The 24th of Teves: The Alter Rebbe

00:00 As we find ourselves in the of the Alter Rebbe, we'll discuss from various the directives that the Rebbe gave us for this day. In , early 1978, the Rebbe then mentioned in a practical sense that should be done on the day of Havdalah Teves. It was later edited by the Rebbe, and it is . And they are namely to study at least one Perek, a chapter of Mishnah that starts with a letter of the Alter Rebbe's name. Minimum a Perek. To study a in the Alter Rebbe Shulchan Aruch, to learn a Perek Tanya, chapter of Tanya, and also to learn from the of the Alter Rebbe in Parashat Va'era, which is usually the of Havdalah Teves in the week of Parashat Va'era, and they are included in , in Parashat Va'era, and also to give Tzedakah in relationship to Havdalah Teves. The Rebbe urged in general, what we derive from this day is to learn the Alter Rebbe's Torah, and especially when there is a participation of ten people or more, then it is . That it's in a very special splendor when there are ten or more people learning Torah together, as the Mishnah speaks about the uniqueness of ten people learning Torah. On another occasion, Havdalah Teves early 1989, the Rebbe said, "Since Havdalah Teves is the of the Alter Rebbe, and as the Alter Rebbe writes that on the day of the of a tzadik, all his accomplishments and all his Torah and mitzvahs elevates, and then it is revealed back down

02:40 here. It accomplishes it accomplishes salvation in this physical world. So therefore, the Rebbe says this should inspire all who are following his ways and his teachings, that the of this day, there should be an increase in all in of Kedusha, and especially in that are connected with his and his Torah and his Avoda. And to continue also in the following days that it should later continue the for the whole year, beginning from an increase in studying his Torah, Sefer Tanya Kadisha and Torah which are the discourses on the Parshat, and also the Drushim that our generation merited that they were published more recently." The Rebbe's referring to the of the Alter Rebbe, twenty-seven volumes that were published in the in 1980s, and also in his Shulchan Aruch . And to increase in the with the two lights signifying the Alter Rebbe's name, , the light of and the light of . And from the name , which are the two lights, as mentioned earlier, it comes down also in a practical sense that from the study it is . It comes down into the framework of time and space, which this is also symbolized in the second name of the Alter Rebbe, Zalman, which has the . It has the letters , which means it comes down within the framework of time and space till we merit to see it in a-- physically, the as we will see it in the upcoming redemption. And that is when we're also gonna be seeing our masters, the

04:53 Alter Rebbe and all the Rebbe until the previous Rebbe, , and all of them . In the case of the Havdalah Teves, there's a Sikha from the Rebbe explaining the of Havdalah Teves, which is the Hallel. The chapters in Tehillim from kuf yud gimel through kuf yud heth comprise the whole Hallel. So the Rebbe explains that Hallel is associated with Parashat Va'era. The Sefer of Tehillim and Hallel befrat is the idea of songs and praises to Hashem authored by Dovid HaMelech the sweet singer of Am Yisrael. Dovid HaMelech is referred to as Dovid for through him the future redemption will come. In the Parashat Va'era we find the four terms of redemption. And :"Vehaveisi Eschem", which is the fifth term that refers to the future redemption. The Talmud states that it is not good to recite Hallel every day, for since Hallel is associated with the idea of a miracle, the recital of it every day would mean that one does, uh, not recognize the special nature of a miracle. Since Hallel is set on the twenty-fourth of Teves as the daily portion of Tehillim, it follows that the idea of a miracle is present. Although it is not said with a blessing, the saying of Yiratzen after reciting Tehillim is similar to a blessing. Moreover, the non-recital of the blessing indicates that it comes from a source so lofty that it cannot be drawn down through a blessing. This teaches that every Yid can reach a level such that even on a weekday, he

