Room one hundred and ninety-one in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Sunday, 3 Sivan, 47th of the Omer, 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, we begin a new parshah, Naso, first section with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 3rd of the month, from chapter 18 to chapter 22 inclusive.
Tanya, on this day we begin chapter 53 from the first word "Vehinei". The shiur concludes on page 148 with the words "leyodei chein". There are two sections in the daily shiur: a directive and a teaching.
As an introduction to the directive, we will first note that it is a well-known expression regarding the students of Rabbi Akiva, that between Pesach and Atzeres - between Pesach and the holiday of Shavuos - twenty-four thousand students died during one period. In which period did this happen? There are two opinions in the Shulchan Aruch regarding this. In any case, it involves thirty-three days, and the question is which days of Sefiras HaOmer they are. There is an opinion that these are the first thirty-three days, from after Pesach until Lag BaOmer; and there is an opinion that these are the last thirty-three days, from 2 Iyar until the eve of Shavuos.
According to the second opinion, that the mourning continues from 2 Iyar until the eve of Shavuos, the Shulchan Aruch states that there are those who have the custom to take a haircut already during the three days of Hagbalah (preparation before Shavuos), even though seemingly it is still within the thirty-three days. Why? Because according to this opinion we also add 1 Iyar, and on the first day of the three days of Hagbalah the principle of "part of the day is like the whole" completes the count, so during the three days of Hagbalah it is already permissible to take a haircut.
Regarding this, the daily teaching states in the first section: "When people took a haircut during the days of Hagbalah prior to the eve of Shavuos - the spirit of my holy father, my master and teacher [the Rebbe Rashab] was not pleased by this". Those who had the custom to take a haircut not exactly on the eve of Shavuos but rather brought it forward to the two days prior, from the beginning of the three days of Hagbalah - the Rebbe Rashab was not pleased that they were lenient and took a haircut already during the three days of Hagbalah, but rather he held that the haircut could only take place on the eve of Shavuos.
And of course, if the calendar is such that the eve of Shavuos falls on Shabbos - meaning that Shavuos falls on Sunday - then in that year one may take a haircut already on the preceding Friday, in honor of Shabbos, since it is impossible to take a haircut on the eve of the holiday itself because it is Shabbos. But in a regular year, when the eve of Shavuos falls on a weekday, one may only take a haircut on the eve of Shavuos itself.
Now we will learn the daily teaching, the continuation of which is the teaching of 4 Sivan, tomorrow's. Its source is a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 25 Iyar 5700, addressed to yeshivah students in the United States and Canada. In the letter, which is somewhat lengthy, the Rebbe Rayatz writes that every holiday of the year is called a "Moed" (an appointed time) - in terms of time - that on every holiday we reach, that same G-dly light that illuminated the world the first time, when the event occurred, illuminates the world again on that exact same appointed time exactly as it was the first time. And so it is with regard to all the holidays.
Afterwards, the Rebbe Rayatz moves on to explain the unique aspect of the holiday of Shavuos, and the special role of the students in connection to Shavuos regarding the study of Torah. Following this, he brings up an interesting point, where the complete sentence, as mentioned, appears half today and half tomorrow. Today we will look at the first part of the teaching.
Let us read the text: "He who examines the approach of Tosafos, starting with the word 'Torah', Shabbos 89a" - whoever examines the approach of Tosafos in tractate Shabbos, page 89a. What does Tosafos say there? Let us look at the text of the Gemara and Tosafos, and then we can understand what the teaching is saying.
The Gemara in tractate Shabbos page 89 describes the entire subject surrounding the giving of the Torah - the argument that took place with the angels and Moshe Rabbeinu before the giving of the Torah, and the entire process. Afterwards, the Gemara states that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When Moshe descended from above, after receiving the Torah, "the Satan came and said before Him: Master of the universe, where is the Torah?" - the Satan comes and asks: "What happened? Did the Torah disappear? Where is it located?". And the Holy One, blessed be He, answers him that He gave it to the earth, and he went to look for the Torah.
On these words - "where is the Torah?", where the Satan asks where the Torah disappeared to - there is a short and interesting Tosafos. Tosafos asks: How does the Satan ask where the Torah is? Did he not know that the giving of the Torah had taken place? After all, the whole world saw and felt that something happened; and the Satan arrives after forty days, when Moshe Rabbeinu descends below, and asks "where did the Torah disappear to?" - does he not know that something happened here?
