סיום הרמב״ם

00:00 This is Igris, and today we're looking at letters about the Siyum HaRambam, about Siyumim in general, about finishing Rambam, finishing Masachtas. We wanna see the Rebbe's position on making celebrations, specifically when a person finishes a Masachta, whether these celebrations should be public, whether there's any concern about maybe overdoing it or maybe, uh, publicizing, showing off, uh, when a person finishes an area of Torah. And we're gonna specifically focus on Siyum HaRambam, although we have letters about Siyum Masachta. Whenever we focus on Siyum HaRambam, though, we are slightly limited when it comes to published Igris because Rambam, the Takana of Rambam, didn't start until, what, 'eighty-four, 'eighty-five, and our Igris are not up to that yet. So the Igris Kodesh doesn't have any of the Rebbe's letters officially published from the memes. What we do have, however, are a collection of ma'inas, of responses the Rebbe gave. These are much shorter letters. Frequently, they're written on the margins of existing letters, sometimes involving, uh, the Rebbe will circle something and indicate a few words next to it. We have a nice collection of ma'inas, of, of responses from the Rebbe when it comes to organizing a Siyum HaRambam, and we're going to pepper that with formal letters that the Rebbe wrote, uh, in earlier years in response to Siyum on Masachtas to get a couple general ideas about how the Rebbe wants a Siyum to go, whether the Rebbe wants Siyumim, whether he wants big Siyumim, uh, what exactly to do at a Siyum, what not

01:08 to do at a Siyum. We're going to also, I'm teasing this at the very beginning, have a really a bombshell of a ma'ina that, uh, I've asked mashpiyim about and have not gotten a clear answer on what exactly it means. But, uh, we're going to see something pretty wild in near the end of this year. And, uh, as we conclude, we're gonna have a sicha from the Rebbe where he talks specifically about the importance of participating in a Siyum HaRambam, even if you didn't learn Rambam this year. So he's going to explain why it's important for even people who aren't so careful about Rambam to take part in a Siyum HaRambam. In any event, without further ado, our first thing on the screen is a ma'ina. It's from the year Taf Shin Mem He, so it must be about nineteen eighty-five, and it's written to Rav Steinsaltz, Rabbi Even Yisrael Steinsaltz. And, uh, before he went back to Eretz Yisrael, the Rebbe wrote a, a response to him, and he says, "I received your doch, uh, shetizlich be Chicago becholul." He'd apparently gone to Chicago, and it had been successful, this particular visit. "Uleech tebipratis, uh, veteretz chemei haresh." He says, uh, "Maybe you'll write me the details, and thank you very much in advance." Uh, and then he-- the Rebbe gives Rabbi Steinsaltz some things to-- some tzedakah to give in Eretz Yisrael, asks, "Matzab ruyse. How are you doing? How's your health?" And then comes our part. "Petach marish al derech haRambam, haSiyum

02:10 machside rabbeys becholul." Certainly, you're gonna make a shturem. Certainly, you're gonna make a loud noise and be-- have a very large Siyum HaRambam, he says to Rabbi Steinsaltz. I want a big one. I want it with fanfare, not some small affair. I want marish. I want you to make noise about it. And then the Rebbe answers a sort of question that could be asked on making a loud Siyum HaRambam. "B'gechal yadis yisif. Ein chashash klal." The more you put into this, the bigger you make this event, the more exciting you make your Siyum HaRambam, don't worry about it at all. "HaMatim leheras haRambam shestarach leas derech hamtzos." The Rambam himself says that everything has to be done in the middle path. This is the very beginning, I believe, in Deus, at the very, very beginning of Rambam. He talks about how you can't have extremes. Uh, you shouldn't be extremely, uh, in one direction to the other. You should try to be a middle-of-the-road kind of person. The Rebbe says, "I want you to make a big deal about Siyum HaRambam," despite the fact that Rambam himself says to do things in the middle of the road. Why? "Ki adain lehiganu afi lishlish oderevia." Because up until now, we still have not reached even a third or a fourth of what we should be doing when it comes to a shturem on the Rambam. Now, admittedly, maybe we have reached that by now. I don't know. This was only the second year since the Siyum.

