Chof Teves - Part 2: Daily Rambam Study

00:00 The COVID, the beginning of Limud HaRambam will discuss various responses that the Rebbe gave to various people benegea to the study of Rambam, and also from the Rebbe's Sichas, as the Rebbe referred to aspects of the Limud HaRambam. At one point, the Rebbe said, this was intended for the whole future, that it's kedai ve'nochin, it's noteworthy that in addition to learning the daily shiur of the three prak in Rambam, one of the halachas, or at least one detail of the halacha from the daily shiur should be studied with depth. Be'ef mashal hamakeh u'pilpeh. In accordance to their quality in the study of Teyre, each one according to their ability. Beginning of HaYom Yom appears the Rebbe's communal work, Shalshelus HaYachas, in taf shin daled mem, 1984, when the Rebbe's biography was updated, and it was mentioned there that the Rebbe calls on Klal Yisroel to begin learning Rambam on a daily basis. The wording that was originally sent to the Rebbe said, lehishtadel, to exert oneself to learn. The Rebbe crossed out the word lehishtadel, which means trying or exerting oneself. Likewise, in the movri, which was in that same edition, in taf shin daled mem, there was an edition of HaYom Yom that came out with ha'ores vetziyunim, with commentaries, and it said over there, l'hakpid lilmed, to be particular to learn Rambam. The Rebbe crossed out the word l'hakpid, to be particular, just lilmed, to learn. On an occasion, the Rebbe mentioned that benegea to the learning of the shiur Rambam on a

02:20 daily basis, mativim anoyim, how good and how pleasant it would be if Yidden would sit together, it would be a shiur in public, u'matev, and preferred according to the cycle of three chapters a day. HaRav Farhi, who lives today in Eretz Yisroel, and in the past he lived in Manchester, England, once wrote a duch, a report to the Rebbe. This is approximately in the years taf shin mem zayin to taf shin mem tes, 1987, 1989, and he wrote as follows, that he has a shiur every day in the Beis Chabad with a group of talabatim, where they learn Rambam one chapter a day, and they learn it be'iyun, in depth, poshet to know the halachas with the fullest clarity, how much it is possible, and it is a serious learning, and therefore it takes him a lot of time to prepare the shiur in order to know the halachas very well and to relay it to the people at the shiur, and he concludes, therefore he is learning Rambam only one perek a day. The Rebbe responded as follows, harei hu rav v'tzorich le'asum ma'alim bekedesh, askara latziyan. Harei hu rav, he is a rav. The Rebbe makes three exclamation marks, and therefore when it comes to matters of kedusha, sacred matters, a person always has to accelerate to a higher level, which as understood from this answer, that a person should not satisfy himself with one chapter a day, but should go up to three chapters a day of Rambam. On one occasion, the

04:06 Rebbe said that they should publicize the daily Rambam shiurim everywhere and see to it that many Yidden, as many as possible, to join this study. To Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, the Rebbe wrote as follows, Surely his commotion in benegea, the study of the Rambam, the conclusion of the first cycle and then continuing into the second cycle, and the more that he will commotion and add in this inyan, he shouldn't be concerned if this is appropriate according to the advice of the Rambam, that the Rambam writes in Hilchos De'os that a person should always take the middle road, not extreme to the right, not extreme to the left. Because we still did not reach a third or a fourth. The Rebbe is implying that he shouldn't feel that he is going to become an extremist benegea to Limud HaRambam, because he is still not really anywhere close to that. In answer to a question that someone asked, could he join in the middle of a cycle? He's just beginning to learn Rambam. Should he wait till the end of the cycle and join at the beginning, or he can join in the middle of a cycle? So the Rebbe said he should begin from the daily shiur where they're up to now, in order that everyone studying Rambam will be united as one, and over the time, he should see to it to compensate the previous shiurim. In answer to another Yid who asked benegea the Limud HaRambam that in the first cycle, the person missed many

