These parshiyos (read together in many years), contain the 42 journeys of Bnei Yisroel in the midbar prior to entering Eretz Yisroel. These 42 journeys represent our sojourn in golus (both collectively, and individually). Upon completing these journeys, the birurim of exile, we find ourselves holding at “Yarden Yericho” prepared to enter the land.
This is also the final reading from sefer Bamidbar, upon which the custom is to say “Chazak! Chazak! V’Nischazek!” (a declaration something along the lines of “be strong”). The Rebbe connects Continue reading →
In this sicha the Rebbe explains that we bring the Geuloh through the avoidah of “making ‘here’ Eretz Yisroel” (מאך דא ארץ ישראל). This is associated with the avoidah of being a “Pnimi” — one who is completely involved in what he is doing. The instruction of “making ‘here’ Eretz Yisroel” is explained by the Rebbe: “even when he is found ‘here’, in chutz la’aretz, and in the time of golus — one must make ‘Eretz Yisroel’ [while he is] ‘here’ — in this place and time…seemingly: according to Torah ‘here’ (chutz la’aretz) is not ‘Eretz Yisroel’!”
The way to make “here” (which is not “Eretz Yisroel”) into “Eretz Yisroel” is by being totally involved in the avoidah of the moment, without thinking about what it will lead to, whether it is the main thing or a preparation for something else. “It is known the saying of the Rebbe Rashab — a Pnimi is one who is completely involved in everything he does.” Even if what he is doing is a preparation for something else (such as singing the niggun as preparation for hearing a Chassidic discourse from the Rebbe), he is focused on what he is doing and not what it leads to.
A Yid must do his avoidah ‘here’ — in this place and time — with complete perfection (based on his abilities and potentials in his situation) in thought, speech, and action, as a ‘Pnimi‘ who is completely involved in whichever avoidah he is presently doing (and he doesn’t think at the time that he’s doing it about another avoidah later)…he is making in this place (and time) a land in which Yiddishkeit (Yisroel) is openly recognizable.
A chosid once asked the Tzemach Tzedek for a brocha to go live in the Holy Land so that he could devote his life there to Torah study and avodas Hashem; the Tzemach Tzedek replied, “R’ Hillel (Paritcher, a legendary chosid called by the Rebbeim “half a Rebbe”) doesn’t lack Eretz Yisroel. Make here Eretz Yisroel.”
In this week’s Dvar Malchus the Rebbe connects this story with the description in parashas Pinchas of the distribution of Eretz Yisroel among the 12 tribes and how it relates to our individual avodah in the last moments of exile.
The purpose of our exile (individual and collective) is to refine and elevate the world at large, transforming it into the level of the Land of Israel, our part in the words of the midrash that in the Time to Come the land of Israel will spread out to all the lands. However, at the same time Yerushalayim will spread out to all of the land of Israel (Israel remaining on a higher level than the rest of the world) and thus Moshiach will come to gather every Jew and bring him to Eretz Yisroel.
There is a common thread running through almost all of the Dvar Malchus sichos of 5751-52: the concepts of “ratzo v’shov” (ascending and returning); and the contrast between influence from Above the effort from below. These concepts are explained at great length in the teachings of Chassidus, and they receive added emphasis in Dvar Malchus.
The year this sicha was said (5751) Shabbos parshas Chukas was the 10th of the month of Tammuz. This means it carries the influence of the number seven (Shabbos) and the number ten (10th of the month). The Rebbe explains that seven represents the complete perfection of the world as it is created from Above, exemplified by the Written Torah which was given from Above, the revealed aspect of Torah. The number ten represents the perfection that is attained (and added to) via our effort from below, which finds expression in the Oral Torah, including Pnimiyus Hatorah. The added quality of ten, deriving from our effort, is that it brings to revelation the “concealed good” which is not openly revealed in the revealed Torah.
