Elul & Slichos - Part 1

00:01 As we find ourselves in we'll mention some from the different . In the rebbe said as follows. I'll say it first in Yiddish and then translate it in English. This is Elul. In English, Hasidim don't fear . Nevertheless, they fear what they need to fear, and with joy they do and to be . In 1954, the rebbe said that the request in is not through , not verbally, or , in writing, but it's through which means that the is the expression of the request of Yidden to the . In 1981, the rebbe spoke about the of simcha before selichos. And as known, the , the story of the previous rebbe that once Shabbos selichos. After that, during Shabbos, they heard a from the rebbe, and then they went to selichos with, uh, joy. And the rebbe says that it seems to him, as far as he remembers, that the that the previous rebbe used, that the manner in which they went to go say selichos was . means that they were very joyous, like someone that and said . And the rebbe says, "But actually such an should not be mentioned in a that is heard on a live hookup because there can be some kind of an a, uh, uh, question, where do we find this in Shulchan Aruch?" So the rebbe says, "We find it in Gemara." That the Gemara in Shabbes lamed amud beis 30B says that has to be in a way of , with a commitment, with a seriousness. Nevertheless,

02:40 the Gemara tells us to Rava, one of the great sages in the Talmud, that before he gave a shiur to his talmidim, First he said sort of a joke, the rabbonim laughed, and after that they all became serious, and he relayed the shiur to them. This means that is the appropriate preparation for the study of Torah in a manner of . The Talmud sits in a solemn manner and absorbs what he hears from his Rav, and in a manner of . That he's not so joyous. He's sitting in a more serious and low-key status. And then he that the secrets of Torah are revealed to him. The rebbe refers to the famous saying that that the secrets of Torah are revealed only to one who is solemn and more on the serious side. Which means that even secrets of Torah that he himself cannot attain on his own, and they need to be revealed to him from above, so this is accomplished through . So the rebbe says, in the same sense, this is also to anointing the as a king on Rosh Hashana. That although anointing a king means a seriousness, a solemn conduct, appointing a king over the nation, and the fear of the king needs to be on the people of the nation. Nevertheless, we find that when it comes to anointing a king in a physical sense, in this physical world, the anointing of the king n-- is done with joy and with a very true will and desire, and with

05:02 a true mesirat nefesh, commitment, which means devoting, committing the will of the person in this project of anointing the king, in the same sense needs to be when we anoint the for a king over the universe during Rosh Hashana every year. It was customary by the rebbe that after concluding the selichos on the daily basis of the rebbe would, before leaving the shul, motion to sing the . The rebbe would motion with his hand to begin singing the which means that Hashem, who answers to the poor people, to the poor, should answer us, and Hashem Who answers to those that are brokenhearted should answer us. The nigun was taught by the Rebbe Simchas Teva morning, Tov Shin Chof, late 1959. The Rebbe would customarily teach a new nigun after Hakafes through the night and about 5, 6 in the morning, the Rebbe would come in and teach the nigun and would also distribute Mashke to all those who took upon themselves to increase in the study of Hasidus. And the Rebbe said about the nigun as follows. I'll say it first in Yiddish and then in English. The nigun at the Altstraat needs to be sung low-key, slowly, and then with joy. Because at the beginning, it is tachannunim, a plea, a request, matter of begging. And as it moves on, the demand and the bitachon become stronger. Bitachon means the person feeling more secure and assured that everything will work out. And the Rebbe concluded, when it is svire liba, then surely it will

07:47 be anena. When a person is brokenhearted, surely his request will be answered. It was a certain point, a fabregen, that someone in front of the Rebbe sang the nigun Rachamana, but he sang it in a mode of chazones. So the Rebbe said, they don't match up together. Sviré liba means brokenhearted. Chazones is a different mode and a different expression. They don't go together.