החובה ללמוד לקוטי תורה

00:01 This is Igris, and today we're talking about something that I cannot believe we haven't talked about before. Uh, one of our listeners recommended we do it, and I can't believe we haven't done it. Uh, this is the Rebbe Shutta on Likkutei Torah and Torah Or, specifically learning these two sefarim every single week. The only background really necessary for this is that the Alter Rebbe has a series of something like two thousand ma'amarim, I believe, that are in the books Torah Or and Likkutei Torah. They're organized according to the Parshah, and people do pretty widely learn them, at least in my experience. But I don't know how many people take this idea seriously that they're supposed to learn every single, uh, every single one of these ma'amarim for every Parshah every week. And, uh, as we're about to see, the Rebbe takes this incredibly seriously. He introduces it as a takanah. He likens this takanah to that of the takanah that he made regarding learning Rambam every day. Uh, and the Rebbe expresses surprise throughout the years that people haven't really picked it up. It certainly isn't what the Rebbe wants, and this carries us all the way from Tav Shin Tes Vav all the way until Nun Beis. Some of the last sichas that the Rebbe said to shluchim, specifically the last Knessiah Shluchim that we have until Moshiach comes, of course, uh, this year. But the, uh, the last Knessiah Shluchim that we have on the record, one of the main things the Rebbe

01:06 talks about is the importance of finishing the entire Torah Or and Likkutei Torah every week. So we're going to see this is a pretty big deal for the Rebbe. Uh, I know this is an Igris year, and therefore there are some letters here. Nonetheless, this is heavily sicha and shura and other things. Uh, forgive me, and without further ado, that's quite a long introduction. Let's look at the sicha that I want you to see first. I want to start with the sicha, even though it is an Igris year, because the story begins with the sicha. This is the year Tav Shin Tes Vav. This would be exactly, give or take, seventy years ago. So about seventy years ago, the, uh, Rebbe gives a sicha, and he introduces a new takanah. And at the beginning of this sicha, here this-- you'll find this in, uh, Toras Menachem, volume Yud Gimel thirteen on page two oh two. The Rebbe starts off his discussion by saying that working people need to learn Chassidus every day, and even people who learn Torah full-time need to make sure that they learn Chassidus every day. And then he goes into this. "Heyes vame'amarim shel Torah v'Likkutei Torah m'susdarim heim al parshiyos hashavua." Since the ma'amarim of Torah Or and Likkutei Torah are organized according to the weekly parshah, "Zese mereish yesh lam kish l'parshiyos hashavua," this means that they have a connection to the weekly parshah. "V'parshiyos hashavua yesh la'shaychus l'shavua k'mevor veShlach." And the parshah of the week has a

02:12 relationship with the week itself, as the Shlach explains. "Hatorah shel zman zeh yesh la'shaychus l'zman zeh." The Torah that we're learning at any given time has a relation to the time that we're living in right now. "L'cheyin yelamdu ma'amarei parshios hashavua b'Torah v'Likkutei Torah." Therefore, it would make sense for people to learn the ma'amarim of the weekly parshah that are in Torah Or and Likkutei Torah. Now, the Rebbe gets serious. "Kol echad," every single person, "yikach al atzmo," must take upon himself, "bi neder," of course, without making a vow, "ligmor shnei sefarim eilu," to finish these two books. "Levad ha'chelek shel Shir Hashirim," except for the part in the back. There's a whole bunch of ma'amarim on Shir Hashirim, takes a very long time. The Rebbe says at this point not to do them. I will point out, we're going to see later, the Rebbe seems to have adjusted this takanah later on to include Shir Hashirim. However, at this point, the Rebbe says, "I want you to learn Torah Or and Likkutei Torah without Shir Hashirim." "Ad hashuva shel Shabbos Bereishis haba," until the week of Shabbos Bereishis, which is coming up. "Shaz mashlim l'krias b'Torah, et ha'pami Bereishis." And at that point, we're going to restart from Bereishis. "Yelamdu b'chol hashua ma'amarei hashua," every single week, I want you to learn the ma'amarim that have to do with that week. "Ad hashuva d'parshas Bereishis," until the week of parshas Bereishis. "Im alu," if you haven't done it, "ma'amarim d'parshios d'vreish hashanah, v'reish hashanah