The difference between 7 and 10 is 3, which refers to the “moichin“, the three intellectual dimensions of Chochma, Bina and Da’as (Chaba”d). It is our effort to use our intellectual abilities which brings out the hidden good. Says the Rebbe here:
To point out that last Shabbos was 3 Tammuz, the beginning of the Geulah. This Shabbos. the 10th of Tammuz, comes after 7 days of the week have passed — the avodah of refining the 7 midos. Together with this is the avodah of the 3 moichin (of 3 Tammuz) — and this brings about the revelation of the aspect of 10 (of Tammuz)…
This is the special quality of our effort (3 [moichin]) which adds to the completeness from Above (7 [midos]) and brings to the ultimate completeness and perfection of revealing the hidden good (10). [This is also connected with our parsha which speaks of the Red Heifer (Pora Adumoh), in which the Torah instructs that the sprinkling of the purifying waters take place on the third day and the seventh day.]
The Rebbe explains further: “through understanding Pnimiyus Hatorah and the soul of the matter, one is able to see there also the hidden good, even though one does not see this revealed, or one even sees the opposite (the opposite of good).” According to Torah (and emphasized in Chassidus), everything is really good because Continue reading →
We find that the Rebbe teaches a firm principle: the flow of the year is a continuum. This means to say that each holiday or commemoration day is a preparation for the one that follows it on the calendar. For example: Pesach (coming out of Egypt) is a preparation for Matan Torah on Shavuos; the day of Yud Kislev (the redemption of the Mitteler Rebbe) is a preparation for Yud-Tes Kislev (the day of redemption 29 years earlier of his father, the Alter Rebbe). The year that things happened in history is of much less significance than the order that they happen on the calendar.
From this we understand that since 28 Sivan precedes Gimmel Tammuz by 5 days — according to the Rebbe’s principle it serves as a preparation for Gimmel Tammuz. In what do we see this? On 28 Sivan we celebrate the Rebbe coming to America, being miraculously saved from the “valley of tears” of war-torn Europe. Gimmel Tammuz is marks the end of the era (until now, at least) when we could see and hear the Rebbe in the usual ways. What sort of preparation is this one for that one?
The day of 28 Sivan is noted in the “Shalsheles Hayachas” printed (at the Rebbe’s behest) at the beginning of the sefer Hayom Yom. It begins with the Maharal of Prague, indicating the 7 generations to the Alter Rebbe. Then it lists by year the major events and accomplishments of each of the Rebbeim of Chabad, concluding with the Rebbe. For the Rebbe it states (after the year he was born and married) that in “5701 — Sivan — came to the city of New York”. Not “arrived” (as a refugee) but “came” (purposefully). A few comments about the Rebbe’s coming to New York:
The Miracle of the Sun standing still was only in order to allow Israel to defeat the enemy by their own power in a natural way.
Gimmel Tammuz is the day that the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe was released from Soviet prison in 5687 (1927).
Prior to that, we find that it was on this day that Yehoshua bin Nun performed a tremendous miracle, causing the sun to stand still. The story behind the miracle is that Israel were doing battle with the enemy. Sunset was approaching, and with the setting of the sun the battle would cease and the enemy would be able to escape. In order to enable Israel to defeat the enemy, Yehoshua instructed the sun to “be silent”, causing it to cease it’s flight in the heavens, preserving the daylight so that the battle could be won.
The Rebbe asks an obvious question: if one has the power to cause the sun (and the entire heavenly system with it) to pause, why not simply bring about the defeat of the enemy in a direct fashion? The preceding verses in Sefer Yehoshua tell us that more of the enemy were killed by stones which fell upon them from heaven than were killed by the sword. Is it not a simpler matter to rain down some more stones than to freeze the entire heavenly system?
The answer the Rebbe gives is that the battle is Israel’s battle, it must be won by them under their own power. Of course Hashem is helping with miraculous assistance from above, but this is only assistance. The war must be fought and pursued by Israel in a natural fashion, even if on top of that there is super-natural assistance. Thus, instead of Yehoshua simply bringing about the defeat of the enemy and Israel stand by passively, he used his power to give Israel more time to overcome the enemy in a natural way.