07:04 possesses the concept of a miracle. In greater clarification, the Midrash Tehillim states that Dovid HaMelech requested from Hashem: "Yihiyu lerotzen imrei fi", may the words of my mouth be acceptable, may Yidden read them and receive reward for them as if they engaged in the study of Negayim and Ohalis. Negayim are plagues and leprous diseases, and Ohalis are basically Hilchos Tumah, impurity resulting from proximity with the dead. The obvious reason for mentioning Negayim and Ohalis specifically is because they are profound areas in Torah. But if only because of this, Dovid HaMelech could have mentioned monetary laws, Dinim Momones, about which our Chachamim say, "One who wishes to become wise," :"Aritza lechachim yaseik bedinim momones", should engage in the study of monetary laws. We can therefore derive from this that Negayim and Ohalis emphasize another matter, that the Torah affects worldly matters, even the very lowest Negayim, which came into being after the sin of the Eitz HaDaas, and Ohalis, the most severe form of impurity. Through studying these concepts in Torah, a Jew elevates the lowest matters in the world. And this is what Dovid HaMelech meant when he said, "Yihiyu lerotzen imrei fi", that when a person is reciting chapters of Tehillim, he receives a reward for them as if he would have studied Negayim and Ohalis. Because through reciting Tehillim, the world is refined and elevated, similar to the elevation achieved by the study of Negayim and Ohalis. As we see in the case in the recital of Hallel that it affects the world,

09:16 for Hallel is recited over a miracle, a change in world. And this is something that relates to all. The recital of Tehillim is relevant to all Jews, even the simplest. Indeed, the reciting of Tehillim by simple Jews has a certain advantage over Torah study. As the story of the Baal Shem Tov that he once showed his disciples the greatness of the recital of Tehillim by such Jews to the extent that the disciples envied them and wished that Hashem would help them, the disciples, to serve Hashem in such a manner. This is a sicha from the day after Havdalah Teves. It was Shabbos, Shabbos Mevorchim Chet Shvat. And now we go on to a sicha, Havdalah Teves Tov Shin Mem Beis, nineteen eighty-two. The Rebbe speaks about the Kviyus, the calendar setting of Havdalah Teves that it is on a Tuesday, as this year, and the lessons that we derive in Avodas Hashem. And since everything is Hashgacha Protis, Divine Providence, and especially based on the tale of the Baal Shem Tov, that every Inyan has a lesson, a ro'eh in Avodas Hashem, but maybe it's understood also b'negia to the Kviyus, the calendar setting of Havdalah Teves on a Tuesday. And the Rebbe connects it with the Shiur Chumash w- of Parashat Va'era. In Parashat Va'era, chapter vav, pasuk Ches, it says, "Vehaveisi Eschem al ha'aretz asher nosasti es yodi", that David still will bring Yidden to the land which, as Rashi explains, he swore with an oath that he's gonna give it to Avraham,

11:19 Yitzchak, Yaakov, and that shall be a heritage, inheritance for the Jewish nation. Which means the Rebbe says that Eretz Yisrael was given with a shevua to every individual Yid, wherever they are and at all times. And the status is Yerusha. Yerusha is something that has no interruption. It's eternal. And no one could object to it because it just passes on from one to another. :"Matzad HaHalacha venTorah" of Yerusha. In addition to the above, the Rebbe focuses also on the third day in the week, which is Yom Shlishi, :"Shehuch bal bekiteiv", it's a double goodness. Goodness for heaven's sake and goodness for creation's sake. And the Rebbe explains, it does not mean that part of the day is Tevilah Shamayim and part of the day is Tevilah Briys. No, every regah, every moment, every- Unit of time of this specific day is a minute that is, or a unit of time that is consisting of two ingyonim, teiv hashamayim and teiv labriyis, which this connects the aver for another yid with aver Hakadosh Baruch Hu. As we find ourselves after Chavdalo Tevis and approaching Yud Shvat, the Rebbe spoke in a sicha the connection between these two yemei hilula. The sicha was on Chavdalo Tevis, Tovshin Lametes, early nineteen seventy-nine. The Rebbe said as follows, "Fifteen days from today, the yortsite of the Alter Rebbe comes Yud Shvat, which is the yortsite of the previous Rebbe. The connection between the two days is emphasized by the fact that every year Yud Shvat falls on the day