03:08 But the Rebbe tells Rabbi Steinsaltz, "Don't be worried about overdoing the excite- the excitement of a Siyum because it still will be considered the middle road because the truth is, no matter how exciting you make these things, people make things in the world so much more exciting. I don't think you're gonna overdo it." What I get out of this ma'ina is we're not too worried about overdoing a Siyum on Rambam as big as possible. There's something the Rebbe says quite similar when it comes to a Siyum on a Masachta, and this one has a little bit of a, a poke in it for those people who, uh, who are very excited about Masachtas they finished. But, uh, let's read it anyway. So the letter is Heh Kuf Mem Tes. I will say as a introduction to an introduction to an introduction, we've done like four hundred introductions today, that I think we know the Rebbe is a big fan of making a Siyum if you finish something. Uh, we're gonna see this in all the letters. The Rebbe wants people to make Siyumim in public. We know that during the, uh, during the, uh, Benah Mitztarim, during the nine days especially, the Rebbe wants a Siyum every single day. So the Rebbe's into Siyum. In this case, somebody wrote to the Rebbe in the year Taf Shin Yud Zion, and they clearly asked that they were worried about making a Siyum in public because they think that it'll look like Yehirah. It's a, it's a

04:04 person who graduated from Temichei Tmimim. Anash, a member of Anash, says, "I'm afraid if I make a Siyum, everybody's gonna s- everybody's gonna say, 'Oh, look at this guy. Thinks he's, uh, thinks he's something special. He finished a Masachta.'" So the Rebbe writes, "I've received your, uh, your Mixtav and your pan." "B'kes ef edes diburah bebais hakneses sech yemei lulah bailulah sheasagam siyum." Said that you're talk- you're gonna be speaking in a shul on the day of the Hilulah. Presumably, this is Chof Al of Shevat, so I assume it was from Yud Shevat. And, uh, you made a Siyum, asagam siyum, that you made a Siyum. "Ve shel ein kedai laas es Siyum b'rabim." And you asked, is it really appropriate to make a Siyum in public? "Kevech al yadei zen is parsim shulham hamasachta." Because if you do this, you're telling everybody, "Hey, I learned a Masachta of Shas. I, I learned a tractate of Gemara," and that's a little bit of showing off. So is it a problem to show off in this regard? Uh, "B'eni reya bezaf afilu makom lashail." The Rebbe says, "I don't even see place for this sort of question," the question of whether you should be making a Siyum out of concern for, uh, showing off. "Ki marah busa hu shulam masacha, masacha, uh, masachta achat meshasana laachadei achidish kiblaachadei shehashkach halieno ziksei seve amida beken er limadim temidi teichei tumim." This is a wild sentence. The Rebbe says, "It's not a big deal. You're a graduate of

05:05 Temichei Tmimim. Finishing a Masachta is like breathing for you." So the Rebbe says, "First of all, you, first of all, you think you're showing off when you tell everybody you finished a Masachta. You are-- You went to Temichei Tmimim. You went to our yeshiva system. Finishing a Masachta is nothing for you. It's not showing off. It's not a big deal. It's not a rebusa." So first of all, it's not a big deal. Just make the m-- just make the Siyum. "V'lo ei." The Rebbe says, "Not only that, though." "Afilu hayom v'do ve'ish hakodesh shalim masach v'rebusa hu majai gasi." Even if we're talking about somebody for whom it is a big deal when he finishes the Masachta, and I will remind you, the Rebbe here says, "Finishing a Masachta is no big deal for a tamim. Obviously, we finish Masachtas every five minutes." But for everybody else in the world for whom it is difficult, and this is a big deal when they finally finish a Masachta, "B'chol zeh yesh laas es Siyum Masachtas b'rabim." Even that person should be making a public Siyum. "V'zechus zeh, v'zechas gam es harab bimsim chazu," in order to bring merit to the masses in the joy of Torah. "V'zechus harab messiyas hamessayim shulei levad shulei yigra ayidei zeh be'inyan ha'ruchanim al ad harab ayidei zeh v'kal hahavin." Then he says-- The Rebbe then says- That the ‹ foreign language › the merit of the masses, uh, will help him. If he brings a Siyum to the, to the