03:16 ad ata." And since this is coming in the middle of the year, this is like Teves, the Rebbe says you should backfill. You should go back and fill the parshiyos that you haven't done yet, so that you can make sure that by the end of the year, you're totally caught up, which actually fits what we're going through right now. If you want to take on this takanah today, we're in the middle of Mar Chesvan. It's Chaf Mar Chesvan today. And, uh, in honor of Chaf Mar Chesvan, an excellent, uh, excellent, uh, resolution would be to start learning this. And the way a person would start is they would start with the week but also backfill the weeks that they missed. Anyway, the Rebbe continues, "Veyest ki b'kudsha brich hu istakal ba'reis u'bara alma." Since Hashem looks into the Torah, and then using look-- after looking into the Torah, he created the world. "Kamei kein beish mis takal ba'reis v'mekayem alma." And similarly, a person who looks into the Torah is keeping the world standing. "Yehe zeh kli l'parnasah b'rachav, v'yuchel limed b'rnucha v'archav hasadas." If anybody wants parnasah, this is your moment. The Rebbe says that doing this will be a kli, will be a vessel for parnasah b'archavah, for incredible, um, sufficiency, wealth, things like that. "V'yuchel limed b'rnucha," you'll be able to learn in a relaxed state. "V'archavah," and with a whole lot of money. "V'archav hasadas," and also with a whole lot of, uh, of, uh, expansive mind. You'll be able to

04:14 understand it. "Mu v'resh, la davka leiluin nitsan peh v'ar m'chubanim." The Rebbe says, "I'd like to clarify, this is not just a deal that I am giving to people who are at the farbrengen right now." "Ki v'chol echad b'Yisrael b'chol katzes tevel," this is something that applies to all of the Jewish people at all the corners of the world. "Shyelimed Torah v'Likkutei Torah." Every single Jew, he doesn't say every single Chassid here, he says every single Jew in the entire world exis- is expected to learn Torah Or and Likkutei Torah. "Midei shvua b'shvua," every single week. "V'harihu b'chlal," and also it includes you. So go tell everyone, but also don't forget, I'm talking to you as well. "Yesh nav tachas," there is now a promise. "Im b'chol caseicheich v'charku v'charus teileich," that if you will follow my ways, and that means my carved ways, which are the form which is the Torah. "Shtiu al me'ilam baTorah," that is you'll learn Torah seriously. "Venasati gishmecha be'itam." God promises that if we learn Torah seriously and we delve into Torah, that God will give us rain in its proper time. "Shtiu a'gashmiyus areva bizman anachin," that our gashmiyus, all of our physicality, will be sweet and will be in its appropriate time. "U'beker," and the main part, uh, main point is, "Shtiu shebazeh bracha v'gashmiyus t'nutzal l'inyanim b'riim v'smechem." And the main thing is we will end up having a bracha, and also gashmiyus will do well when it comes to health and when it comes to

05:16 joy. So you have here just blessing after blessing for anybody who takes on this takanah, and also the Rebbe demanding it. The Rebbe saying, "I want every single week people to learn Torah Or and Likkutei Torah." Now, there were a couple, uh, different versions of the pushback on this. Uh, it's safe to say that a large number of people didn't want to do it. I mean, that's the implication of the, uh, of the responses in subsequent sichas and in letters, so I'm not afraid to tell you that. Uh, this did not take immediately. Um, some people pushed back that it's simply gonna be too hard for them. And other people have pushed back in subsequent years that this was something the Rebbe only intended for the year Tav Shin Tes Vav, which I'm about to show you doesn't make any sense at all because every couple years he brings it up again and asks why we aren't doing it. So let's look at some letters. Uh, this letter is in Igris. It's in, uh, it's on-- The letter is labeled Gimel Tav Kuf Vav. It is in volume Yud Alef, and it is on page Kuf Kaf Beis, and it's from the year Tav Shin Tes Vav. If you can't find it at this point, I've given you so many GPS ways to find this letter. Uh, we're continuing. Shalom Uvrachah. In my name is I'm responding to your letter from the twelfth day of Iyar. So right after the Rebbe gives the sicha, somebody

