24 of Adar - כד אדר א' ת"ש עזב אדמו"ר הריי"צ את לטביה

00:00 Speaker 1 Okay, we're doing it the twenty-fourth day of Adar Aleph. This is in the year Taf Shin. Um, this is in nineteen forty. Uh, the twenty-fourth day of the first Adar. We, uh-- That was when the previous Rebbe left Riga, Latvia, on his way to America. We already, uh, mentioned earlier that we learned about on the ninth day of Adar, uh, Aleph, he, um, he actually came, uh, to this country. And so it, it took from the twenty-fourth day, uh, I mean, ninth of the second Adar, he came to this country. So it took from the twenty-fourth of Adar, um- Correct ... about, uh, what is it? Like, uh, eighteen days, you know, of travel or sixteen days- Fourteen ... you know, of travel. What, what, what was that? The twenty-fourth day of Adar, Adar one? My birthday. In nineteen-forty. 1940. In March fourth, nineteen forty. Nineteen forty. Really? Yeah. Look at that.

01:09 Speaker 2 Before nineteen forty?

01:10 Speaker 1 No. Before you were born.

01:11 Speaker 2 Yeah.

01:11 Speaker 1 No, no, no. March fourth. Yeah. It was kind of, uh- Yeah, yeah. No, no ... he looks, he looks a little old for being born in nineteen forty. Yeah. Yeah.

01:18 Speaker 2 I thought it was him.

01:19 Speaker 1 Uh, okay. So on the twenty-fourth day of the first Adar, the previous Rebbe left the city of Riga, and he flew first to Stockholm in Sweden. On the twenty-fifth day of Adar Aleph, he left the city of Stockholm, and he traveled by train to the city of Gothenburg. That's weird. That's in Sweden, must be. Must be. And from there, he took a boat to the United States, uh, from there. Uh, on the day that the Alter Reb-- the Rebbe traveled, he wrote a letter to, uh, a public letter to the Hasidim, and that was on the twenty-fourth day of Adar Rishon in the year, uh, as we mentioned, in the year, uh, uh, this March fourth, right? March fourth, in the year Taf Shin, um, again, nineteen, uh, forty. So he writes to them, and he's addressing it to all, all of the Hasidim that are in Israel, that are in Europe. May God be with them, blessing them, giving-- open up with-- with, uh, the-- with greetings. He says, "They, uh, this has all been determined by divine, by Hashem's determined. Hashem is the one that leads the steps of man." Quoting the verse, we don't even know where we end up. It's God that leads us in every-- wherever we are, in every place. "And it's what God wishes to take place is what takes place. And therefore, with God's help, I am traveling together with my family to the United States." The Rebbe continues to say, "My love and my connection has

03:09 Speaker 1 no, uh, no end, and there is no partition, and there's no stop, and the boundaries of countries, um, and, uh, will not be something that can sort of take away from our connection. Uh, my journey, uh, is going to be, uh, uh..." Translation. "My, my..." He's saying like this, yeah. He says, "My, my moving should be..." And he says, "You-- The people who are dear to my heart, to my heart, the people who are, you know, I love them with my entire soul, my, my friends, my, my, my Hasidim, my students, the students of the Temimim, everybody, and those who love Toras Moshes, I'm only changing. It shouldn't be looked at as if I'm traveling to another world, but it's only if I'm changing my residence from one city to another city in-- within the country." He emphasizes that he's still in the same country with them. He's not in a totally different country. "Because, uh, even while I am actually traveling right now, I am, with God's help, uh, and the merit of our holy Rebbes and forefathers, uh, I am together with you just like I was till now." He says, "I'm not leaving you with an essential love which cannot be interrupted." And it comes with the feeling of, like, the image you show to water, to as we know many times, we use that phrase as there's a reflection. If you show the water a smiley face, you'll get a reflection of smiley face back. So is the heart of a

