The twelfth "room" in the palace of daily life.
Wednesday, the 1st of Tevet, Rosh Chodesh, the 6th day of Chanukah, 5703 (1943).
Lessons: Chumash, Miketz, fourth aliyah, with the commentary of Rashi.
Psalms, since this is Rosh Chodesh, we begin from the start — from chapter 1 through and including chapter 9.
Tanya, we are in the middle of chapter 4, from the words "And behold these three" until "these garments."
In the following passage, the Rebbe notes customs, and indicates that they were taken from his reshimos — the notes that the Rebbe wrote in his diary. This passage contains three matters relating to Hallel on Rosh Chodesh. The first of them deals with the case of reciting half-Hallel — Hallel that is incomplete.
On that very Rosh Chodesh, the first of Teves 5703, Chanukah occurred, and on Chanukah one recites the complete Hallel in any case. However, since this was the first Rosh Chodesh in the "HaYom Yom" calendar, the Rebbe notes the customs of Rosh Chodesh in general, and not specifically in relation to that particular Rosh Chodesh which fell on the first of Teves 5703.
What is the first custom the Rebbe addresses regarding Rosh Chodesh? The Rebbe writes: "It is customary that an individual recites a blessing over Hallel at both the beginning and the end, even on the days when the full Hallel is not completed." Let me explain the matter under discussion: Regarding the recitation of Hallel, in general, there are two situations. There is the recitation of the complete Hallel — on the first day of Pesach (and outside the Land of Israel, on the first two days), on the festival of Shavuos (and outside the Land, on both days), throughout the festival of Sukkos, and on Chanukah; whereas on Chol HaMoed Pesach (until its conclusion) and on Rosh Chodesh, only half of Hallel is recited.
In addition to the two ways of reciting Hallel itself, there are two more distinctions: whether Hallel is recited communally or individually. When one recites the complete Hallel — one always makes a blessing. Both when reciting the complete Hallel individually, one certainly makes a blessing, since there is no one to fulfill your obligation on your behalf. And also when praying communally and reciting the complete Hallel, which requires a blessing — one does not fulfill the obligation through the blessing of the chazan (shliach tzibbur), but rather each person makes the blessing on their own.
What is the reason for this? The Alter Rebbe brings in the Laws of Yom Kippur that on the night of Yom Kippur we recite "Shehecheyanu" as on every festival, and the chazzan (shliach tzibbur) recites "Shehecheyanu" slowly, while the entire congregation recites the blessing of "Shehecheyanu" quietly, as noted in all the machzorim. The Alter Rebbe brings a complete halacha and explains that by law it would have been proper for the entire congregation to fulfill their obligation through the chazzan's blessing, rather than each person reciting it on his own — because of the principle "b'rov am hadras melech" ("in a multitude of people is the King's glory"); that the chazzan should recite the blessing of "Shehecheyanu" before a multitude, and everyone should listen and thereby fulfill their obligation.
And why, in practice, does each person recite the blessing individually? Because most of the time the chazzan (prayer leader) does not have in mind to fulfill everyone's obligation; and in order not to enter a situation in which it may be that the chazzan did not intend at all to fulfill his obligation on his behalf — therefore each person should recite the blessing quietly for himself. So rules the Alter Rebbe, and at the conclusion of the halacha he says: "And such is the law regarding the blessing of Hallel." That is to say, also regarding the blessing of Hallel, when praying with a congregation and reciting the full Hallel and one needs to recite the blessing — even though by law it would be fitting to fulfill one's obligation through the chazzan, on account of "in the multitude of people is the King's glory," since it is not certain that the chazzan will have you in mind, you should recite the blessing yourself. And this is said regarding the full Hallel.
And what happens when the half-Hallel is recited in a congregation? When one examines the Siddur of the Alter Rebbe, there are a few lines before the Hallel that the Alter Rebbe wrote, in which it is stated explicitly: "On days when the full Hallel is not completed and one prays in a congregation, the practice should be that the chazzan alone recites the blessing at the beginning and at the end, and the congregation answers Amen and fulfills their obligation through his blessing." The Alter Rebbe is speaking about a situation where there is a congregation and the Hallel is not complete — and since in such a case there is a halachic doubt as to whether a blessing is recited or not, because it is not the full Hallel, therefore in such a case the practice should be that the chazzan recites the blessing and the congregation fulfills its obligation through his blessing.
But what happens when one prays alone on days of the half-Hallel? On this there is no explicit reference. And on this the Rebbe says here that an individual praying alone recites the half-Hallel and makes a blessing before and after. That is, even on days that are half-Hallel and when one prays alone, one should recite the first and last blessing. This is the first custom.