06:21 writes to the Rebbe and says, "I would love to complete your tekana. I would love to learn Torah and look at the Torah every single week because you told us to on Shabbos Parashat, Shabbos Parashat, Shabbos Baruch, Mishnah Hanukkah." However, this says this person who's writing to the Rebbe, "I can't do it because I can't find a havrusa. I don't have anybody who can learn it with me." So that's a reasonable argument, right? The Rebbe says back to him, "Chazal already taught us that if you don't put in any effort, of course, you're not going to succeed." "And furthermore," says the Rebbe, "I don't intend for you to take away any time from your study of Nigla, from your study of Gemara, Shulchan Aruch, or Chumash. I want you to add to your study hours, and don't tell me that you can't do it because you can't find a havrusa. If you try harder, you'll find a havrusa, and it will work out." So the Rebbe pushes back pretty hard. There's another letter from right around this time period, about a, a month after the Rebbe gave the sicha, where he announced that we would be learning-- every Jew was expected to learn the entire Torah, Likutei Torah, every week. Uh, for those who haven't opened it before, it is substantial. Um, some weeks it's relatively short, but we are talking, um, even if you're reading it relatively quickly and just translating without too much thought, we are talking something like a, a two-hour-a-week commitment

07:23 probably. Uh, so it's not, it's not a small amount of material that the Rebbe's asking for. Maybe more. In this letter, this is Gimel Reish Nun Tes from Tes Sheva to Tuv Shin Tes Vav, and the Rebbe says, "Shalom u'bracha." "I'm responding to your letter from Gimel Shevat, and there you wrote to me that you give a lot of shiurim in Torah Zanigla and Torah Zachasidis. You give all sorts of shiurim all around the place." "But now you've learned that you found out that I-- the, the rumor has reached you, the announcement has reached you that I want you to learn Torah and Likutei Torah every single week. You wrote to me asking if you should cut off one of these shiurim, if you should cancel one of these classes you give, and instead start teaching the class, uh, on Torah and Likutei Torah." And the Rebbe says, "Here, I don't want you to do that." He says, "I've already pointed out ." The Rebbe says, "I've already clarified that I never want you to cancel Torah shiurim. I never want you to cancel a Seder. I only come to increase." "I never want you to take away from anything you're doing, so obviously, canceling a shiur is out of the question. Uh, that's not gonna happen." "This of course applies to your question as well." Even though the, uh, the entire idea was based on what the-- well, the Rebbe says we have to live with the times and therefore study the Parsha every

08:28 week. He says that, "I think you can make it work by learning only a couple paragraphs, uh, from the Parshat Hashavua in order to make sure you're living with the times." "Regarding people who work for a living, I want them to make sure that they learn the entire Torah, Likutei Torah, every week." "And this doesn't necessarily apply to shiurim that are being given in public." So what I think the Rebbe's saying here is that this does not mean that there needs to be a shiur every week where we are learn-- we are teaching Torah and Likutei Torah in its entirety. That would definitely take away from the time taught teaching. And furthermore, it might be-- you might be able to read this letter to say that the Rebbe is telling somebody who gives a lot of shiurim and is learning and teaching all the time that he doesn't necessarily expect him to learn Torah and Likutei Torah every week. I'm not sure which one the Rebbe means. What I do know is that the Rebbe makes it very clear in the middle that anybody who has a job, they're, they're never off the hook. The Rebbe says that, "I intended this tekana specifically for Baalei Asek. People who have jobs, I expect them to learn the entire Torah and Likutei Torah every single week, and that's the whole reason I made the tekana. And if they're thinking right now, 'Well, maybe I'll cancel my daf yomi, or maybe I'll cancel my, my three Perakim Rambam.

