Bayis - A person's Home - Part 6

00:01 Behemesek, in continuation to the earlier installments on the concept of a Bayis Yehudi, a Jewish home, we now continue with installment number six, discussing the Rebbe's insights on the woman in the house, the homemaker, and what role she plays. In a Sicha on the twenty-fifth of Iyar, תשכ"ג, 1963, as it was customary by the Rebbe to address Nashei Ubneis Chabad, the womens and the daughters of Chabad, several times in the year, one of them was before Shavuos. On one of these occasions, the Rebbe spoke about the Mishkan and the Jewish home and what role the woman plays in the, all this. Translating here from Hebrew into English, the Rebbe says as follows, "In all the vessels of the Mishkan, the sanctuary, they were all blended together from the contributions of people of Am Yisrael to make the Mishkan. There wasn't one vessel that was made from the contribution of one individual person or a group of per- people in order that they should be able to know that this was made from a specific contributor. But in every vessel, there was the participation of the whole Jewish nation. The only vessel that we know that was made from a contribution of a specific group in the Jewish nation is the Kiyar and Kaneh, which is the urn for washing and its base, and that was made from the contributions of the Jewish women. The Jewish women also contributed for all other matters of the Mishkan, but in the other matters, the contributions of the women

02:25 were together with the contributions of the men. But when it came to the Kiyar and Kaneh, the urn and its base, which this made it possible that the Avoda in the Mishkan should take place by washing their hands, the hands of the Kohanim before they do their service in the Mishkan. This was exclusively related to the contribution of the Jewish women." The Rebbe continues, as mentioned many times, beenagah to the Ma'amad Hamatzov, the situation, the state that we find ourselves after the destruction of the Temple, that the destruction only had an impact in regards to the physical aspects of the Mikdash and the Mishkan. But beenagah to the spiritual aspects that a Yid needs to designate and accomplish, there should be a place for drawing down the Shechinah, Godliness, that Hashem should be able to say, VeShachanti, I am dwelling amongst them. In this aspect, in the spiritual aspect, there's no destruction. This is eternal. In our days, this is the Jewish home that needs to be raised and built in a manner in which Hashem could dwell in it, not just on Shabbos and Yom Tov, but every day and every night throughout the year. Ubechem, therefore, in a Jewish home, which is a dwelling place for Hashem, there are all kinds of tasks and services that need to be done. But before we approach any service to do anything, and we want that this Avoda should be done with the will of Hashem, according to Hashem's will, it should be a sacred service,

04:27 there needs to be the washing of the Kiyar and the Kaneh. Which means that we used-- need to prepare by removing the dust and the mud and all the unclean matters that we may have come in touch with, may have stuck onto us, to make sure that they remain outside and are not brought into the house. Which means that the Jewish home has to be exclusively focused on purity and on sacred life. Beenagah to the making of the Kiyar and Kaneh, the Almighty tells us in his Torah that the making wa-- the, of these vessels was from the mirrors Jewish women contributed to build the Mishkan. The Alter Rebbe explains the mirror has two aspects. One, that a person could see oneself in the mirror, and in addition, that a person could also see what's happening behind him. And without a mirror, he can only see what's happening in front of him, but not what is behind him. In the same sense, it is reflected in the spiritual service of the Neshama. Beenagah to the Kiyar and Kaneh That in order to assure that a house should be beautiful and sacred, a person has to evaluate and see not only the state in which one finds himself now, but also to see what took place in the past. How was it yesterday? How was it two days ago, etc.? And this is when he's searching to correct something and also when it is an opportunity for a person to learn experience from the past, from

06:44 the past days, the days behind him, in order to know how to conduct the house from now and future. The Rebbe continues that this Inyan, the Kir and Kani, as a preparation, as a very necessary preparation, that the Jewish house should be a true dwelling place for Hashem, is connected with the Jewish women, as it was in the first Mishkan, and likewise from then till our generation and also after that. That every woman needs to know she is the Akeres Abai, is the homemaker, in which the conduct of the house is dependent, and she needs to assure, b'negeah to herself, b'negeah to her husband and children, that when they come in from the street, in which there are different winds blowing, sometimes good winds and sometimes winds that might bring unwishful things for a Yid. So the first thing that needs to be done is the rechitza, the washing, the cleansing, before walking into the house, since the house is very precious. And after this takes place, we can be assured that the house will be a dwelling place upon which Hashem says that his Shechinah dwells in this house throughout the year.