The one hundred and forty-seventh "room" in the hall of Hayom Yom.
Friday, 18 Nissan, three days to the Omer, 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Acharei Mot, Shishi, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 18th of the month, one says chapter 88 and chapter 89.
Tanya, on this day we conclude chapter 41. The shiur begins with the words "Vehinei kol", on page 116, until the end of the chapter with the words "vechu' kanail".
The daily teaching opens with a directive that applies in such a calendar configuration, on a Friday leading into the holy Shabbat that falls during Chol Hamoed Pesach, followed by a teaching of the Tzemach Tzedek. We will begin with the directive. The Rebbe says: "At Minchah we do not say Hodu, but we do say Patach Eliyahu".
The custom is well known, originating in the enactment of the holy Baal Shem Tov, that every Erev Shabbat, prior to the Minchah prayer, one recites the psalm "Hodu". This psalm is chapter 107 in Tehillim, which details the four categories of people who must give thanks, as the verse appears in it four times: "Let them give thanks to the Lord for His kindness and His wonders to the children of men".
Why did the Baal Shem Tov enact the recitation of this psalm every Erev Shabbat? It is similar to a Jew reciting the Hagomel blessing every Friday: after working the entire week and being preoccupied with earning a livelihood, and the preoccupation with livelihood during the weekdays caused him no harm - neither in body nor in soul, neither materially nor spiritually - he gives thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He. Therefore, the Baal Shem Tov instituted the recitation of this psalm every Erev Shabbat. However, when Erev Shabbat falls on Chol Hamoed, we do not say "Hodu".
This is explicitly stated in the Siddur of the Alter Rebbe: above the psalm "Hodu" it is explicitly written that we say "Hodu" every Erev Shabbat prior to Minchah, except when Yom Tov or Chol Hamoed falls on Erev Shabbat, at which time we do not say "Hodu". And as the Rebbe observes precisely, the Alter Rebbe repeated his phrasing - "we do not say" and "we say every Erev Shabbat" - and this repetition requires examination.
The Rebbe explains that the Alter Rebbe seeks first of all to emphasize that indeed one must not say "Hodu". What is the reason? And what is the detriment if a person were to say "Hodu" in such a configuration, when it falls on Chol Hamoed? The Rebbe explains: The reason for saying "Hodu" is to emphasize "I was engaged the entire time in mundane matters and I was not harmed"; however, when we are now coming from Yom Tov, during Chol Hamoed, if we were to say "Hodu" it would be like a disparagement of Chol Hamoed - were we still preoccupied with mundane affairs? We are already in the midst of a festival, within Chol Hamoed. Therefore, in such a configuration we do not say "Hodu", since we already ceased from mundane affairs beforehand.
However, since this is already written in the Siddur, seemingly what is the reason to bring it also in Hayom Yom? The novelty is in the additional detail - "but we do say Patach Eliyahu" - as this detail is not written in the Siddur with emphasis. The Rebbe adds this in the teaching, in the daily directive: we do not say "Hodu", as is already written in the Siddur, but we do say "Patach Eliyahu" even in such a configuration, when Erev Shabbat falls on Chol Hamoed and the like.
The source of the teaching itself that follows is in a fascinating and interesting record written by the Rebbe Rayatz, in which he describes the history of the Rashbatz's life. The words appear in the journal Hatomim that was published in Warsaw, in the first booklet, where the biography of the Rashbatz appears. There is a lengthy description there of how he literally sacrificed his soul - in the simplest sense - for his drawing close to chassidus. It describes there how he advanced in his drawing close, and the chassidim did not send him immediately to the Rebbe, rather he was required to undergo a course of chassidic education by one of the chassidim - his name was Rabbi Michel Opotzker - so that he would be worthy and ready for the journey to the Rebbe.
It is described there, that after a year and a half with Rabbi Michel, Rabbi Michel said to him: "Now the time has come, you are already worthy and fit to travel to the Rebbe, to the Tzemach Tzedek". And then his first journey is described. We already had a previous teaching, in the Hayom Yom of 30 Shevat, which referred to the first time the Rashbatz arrived in Lubavitch - how he would calculate every year that this was his birthday, and planted saplings at the exact time he arrived in Lubavitch. This is from the same record describing the first time he arrived.
Further on it is written, that on the first Shabbat upon his arrival in Lubavitch there is a description of how he saw the Tzemach Tzedek enter the Beit Midrash, and how he was greatly moved by the occasion - his sons entering first - descriptions in very strong colors. And within the record appears what the Rebbe himself said on that occasion, when the Rashbatz heard him for the first time; and this is the daily teaching.