09:34 Maybe I'll switch something around or, you know, cancel a shiur so that I will have time to do this.'" The Rebbe says, "That was not my intent either. I intend for all Baalei Asek to, uh, to add this to their schedule." I'm so sorry for giving the shiur, by the way. I feel, I feel like, I feel like I, uh, I feel like I just ruined everybody's Darom. But, uh, this is what the Rebbe says, that if you happen to have a job and you happen to be very busy learning Torah, add this into your schedule. No excuses. One more letter I wanna show you before we go back to sichas for a little while. This letter is from Tuv Shin Chaf Vav, and this is a, this is a sharp letter and a funny letter. A bachur wrote to the Rebbe say-- asking if Kahas was going to publish a new Sefer Chasidus. I, I don't know which one he was interested in. I think I saw somewhere else that this is something from the Rebbe Rashab, Matim Filade. But in any event, this bachur writes to the Rebbe saying, "I've, uh, when, when is, uh, Kahas gonna come out with this, uh, with this new Sefer Chasidus?" And the Rebbe pushes back very hard that he would ask him that. The Rebbe says, "I always heard about you bachurim from Temche Temimim that you need to learn with incredible hasmadah, and you need to learn with incredible dedication, b-both in Nigla and in

10:34 Chasidus, and you're always working in Avezat Tefilah, you're always davening, and you're always keeping mitzvahs, et cetera." "So given that that's the reputation of Temche Temimim, that you guys are busy learning and davening and doing mitzvahs all day, why are you asking me about the day-to-day operations of my publishing arm?" The Rebbe's not happy about this question. He goes, "Why are you asking me about Kahas and the publishing arm and when they're going to publish new books?" The Rebbe says, "Is it possible that you're asking me because you've learned every Sefer Chasidus and you've learned every Sefer Nigla ever published, and now you're hoping that we will publish this new book because it's the only thing you're missing?" Obviously a sarcastic question 'cause the Rebbe continues, "Hashem heim chitas? Are you even keeping chitas? Are you even learning Chumash, Gemara, and Tanya every day?" And finally, "Did you learn the entire Likutei Torah for Parshas Bereishis?" And this is a letter that was written on Parshas Bereishis, so he's asking this boy, "Among the list of things that I expect every bachur in Temche Temimim to do, did you learn chitas? Did you learn Torah or Likutei Torah?" I brought this letter because of that point, that it's very clear that the Rebbe equates these as being the bare, bare minimum for a, for a, uh, for a student in yeshiva, and certainly the bare minimum for Baalei Asek as well. Now, uh, ten years after the Rebbe initially put out the sicha, initially said

11:43 the sicha, where he told everybody about the tekana that he was introducing, that every single person must learn Torah or Likutei Torah in its entirety every single week in order to finish the entire book every single year. Ten years later, uh, in a couple months, on Tuv Shin Chaf He, the Rebbe, uh, brings it up again, clarifies the tekana a little bit, and also increases the berakhos for anybody who does manage to finish, which of course should be everybody because, again, this is a tekana. The Rebbe says here, uh, you'll find this in Parshas Vayakhel of-- from, uh, this sicha from Adar Sheni of Tuv Shin Chaf He. It is in Perush Menachem, volume one forty-two, and it is on page Three oh eight, and the Rebbe says, from this, from everything I've said up until now, it can be understood. If you finish the entire-- when a person finishes the entire Likutei Torah up until the parshah of Zeisar Beracha, he brings himself a beracha for the entire previous year. Just like chilul works retroactively. That he brings a beracha from the entire past year into the entire new year, the same way that chilul works retroactively for everything that he needs regarding children, regarding health and life, and regarding parnasa, uh, in a expansive way, in both gashmius and in ruchnius. So it's quite a beracha for anybody who does finish the Likutei Torah. The Rebbe continues, I'm not here just to give you drashas. I'm talking practically. Remember, this is ten years