06:05 masses, the merit of the masses will back him up, and it will help him not only make sure that he doesn't have any negative spiritual impacts from publicizing what he's done. And ‹ foreign language › they'll give him power to continue onward, which means that somebody who finishes a Masechta and loops in everybody else, first of all, they never have to worry about showing off, either because they should be learning more Masechta than they are, so it's really the opposite of showing off, or because whatever damage would-- could be caused spiritually by showing off over a Siyum is solved and then some by the fact that you're bringing other people into your circle because these other people, the ‹ foreign language › of the Rabbonim, the ‹ foreign language › of the public will end up helping and bolstering you so that you're protected from any spiritual harm from publicizing what you've done and to the contrary, it will increase your, uh, your spiritual abilities. He then asked the Rebbe, just because it's interesting, this paragraph here about saying Kaddish D'Rabbanan after he finishes, even though it sounds like from the context of the letter, he had two living parents, and the Rebbe says, "Kaddish D'Rabbanan is always good. I have no limitations on it. Add it whenever you like, but do get permission from your mother and father to make sure that they're not makpid about it." Okay, so one cloud that we have from the Rebbe when it comes to Siyum HaRambam and

07:04 it's also Siyum Masechta is he wants the Siyum, he wants it with a shturim, he wants you to make a noise and to get up in front of the room and do a Rabbonim, and he does not-- He's-- The Rebbe is not worried about, uh, about the not being a middle road approach, and the Rebbe is not worried about that looking like you're showing off. Let's look at another halacha when it comes to a Siyum HaRambam. This one was written to Menachem Mendy Butman, uh, regarding the, uh, international, I guess, the international Siyum HaRambam, which presumably was just in New York. You know how international works in nineteen forty-eight. This is the international Siyum HaRambam. The Rebbe says, "I received you-- I've received what you told me, and thank you very much for it." And apparently, it hadn't gone very well. I, I don't-- I wasn't there in nineteen eighty-eight at the Siyum HaRambam on Zayin Shvat, but apparently it didn't go very well. It sounds like it didn't have the crowd that he was hoping for. So he wrote to the Rebbe with a Ruach Shalit Natlos, which means kind of a, a, a disappointed, a disappointed tone to his letter. So the Rebbe says, the ‹ foreign language ›. It's, it's a real shock to me, a big shock. Pelagodal. They are writing to me i-- with a, uh, with a downcast spirit as if this wasn't a successful event. ‹ Foreign language ›. Your event caused a Kiddush Shem Rambam and also

08:07 caused a Kiddush Shem Shamayim. So when a person makes a Siyum for Rambam, no matter, no matter the size of the crowd, they're Mekadesh Shem Shamayim and also Mekadesh the name of the Rambam. ‹ Foreign language › and great is the merit of everybody who participated in it, regardless of the size. ‹ Foreign language › the Rebbe says, "So mention by the Siyum." What we get out of this is that no matter, uh, no matter how successful the event is, there are two major outcomes you get every single time you make a Siyum HaRambam, and that is, number one, you bring a great Kiddush to the name of the Rambam, and second, you bring a big Kiddush to Shem Shamayim. So absolutely, it's something that is worth doing. We have another ma'amanah. This one is from Menachem Av of Taf Shin Mem Zayin. That's like nineteen eighty-seven-ish. Uh, and this one is to Rav Menachem Nachum Garlitzky, and, uh, he talks about how he's finished part of Rambam. He finished a section of Rambam, wanting to make a Siyum on a section. And the Rebbe gives a very important rule here that is actually the Rebbe's rule. I mean, it's not really the Rebbe's rule. It's kind of a Halakha, but the Rebbe says it in a lot of letters. ‹ Foreign language ›. The Rebbe says it should all be bat zalcha raba, but there's a rule. Make sure that you start the next section the moment that you finish what you've done, that

09:09 a Siyum should be-- that there sh-should be a haschala take of the Siyum, that people shouldn't make a Siyum and then close the book. And as a matter of fact, I've been to a lot of Siyumim on Masechtas, and I've never seen somebody do this. Usually, people learn-- they, they finish the Masechta, they make the hadran, they say Kaddish, everybody says Mazel Tov. I've never seen them open another Masechta and start. They do it by Siyum HaShas, I believe. And I believe people do it by Siyum HaRambam, probably because of the halacha of the Rebbe. But as I'm about to show you, the Rebbe actually wants this by every Masechta. When a person finishes a Masechta, the Rebbe wants them to immediately start something else because the way that a Siyum works is a Siyum is a haschala, is, is-- an end is really a beginning, and that should be shown that way. I'm gonna show you a letter where we say something similar. This is, uh, Zayin Taf Kuf Pe Heh is the designator on the letter. Letter is from Reish Kuf Eish Adar of Taf Shin Kuf Alef, and it's written to the Mishtalim and Shir Gemara Peires Taysis. This is a gr- this is a group Shir, I think of, uh, I think at a Shul, believe it or not. A Shul was having a Shir where they were all getting together learning Gemara Rashi Taysis, uh, every single day or every single week. I don't know. They finished something important. Let's