Tosafos answers that the Holy One, blessed be He, at the time of the giving of the Torah "distracted" the Angel of Death - confused him and preoccupied him so that he would not notice what was happening. Why? Because the Satan might accuse and say: "Are You giving the Torah to a nation that forty days later will make the Golden Calf?" - and the Satan is the Angel of Death. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, decided to give the Torah in a way that the Satan would not notice it was given, and therefore after forty days he suddenly asks "where did the Torah disappear to?", because the great event was hidden from him. This is what Tosafos says.
On this, the Rebbe Rayatz says in the teaching: "He who examines the approach of Tosafos [on the word] Torah will understand that the holiday of Shavuos is a time of favor Above". Not only the first time, when the Torah was given, did the Holy One, blessed be He, conceal the matter from the Satan and the Satan was absent that day; but from here, one who examines "will understand that Shavuos is a time of favor Above, and Hashem, blessed be He, distracts the accuser of the Jewish people" - that every single year, when the holiday of Shavuos arrives, it is a time of favor. Since the festivals repeat themselves every time, Hashem, blessed be He, distracts the accuser of the Jewish people every year, and on Shavuos the accuser has no ability to accuse. "Similar to his distraction during the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah" - just as during the blowing of the shofar the Satan cannot accuse, and similarly on the holy day, the fast of Yom Kippur; the holiday of Shavuos also possesses this same great virtue.
In this context, there is an interesting explanation that the Rebbe Rashab said on Shabbos parshas Bamidbar 5655. The Rebbe Rashab asked: It is written that of all the days of the year there is one day when the Satan does not accuse - Yom Kippur; and from here it emerges that there is another such day, the holiday of Shavuos, so why is it not included in the list of days? The Rebbe Rashab explains the essence of the matter: On Yom Kippur, the Satan does not accuse because of the virtue of the day - a concept known as "the essence of the day", the holiness of the day - the day itself causes him not to accuse. However, on Shavuos it is not because of the virtue of the day, but because of the virtue of the avodah of the Jewish people who received the Torah; their avodah is what causes there to be no accusation. Therefore, when one day of the year is mentioned on account of the day itself, it is Yom Kippur. In practice, this also happens on an additional day, but not on account of the virtue of the day, rather because there are Jews here to whom the Torah was given and they accepted it - and this is what causes him not to accuse.
We will add here an interesting point regarding the precision of the language. Seemingly, in order to see what the Tosafos we quoted says, there is no need to "examine", but simply to read his words; for Tosafos states this in very simple words - that the Holy One, blessed be He, distracted the Angel of Death so he would not accuse. If so, why does the Rebbe Rayatz use the term "He who examines"? What is there to examine? It is enough to read the text. Furthermore, it requires examination as to what is meant by "the approach of Tosafos" - the wording "the approach of Tosafos" implies that there is someone who holds differently on the matter, and this is the approach of Tosafos; are there really several approaches here, and why does one need to examine specifically Tosafos?
Rather, when one examines, one sees that the Maharsha raises a question on Tosafos. What does he ask? That one passage earlier in the Gemara there is a lengthy description, that Moshe Rabbeinu went up Above and the angels asked him what he is doing there, and he replies that he came to receive the Torah, and the entire dialogue surrounding their request for the Torah. And at the end of the description it is written that the angels gave Moshe Rabbeinu gifts, and not only that, but the Gemara concludes that even the Angel of Death gave him a gift - the secret of the incense. We find that the Angel of Death knows that Moshe Rabbeinu is there and is going to receive the Torah, and even gives him gifts; if so, how does Tosafos explain a few lines later that the Angel of Death was completely unaware, and innocently asks "where is the Torah?". Therefore, the Maharsha rejects Tosafos and says that it is impossible to explain the matter as Tosafos explained it.
The question of the Maharsha is an excellent question. If so, let us return to Tosafos: How does Tosafos say such a thing, when there is an explicit Gemara earlier that states otherwise? One must examine the approach of Tosafos, to examine and understand and truly find an answer to the Maharsha's question, in order to understand what his approach is. And perhaps it can be said, that the Satan initially agreed and even gave a gift, but afterwards changed his mind and decided he did not want to, and stood ready to interfere; and so that he would not interfere, the Holy One, blessed be He, distracted him. Thus, Tosafos follows his approach, that there was indeed a need to distract the Satan. The fact that a day earlier, or a few minutes earlier, he agreed - says nothing about the next moment, when an aspect of interference arose within him. And so the approach of Tosafos, when examined, is consistent in that this is a special day, on which the Holy One, blessed be He, distracted the Angel of Death.