13:07 after the first sicha. Once again, the Rebbe says, "I have established that every single person must be learning the Likutei Torah of that week every single week for every single person." And I'm pointing out, the Rebbe continues, the main hilchot here applies to people who are over the age of twenty. Twenty, twenty and up, and not people under twenty. Because when you reach twenty years old, there's a certain shleimus to you that is explained in Likutei Torah. And if you had learned the Likutei Torah, I guess you would know that. Nonetheless, this also applies to somebody who is before twenty years old, uh, at the very least . So the Rebbe's saying that I really mean that the takanah is it's, it's set in stone that by twenty you must be learning this every single week. If you're before twenty, then it would be great if you started earlier. The earlier you start, the better, but it's not as serious. This also applies regarding donations to the Mishkan, that even small children were able to participate, although they weren't obligated to, et cetera. It's understood. The Rebbe says it should be understood that what I am saying applies to everybody. He keeps telling us this. People who are here at the farbrengen right now and people who are not at the farbrengen right now, let them know that I want every single person who is from twenty and up to be learning Torah or Likutei Torah. Certainly anybody who hears about this, he certainly will

14:25 pass it around to his friends. And then after havdalah in a way that you cannot do on Shabbos, meaning that he wants them to make phone calls. So he's saying, you know, "Right now I want you to, uh, right now it's still Shabbos, run around and tell everybody by word of mouth, and after Shabbos, make some calls, send some faxes, make sure it happens." That means that I expect everybody to make a achlata, that they will learn this themselves. And only then will they be able to really push people to do it, other, others to do it as well. You can't convince people of something you're not willing to do yourself. That way we will have more people learning Torah and Likutei Torah and the wellsprings of Hasidism will go outward until the entire world is full of the learning of Hasidism. Now, for some reason, and I don't know why, I looked it up and I couldn't find a clear answer, for reasons best known to the Nassi himself, the Rebbe really, really pushed this in the year Tishrei Chaf He. He'd initially made the takanah in Tishrei Tes Vav. That was nineteen fifty-five. In nineteen sixty-five, the Rebbe for some reason mentions it almost every Shabbos. It's a big year for it. A lot of letters include it. Almost all of the, uh, public letters at least make reference to it. The Rebbe also gave more Maamar and Sichas that were based on Likutei Torah that year than any other year. And another

15:29 thing the Rebbe would do almost every Shabbos of Tishrei Chaf He is he would offer a special prize to anybody who had finished Likutei Torah by the time of the farbrengen, or at least before the end of Shabbos. Excuse me. I have one example here, but they're honestly, they're, they're almost every week in Tishrei Chaf He. You can look them up. This example is from, uh, Terias Menachem, volume Mem Beis on page three forty. And here the Rebbe says, he says the and after the mayim he said the following, uh, "Based on what we said already, that every single week I want everybody to finish the entire Likutei Torah of that week anybody who has finished the Likutei Torah for this parshah and also those who are running late but promise that they're going to finish by havdalah should right now say l'chaim." So the Rebbe would offer l'chaim to anybody who came to the farbrengen, hadn't finished their Hasidisha parshah, or anybody who would at least be finishing it before havdalah. And I want this to be amongst part of their greater resolution, this good resolution, which is that they will be doing this every single week for the rest of the entire year. And since the Torah is the vessel for any blessing from God, then certainly it's understood that anybody who learns Likutei Torah anybody who learns Likutei Torah, anybody who helps spend money publishing Likutei Torah, in order to make it easier for other people to learn Likutei Torah. Basically, if