In our day, Gimmel Tammuz is primarily associated with the transition from the years when we saw the Rebbe to the current situation where the Rebbe is not seen except in videos and dreams. Moshe Rabbeinu is likened to the sun, and the Rebbe, Moshe Rabbeinu in our generation, is still providing all the assistance necessary to win the war against evil. But the war must be won by us, under our own power. While the Rebbe was visible to all, it was possible to “rely on the Rebbe” to win the war. Today, when it seems that the sun, Moshe Rabbeinu, has “stopped moving” it is only in order to allow us to overcome the enemy using natural means.
For a more detailed explanation, with comprehensive references from Chassidus, see the KuntresInyonei Moshiach and Geulah for Gimmel Tammuz.
In the sicha of Parshas Shlach the Rebbe contrasts the spies who were sent by Moshe Rabbeinu in the parsha, and the spies sent by Yehoshua in the haftorah. By contrasting the differences, the Rebbe identifies for us two differing paths in our service of Hashem (and in “entering the land” — bringing the Geuloh) “which complement each other and complete each other for the sake of a singular goal, the conquest of and the entering into the land.”
The spies sent by Yehoshua were for the sake of conquering the land, whereas those sent by Moshe were supposed to aid and encourage entering the land (which includes settling the land after it is conquered). Moshe’s spies were assigned the task of scouting out the goodness of the land, to give Bnei Yisroel a tangible idea of the special land that awaits them (by bringing back the enormous fruits of the land), and through this to arouse in the Yidden a desire and excitement to enter Eretz Yisroel.
As we know, the spies contradicted their mission and tried to scare Bnei Yisroel away from entering the land as a result of “mixing in” to Moshe Rabbeinu’s instructions. But, explains the Rebbe, in truth Continue reading →
The Rebbe brings in the name of the Rebbe Maharash a Midrash which states:
The Holy One said to man, “My candle is in your hand, and your candle is in My hand; My candle in your hand is Torah… Your candle in My hand is the soul… If you guarded My candle, I guard your candle; but if you extinguished My candle, I extinguish your candle.”
Although it may sound like a case of reward and punishment, the maamor explains it in a much deeper way:
The soul is likened to a candle because of its inherent nature to desire to rise up and be nullified in its source. This is accomplished by Aharon, who has the job to light the menorah until “the flame ascends of its own accord.”. Thus, the verse says “like good oil on the head descends on the beard the beard of Aharon…”. The beard of Aharon is the inyan of the halachos of Torah. This explains our midrash: that guarding the candle of Torah guards the soul that its desire to ascend should be revealed. This is accomplished via Torah.
As Chassidim we can understand that it refers to our hiskashrus to the Rebbe: that by Continue reading →
One of the most prominent features of the Messianic era is the spreading forth of Divine knowledge. It begins with Moshiach Tzidkeinu himself (“he will possess great wisdom greater than Shlomo Hamelech, and will be a great Prophet (Novi) close to [and exceeding] Moshe Rabbeinu”), and proceeds to the entire Jewish nation (“Yisroel will be great sages and will know the hidden things and will grasp the knowledge of their Creator according to their [individual] ablity”). This is expressed by the verse in Yeshaya “Because Torah will go forth from Me” (“כי תורה מאתי תצא”), upon which the Midrash explains “A new Torah will come forth from Me, innovation in Torah (chiddush Torah) will go forth from Me” (תורה חדשה מאתי תצא, חידוש תורה מאתי תצא). [As explained in many places in Chassidus, the “new Torah” refers to new and deeper understanding of the very same Torah that was given to Moshe Rabbeinu at Har Sinai: the very same Torah, the very same letters, etc.]
PROPHECY AND HALACHA
The Rebbe explains that there are two aspects to the chiddush Torah: the newly revealed secrets of the Torah, and chiddush in halacha (specifically: using the fins of the Levyoson to shecht the Shor Habar, as the Rebbe will explain in depth.)
That Moshiach will reveal secrets of Torah is readily understood. But to say that he will make innovations in halacha presents a difficulty, because (as mentioned above) Moshiach is a Novi and there is a priciple that a Novi is not permitted to make innovations in halacha (אילה המצוות, אין נביא רשאי לחדש עוד דבר מעתה). Furthermore, what is the idea of an innovation in Torah anyway?! The entire Torah (including the future innovations of a sage, “talmid vosik“) was given to Moshe Rabbeinu on Har Sinai — so what room is there to “innovate”?
