's gonna get in the palace, why did I work so

17:35 Speaker 1 hard during Elul or why should somebody work so hard during Elul? I will note, though, that if you are somebody who for whatever reason was unable to work very hard during Elul, you should find the f-first half of this year very comforting. It sounds like anybody can get in, so don't be discouraged if your Elul wasn't great this year for whatever reason. It sounds like the Rebbe is very clear. Don't make-- He wants to leave no room for mistake, that everybody can have an equally good Rosh Hashanah. Everybody can have a top-level Rosh Hashanah, even if they didn't have a great Elul. Question is, why bother with Elul? So in volume fifty-seven of Todes Menachem, page three twenty-four, let me just put a little Todes Menachem marker so I don't forget that that's where it is. Could be volume of anything. The Rebbe says the following Once a year, Hashem gives us a unique ability that is during the month of Elul A moment ago, I was working in the fields I can then turn to God one second later with very deep requests and very soulful requests For everything that is, uh regarding myself and regard- and regarding all those who are dear to me, me and my family and my friends. Doesn't matter what I'm wearing It doesn't matter what I was doing a moment before God will accept whatever I ask with a happy face and with a very happy face. From here it is understood those who are not really, I

19:02 Speaker 1 don't know, they weren't really full of a recognition or um, I want better than full of, um, I don't know, impressed upon them the recognition. People who weren't into Elul up until now. They need to know Then one moment Uh, that a person can flip i- in Elul in a moment to be go from, go from being, uh, estranged from Hashem to facing Him. because they should know that this is the only opportunity for the entire year to meet God without any preparations. because we've been assured that God will meet us with a happy and shining face. a face that guarantees all blessings. After that, we can come to the king's palace with a certainty that God will fulfill all of our everything we ask for, we thank . Here's what I think. From this letter here, and also fr- from this letter, from this sicha here, and also from this letter, the first letter that we looked at, and a couple other things we've seen, the Rebbe keeps hinting to this idea that the real advantage of Elul is that during Elul you can daven better than you can the rest of the year. He says that very clearly in this letter, and he's sort of implying it here, that during the, during Elul is the time when you have an opportunity to talk to God in a way that doesn't require normal preparation. Normally, to daven effectively, a person needs all sorts of hachanas. There's the that every chassid needs before they daven,

20:31 Speaker 1 every person needs before they daven, mikveh and, uh, and, and tzedakah and chassidis. There's the fact that a person can't really daven properly unless they have a scapia, unless they have his fonos, the, uh, of Tanya. There's all sorts of preparations to davening effectively. However, during the month of Elul, those preparations are suspended. If a person davens, they instantly find even if they're still wearing their farmer's overalls, they're in the middle of their workday, davka Elul is a big Yom Tov that is where and most of the days in Elul are not Shabbos, they're . During Elul is a time when a person can get whatever they want from Hashem and talk to Hashem and have a relationship with Hashem and have a full spiritual experience without preparation. I don't think that opportunity presents itself again, uh, if you don't nail it during Elul. So I think the idea is that everybody, whether or not they had a good Elul, gets an opportunity to have a great Rosh Hashanah. But they can miss the opportunity of Elul, which is the only time of year where without putting in any particular work and preparation, you can have an instant relationship with Hashem. That I don't think you get in Tishrei. When you-- In Tishrei, you enter the king's palace, and in the king's palace, you gotta play by the king's rules. You're in a palace now. It's not an informal setting anymore. It'll be Yom Tov. We'll be acting like it's Yom Tov. The only chance

21:37 Speaker 1 we have to meet the king on our terms and in an, in an easy way, frankly, in a, uh, in a low-effort way, where we don't have to put in a lot of hachana and simply by, in the middle of our workday, turning to the king and saying, "I wanna spend time with you," suddenly we're in the zone, as it were. I think that's only during Elul. And so if I had to answer our two-part question here, what do I do if I messed up my Elul? You'll be fine on Rosh Hashanah. Don't worry about it. Everybody gets to go in. There's no, uh, the, the, the mashal says only yichudi segula get to go in, but in the nimshal, everybody's yichudi segula. The Rebbe clarifies this in many sichas. If you mess up your Elul, you're gonna have a fine Rosh Hashanah. However, there are still two days left in Elul, and Elul is the only time where you can flip things immediately, turn immediately to Hashem, daven in a way that you normally during the year would take incredible preparation. It, it takes a certain kind of person to daven effectively, but not during Elul. Anybody can do it. It takes a certain kind of person to dive into a relationship with God, but not during Elul. Anybody can do it. That is something I think is completely unique to Elul that is not an opportunity you get for another year. Okay. That's it. Questions, comments?

22:41 Speaker 2 Um, the only comment I have, I always have to have something to say is that, um, I think there's also another element to this, which comes out in almost the last line of that last sicha, which is the personal confidence. You know, there's different ways to approach, to approach Rosh Hashanah and a person could, yeah, we talked about those, right? So there's a certain approach, you know, there's like, let's say, different schools of thought of the aim of the year, the Yom HaDin versus the, the, you know, Malchut HaMelach and, you know, it's, it-- are we crowning? And I was having a conversation with somebody, he said there's different ways of crowning a king. There's a way of crowning a king, the aim of a year and then there's the crowning of the king, which is the party aspect, you know, the uman part, you know, the jumping, screaming, singing, dancing, because Hashem is Melech, you know, I'm so excited, right? So there's different approaches to it. But then there's the personal approach of somebody who didn't have such a good Elul and is waking up in the last moment, and maybe woke up within the last forty-eight hours before Elul, like you say, like the Rebbe says with one hachana, with one little move, you start to refocus, but now you're not sure. And now I'm starting Rosh Hashanah. It's Rosh Hashanah night. So, so did it work? Did it not work? How am I approaching Rosh Hashanah? Am I approaching Rosh Hashanah in

23:46 Speaker 2 a, in a, in a confident way that it-- I'm gonna have a good year and I'm gonna have or am I approaching Rosh Hashanah as in like, I really screwed this one up and I don't know how I'm gonna, how I'm gonna approach this and how I'm gonna do this? And I think there's a, there's an extra level of assurance that the Rebbe's saying over here that if you do this practice, this one care, this one move, and in the last forty-eight hours that we have before Rosh Hashanah starts, you can walk in with a bados, you can walk in with a, with, with a, a certainty and, and a confidence that you're gonna have, that Hashem's gonna give you that all your bakashas, you know, that's number one. And, and the other part of it is-- So that's one thing I wanted to point out. And the other part of it is, I think the way that the Rebbe frames this, it's almost like by not taking advantage of Chodesh Elul, you're literally just missing an opportunity. You're missing incredible opportunities. It's not so much at what you, what-- There's no-- It's not about a consequence of what you're not gonna have if you don't take advantage of this. It's that you're literally explaining to a person, this is the opportunity that you have, and if you don't take advantage of it, you're just literally losing out. But not in a way of that-- The losing out is not that you're not gonna have

24:50 Speaker 2 a Rosh Hashanah, the losing out is not you're not gonna be in a palace. You're losing out on the opportunity of the berachos, of the confidence, of the, of the closeness, of the ability to get Hashem and to, you know, really get the that you need for you and your family, the briys, the parnasah, et cetera.