16:51 you're learning it, if you're involved in it, if you're publishing it, all such people they will get a beracha from Hashem in everything that they need, in children, in life, and in parnasa, and all of these things should be in a way of, in a way of expansiveness, in a large way. In the year Tishrei Chaf He, this is a Torah that came out for whose wedding? It was the Heber-Botman wedding from the year Tishrei Chaf Tes. They put out a Torah, which was the diaries of one of the fathers, of the father of the chassan. This is his diary, and he has a diary entry from Tishrei Chaf He saying that he heard a rumor about somebody asking the Rebbe what to do when it was difficult to get through the entire Torah or Likutei Torah in one week. So this, uh, Torah is on the screen in front of you. The Torah says, so somebody went to Yechidas by the Rebbe and said, "I really can't learn this well. I mean, I can skim through it, but I cannot learn it even a little bit. I, I can't learn in depth. It's just too much material to get through in one week." And the Rebbe said back to him, said that the entire thing should be learned in a very quick way, in a gezerdik way. Basically, learn the whole thing as a-- skim it. Obviously, you have to understand what you're reading, but no depth. Skim the whole thing. And then just

17:57 learn at the very least the first entry of the first mayim in some depth. it seems maybe the Rebbe said that that was the ikar ha-maimar, but they're not sure that's what the Rebbe actually said. And he says that is more or less what the answer was. Obviously, this is not a precise accounting of what the Rebbe said, but it's, uh, safe to say that the text comes there, which is-- 'cause we also see this in a couple other letters, in a couple other sichas, it's implied across the board, that, uh, the intention here is not that a person should learn the entire thing in depth. That would take Hours upon hours upon hours. Uh, and the idea instead is that a person should learn every one of these Maimon, uh, in a basic level of understanding and then take one section. Here, the suggestion is the very beginning of the first Maimon and learn that part in-depth a little bit so that they're also learning Chassidus in-depth. Similarly, somebody had also asked that in certain, certain weeks, for example, in, uh, around Parashat Tzav, there's a ton of Pesach Maimon. And, uh, you can learn the Pesach Mai-- yeah, that's where they are. I don't know why my brain said it. Probably 'cause I, I don't know. Whatever. There's, um, there's a lot of, uh, Moedim Maimon. The Mai-Maimon that are shayach to a holiday are sometimes mixed in with the ones that have to do with the Parasha. So they ask, "Should I

18:58 be learning those by the holidays, or should I learn those with the weekly Parasha they're assigned to?" And the Rebbe apparently answered, you can do either. It doesn't matter. You get to choose. So if you want to, you can save the, uh, the Moed Maimon, the Maimon that have to do with holidays, for the holidays, or you can just learn them with that week. As then come from the Eretz HaChovah, they also say that the, in the Chovah that this is, uh, this is more or less what the Rebbe says. These are not the exact words of the Rebbe, but it seems to be two practical pieces of advice on getting through the material. Number one, learn it a little faster than you would expect and only focus in-depth on one section. And second of all, you can save some of the parts that have to do with holidays for the holidays if that makes you happy. Um, this is from Tafshin Lamed Beis. So that was in Tafshin Tes Vov. Tafshin Chaf Beis. So now Chaf He. So where have we gone? We've gone from, uh, we've gone from 1955 to 1965, and now we're in the year 1972. And again, in response to, I keep on hearing this from Lubavitchers, I don't know where they got it from, but people who don't learn Torah and Lukete Torah see-- every week seem to have the impression that this was a takanah that the Rebbe made one time, or maybe he made it in, uh,