05:02 Speaker 1 man to another person. When a person projects love to the other person, then in turn, the other person loves him as well. It's sort of a reflective of the other one's emotional feeling. This is from the words of King Solomon. But the, um, Rebbe was basically referring to the, to the fact that the Hasidim, uh, their love to the Rebbe is returned by the Rebbe's love to them, that this is sort of a mirrored love that comes as an expression. And as we know, um, the Hasidim to a Rebbe have a very, very special relationship. It's kind of hard to, uh, articulate that sense of connection. Well, we have a connection between children and parents and children. We have, uh, spouses. We have various kinds of acquaintances. We have friends. We have various different things. But there is a very unique- A very special connection between a Hasid and his Rebbe. But even more than that, there's a very special connection between a Rebbe and his Hasidim, which means, um, that the care and the depth of that, uh, connection, the depth of that bond is, is, is, is very deep. Because there are various different layers in, in every person, in every item, there's different layers, and it depends how deep down a layer you go in which you can touch that layer as well. Uh, with the Rebbe, it's like the Ichid, it's like the essence of your soul. It's very, very deep down, and it's a soul connection. Generally speaking, uh, the

06:54 Speaker 1 Alter Rebbe talks about it in Tanya, and it talks about in Hasidus in many places, that this is the reasons and that's why we can expect people to be really, uh, respectful and care and love one another, to have the real meaning of... It says you should love your fellow as yourself. Well, one can ask, "Well, how, how, how can I... You know, I love myself because that's natural. That's the way I've been born. But how could I love another person than like myself?" Uh-

07:27 Speaker 2 It's actually not always true. If you don't love yourself, you don't have the ability to love anybody.

07:33 Speaker 1 Oh. Well-

07:33 Speaker 2 It's true

07:34 Speaker 1 ... that's another thing. That's another thing. Yeah. If you can't love yourself, you can't love somebody else. And maybe, and maybe that would explain why the verse says you should love somebody as yourself to indicate that you gotta love yourself too. It's also, it's, it's by insinuated over there when you say love somebody like yourself means that you should love yourself because it is true that if you don't love yourself, you can't love somebody else either. But, uh, it is easier to love yourself than it is to love another person. And we had yesterday the discussion in the car, uh, that, um, what the, uh, grandson of the Alter Rebbe writes in one of his, uh, um, commentary on the mitzvahs. He says that the meaning, you know, when we have the, uh, heathen coming to Hillel and saying, "I want you to convert me while I'm standing on one leg," and Hillel responds to him, he says, uh, "What is hateful to you, don't do to your friend. This is the entire Torah. The rest is commentary." So he goes, "Go and study." So he sort of basically taught him. So that's another, uh, question, how is this the whole Torah that the Alter Rebbe addresses? And, you know, that we're discussing over here. Uh, the reason is that, uh, the, the reason why, uh, we find it hard to, um... Maybe, uh, we love ourselves and another person maybe, uh, annoys us or gets on our nerves or sometimes we don't, uh, it

09:21 Speaker 1 is because we make a, uh, major part of our life our external part. You know, my material, my physical, uh, my needs. Sometimes my needs don't match up with somebody else's needs, and if their needs are not mine, there's a conflict over there. I mean, that's why, you know, sometimes spouses don't get along. Sometimes, uh, parents and children don't get along. Sometimes-

09:47 Speaker 2 Maybe the issue is they-

09:48 Speaker 1 ... neighbors don't get along

09:49 Speaker 2 ... maybe the issue is they love themselves too much.

09:52 Speaker 1 Oh. So what happens? So the idea is because what their focus is everything on the "I." It's "me, me, me, me," and what makes me happy. Uh, it's not, we're not focused on what makes the other one happy. It's what makes me. It's all about yourself. And, and this is natural. Person is naturally, has his self-centered, is, has his own ego, and they're looking to satisfy themselves. And when they say, "I love you," they really mean, "I love me," because it's what you are doing for me, and that means so I love you, not for you. I love you for what you're doing for me. But that is because the person, he is the center of the universe. Everything evolves around that person, and everything that he measures is how it satisfies him, how is it. But the Torah and the mitzvahs were given to us that we should raise ourselves a little bit above of our materialistic needs and our wants that we just physically want. But we should realize that we have a spirit within ourselves, that we have a soul that has a little bit other needs besides just eating and drinking and satisfying its own pleasure. It has spiritual needs. And this is also a reason where a lot of people are looking... You know, they're not feeling well, or they're looking for happiness, and they're looking to find it somewhere, you know, more, pouring more materialism, pouring more things. It, it doesn't make them happy because that's not the problem.

