The 271st "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Wednesday, 24 Menachem Av, 5703.
Chumash: Re'eh, fourth reading, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 24th of the month, one recites from chapter 113 through chapter 118 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day we continue with Iggeret 7 in Iggeret HaKodesh. The daily lesson is on page 212, from the words "V'hineh he'arah" until the word "meirov."
The source of the teaching that appears today is in a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 4 Menachem Av 5696. Within a long letter, the Rebbe Rayatz there brings words spoken by the Rebbe Rashab on Simchas Torah 5654. In an introductory passage, before the passage from which the saying is taken, the following is discussed there.
The Holy One, blessed be He, the Infinite and unlimited, contracted Himself and created spiritual worlds down to this physical world. He takes souls that came from a truly lofty place and brings them down to this physical world. And what is the purpose? To make the physical into the spiritual, that is, to make the physical a vessel for the spiritual. And it concludes there that this is essential work for every Jew; this work every Jew must do with himself, but also with his fellow.
And he specifies that there is one who does this for another out of yiras Shamayim — since he is very careful with mitzvos, he is concerned also for his fellow; and there is one who does this out of ahavas Yisrael — he simply loves his fellow, and therefore is concerned that the other too should be a vessel and fulfill his role in the world.
And then he concludes, saying: I heard from my father — thus the Rebbe Rashab would say — who heard from his father, the Rebbe Maharash, who heard from his father, that is, from his grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, who was together with the Mitteler Rebbe at the side of the Alter Rebbe.
We find, then, that we have here an entire chain: the "Hayom Yom" that the Rebbe wrote, which cites a letter of the Rebbe Rayatz, who relates in the name of his father the Rebbe Rashab, who heard it from the Rebbe Maharash, who heard it from the Tzemach Tzedek, who was together with the Mitteler Rebbe at the Alter Rebbe. We have here all of our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im. And this entire chain of transmission contained in the letter is distilled into the first four words of the daily teaching.
"Received by one Rebbe from another Rebbe" — here he summarizes the entire chain of transmission described in the letter. And what was received? "During the well-known dispute, the chassidim told the Alter Rebbe about the great suffering they endured from the simple misnagdim." For among the misnagdim there were also scholars and Torah-learned men; and when one debates with a Torah scholar and contends with him, and the dispute revolves around sources concerning which he believes he is right and so forth — the argument is on a certain level. But when simple people, who possess no real knowledge of anything, contend with you — it is not "on the same plane," and there is great suffering in it. So they told the Alter Rebbe about the great suffering coming from the simple Jews among the misnagdim.
"The Rebbe [the Alter Rebbe] answered: the Grandfather" — to whom was he referring? "This is how the Rebbe used to refer to the Baal Shem Tov." Thus we have in the letter also the Baal Shem Tov.
The Grandfather, that is the Baal Shem Tov, "held simple Jews especially dear" — those simple Jews about whom you complain that they trouble you, know that the Grandfather loved them very much.
And then the Alter Rebbe recounts — telling this to his son and his grandson: "In my early days in Mezritch, the Rebbe — the Maggid — said: The Rebbe — the Baal Shem Tov — was wont to say [lit. it was habitual in his mouth]: Ahavat Yisrael is ahavat haMakom, "You are children to Hashem your God" — one who loves the father loves his children." That is to say, if you love a fellow Jew, this proves that you love the Holy One, blessed be He, the Father of all Israel.
The Rebbe Rayatz continues in the letter, that the Rebbe Rashab concluded after all of this and said, that through this we will understand the great virtue of one who acts out of love — out of love of Israel, out of love of the Omnipresent.
And in summary: the Rebbe once said, on a certain occasion, to one of the Rebbes of Poland who was with him in yechidus, that he raises a great outcry on the subject of ahavas Yisrael, and he explained to him why: since it is written that the cause of the galus is sinas chinam (baseless hatred), one must raise an outcry in order to nullify the galus; and how does one nullify the galus? By adding in ahavas chinam (baseless love).
It emerges that this entire saying — and like it, many teachings in "Hayom Yom" — conveys the point of ahavas Yisrael: even those opponents who trouble you, you must love. And this is "received from Rebbe to Rebbe."