10:02 see. "I was very happy to receive your message." Uh, ‹ Foreign language ›. They finished Maseches Megillah. Now, Maseches Megillah, for those of us who, who know our Gemaras know this is not a, uh, this is not a major accomplishment. It's an accomplishment, but this isn't the same thing as Siyum HaShas. Nonetheless, the Rebbe treats it the same way that he treats every finishing of a Masechta. Megillah is a relatively small Masechta, but they learned it. ‹ Foreign language ›. "Certainly, according to the Minig Israel, which is Torah," ‹ Foreign language ›. "You will follow-- Certainly, you will follow the Jewish custom of immediately starting another Masechta." ‹ Foreign language ›. "As is the Nusach that has been established from the earlier ones." ‹ Foreign language ›. This is in the classic hadran, I believe, which we don't usually read all of or even most of. But in any event, the classic lashon is that it should be God's will the same way you help me finish this Masechta, you should also help me start a new Masechta. So the Rebbe is telling these people that's fin- that finished Maseches Megillah, "Please make a Siyum. I wanna see a Siyum, but I also want you to immediately start another Masechta." Another reason why I brought you this letter, I put it in the chat with a couple others, is because the Rebbe has essentially-- it's not a form letter, but it's almost a form letter for people who finish Masechtas, which is, first of all,

11:07 if you finish a Masechta and write to the Rebbe, and there's one in almost every volume of Igris, the first thing he'll do is say Mazel Tov, and he's very happy to hear it. The second thing he'll do is he'll remind you to make a Siyum BeRabim and to make the haschala. And then after that, he'll say, "Since you learned this Masechta, let me tell you a piece of Torah from the Masechta," and then the Rebbe will give a little drashah on the Masechta. We're not gonna read this one right here, but I sent you a bunch of letters that each do, uh, sort of a discussion. The Rebbe almost always, if you write to him saying you finished a Masechta, will give you a little bit of his Torah on that Masechta, which is, I guess, was a great incentive to write to the Rebbe that you finished a Masechta, get a novel Peirush on Shas out of it. Another thing I wanna show you, Amanda, this is a response, and this one is the, uh, this one is the bombshell. This is, uh, I told you at the beginning of the show I was gonna show you something absolutely wild that, uh, I don't have context for yet. I mean, I have the context. I don't have context for how to apply it. Uh, I-- Th-there's a whole story behind this. The story is that, uh, the, the-- What, what year was this? I didn't write down the year. I think it was

11:57 eighty-five. I think it was the first or second year of Siyum HaRambam The Chassidim in New York, all big names, all people who are trustworthy and known to know what the Rebbe wants and get the job done well, had the opportunity to rent out Madison Square Garden for the Siyum, for the first or second Siyum HaRambam, and they felt that they could fill the seats, and that would be a big Kiddush Shem Shamayim. You know, we've seen a lot of letters where the Rebbe says, "As big as you possibly can. Don't worry about being outside the middle road, and definitely make it BeRambam and don't worry about the way things look." So they figured Madison Square Garden's the way to go. That's the-- You're gonna-- Ramabam's play in the garden. So they, uh, they, they write to the Rebbe saying, "We have the opportunity to get this. We, uh, we need to let them know in, like, a day or two. Uh, just asking your permission, can we do this in Madison Square Garden?" And the Rebbe writes these three things on the screen, and they are-- they get harsher as they go down. Number one, "Ein Matim KaPashut." It should be obvious to you that this is inappropriate. Obviously inappropriate. Why? I don't know. But guess what? The fact that I don't know means I'm in enormous trouble because as the Rebbe says in number two, "Chush Bascanas Chabadism Muzar Vies Mizak Pashut." Says the Chush that people who are involved in the Chabad