11:28 Speaker 2 Well, the more you-

11:29 Speaker 1 They're looking... They're barking up the wrong tree

11:30 Speaker 2 ... the more you-

11:31 Speaker 1 And the more they want and the more unsatisfied. And a lot of these people aren't lacking anything in this, but what they are lacking is that spirituality. It's that... So people who are overly involve themselves have a hard time. So the Torah helps us, tells us, "Wait a minute. It's not all about me. It's literally about God. It's about our spirit. It's about our neshamah. It's about our soul." And when we talk about something more spiritual, then we see, you know, me and the other person aren't really two separate Entities because at the end of the day, we all come. It's like brothers come from the same parent, and eventually we come from the same, we come from the same scene, we come from the same place. All Jewish souls come from a place. So if the main thing is our, uh, physical... So then two people don't get along, then we have problems because we clash. Our interests are not the same. But once we are not-- our body is not our main interest. And that's why he was saying-- Hillel was saying to him, "What is-- This is the principle of the Torah." The Torah's principle is what is hateful to you, don't do to your friends. Meaning, what he was telling him is that you have to be able to ri-rai-raise a little bit above the physical. This is what the whole Torah does for us. It teaches us about God, it teaches about spirit, it teaches about important morals, it teaches

13:00 Speaker 1 about what's important in life. And then if you can do that, then you don't have a problem loving another person because the other person-

13:08 Speaker 3 It comes automatic.

13:09 Speaker 1 Yeah, it almost automatic. And-- But the Rebbe explains, the Ɣaḻ Machsēḇēḇ explains that that's why Hillel used it, and he says, "What is hateful to you, don't do to your friend." What he's really saying, a person usually finds excuses for themselves. Even if a person makes a mistake, let's say he does something wrong, he will find a reason for a, a bad character, for doing something wrong, saying something wrong, doing. It was, "Oh, I wasn't in a mood. I, I wasn't feeling well. Uh, cut me some slack, you know. I want..." You know, tell, tell your spouse, you know, "Listen, don't get, you know, nothing, you know... I had a headache today, you know. I'm just-- It wasn't, uh..." A person naturally, because they have self-love, they cover for themselves. But somebody else's fault, you can see very clearly. You see somebody else's mistake, that there's no mistaking over there. What do you say? "Oh, that guy made-- That person made a mistake." And you can fully see it. How come you can see it and the person himself doesn't see it? Ah, because he has his own self-love that covers over him, so that's why he doesn't see it. Or even if he sees it, he doesn't make a big to-do about it. He doesn't want you to just hush it up, you know, "Okay. So just let's not talk about it." So that's what he was saying to him. What is hateful to you, meaning you don't like somebody else coming to you

14:35 Speaker 1 and pointing out to you and uncovering and making a big to-do of your own fault, don't do it to somebody else.

14:41 Speaker 3 It's always easier to find fault in other people.

14:43 Speaker 1 Yeah. Than everybody... And it seems to be that everybody loves a good gossip, something really negative about somebody else, or they call it a lashon hara, you know, find something really a juicy one. You know, and that sells newspapers or sells, uh, websites or it does, you know, just trying to put somebody else down. Find-- And that's unfortunate. It's a very big negative in the person. But the idea here is to realize that there are more important things in life, and to realize that real happiness does not lie just in fulfillment in your physical, materialistic and, or animalistic needs. That we are like a ways... As the Gemara says, there are several ways we are like an animal. We eat, we drink, we sleep, we we go... That's the, it's the part of animal in us. We're like, uh, animals in that way. But then we have the part that we're like angels, that we have the mind, we have the brain.

15:38 Speaker 3 Love.

15:39 Speaker 1 We have the intellectual, we have the emotions, we have the capacity of understanding, we have the capacity of giving and receiving love. And we have to make that our main focus. We have to make that our main goal. When we do that, then we can, uh, uh, have that, uh, strongly and, uh, we can live better lives. But the Rebbe, in a way, with the Hasidim, that's like a very deep level of that purest level of love in which you go beyond any, uh, selfish or personal, uh... You rise above it, and then you can connect on a higher level.

