The two hundred thirty-sixth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Wednesday, 18 Tammuz 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Pinchas, Revii, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 18th of the month, two chapters — chapter 88 and chapter 89.
Tanya. On this day we begin the first part of chapter 4 in Iggeret HaTeshuvah, from the beginning of the chapter with the word "Ve'ulam," concluding with the word "bine'imim."
The daily saying is taken from a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on this same date, 18 Tammuz, four years earlier (5699). We have already seen the first part of this letter in the saying of 20 Sivan, which was likewise taken from that same letter.
Let us state the content of the letter briefly: the Rebbe Rayatz replies to one of the daughters of the chassidim, and undertakes to explain to her the difference between "makif" and "penimi." In the course of a lengthy explanation of the difference between makif and penimi, he brings an example from two chassidim. One chassid, Reb Moshe Vilenker — about whom we will learn in the daily saying — was a "penimi" chassid. In contrast, the second chassid, Reb Yekusiel Liepler, was called a "makifi" chassid. One of the differences that stood out very prominently between them was their approach to yechidus by the Alter Rebbe — the preparation for yechidus, the yechidus itself, and the manner of its expression in their lives afterward.
There the Rebbe Rayatz explains that Reb Yekusiel Liepler, as it were, "leaped" into yechidus even without preparation, and "sealed" everything in an encompassing manner. In contrast, Reb Moshe Vilenker, who was a penimi chassid, took the matters in a much deeper and internal way. The passage dealing with Reb Moshe Vilenker is brought by the Rebbe here in the saying of 18 Tammuz.
And what does the saying say? The source is in Yiddish, and in translation: "The Alter Rebbe expressed himself concerning Reb Moshe Vilenker: Moshe is a possessor of mochin degadlus" — Moshe has, in his personal qualities, mochin degadlus with which the Holy One, blessed be He, graced him. "Mochin degadlus" means grasping matters in a deep and inner manner. The matter is similar to the difference between a small child, who has "mochin dekatnus," and grasps everything in an emotional and pointed way, according to the moment, without the great depth of the matter — as opposed to one who has "mochin degadlus," who grasps matters in a deep, great, wondrous, and abstract manner, and he is a vessel to receive the light of the soul in a much greater way. If so, Moshe had mochin degadlus by his very nature.
"And in the ten years that he 'worked' and toiled, he 'processed' expansive intellect" — Rabbi Moshe toiled for ten years, and his toil brought about that he effected within himself an expansion of intellect in a manner far more wondrous than he had beforehand. He became a person of a very high inner level.
The continuation goes on to describe when those ten years were during which Reb Moshe labored. The explanation is that the ten years were divided into two parts: "For three years Reb Moshe Vilenker prepared himself for yechidus by the Alter Rebbe," he did not enter suddenly, as is told about the "leap" of the second chassid; Reb Moshe Vilenker worked on himself for three years in order to be at all ready to enter into yechidus.
And after he came out of his first yechidus with the Alter Rebbe, "he then remained seven years in Liozna in order to implement the yechidus in actual avodah" — he remained another seven years in Liozna with the Alter Rebbe. And what was his purpose during these seven years? To implement in actual avodah the matters he had heard in the yechidus. These are the ten years during which he toiled, and which elevated him to a far higher level.
In order to explain the connection of these matters to the works of the Rambam, let us preface a point regarding the laws of lien on property: sometimes the borrower places a lien on his property for the loan, and because of this the lender can, after a time, if the borrower has no money to pay, come and take the property from him. And even if the borrower sold the property to another person, or gave it to him as a gift — since the property is liened to the debt, the lender can seize it from his possession; this is called "to seize" from the buyer or from the recipient of the gift.
Now there is a discussion: What happens if the recipient of a gift received land as a gift in good faith, and over the time that the land was in his possession he improved it through his own labor, beyond its value at the time he received it [for example, he received a tract of barren land and planted trees in it, etc.]. After some time, the original owner of the asset, to whom the asset is mortgaged, wishes to come and take the asset. Now, the essence of the asset he may possibly take, but with regard to the improvement that he brought about through his own labor — there is a difference between a recipient of a gift and a purchaser. In the case of a purchaser, there is more room for the creditor to collect — sometimes fifty percent, and sometimes everything, depending on what caused the improvement. But in the case of the recipient of a gift, if he improved the asset through his own labor, the improvement is his, and no one can take it from him.
And this, in essence, is the content of the saying: The chassid Vilenker was given a "gift" from Above — mochin de-gadlus; but he labored and toiled for ten years in order to refine his soul in a manner of "expansive mochin," and therefore the matter became entirely his own — something that cannot be taken from him.