12:58 activities could, could have such a, could have such a feeling that this would be a good idea is Mozar is, is, is, is utterly strange. Vies Mizah, and even more than strange, KaPashut, as should be simple. So I'm surprised you even thought it was a good idea. And finally, in three, "B'mechilas kved Torahsei." I'm asking for forgiveness for the honor of your Torah, but "Ulai Kedai Shekeanal Yaschilu Oydu Hamlium B'temchei Temimim." Perhaps it would be Kedai, perhaps it would be worthwhile for you guys to go back to Yeshiva and learn again in Temchei Temimim because you had the idea that you should have a Siyum HaRambam in Madison Square Garden. Now, uh, I was at a Siyum HaRambam with Rabbi Yossi Paltiel. I showed him this ma'ana and, uh, and he told me he hadn't seen it before, and he told me it was very surprising, and he spent a lot of time looking at it and told me he needed more time to think about it, and, uh, I haven't followed up yet. I did ask him a question. I said, "Do you think that it's the place or the event? Do you think that it's Madison Square Garden is the problem, or do you think that Rambam doesn't belong in Madison Square Garden?" He was, uh, very firmly of the position that this is a Rambam problem, that a Siyum HaRambam doesn't belong in the garden, not that. The reason why I asked is because certainly, uh-- I, I, I asked him. I

13:59 said, I said, I said, "Do you think that if we were doing a Sivhas Hashem rally in Madison Square Garden, or for example, totally hypothetically, a Sit-in event in Times Square, that the Rebbe would say the same things that he says in this letter?" And Rabbi Paltiel felt not. He, he feels no. He feels the issue is that Siyum HaRambam is a-- is an event of Kedusha having to do with, uh, making a Siyum on a piece of Torah, and that that needs to be done in a different venue, and Madison Square Garden is not straight up off-limits. I, I, believe it or not, was told by somebody, and I can't remember who, maybe somebody in the shir, I was told by somebody that at one point we actually did make a Siyum HaRambam in Madison Square Garden, um, after, after, uh, Gimmel Tammuz. So, uh, i-- I don't know what to tell you. Uh, what I do have to tell you is that this is a wild ma'ana, and I wanted to show it to you. The last thing I wanna show you with our time left is that there's a sicha from the Rebbe that is, uh, from Tav Shin Mem He. It's in the fourth chelek of Toras Menachem Tav Shin Mem He. These have not been redone yet, so they're still in Halakhim like that, and it's on page fifty-four, and, uh, it's from Shabbos, uh, from Shabbos Varakhim Chedes Sivan. And in this sicha, we have it on the screen

15:02 now, in this sicha, the Rebbe explains why everybody should take part in a Siyum HaRambam specifically, why he wants everybody to attend the Siyum HaRambam, and why people who are not making the Siyum also should be at the Siyum, why people who aren't making the Siyum are gonna benefit as well, meaning people who are doing Perek Echad, Sefer HaMitzvos, or maybe didn't do any Rambam, or people who missed a lot of days of Shlach BeRakham, the Rebbe explains here why a Siyum is something that's good for everybody, and I thought that's something we would, we would end on for the power of the Siyum HaRambam. So the Rebbe says, "Vakdamah," by way of introduction. "SheYishlam Shelech Le'ader Harikh HaSiyum HaRambam." The Rebbe says, "I'd like to start off by saying I wanna really create a, uh, excitement around Siyum HaRambam. I want people to organize these." "B'chol Es Mekameshem Lamdu HaSefer HaRambam" in every place where people learn the Sefer of Rambam, there should be a Siyum. "Mei Za Siba Shehi Hada'yin Le'arikh HaSiyum Alim HaRambam," and especially in places where for whatever reason they haven't done one yet. Now, this is already in Sivan, so the Rambam had already been finished long since, and actually, we heard over Shabbos from one of our guests that, uh, that the Siyum HaRambam in Montreal was at least sometimes, maybe frequently, made, uh, made after Tishrei, or above Tishrei was made after Rosh Hashanah. So there really isn't a deadline on when you can make the Siyum.

