Room one hundred and ninety-two in the hall of Hayom Yom.
Monday, 4 Sivan, 48 to the Omer, 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Naso, Sheni, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 4th of the month, from chapter 23 to and including chapter 28.
Tanya, we continue chapter 53. The daily shiur is from the words "Uvevayit sheini", and concludes on page 148 with the word "barata".
The teaching we learn today is a continuation of the teaching we read on the previous day, 3 Sivan; both appear sequentially in the same letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz in the year 5700, a letter addressed to yeshivah students in the United States and Canada. In the letter, the Rebbe Rayatz writes to the students, among other things, that the festival of Shavuos is their special festival - of the students who learn Torah.
He quotes the language of the Gemara, that Rav Yosef said regarding the festival of Shavuos: "If not for this day that caused it, how many Yosefs are there in the marketplace". In other words, Rav Yosef said about himself: "If not for this day of the Giving of the Torah, when the Torah elevated me, there are many people in the marketplace whose name is Yosef, and I would not have received my special standing". The Torah elevates a person, and this elevation is a true elevation.
He states there, that this is not, Heaven forbid, an elevation of pride and arrogance, or of physical wealth that exists today and disappears tomorrow, but rather true, eternal, and G-dly happiness - this is the true elevation that the Torah grants. And in order to merit this elevation, the Rebbe Rayatz writes, a person must receive the Torah through preparation in fear of Heaven; learning with the fear of Heaven is what brings the true elevation in the study of Torah.
Therefore, he addresses the yeshivah students and says, that this is the merit of the students - that they themselves learn Torah with the fear of Heaven, and in addition to this they arouse their younger brothers, other young students, that they too should be diligent in Torah, and they arouse the public to send their sons to Torah institutions. All of this reinforces that the festival of Shavuos is the festival of the students.
Further on he mentions - which is the teaching we read yesterday - that the festival of Shavuos is a day when the Holy One, blessed be He, distracts the accuser of the Jewish people, the Satan who accuses the Jewish people. Now we will conclude and see the continuation of these words, which is the daily teaching.
The text of the teaching: "The festival of Shavuos is an opportune time to do everything for the benefit of Torah study and avodah in the fear of Heaven". In the previous teaching we learned that on this day the Holy One, blessed be He, distracts the Satan so that he will not accuse the Jewish people, and in this itself there is a tremendous virtue - that the Jewish people are in a state where the Satan cannot accuse them. Now the teaching adds, that if you have such a wonderful day and such a great gift in which there is no accuser, you can also utilize this practically, for it is an "opportune time" - the most suitable time when a person can do everything and succeed in resolutions related to Torah study and avodas Hashem with the fear of Heaven.
And the teaching continues: "And likewise to engage in teshuvah concerning Torah, without interference from the accusing Satan". What is the meaning of "to engage in teshuvah"? He explains there in the letter, that teshuvah is not only in the simple sense - that a person does not observe mitzvos and commits sins and must return in teshuvah, which is the simple meaning of teshuvah - but a much deeper teshuvah: that although he observes mitzvos and learns Torah, he must nonetheless strengthen his knowledge of Torah with the fear of Heaven, to strengthen the inner dimension of his connection to Torah. This is his intention here in "to engage in teshuvah concerning Torah" - that the Torah should be with the fear of Heaven.
And on this day it is possible to receive the ability and the strength to succeed in this, without interference from the accusing Satan. As we saw in the excerpt quoted in the teaching of the previous day, that on this day the Holy One, blessed be He, distracts the Satan and he does not accuse, and consequently there is nothing interfering with a Jew making a good resolution concerning this - "similar to the time of the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah and the holy day of the Yom Kippur fast" just as during the shofar blasts of Rosh Hashanah the Satan is confounded and cannot interfere, and just as on Yom Kippur the essence of the day has the power to distract the accuser -
Such is the special power of the festival of Shavuos, that the Holy One, blessed be He, does the same thing. And then the Jew must utilize this opportunity and do everything for the benefit of Torah, avodah and teshuvah, that everything should be with the fear of Heaven. This is the special mission particularly for the yeshivah students - this is the essence of their festival.