The answer the Rebbe gives is that the effort of the talmid vosik to find and reveal the answer (using the 13 rules through which the Torah is explained) makes it his own chiddush. On a deeper level, such a chiddush is only revealing something that was “concealed, but existing” (העלם שישנו במציאות). Meaning that using the tools of the 13 rules the human intellect is capable of revealing this concept. But in the Messianic Era, the chiddush will come from the level of things which are “concealed, and not in existence” (העלם שאינו במציאות). Meaning that human intellect could never arrive at such a conclusion, it must be revealed into human intellect from Above by the Holy One, blessed be He. Thus the midrash tells us that this new dimension of Torah comes “from Me” (from Above) and “goes forth” — goes out into human intellect.
This also answers the difficulty of Moshiach as a Novi making innovations in halacha: Continue reading →
The Rebbe many times repeats the words of Tanya, chapter 37, that all the lofty revelations of the time to come are dependent on our Divine service during the time of exile. Although this is well known among those who learn Chassidus, there is nonetheless a common misconception that once we finish our labor in Golus, than everything else happens automatically. In almost every Sicha of Dvar Malchus, the Rebbe drives home the point that the end of exile is not the end of our labor. In this Sicha it is expressed as “lighting the lamps until the flame rises on its own.”
This is Rashi’s commentary on the words of Hashem to Aharon HaCohen in our Parshah: “When you light the lamps [of the menorah]”. Says Rashi, this literally means “when you bring up the lamps”, because Aharon “is required to kindle the lamp until the flame rises by itself.”
The object is not simply that the lamps should be illuminated (the lamps referring to neshomos Yisroel), because this occurs also while Aharon is holding the light to them. The Torah doesn’t say “light up the lamps”, but “bring up the lamps”. This means that even when the one who lights them removes his influence, the lamps stay lit. The Rebbe emphasizes that this means that the lamps burn on their own accord even without any outside influence.
Even though lighting and bringing up the lamps comes about through lamp-lighting Jews, nonetheless the lamp must be ignited in a way that afterward the light comes from itself, the flame goes “on its own”, without needing any assistance from the lamp-lighter.
This means that even though a person didn’t “light himself up” — he had a Rebbe, parents, teachers, mashpiim, friends, etc. who helped “light him up” with an enthusiasm in avoidas Hashem — nonetheless, the complete and true avoidah is when (after he is “lit up” by others) he becomes a “flame which rises on its own”. This means his own existence alone is what drives him, and not the influence of a mashpia (not even The Mashpia).
The significance to our times, after Gimmel Tammuz, should be obvious. We are not presently operating in an environment where we see the Rebbe giving dollars, a piece of lekach, Kos Shel brocha, or an enthusiastic wave of the hand. But if one refers to the decades when Chassidim saw and felt all of that as “the good old days” — he is missing the point! The “complete and true avoidah” is not when a Yid feels excited when the Rebbe is “lighting him up”, but rather after that, when he can prove that the Rebbe was truly successful in lighting him up because his fire for serving Hashem “rises on it’s own” — even when the “lamp-lighter” pulls away the lighter!
This may sound like a daunting challenge, to bring ourselves to Geuloh-dik avoidas Hashem without the “Mashpia” (the Rebbe) lighting us up. Firstly, we don’t have any choice in the matter: either we do this or, chas v’sholom, cool off. As to the “how” — how can we bring ourselves to this avoidah the Rebbe wants from us, to rise up on our own accord? The Rebbe brings in the Sicha from the Rebbe Rashab:
The nature to rise up [to its source] that is found in fire is not like something additional to it, not because it feels the loftiness of its source; but rather, because of its bittul and its lack of a metzius…
The more bittul we achieve, the less we are concerned with our own metzius (our feelings and our experiences of the Rebbe) and instead focus on what the Rebbe wants from us, we will find that we are “lit up” to bring Moshiach (in both our personal avoidah and our avoidah with others) in a more complete and true manner than was the case in the “good old days”. We will truly rise up on our own!
Dvar Malchus 770 