The two hundred and twentieth "room" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Monday, 2 Tammuz 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Chukas, Sheini, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, second day of the month, from chapter 10 through chapter 17 inclusive.
Tanya: on this day we continue to study chapter 9 of Shaar HaYichud VeHaEmunah. The lesson begins on page 86 with the words "rak mipnei," and ends at the beginning of page 87 with the word "lamaskilim."
The source of the daily saying is a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 3 Tevet 5698. In fact, we already had an earlier saying in Hayom Yom in which part of this letter appeared, in the Hayom Yom of 3 Adar I.
The letter is addressed to the directorate of the "Taharat Bnot Yisrael" organization in Vienna. They wrote a letter to the Rebbe Rayatz containing a question: since they were engaged in the taharah of the daughters of Israel in Vienna, they wrote that there are women who want to understand, with intellect and logic, why immersion in a mikveh is needed in order to be pure — after all, one can perform many actions, so why specifically immerse in water? They therefore asked the Rebbe Rayatz two questions: whether one should endeavor to explain this to them, and if so — what to explain to them.
The Rebbe Rayatz opens the letter at length, saying that first of all one must explain to them the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael, how important this mitzvah is for every Jew in every area. And later he comes to conclude there, that therefore it is most certainly necessary to explain and bring them close to the matter, for they must know that the matter of tevilah is critical for the healing of the body and the healing of the soul. This is the content of the letter.
In the heart of the letter, at the point where he tells them that one needs ahavas Yisrael, two passages appear: one passage — from today, and the second passage — from 3 Adar I. And thus he tells them: "the Alter Rebbe writes in his siddur," with the intent of bringing proof that ahavas Yisrael is such a significant matter: "It is proper to say before prayer: 'Behold, I take upon myself the positive mitzvah of "You shall love your fellow as yourself."'" This appears at the beginning, before "Mah Tovu" in the siddur of the Alter Rebbe.
Why did the Alter Rebbe insert this matter as a preparation for prayer? What is the relevance of accepting the positive commandment of "ve'ahavta le're'acha kamocha" (love your fellow as yourself) before you go to pray to the Holy One, blessed be He? Even before we understand the reason, we see how great this matter is — "that is to say, that the mitzvah of ahavat Yisrael is the gateway of entry". You want to enter into prayer, to request something from the Holy One, blessed be He? What is the gateway of entry? "through which a person can come to stand before Hashem to pray". When a person enters through this gate of "ve'ahavta le're'acha kamocha," now he is able to pray to the Holy One, blessed be He.
He continues and says that in the merit of a person accepting upon himself the matter of ahavas Yisrael, "in its merit the prayer of the one who prays will be accepted." Here the Rebbe Rayatz does not elaborate why, but in the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael of the Tzemach Tzedek (in Derech Mitzvosecha) the foundation of the matter is explained: prayer is like a korban, and regarding a korban there is a well-known rule that the korban must be whole, and in the language of the Torah, "tamim." If there is a blemish in the korban, you cannot offer it upon the mizbe'ach; it must be whole and unblemished.
Every Jew who comes to draw close to Hashem is like a korban, and the entire Jewish people are in essence one entity. When a Jew comes to pray to the Holy One, blessed be He, he is essentially coming to offer himself; but if he has a problem — that he hates someone, that he cannot get along with someone — this means that some of his limbs are not whole, for the entire Jewish people are like one great body. And if he has a problem with someone, then part of his limbs are not whole, and how can he pray and come when his korban is a korban with a blemish? In order for his prayer to be accepted, he must come whole, and "to come whole" means that you say "I hereby take upon myself" the mitzvah of "ve'ahavta le're'acha kamocha" (love your fellow as yourself) — there is no Jew with whom I am not connected. This, therefore, is the gateway to prayer. Thus explains the Rebbe in "Derech Mitzvosecha."
Interestingly, in the year 5744, the Rebbe spoke a great deal about the fact that there is a frightening situation in the world, that kingdoms are provoking one another — a situation of great turmoil in terms of wars. The Rebbe spoke about what can and must be done as a segulah to calm the world, and one of the things he asked to add was that every Jew should add two passages to his prayer. One of them is the phrase "Hareini mekabel alai" (I hereby take upon myself), that each person should begin his prayer with it every day — even one who does not pray according to the nusach of the Alter Rebbe and does not have this line in his prayers. And likewise to recite the verse "Ach tzaddikim" (Only the righteous), which is said at the end of the prayer, that everyone should say this.
The Rebbe edited this sichah (it was printed in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 25, p. 373). In one of the footnotes there the Rebbe brings from a sichah of the Rebbe Rayatz an interesting point: When a father has, without an evil eye, several children — what is the father's greatest pleasure? That he sees all his children united, that they all love one another. Therefore, before a person comes to ask the Holy One, blessed be He, in prayer for his needs — "I need this and that" — he must give nachas-ruach to the Father so that He will want to give to you. And through what does one give the Holy One, blessed be He, nachas-ruach? By showing Him that His children are united with one another. It emerges that ahavas Yisrael is in fact a preparation for the request in prayer.
This is an additional explanation of his words here: why the gateway to the Jew's request in prayer passes through the matter of ahavas Yisrael, which is between man and his fellow — this being the content of the daily saying, the matter of "v'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha" (love your fellow as yourself), that the negative things should not be present, and of course that the positive things should be present, and then the Jew's prayer will be accepted.