19:55 in those two years, but that it wasn't intended to last long term. Uh, I'll show you this from Tafshin Lamed Beis, this from 1972. And here in 1972, the Rebbe says the reason why he's not going to be publishing Lukete Sichos anymore is that he's canceling Lukete Sichos because people refuse to learn Torah or Lukete Torah. Now, of course, he ultimately did-- he ultimately stopped that. He eventually put out more Lukete Sichos. But the Rebbe says in the Sicha, "You guys are pushing me to put out more of Lukete Sichos, and I'm not doing it if you don't agree to learn Torah and Lukete Torah because that's more important to me." I'll read it to you inside. So this is from, uh, Teris Menachem. You'll find, find this in volume sixty-six on page one fifty-two. And the Rebbe says, "I've already pointed out once, that in the past there was a seder that on the days of Shan-- that during Shabbos Kodesh, by day on Shabbos, everybody would learn Torah Or and of course, Lukete Torah. in the coming weeks, Lukete Torah, when it sha-- when it switches over, they would learn Lukete Torah. they would learn Maimonim that have to do with that week. " But the Rebbe says, "Ever since I started putting out Lukete Sichos," the Rebbe's own work, that became the main thing people learn during the week. The Rebbe, the Rebbe says that the people who are Shvitz Chabad are making the claim that since the Rebbe has told us

21:07 to publish certain Sichos for the week, that must be a sign that that's the thing we're supposed to learn. And therefore, a person makes the decision that they need to learn Lukete Sichos and therefore they don't need to learn Torah or Lukete Torah anymore. Somehow it's become Shvitz Chabad to learn the Rebbe Sichos instead of learning Torah and Lukete Torah, which are, of course, from the Alter Rebbe. the Rebbe says, "Practically speaking, here's what happens." "The truth is, such people, when they make that decision, they also don't learn Lukete Sichos. That's just the way the Yetzer Hara works." "Rather, what they do instead is they sort of, they sort of, uh, very quickly glance at the Sicha between Mincha and Kabbalat Shabbos, but they don't really learn it either." the Rebbe says, "Therefore," "now we're starting a new year," says the Rebbe. "From this point onward," the Rebbe says, "From now on, I want you to be very careful about this. Learn Torah or Lukete Torah every single week, uh, regarding the part that has to do with that week's weekly Parshas." "You should learn it again and again. Keep on repeating it as if everything's in it," from the line from Perkei Avot. "Then you won't have time to write me letters and to worry about the fact that I'm not publishing Lukete Sichos." So people have been writing letters to the Rebbe saying, "We're worried. We wanna see more Lukete Sichos." The Rebbe says, "Instead of spending time writing me letters, why don't

22:19 you spend time learning Torah or Lukete Torah?" Implying that, uh, this entire section implies that one of the reasons that he's not publishing more Lukete Sichos is because people are taking Torah and Lukete Torah not seriously enough. "And from now on, we should only talk about things that make us happy." We're, uh, running out of time. Wanna show you a few other things. This is a Hashlama from a Sicha from Parashat Lech Lecha that is from the year Taf Shin Mem Tes. This is from the year nineteen eighty-nine. So of course, as I told you, it keeps on continuing throughout the years. The Rebbe writes this, simply put, it's not possible. It makes no sense that a Chassidishe Yid is not learning the Chassidishe Sedra, which is, of course, Torah and Lukete Torah. It also would not make sense to imagine that a Hasidic Jew would not be learning the Hasidic Parsha, which is Torah and Lukete Torah, before he even drinks his tea or his coffee. Obviously, this is the first thing that a Chassid does on Shabbos morning. Uh, if you wanna know what a Chassid is, why don't you ask the Rebbe? The Rebbe says it's someone who learns Torah and Lukete Torah. this particular custom, for some reason, the Rebbe says, this custom never really made it to America. And you have to realize the Rebbe's, uh, angst at this point, anguish at this point. It's, uh, already the year nineteen eighty-nine. He's been trying to bring this to America since