It is worthwhile to add an interesting point of practical application: It is told about the Rebbe Rashab that even when he prayed with a congregation and it was a "half Hallel," he would recite the blessing to himself quietly, in a whisper. And the Rebbe Rayatz said, using the expression, "In our family it is different," and without publicizing it — that he should not make this public — meaning, he would always recite the blessing to himself. And the Rebbe, on Rosh Chodesh Menachem-Av 5741, which fell on Shabbat, at the conclusion of the farbrengen, said that the custom among Chassidim is to seize the opportunity and recite the blessing quietly, even when praying with a congregation and it is a "half Hallel."
In conclusion, there is a discussion here — which I will not enter into now — about at exactly which point one should recite the blessing: whether to recite the blessing along with the chazzan slowly, in which case there is no need to answer amen, or to wait until the chazzan finishes and then recite the blessing. But the conclusion that emerges from all this is that always, no matter what situation you are in — whether in a congregation or individually, whether during full Hallel or half Hallel — you always recite the blessing at the beginning and at the end. This is the first custom that the Rebbe addresses.
The second custom relates to the conclusion of Hallel. Regarding the blessing at its end, the Rebbe says: "The version that is recited is 'Yehallelucha Hashem Elokeinu kol ma'asecha,' omitting the word 'al'," which in this siddur appears when the word "al" is placed in parentheses. There are thus two versions that completely change the meaning: if one says "Yehallelucha Hashem Elokeinu al kol ma'asecha" — without the parentheses — or one says "Yehallelucha Hashem Elokeinu kol ma'asecha," omitting the word "al."
Why? Because the question is who is praising: are we praising the Holy One, blessed be He, for the works He created, or are the works You created meant to praise You? This is a change in meaning. The Alter Rebbe in his siddur placed the word "for" (al) in parentheses, meaning it should not be recited, but rather one should say "May all Your works praise You, Lord our God" — and this follows the wording of the verse "All Your works shall thank You, Lord," according to which the works themselves thank the Holy One, blessed be He. And the Rebbe entered here in the "Hayom Yom" that indeed this is how it should be said, without the word "for."
Interestingly, there is a letter of the Rebbe in "Igros Kodesh," in which the chief rabbi of Bnei Brak, Rabbi Yaakov Landa, wrote to the Rebbe after he published the "HaYom Yom," and remarked that he recalled hearing from the Rebbe Rashab, while he was praying and reciting Hallel, that he indeed said the word "al" — a kind of comment to the Rebbe on the matter. The Rebbe answers him that all the practices he included in the "HaYom Yom" were according to the directive of the Rebbe Rayatz, and before printing everything was before the eyes of the Rebbe Rayatz; therefore some things that were not a directive for the public he instructed to omit, and what he left in — implies that he wanted it to remain. Consequently, the Rebbe therefore included this matter, and therefore it remains here.
The Rebbe adds another word to him, from which it is understood that his memory is not necessarily precise: when a person knows that he must calculate how one says it, and he intends to listen carefully, there is room to say that he remembers exactly; but when he still does not know at all that there are differences in customs, and he remembers that he heard it thus — it is possible that the memory becomes mixed up with habit. Yet it is clear that the Rebbe Rayatz wanted it to be this way here.
The third custom that the Rebbe brings in "Hayom Yom": "All the tefillin are put on before Musaf". This is something ruled in the Shulchan Aruch: since in Musaf we say "Keser," and not "Nakdishcha" as in the regular prayer, it is written in the Shulchan Aruch that it is not proper that at the time we say "Keser" we should have upon us the "Keser" of the tefillin, and therefore we remove the tefillin before Musaf.
The Rebbe apparently means that those who put on more than one pair of tefillin — whether one who puts on Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam, and whether as noted in "Hayom Yom" of the 19th of Menachem-Av that there are those who put on four pairs of tefillin — "all the tefillin are put on before Musaf"; that is, by the time one reaches Musaf, he has already put on all the tefillin, and during Musaf one prays without tefillin.
The Rebbe concludes and says: "But the lessons are studied after the completion of all the prayers." What are "the lessons"? There, in the "Hayom Yom" of the 19th of Menachem Av, when the Rebbe speaks about the four pairs of tefillin that are worn, he notes that with each of the four pairs there are lessons that are studied — the daily Tehillim portions or the daily Chumash portions and the like. And the Rebbe says that in the case of Rosh Chodesh, when all four pairs are worn, the lessons are studied after the prayer, and there is no need to study all the lessons before Musaf. The main point: by the time you reach the Musaf prayer, you will already be past all the donning of tefillin. This is the conclusion of the daily "cheder" and the matter.