As is known, on Chol Hamoed Pesach, during the Torah reading, we read the verses from Parshat Mishpatim: "If you lend money to My people", and therefore the explanation on "If you lend money" appears here. The Rashbatz arrived on Shabbat Parshat Mishpatim - it was a leap year, in the month of Adar - and then he arrived to the Tzemach Tzedek. The Rebbe inserts it here, even though we are in Parshat Acharei Mot, since the matter is connected to the Torah reading of Pesach.
What did the Tzemach Tzedek say? Let us read the wording: "In the year 5620 the Tzemach Tzedek delivered a Maamar on the verse 'If you lend money'". The Tzemach Tzedek explained the content of the verse in spiritual terms. On the simple level, it speaks of a person who lends money to another - there is an order of whom to lend to first, and how not to come and demand the debt in an inappropriate manner; these are the details of the halachah according to the simple meaning.
The Tzemach Tzedek explained it spiritually: "'Kesef' is the neshamah". The word "kesef" alludes to the soul. Why is the soul called "kesef"? "Because it is always in longing and yearning to ascend upward". Since the soul has constant longings, and a yearning to connect to the Holy One, blessed be He, therefore its designation is "kesef" - kesef is love.
There is an additional designation for the soul, "Adam", which is also connected to the fact that it ascends upward, "and as it is written, 'The spirit of man is that which ascends upward'". The difference between an animal and a man is that the spirit of the animal descends downward and the spirit of man ascends upward. "'Adam' refers to the souls of Israel, 'You are called Adam'" this too is a designation for the soul - the soul is called "Adam", just as the souls of Israel are called "Adam", "You are called Adam". And why are they called "Adam"? Because "the spirit of man is that which ascends upward".
There are two reasons found for the designations of the soul, and both come from the same point - the yearning to ascend upward: because of this it is called "kesef", and because of this it is called "Adam"; both are for the same reason, due to the yearning to ascend upward.
Let us return to the verse "If you lend money to My people": we have "kesef", which is the soul, and the money is given as a loan to "My people" - to the people of Israel. Here too, the soul is given as a loan to a Jew. Who gives the soul as a loan? The Holy One, blessed be He, gives the Jew the soul, meaning He gives him powers, and gives them to him as a loan. Now we must use them and return them properly - like a loan that a person is expected to return, and even to profit from it, if he uses the money correctly and does "business" with it, and afterward returns the loan. So too, the Jew needs to use the soul and the powers he received, and use them correctly.
This is the continuation of the teaching: "And the soul is given as a loan to man". The Holy One, blessed be He, gives the soul as a loan to a Jew. "And it is written, 'Days were formed, etc.'" - the Holy One, blessed be He, formed the life of man with an allotted number of days. Every day has its purpose, and every day he must rectify and accomplish certain actions with the soul. And when he accomplishes every day what he must accomplish, with the soul and the powers he received, this is a form of returning the loan - he returns the loan, and uses the money and the soul given to him correctly.
"For there is a set number, etc." There is a set number of days that a person lives in the world, in each of which he must accomplish a certain garment - every mitzvah is like a garment that a person rectifies. "And if one day is missing - one garment is missing" - if Heaven forbid one day is missing, in which he did not fulfill his purpose, one garment is missing that he was supposed to complete, and it turns out that, God forbid, he did not return the loan properly. This is the emphasis in the verse - how the loan must be returned to the Holy One, blessed be He, meaning how the Jew must correctly use the powers he received and return them to the Holy One, blessed be He.
One can find an allusion in the books of the Yad Chazakah of the Rambam. We are currently in the course of studying the Rambam in the Book of Avodah, in the laws of the procedure of the sacrifices, and we have already seen several teachings connected to these laws. One of the laws in the laws of the procedure of the sacrifices speaks of a person who obligated himself and made a vow for a sacrifice - the duty is cast upon him to bring it on the first arriving festival. If he did not bring it on the first festival, he transgressed a positive commandment, and if three festivals passed and he did not bring it, he transgressed a negative commandment. Meaning, you have a debt, and you are obligated to fulfill it. These laws deal with the debt of bringing a sacrifice to the Beit Hamikdash, and here this is the content - that the Jew must fulfill the debt of the loan he received from the Holy One, blessed be He, the soul and the powers, in order to fulfill his purpose in this world.