16:04 It doesn't have to be the moment that the Siyum finishes. But the Rebbe says if for wha-- if for whatever reason you haven't made a Siyum yet, I would like you to make a Siyum now, uh, if you're in a place where they learn Rambam. "Mu vanagan Pashut. She'ein hakavanat lehilucheis umleit sanas chas v'shalum limed limed HaRambam." The Rebbe says, "I'm not talking about people who make a joke out of learning Rambam." Not them. They, they, they don't have to make the Siyum. They shouldn't come. "Shekein shekem shemei min ratzim la'dasi de'sa Rambam k'meikein leidat me'ram la'dasi de'sam." The same way they don't wanna know about the Rambam, you know what? The Rambam doesn't wanna know about them. If you think the Rambam's one big joke, you know what? Rambam doesn't like you any more than you like him. But for everybody else, this is the Rebbe talking, everybody's "Onem k'oli sar ve'chez ki kasher." But everybody else, the Yidden are ve'chez ki kasher. We assume the Yidden are okay. We assume Yidden don't have a problem with the Rambam. I, i don't mean to put words in the Rebbe's mouth even a little bit, but one of the well-known-- There, there was a well-known, uh, Rashi Yeshiva in Eretz Israel who had a lot of problems with the Rebbe and maybe made a lot of his life's work ma-making problems with the Rebbe, and he was very opposed to the Rambam, uh, not to the Rambam itself. He wrote Sfarim on Rambam, but very

17:00 opposed to the Rebbe's, uh, the Rebbe's learning of Rambam throughout the year, uh, the Sefer of Rambam, and I'm not sure that's not what the Rebbe means here. Uh, I, I can't be sure. I can't be sure either way. When the Rebbe talks about people who don't take the learning of Rambam i-in the yearly cycle seriously, uh, it, it, it could be he was referring to that individual. In any event, "Onem k'oli sar ve'chez ki kasher," but all Yidden are assumed to be okay. They're assumed to be kosher. "Vesh em behakdam ha'pirkei avos ve'amech kulam tzadikim" says in Avos that everybody is that "amech kulam tzadikim hu meila." "Gam im ei za siba shtiya lelam dugim haprakim l'yom." If for whatever reason you didn't learn three prakim a day, "kim perek echad l'yom," instead you learned one perek a day, a Sefer HaMitzvos, or you only learned Sefer HaMitzvos, "vafilu im ada'yin leiskil limed Rambam," or you didn't even begin learning Rambam in the first place, so no matter who you are, as long as you're not somebody who is, uh, making leit sanas of the Rambam, just for whatever reason, you haven't been part of the program that's making a Siyum, "yecholem v'tzorichim gam him lishtat b'Siyum HaRambam." They need-- They can, and they also need to participate in the Siyum HaRambam. So whether or not you're finishing, not only can you participate, you must participate for the following reasons, which means that everybody who doesn't think the Rambam's a joke needs to be

18:00 participating in the Siyum HaRambam. "Lechol lash," first of all- Yesh sheiniyan lishtata b'simchas shel chavera. First of all, you gotta be happy when your friend's happy. There's an inyan for that. Al derech shelishtatas b'simchas nisun shel achiv. The same way that you would participate in your brother's wedding. Shekein af she'achasna sheloi chaisel v'ne kam kam shanam. Said, "I had my wedding years ago. Why am I participating in my brother's wedding? I don't care about him." Oysha dayan kaftin hu she'ein lei daas v'nei she'ayech lei dayan li nisun. Or, "I'm a little kid. What do I care that my big brother's getting married?" Mi kol mokim mishtatif av hu v'sameach v'reiki b'simchas nisun shel achiv. Nonetheless, no one says that. They participate in their brother's wedding regardless of whether or not they're shayech to a wedding right now, either 'cause they're long since married or no- nowhere near the parshah. They participate 'cause their brother's happy. Kilu chaisel zu simcha sheloch. You participate as though it's your simcha. V'dugma sei b'neidan nidon. Regarding our case, there is an example of this. Yishtatas b'simchas nisun shel eis v'yihodu b'shalom d'vesayim b'sefer haRambam. You should be participating in the joy and the siyum of Yidden who did finish Rambam this year, whether it-- or whether you are, uh, too old for it or too young for it, k'v'yachel. Uh, you should be participating in the si-- in the siyum of your friends. Second reason. V'frat shaidai yishtatas nis- nisav eila b'iniyan b'd'vai v'am hadir smalach. Furthermore, when you