06:02 days Therefore many chapters of Rambam, and now he's up to the second cycle. Is there any point in filling in what he missed in the first cycle? So the Rebbe answered, "Yes, Malkin, there is a, uh, point in also completing bedi'eved what he missed out in an earlier cycle." To a Shliach in Upstate New York that wrote to the Rebbe that he has many financial debts, the Rebbe answered he should compensate on the debts that he has benege'a to the Rambam, which he missed out in the past. From this, he understood that the Rambam is the channel for berachos. In Tafshim and Tes, 1989, the Rebbe referred to the various taconos that were instituted by the Rabbeim. And the Rebbe said as follows, "To strengthen and increase in all shiurei Torah, shiurim haklaliyim, general shiurim based on the Taconos Hakhamim and Minhagi Yisroel Jewish customs in every generation and in every place, including and in particular in this generation, the tacona of the previous Rebbe, the study of shiurei chitas and the study of the Rambam on a daily basis, which were instituted more recently. And although the reason for that is because it is a tacona and following the directives of the Hakhamim, nevertheless, in the fulfillment of these taconos, a person fulfills the mitzvos esa, uh, min haTorah of studying Torah. Ve'ad, the Rebbe, even more yet, that he's doing it with a special chavivus ve'yeiker, that special cherishing as something which is very unique since these are heroos of his Rebbe, the

08:03 Nasi HaDor." This is a very unusual expression that the Rebbe says, "B'sha'as a chasid hears that there is a tacona from his Rebbe, it is with a special fund." The hamster to the earlier installment benege'a to the tacona of Limud HaRambam, as we mentioned earlier that, uh, we just began learning the fortieth cycle. So the meila will continue with installment number two. In yonim that the Rebbe spoke benege'a to the limud of the Rambam, the benefit of learning Rambam also poshed b'gashmiyus. Just on, uh, to add a certain interesting insight that, uh, came to mind, and that is that b'sha'as we begin learning the Sefer HaRambam, Sefer Yad HaChazakah, so we begin with a posek right after we go through the mitzvos esa, and then the mitzvos lo esa, and then the list of the prokim and their contents. So then the, the Rambam begins hilchos yesodei hateirah with a posek, "Meshech chazehcha le'yadecha betzekascha lo yishri lev." Hakaponiym, it is known that the Rambam began writing his Sefer when he was thirty-five years old, and he wrote it for ten years. It was after the ten years, as it is mentioned in Sefarim, two people visited him. One of them was his father, and, uh, his father introduced the second person, who was Moshe Rabbeinu, and he told his son, the Rambam, that we came to look over your Sefer, and it was approved, and this was when he was forty-five years old. When he was thirty-five, as mentioned, he began writing his Chibur,

10:03 the fourteen Sefarim, Yad HaChazakah, Yad is fourteen. We have the Kabbalah from the Ba'al Shem Tov that a person should say the Kapitel Tehillim, the chapter of Tehillim that corresponds to his age, and how he was mekabel it from his Rebbe, Achia Shirleni. When one looks in the Kapitel of the age of the Rambam as he was at the time when he began writing Yad HaChazakah, he was then thirty-five years old. The meila, he was saying Kapitel lamed vav, thirty-six, and this is where this posek, Meshech chazehcha le'yadecha, appears, reflecting the age of the Rambam at that time and his Kapitel Tehillim. Now we go on to a sicha of the Rebbe's, this Chanukah Toshim and Vav, as it was translated in English, by Sichas in English, benege'a to the number of halachos, eighty-three halachos. So the Rebbe said as follows, "The number of halochic sections are set at eighty-three, as the Rambam himself writes in his, in his introduction. What is the significance of eighty-three? In the Talmud, we find, 'I will remove machlah sickness from the midst of them.' It was also taught machlah means gall. Why is it called machlah? Because eighty-three different kinds of illness result from it, but they are all counteracted by partaking of bread dipped in salt, followed by a pitcher of water. This reference to bread and water is symbolic of Torah learning, the spiritual bread and water. Thus, by studying the halochic rulings, which are found in the eighty-three sections of the Rambam, one can neutralize

12:00 and cure all illnesses. And since it is a Torah cure, it even prevents the sickness from coming. And this will certainly increase the study of Rambam, along with all other areas of Torah study, and may this all bring the fulfillment of the promise recorded at the close of the Rambam, 'U'mo le'oretz de'as Havaye kamayim layom mechassim.' For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea."