Miketz (Chanukah) 5752: Oil and the Annointed One
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Miketz (Chanukah) 5752: Oil and the Annointed One

Chanukah commemorates and publicizes the miracle of the oil which lasted for eight days.  Oil is unique in that it is an edible substance, but it is never consumed alone.  We add oil to foods, and it enhances them, but oil by itself is harmful to a person.  Thus, it is demands explanation why the festival of Chanukah is celebrated with oil and not with a festive meal (consisting of bread, wine, and water) as all other festivals are (including Purim, which is similar to Chanukah in many ways).

Let us examine these substances, all of which serve as a moshol for Torah:

Bread and water are a perquisite for life — a person must have bread to eat and water to drink in order to survive. This refers to the revealed Torah, which is necessary for a Jew in order to know how to fulfill the mitzvos.

Wine is a luxury, one can subsist without it.  Nonetheless, it adds enthusiasm and pleasure to the meal.  This corresponds to the secrets of Torah.

Oil is also not essential, but is only consumed in very small quantities that are added to other foods.  The oil refers to the “secrets of the secrets” of the Torah.

Chanukah is commemorated with oil because Continue reading →

17) Kuntres 19 Kislev: The Power of Chassidim
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17) Kuntres 19 Kislev: The Power of Chassidim

This maamor, originally spoken on Yud Tes Kislev 5726, is based on the familiar posuk “Podah v’sholom nafshi“, but it provides a completely different perspective than the maamor released a week earlier (for 10-14 Kislev, 5752).  Here, the Rebbe explains according to the words of our Sages that Hashem states: “whoever labors in Torah and in acts of Kindness (Gemilus Chassodim) and davens with the community, I consider it as though he redeemed me and my children from the nations of the world.”

Firstly, the Rebbe groups them as two: Torah and Gemilus Chassodim drawing down from Above, and Tefillah rising from below to Above.  The Rebbe describes the difference between Brocha (drawn down from Above) and Tefillah (from below), based on the verse “Your Chassidim will bless you” חסידיך יברכוך as explained by the Rebbe Rashab: that specifically Chassidim have the power to draw down brocha in a way that the Divine light illuminates Malchus (the lowest level, which “possesses nothing of its own”).

The advantage of a brocha (generally given by Tzaddikim) is that it Continue reading →

Vayeishev 5752: France is Refined, the World is Refined
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Vayeishev 5752: France is Refined, the World is Refined

The Rebbe begins this sicha by restating that we are the final generation of exile and, thus automatically, the first generation of Geuloh, because “we have already finished all matters of the avodah and are already standing ready for the true and complete Geuloh through Moshiach Tzidkeinu immediately.”

There is, however, a question from some quarters: the Geuloh is, after all, dependent on the whole world being ready for Geuloh, not just one person or a small number of people — but the entire world.  The Geuloh depends on the gathering of the dispersed Jewish nation from all four corners of the world, and also the refinement of all the nations and all the lands.  So they ask: where do we see a change in the world the indicates that the world is more ready for the Geuloh today than in previous generations?

The Rebbe proceeds to answer by first Continue reading →

16) Kuntres Yud/Yud Daled Kislev, 5752: Reveal the Yechida
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16) Kuntres Yud/Yud Daled Kislev, 5752: Reveal the Yechida

Famous are the numerous maamorim over the years explaining the posuk “Padoh v’sholom nafshi“, the posuk which the Alter Rebbe was reading when he was notified of his release from Russian prison on Yud-Tes Kislev, 5559.  This posuk is also relevant to the release of his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, from arrest on Yud Kislev some 28 years later.  The maamor in this kuntres was said on Yud Kislev 5722 (the 3rd maamor of that farbrengen!) and edited and printed in 5752 in honor of that date (and also in honor of Yud-Daled Kislev, the Rebbe’s wedding anniversary).

The verse states: “He redeemed my soul with peace from the battle that came upon me, because the many were with me.”

The common thread in almost all of the maamorim, beginning with the maamor of the Mitteler Rebbe, focuses on the concept of being redeemed from battle in a way of peace, which is seemingly an oxymoron — if there is peace there is no battle!  The explanation is that in fact there is a battle: a battle between the nefesh Elokis (our G-dly soul) and the nefesh habahamis (our animal soul).  One may attempt to overcome his nefesh habahamis using his intellect (the lower levels of his nefesh Elokis: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshoma), or overpowering it with force of will, ratzon (from the level of Chaya), but in all these cases the nefesh habahamis can fight back with its own intellect and force of will — a battle.  Only when one reveals his yechida, the highest level of his soul, can he nullify the struggle of the nefesh habahamis and thus win the battle “in peace” —  “Padoh v’sholom”.

In this maamor the Rebbe explains that there are two aspects of “sholom” (בשלום — ב’ שלום): from Above to below, and from below to Above.  When there is a revelation of Ohr from Above which Continue reading →

Vayishlach 5752: The Job After the Birurim Are Completed
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Vayishlach 5752: The Job After the Birurim Are Completed

The sicha of Vayishlach 5752 contains several different threads, each of considerable significance. Firstly, the Rebbe explains the concept of the diminution of the moon — that the full moon on the 15th of the lunar month, when the moon fully receives and reflects the light of the sun, is followed by a decrease in the light until it completely disappears from sight. However, this period of diminution of the light of the moon is really only as far as the revelation of the moon is concerned.  But the fact that we continue to count the days up (16th, 17th, 18th, etc.) hints that in fact the moon is really reaching a higher level, coming closer to the sun (the mashpia) until it ultimately unifies with it and becomes a mashpia itself.  “The complete perfection of the moon is when it becomes like the sun and no longer needs to receive the light of the sun.“

The unification of the sun and the moon, the mashpia and the mekabel, requires the moon to be completely nullified, resulting in “the essence being revealed” (etzem b’hisgalus).  This is a metaphor for the relationship of the Jewish people to Hashem, that when Continue reading →

Vayishlach 5752: The Moon Becomes Like the Sun
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Vayishlach 5752: The Moon Becomes Like the Sun

Our sages tell us that the Jewish people are likened to the moon and thus we count according to the moon.  The months of the Jewish calendar begin with the birth of the new moon each month.  This means that the 15th of every month is the date of the full moon.  What is a full moon?  It is the time when the moon reaches the state of maximum revelation, reflecting the light of the sun to its utmost.   This is called shleimus halevana, the moon being “full” and “complete”.  This process of the waxing of the moon until it reaches completeness is illustrated by the increasing number of the day of the month: 1, 2, 3, etc., until the 15th.  The ascending number corresponds to the ascending completeness of the moon’s revelation.

The true completeness of the moon, explains the Rebbe, is not truly found on the 15th of the month (the full moon), because then the moon is is only at maximum capacity as a mekabel, a receiver (and reflector) of light from the sun.  The true shleimus, the true completeness of the moon is when the moon becomes similar to the sun — a mashpia — and no longer needs to receive light from the sun.

By examining the astronomical properties of the movement of the moon we will understand this more deeply: the first half of the month, when the Continue reading →

Vayeitzei 5752: Asleep on the Site of the Beis Hamikdash?!
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Vayeitzei 5752: Asleep on the Site of the Beis Hamikdash?!

Yaakov Avinu, fleeing the wrath of his brother Esav, arrived in Beis El as the sun was setting unexpectedly.  As a result of the sudden sunset, he went to sleep there for the night.  The next morning, when he woke up, he realized where he was — Har Hamoriah, the site where the Beis Hamikdash would later be built.  He declared his shock that he had slept in such a holy spot!

In the Dvar Malchus sicha of Vayeitzei, the Rebbe examines Yaakov’s laying down to sleep “‘in that place’ — the place of the Mikdash (מקום המקדש)…”  

This expression “the place of the mikdash” (“מקום המקדש”) should grab our attention — this is the same expression the Rebbe uses in Kuntres Beis Rabbeinu Sh’b’Bavel (which was published and distributed several weeks prior to this sicha).  In that Kuntres, the Rebbe states that 770 is the “place of the Mikdash” (מקום המקדש).  Does the Rebbe want us to realize that we, too, are “sleeping” in the “place of the Mikdash” (מקום המקדש) and don’t realize it?!

Apparently so.

However, the Rebbe explains in this sicha that the seemingly disgraceful “sleeping in the place of the Mikdash” can Continue reading →

Vayetzei 5752: We Need Only to Open the Eyes
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Vayetzei 5752: We Need Only to Open the Eyes

This sicha was said on Shabbos Vayeitze, which corresponded in 5752 to the 9th of Kislev, the birthday and hillula (day of passing) of the Mitteler Rebbe, the 2nd Rebbe of Chabad.

The Alter Rebbe, his father, represented the attribute of Chochma (wisdom), and his son the Mitteler Rebbe represents the attribute of Bina (understanding).  Just as Bina expands and reveals the breadth and depth of Chochma, so, too, the teachings of the Mitteler Rebbe are “wide as a river”, allowing one to drink deeply from the wellsprings of pnimiyus haTorah.  This is significant to bringing the Geuloh, because:

At this time there needs to be…the study of pnimiyus Hatorah as it has been revealed in the teachings of Chassidus, and the fulfillment of the instructions of our Rebbeim.  This includes — learning the subjects of Moshiach and Geuloh, in a way that it opens the heart and the eyes and the ears — so that they will understand, and see and feel the true and complete Geuloh tangibly in the physicality of the world.

Not merely learning as some sort of intellectual exercise, but rather “in a way of seeing, that this [the true and complete Geuloh] is already prepared and ready, and one only needs to open the eyes and then he will see this!“

Practically speaking, Continue reading →

15) Kuntres Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5752: Greatest is the Effort From Below
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15) Kuntres Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5752: Greatest is the Effort From Below

This maamor begins with the words of the haftorah (“Vayomar lo Yehonoson“) recited on Shabbos Erev Rosh Chodesh.  The attentive student will recall that a maamor on the very same verse was distributed as Kuntres Erev Rosh Chodesh Iyar, 5751 (seven months earlier), but the content differs significantly.  The maamar quotes the haftorah: “Tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh and you will be remembered (nifkadta) because you are missing from your place (ki yipaked moshavecha).”

Erev Rosh Chodesh is when the moon completely disappears from sight.  It represents the bittul of the Yidden.  Through this bittul they draw down a new revelation that was never in the world before, which manifests as the birth of the new moon on Rosh Chodesh, the level of “nifkadta” (“remembered”).  This new light — “Ohr chodosh” — is from a level that is completely above the world, drawn down through the avoidah of bittul. In contrast, avoidah connected with the existence of the individual  (קשורה עם המציאות שלו) only draws down Ohr on a level that has a connection with the world.

The Rebbe now describes Continue reading →

Toldos 5752: The Essential Existence is Revealed
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Toldos 5752: The Essential Existence is Revealed

This week the sicha examines a simple but deep concept: the distinction between “essential existence” (“etzem metzius“) and the revelation of that existence.  This is illustrated by the difference between the birth of a person, the beginning of their essential existence, upon which everything they will do in the future depends, and the actual good deeds that they will do in their life.

Similarly, we find by the moon (this sicha was spoken on the Shabbos following Rosh Chodesh Kislev), that Rosh Chodesh is the “birth” of the new moon. Following its birth, the moon proceeds over the next 15 days to wax greater and greater, increasing the amount of light it shines.  The greatest light that reflects from the moon is on the 15th of the month, representing the fulfillment of its ability to shine (a “full moon”). [There is also a special quality of the 2nd half of the month is explained in the sicha of Parshas Vayishlach].  Yet, even the great light of the full moon derives from the initial revelation of its essential existence on Rosh Chodesh.

In the case of a Yid: the first moment of revelation of his essential existence, etzem metziyuso, is the moment of Continue reading →