16:15 Speaker 3 Is that-

16:15 Speaker 1 Yeah.

16:15 Speaker 3 So, like, self-sacrifice was sort of the goal, is to, you know-

16:20 Speaker 1 S-

16:20 Speaker 3 ... deny yourself things but give to others, you know. Those are the-

16:24 Speaker 1 Yeah, but it, but... Yes

16:24 Speaker 3 ... people that were saintly.

16:27 Speaker 1 Yeah. But it doesn't-- But the truth of the matter is, you know, there was a famous beautiful story about there was a person who was, uh, suffering. He was a rabbi. He was, uh, suffering. Uh, he was-- he didn't have much of materialistic needs. And, and there was once a person came to the Rebbe, actually the Maggid of Mezritch, who was the teacher of the Alter Rebbe, as we've been studying. And he said to me that this person came to the Rebbe asking, he says, you know, he's suffering, he doesn't-- he lost his business, and you know, he was complaining that he's not doing so well. So he comes to the Rebbe and he asks, he says, "Rebbe," he says, "You know, I know the Talmud says that one needs to, uh, thank Hashem for everything. You know, you have to accept everything is... But how do you do that?" He says, "You know, I just doesn't-- My heart doesn't, uh, doesn't, doesn't do it. You know, I just don't feel, I don't feel like it. You know, I just don't feel, I don't feel good." And the Rebbe says, "Why don't you go to my student?" He says, "Go to Reb Zusha, go to my student, and why don't you check with him and see. He has very little. And learn, and see he's always happy. He's never complaining, yet he's always..." Okay, so he goes, he listens to his Rebbe. He comes to the house and he sees it's a pretty, very simple

17:44 Speaker 1 home, and it's very, uh... The furnishings and everything else, a house full of children, he doesn't see. Seems like the person is having a hard time in this room. So he gives him, "Shalom aleichem." He says, "What can I do for you?" He says, "The Rebbe sent me to you to learn how one can have so little, uh, and still thank Hashem." He looks at him, he says, "Well, that's very nice that the Rebbe sent you here, but-" He said, "I really don't understand why he sent you to me." He says, "I got everything I need."

18:14 Speaker 3 Right. I don't think that-

18:15 Speaker 1 He should have sent, he should have sent you to someone who's lacking.

18:19 Speaker 3 Yeah.

18:19 Speaker 1 And then you would learn.

18:20 Speaker 3 Right.

18:20 Speaker 1 And then he really learned that it's not real sacrifice. He actually, in his mind, he was truly happy. And, you know, what I'm trying to answer you, you were saying is you don't really have to give up anything. It doesn't mean you have to live like a pauper, you have to go dressed in dirty clothing. It just means you don't make it your emphasis. You don't make it your goal in life.

18:43 Speaker 3 It's all relative.

18:44 Speaker 1 You don't... You make it, you know, it's necessary. You can have, you can have all materialist- all material also, but don't make that your whole entire goals and focus and, and therefore, uh, you're always in conflict. Maybe somebody else you're feeling is, is, uh, is, is going against you. You have to be able to thank Hashem. And you know, people become-- sometimes feel bad, and they come, they feel it because they are feeling some sense of, of difficulty, but it's really all in your head. And if you think about, you know, your blessings, or if you think about, you know, your mind is like, uh, it's what you let into your thoughts is, you know. You have-- It's like a door, you know. You have to close, shut the door sometimes, and don't entertain that thoughts. Or you have to think about other things let into your mind, you know. You have to let into your mind. So if you feel down or you feel sad or you feel s- unaccomplished, you have to just get rid of that thoughts because that doesn't change, uh... As, uh, my daughter likes to say, she says, "Worrying is like a rocking chair. It goes back and forth, it doesn't get you anywhere."

19:57 Speaker 3 Ooh. I like that. That's a good one.

20:00 Speaker 1 Yeah.

20:01 Speaker 3 True.

20:02 Speaker 1 It'll get you, you know. Uh, you know.

20:03 Speaker 3 You get a little nauseous.

20:04 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah. Yeah. But you know, it's, it's, it's not something that-

20:11 Speaker 3 Well, it's like-

20:11 Speaker 1 Not it's easier said than done, but yeah.