13:24 of the week directly following that of the twenty-fourth of Tevis. For example, this year Chavdalo Tevis occurs on a Tuesday and Yud Shvat on a Wednesday. Whenever two days of the week follow one another, a relationship exists between them. The conclusion of one day leads into the next, and the beginning of the following day starts at the end of the first. Thus we see that the Friedrich Rebbe's yortsite is connected to the Alter Rebbe's. Although a gap of two weeks separates the two, Kabbalah explains that all Tuesdays and also all Wednesdays are related to each other. The example the Rebbe refers to is, as we find by Aseres Yemei Teshuva between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, that there is a set of seven days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These seven days consist of all the seven days of the weeks of the entire year. Therefore, although there is a gap of two weeks between Chavdalo Tevis and Yud Shvat, still because all the weeks are connected together, it is as one follows the other as two days follow each other. Therefore, the Rebbe continues, we must find a lesson which connects the two dates. The Friedrich Rebbe was the successor of the Alter Rebbe. The Hebrew word for succeed, memalamokim, literally means fills the space. The use of that term indicates that the Friedrich Rebbe completely fulfilled the services initiated by the Alter Rebbe. Furthermore, since he belonged to a later generation than according to the principle of ma'alim b'kedesh, ever higher in

15:30 holy matters, it follows that he made a unique contribution over and above the legacy he received from the Rabbeim that preceded him. That contribution centered around the extension of Chassidus to the point that it reached even those outside the normal sphere of Jewish activity. The previous Rebbe initiated the translation of not only elementary but also profound texts of both the legal and mystical aspects of Torah into languages other than Hebrew. He oversaw the translation of a number of different texts into Russian, German, French, English, etc. The translation of Torah brought about by the previous Rebbe centered not only on texts but also on Torah lifestyle and behavior. In the times of the previous Rabbeim, the Jews were spread out among the nation physically. However, they had a strong conscientiousness of their Jewish entity and identity of their Jewish, of their Jewish identity and their lives revolved around the Torah. However, in the times of the Friedrich Rebbe, the Golus had become internalized. By then, Jews had adopted aspects of the lifestyle and character of the nations in which they lived. Not only did the Jewish people need translations of Torah texts, but they also had to be taught how to live as Jews. The Friedrich Rebbe worked to establish a connection between these Jews and a genuine Torah lifestyle. In bringing them into contact with Torah, he never compromised. He brought them close to Torah without lowering Torah to their level. Simultaneously, he saw to it that they can approach Torah in a pleasant and

17:40 inviting manner. The previous Rebbe was able to take the two lights, the legacy of the Alter Rebbe, whose first name is Schneer, two lights, and give them over to every Jew in such a manner that they were Lizman. The second name of the Alter Rebbe is Zalman. When we turn the sequence of the letters, we also have this, the word Lizman. Timely, they related well to practical deed and action in a timely manner within the framework of space and time in this physical world. The concept above clarifies the lesson of the connection between Chavdalo Tevis and Yud Shvat. Stated succinctly, it is that we must try to bring Torah out in seventy languages and communicate its lifestyle to every Jew no matter what his background. This obligation particularly applies to our generation. Much less self-sacrifice and strength of character is necessary to spread Torah now than in previous generations. Fewer obstacles stand in the way of Torah and mitzvahs. On the contrary, the non-Jews generally respect those who observe their religion. This situation should encourage and bring about an increase in the spreading of Torah. We can clearly see that Hashem has given us the potential to overcome the challenges of Golus. The existence of the opportunity must be a sign for us to broaden our scope of action. If Hashem has provided us with the potential to do more, that potential must be used.