The one hundred and fifty-third "room" in the hall of Hayom Yom.
Thursday, 24 Nissan, nine days of the Omer, 5703.
Study sessions: Chumash, Acharei Mot, Chamishi, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 24th of the month, say Chapter 113 to Chapter 118 inclusive.
Tanya, we are in Chapter 42. The daily study session is on page 61, begins with the words "be'od zot", and ends with the words "yadav etc.".
The daily teaching has a first line detailing a custom related to these days, followed by the teaching itself. Regarding the custom, the Rebbe says: "It is customary not to recite the Shehecheyanu blessing during the days of Sefirat Haomer". There are various customs regarding this; some are accustomed to reciting Shehecheyanu without restriction. However, our custom was that throughout the days of Sefirat Haomer, we do not recite Shehecheyanu, neither on a new fruit nor on a new garment.
We are on 24 Nissan. The day before, the 23rd, was Isru Chag; the holiday ended on the 22nd. The Rebbe inserts the custom of not reciting Shehecheyanu on 24 Nissan, and not on the 23rd - not on Isru Chag. It is possible to learn from this that on Isru Chag the matter is still connected to the holiday and one can still recite Shehecheyanu, and the custom not to recite Shehecheyanu during the days of Sefirat Haomer begins from 24 Nissan onwards.
It is interesting that regarding Sefirat Haomer itself, where we do not recite Shehecheyanu as written here, for all the years it was known in Chabad that the custom is not to recite Shehecheyanu on any of the days of Sefirat Haomer without distinction, including Shabbat. However, in 5749 a new thing was revealed: the Chief Rabbis of Israel at the time, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rabbi Avraham Shapiro, were in yechidus with the Rebbe, and among other things, the topic of the Shehecheyanu blessing was discussed. Then the Rebbe told them that in our Chabad circles, the custom is that we do not recite Shehecheyanu during the days of Sefirat Haomer, except for Shabbatot and Lag Baomer. That is, on the Shabbatot of Sefirat Haomer we do recite Shehecheyanu, and only on weekdays we do not. The Rebbe told them this then, and in 5749 this point was indeed renewed in Chabad - that on Shabbatot we do recite Shehecheyanu.
Afterward comes the daily teaching, which originates from a farbrengen of the Rebbe Rayatz on 19 Kislev 5689. There, in an earlier passage, the Rebbe Rayatz speaks to one of the chassidim (whose name appears in the sichah in acronyms), and tells him that the not-good that exists must be thrown away - in his words there, "to a barren land", as the Torah's expression regarding the "scapegoat". The not-good must be thrown away.
After speaking specifically to that chossid, he makes a general statement, and this is the continuation there. The source is in Yiddish, and in translation: "The 'not-good' is found in all of us" - each and every one has their own not-good, their personal and specific matter that is categorized as not-good.
And so that a person will not feel shame in the very fact that they have something not-good within them, and avoid dealing with it, the Rebbe Rayatz says in the teaching: You have not-good? Everyone does; and dealing with it and nullifying it is holy and important avodah. And in his words: "The sa'ir la'azazel is one of the avodot of the Beit Hamikdash". One of the avodot of the Beit Hamikdash was on Yom Kippur, when lots were drawn over the two goats, and one goat was sent to azazel. This is an avodah in the Beit Hamikdash and part of the Temple's avodah - to take the not-good and throw it away. This is not something done casually, but rather an important avodah in the Beit Hamikdash.
"Because there is 'not-good' in a created being - it must be sent to a barren land" and since every created being is not perfect, they have points or an aspect that is not-good, and the not-good simply needs to be sent "to a barren land" - to places behind the mountains of darkness, so that it will have no relevance. The point here, as mentioned, is that it is clear that one must get rid of the not-good, but one must know that this is part of the avodah of the Beit Hamikdash. Also in the Beit Hamikdash there is an avodah of cleaning and removing the not-good; this is not a rare occurrence, rather it exists in each and every one.
And in conclusion, it has been a few days that we have not connected the teaching to the Rambam study cycle, since sometimes there is a break of a few days where the exact connection is not found. We are still at the conclusion of Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot in Sefer Avodah, and the daily teaching has a very interesting allusion. At the conclusion of Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, in the final chapter (Chapter 19), there is a halachic reference to the sa'ir hamishtaleach - what is the law if they sacrificed it after confessing all the sins over it. We find that there is a reference to the sa'ir hamishtaleach right at the end of Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, and the daily teaching also refers to the sa'ir hamishtaleach as a message.