20:13 Speaker 3 Right. It's like the pressure of trying to live like the neighbors, you know, where like the kids today, you know-

20:19 Speaker 1 It's very hard. Yeah

20:19 Speaker 3 ... the neighbor has this kind of boots or something, and then, you know, you-

20:23 Speaker 1 Oh, and, and the neighbor says, "Oh, my, we're all going to Disneyland, and you can't afford to go to Disneyland." We were talking about that.

20:29 Speaker 3 Yeah.

20:30 Speaker 2 Shabbos. Shabbos.

20:30 Speaker 1 Last Shabbos, we were talking about that.

20:31 Speaker 3 That's right.

20:32 Speaker 1 And everybody's doing all these great stuff and what do you have?

20:35 Speaker 3 Right.

20:35 Speaker 1 Now, that's-- there's a lot of pressure out there.

20:36 Speaker 3 Especially-

20:36 Speaker 1 Yeah, there's a lot of pressure for-

20:38 Speaker 3 Oh. That's what you're referring to.

20:39 Speaker 1 Yeah.

20:39 Speaker 3 Like, "All the kids went to Florida this vacation."

20:42 Speaker 1 The guys-- And we're staying home.

20:43 Speaker 3 They don't, like-

20:44 Speaker 1 Poor, poor kids. You can think they are starving.

20:46 Speaker 3 Yeah.

20:46 Speaker 1 Or they don't have what to eat or a bed to sleep or nothing, you know.

20:50 Speaker 3 It's gonna-

20:50 Speaker 1 Should take these kids and show them what other kids, what suffering means, you know.

20:53 Speaker 3 Right.

20:53 Speaker 1 Like so, in other, in other places, and then they would, you know, appreciate what they have.

20:58 Speaker 3 Yeah.

20:58 Speaker 1 But it's unfortunately, we have to battle. That's-- we have to battle that mentality.

21:02 Speaker 3 But they only see what's next to you, you know?

21:03 Speaker 1 What?

21:03 Speaker 3 They only see what's next to them.

21:05 Speaker 1 That's right.

21:06 Speaker 3 You know.

21:06 Speaker 1 Their world, that's what it is.

21:07 Speaker 2 My daughter is turning forty in a couple of weeks. She grew up in Sharon, and she hated the materialism, so she went the other way. She bought secondhand clothes.

21:17 Speaker 3 Ugh.

21:18 Speaker 2 You know, dressed long and whatever, and just, she just hated it.

21:23 Speaker 1 Well-

21:23 Speaker 3 It's a lot of pressure.

21:24 Speaker 1 It's a lot of pressure.

21:25 Speaker 2 It is a lot of pressure.

21:26 Speaker 3 Yeah.

21:26 Speaker 2 But we're-

21:27 Speaker 3 Every kid is trying, you know, everybody gotta have, like you said, the boots-

21:30 Speaker 2 North Face

21:31 Speaker 3 ... and everybody have North Face, and you gotta have-

21:32 Speaker 1 And they, and they, and-

21:33 Speaker 2 Ugg boots

21:33 Speaker 1 ... and, and, and there's, uh, certain fads that a d-- that dirt do that.

21:37 Speaker 3 Oh, yeah.

21:37 Speaker 1 This year, this is the fad. This is the in. Everything else is out.

21:40 Speaker 3 And then they, the kids-

21:41 Speaker 1 And these other guys are promoting it. That's how they're making their living.

21:43 Speaker 3 Yeah.

21:43 Speaker 1 They're-

21:44 Speaker 3 And the kids are-

21:44 Speaker 1 They're making money on these kids.

21:46 Speaker 2 Well, the parents are enabling it. That's the other thing I wanna bring up. I mean, as a CPA, I see a lot of different worlds of financial-

21:52 Speaker 1 Uh, right

21:52 Speaker 2 ... too, I'm sure.

21:53 Speaker 1 Yeah.

21:54 Speaker 2 I see... And, and what really-- I mean, it's one thing, I-- It's kind of an interesting observation. Those who have less tend to be more generous, even though it's small amounts.

22:04 Speaker 1 Sure. Yeah.