19:02 participate in a siyum, you add to the v'am hadir smalach. The king is most glorified. Hashem is most glorified when a lot of people are around when something big is happening. And, uh, you can only have a lot of people around if a lot of people actually attend. So if you're one of the people attending, you're one of the people pushing v'am hadir smalach. I'm gonna skip that section, uh, 'cause I read it outside and go to the next paragraph. V'eis v'eh kashi avdi lishtat b'siyum. Furthermore, when you come to participate in a siyum, yatza v'niska b'kach shelishtati b'limud halacha b'Rambam. Sha'arei b'a-b'eis hasiyum leid b'ves halacha achrit nisefer yad. Second of all, it's not bittul Torah. You're going to a siyum, and you know how people make a siyum? By learning the last halacha of Rambam out loud. So when you go there, you're gonna hear Torah regardless. Mitzvat v'mitzkitin l'chazal l'shlama. And of course, we have to make sure that we also begin the Rambam, not just complete it. Again, the Rebbe pushing this. Limud halacha nish einod sefer yad. So if you go to the siyum, you're going to at least learn two halachas at the very, very least, right? The worst siyum in the world, you're gonna learn the last halacha in Rambam and the first halacha in Rambam. So it's worth going because regardless, the Rebbe's gonna get . And the truth is any good siyum is gonna have more Torah than that added. They're gonna say other words of

20:00 Torah. So since other words of Torah will be said, it's a good idea to go because even if you are not somebody making-- finishing the Rambam, you'll learn Torah. You'll hear a shir in the end of Rambam, the beginning of Rambam, maybe some other shir in the middle. You'll hear To-- you'll, you'll hear Torah. V'ikar, the most important part though. Sha idai yishtat vos v'siyum yiser l'tzarif limud sefer Rambam. But the most important thing is that when you go to a Siyum HaRambam, you're encouraged to learn Rambam. Vaz yisket li nach kinál, and then you'll reach the very highest level. Limud kol haTorah kulah, fulfilling the learning of the entire Torah. He says that, of course, because the Rambam himself says that kol haTorah kulah is Torah sh'biksav plus the Rambam. V'frat halacha Torah nikab hashem taga v'kisidushal Torah. Specifically, you'll be learning halacha, which is the crown of Torah. V'fisha b'hem miskala datz nelin baruchu, because in halacha we see the will of God. And that sounds very Hasidish, but it really isn't. All that means is that since halacha is God's will, when you do halacha, you're keeping God's will. So you understand the-- the more you understand halacha, the more you understand the will of God Himself. The important thing though is that the Rebbe says the most important reason, the ikar, why a person who is not shayech to a Siyum HaRambam should be participating in a Siyum HaRambam is because it'll make you want to be part of the siyum

21:02 next time around. So it makes you want to be part of the siyum next time around, then, uh, then that will get you to an even higher level. U'meial limud halachas b'Torah, devaras vayehi zu halacha. The Rebbe still explains further why it's important to learn halacha. Um, and let's see. Zecher l'devarah vayehi zeh ha'ketz shekein beizinyonim eilul devaras-- devarah vayehi zu halacha, devarah vayehi zu ha'ketz hu v'eis hasugiya m'mishne tacha. So he's talking about the importance of learning halacha. V'chol zem avayb staktin haRambam sheyeini mitzvah achas v'maaseh v'dimu v'afilu machshava. Ha'echri ashas mis kol ha'am kulu l'kav t'chulus. And furthermore, of course, when you learn even one halacha or do one mitzvah, the Rambam himself says in Hilchot Teshuvah that you can push the entire world in the one direction of merit. V'frat mitzvah achas b'nei nekashem devarah, devarah vayehi zeh ha'ketz limud halacha achas. So certainly you can accomplish this by learning just one halacha. So what we have here from the Rebbe in this final sicha is why it's a final sicha. The final thing we're looking at today is why it's so important for people to participate in the Siyum HaRambam even if they didn't learn. What we have from our first couple letters is the importance of if you finish something, a masachta or Rambam or anything really, that you should be making a siyum. We talked about how to make a siyum and the importance of making a siyum. But in this last sicha, we talked about the fact that

22:02 it's important to attend a siyum and to be part of a siyum even if you're not one of the misaymim for several reasons outlined by the Rebbe. Okay, that's it. Thank you very much.