23:28 the year nineteen fifty-five, and the Chassidim just aren't doing it. perhaps it came, maybe it came, maybe people did start doing it, and they did listen to me, and I just don't know about it. Maybe it's just that they're doing it in private. maybe people are very modest. They don't want anybody to find out that they're learning Torah and Lukete Torah. I assume that every Jew is a good Jew, so since everybody has a Chesed Kasheras, I assume you guys have been learning it just very privately in a way that I don't know. So the Rebbe says that if you have been learning it very privately, please stop it. The time for for modesty has already passed. to the contrary, everything you do, everybody should know about. There is no more room for modesty. Make a shturem out of everything, because if you make a shturem out of everything, then more people are going to end up learning Torah and Chassidus. The Rebbe says that if you are privately learning Torah and Lukete Torah every single week, make sure more people find out about it because it's important to spread the word. I have two more things to show you and zero time to show it to you, but let me do it as quickly as possible. This is from the year Taf Shin Nun Beis. So to give you an idea, again, I told you it's all the way through, right? From Taf Shin, from, uh, from, from the year nineteen fifty-five until the

24:26 year nineteen ninety-two, the Rebbe continues to talk about this. Uh, this is in Taf Shin Nun Beis, from a Sicha Kodesh of Taf Shin Nun Beis, and here the Rebbe says that practically speaking, I would like to point out that the same way that we learn the entire Rambam, the same thing as the Takanat Rambam, that is supposed to include the entire Torah, here the Rebbe equates the Takanah of Rambam with the Takanah of Torah and Lukete Torah, saying, "The same way I want you to learn the entire Rambam every year, I want you to learn the entire Torah or Lukete Torah every year, because this is the Torah Shebechsav of Chassidus." Uh, the Rebbe continues down here. He says that, uh, "Also, I would like you to add in the Drushes of Shir HaShirim," which is something that he hadn't said several years previously. In the year nineteen fifty-five, he had not said that. But now he says, "I would like you to also include the Drushes of Shir HaShirim and to break them up over time so that eventually you can finish them also throughout the course of the year, you know, during the weeks where there's shorter Torah and Lukete throw in a couple Shir HaShirim my Madim, and that way you can finish the entire thing. The last thing I wanna show you is in Shabbos Parshas Chayai Sara, which is Shabbos HaVarchim of Kislev, . This was the-- the Knesas Shluchim's coming up. This was the last Knesas Shluchim, uh,

25:27 most recent Knesas Shluchim that we had the Rebbe speaking to the Shluchim. And he takes time during that to remind them that he wants the Shluchim to be learning Torah and Luket D'Torah, and here's what he says. In addition to the Shleimus that comes through doing Shlichus, uh, which is of course, Parshas Beracha, you also reach the level of Shleimus HaNisuin, which is wedding regarding Shir HaShirim. Uh, we'll get into it some other time. et cetera. Uh, here's the part I want you to leave in front of you. When you fulfill this, you end up getting a Shleimus of your Shlichus and a Shleimus of your marriage to God when you accept upon yourself the Achlat HaTevah, the good resolution, to learn the entire book of Torah or in Luket D'Torah every single part until its end every single year. When a person does take this on and learn these Inyanim, you end up bringing down, uh, a practical Hamshacha much more fa-- much, much more quickly. And this reaches us to the level which is an inion of Mashiach. And the Rebbe adds up by saying, this will cause Mashiach to bring the entire Jewish people to the Holy Land. to Jerusalem, the holy city. to the holy mountain. the third and of course, most importantly, that it should be . So in the final Knesas-- in the final... I don't, I don't like doing-- I don't like using the word final. The most recent Knesas Shluchim that the Rebbe spoke at, one of

26:43 his marching orders, one of his main marching orders to the Shluchim was that, "I know you're out there on Shlichus, I know you're busy, and you know what I want you to do? Take Achlat right now to learn Torah and Luket D'Torah every single Parsha, every single week. And if you do that, you're going to fulfill your Shlichus in the most ideal way, and you're also going to bring Mashiach, and it doesn't get much better than that." Okay, I'm out of time. Thank you all very much.