22:05 Speaker 2 They have more or just have a warmer heart. Those who have more-

22:09 Speaker 3 Less

22:09 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah

22:10 Speaker 2 ... it's so rare-

22:11 Speaker 3 Cheaper

22:11 Speaker 2 ... to find someone who... It's not a matter of cheaper.

22:13 Speaker 1 Right. No.

22:14 Speaker 2 They're just-

22:14 Speaker 3 The averages

22:15 Speaker 2 ... so more self-absorbed.

22:16 Speaker 3 Right. Right.

22:17 Speaker 2 And the money just, pardon my expression, just sort of gets wasted.

22:21 Speaker 3 Yeah.

22:21 Speaker 2 It's like I look at their stuff, and it's like, "Okay, you made this ridiculous amount of money, so where is it?"

22:28 Speaker 3 Right.

22:28 Speaker 2 Um-

22:29 Speaker 3 I have a friend of mine like that

22:30 Speaker 2 ... no charitable contributions? No this.

22:32 Speaker 3 Yeah.

22:33 Speaker 2 No, I mean, where's your savings? What are you doing?

22:36 Speaker 3 I'd like to say-

22:36 Speaker 1 You gonna take it with you.

22:37 Speaker 2 I mean, what are you doing?

22:38 Speaker 1 He's gonna take it with him. They're gonna take it with them.

22:40 Speaker 3 They don't even save it.

22:40 Speaker 1 You know the guy, he took-

22:41 Speaker 3 Yeah. No, they won't-

22:41 Speaker 1 He instructed they should bury him with all his cash. The guy comes and writes a check to him, and he takes the cash.

22:47 Speaker 2 They're not keeping the cash. They're-

22:47 Speaker 3 No, I got a friend-

22:47 Speaker 2 He's spending it on nothing.

22:48 Speaker 3 They, like I got, I got a friend like that.

22:50 Speaker 2 And they think it's gonna go forever.

22:51 Speaker 3 Right. Like on clothes or something.

22:52 Speaker 2 And they, then they, they think-

22:53 Speaker 3 Oh, yeah. I got a friend-

22:54 Speaker 2 They think this high income is gonna go forever. I mean, I can't tell them.

22:57 Speaker 3 They don't save.

22:58 Speaker 2 This is not gonna last forever. You're very fortunate. Make the most of it and-

23:02 Speaker 3 Yeah.

23:03 Speaker 1 Well, being happiness, being happiness, being happy does not necessarily go together. And I, I know that there was-

23:10 Speaker 3 Money doesn't bring happiness

23:10 Speaker 1 ... uh, somebody once, uh, I've heard it, somebody once asked the Rebbe-

23:13 Speaker 3 Right

23:13 Speaker 1 ... about a elder, you know, elder chasid. He was struggling and everything else, and, and he asked him, "How come..." He named some sort of a, I guess, a celebrity who was, you know, raking in, you know. And Rebbe says, "Look, you know, you don't know who's living a happier life."

23:34 Speaker 3 Right. It may look, it may look that-

23:36 Speaker 1 It may look that, but the-

23:37 Speaker 3 Right

23:37 Speaker 1 ... at the end of the day, who's living a... Okay, but that's, that's a whole 'nother thing. We're talking about, generally speaking, materialism, ego, self stands in the way of being able to connect with others. A little bit of humility, a little bit of realization that there is a spirit to us, that there is joy, brings us, uh, to a lot more happiness, brings us to a lot more success and-

24:01 Speaker 3 I mean, the goal is to show that to your children. That's the hard part is-

24:05 Speaker 1 The hard part is to teach your children when the whole culture tells them something different.

24:08 Speaker 3 Right. The pr-

24:09 Speaker 1 How do you impart in them the values when everything else that you... And it subtly creeps into your head, you know. We don't even see. They don't tell you, "Here, I'm going to tell you this." They just keep on programming us. They're brainwashing us by telling us, "This is important in life, and this is, and you gotta do this, and you want-

24:28 Speaker 3 And you wanna finish the-

24:28 Speaker 1 I wanna... Uh, yeah. Everything.

24:30 Speaker 3 It's the, it's the, it's the power of advertising