The fifteenth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Shabbos, 4 Shevat 5703.
Lessons: Chumash, Mikeitz, seventh portion, with Rashi's commentary — for this is Shabbos.
Tehillim, according to the day of the month, from chapter 23 through and including chapter 28.
Tanya, all of Chapter 5, from "b'tosefes" until "b'pri eitz chaim" — which constitutes the entirety of Chapter 5.
By the way, it is worth noting that this Shabbos is the third Shabbos in the calendar year, and one can observe this throughout the entire year: in the Tanya lessons divided by day, the Rebbe arranged that on Shabbosos the Tanya lesson would be much longer than the weekday lessons — often even an entire chapter, as here on Shabbos 4 Shevat, when the whole of chapter 5 is studied. On Shabbosos there is always much more Chassidus.
Let us examine the content of the daily teaching. The saying opens with a custom practiced by the Rebbeim of Chabad. But before we read the wording of the custom, to complete the matter let us begin with a letter written by the Rebbe, printed in Igros Kodesh volume 18, page 100 [160]. There is a letter there to a Jew who asked the Rebbe what the order is for reciting "shnayim mikra ve'echad targum." And what was the intent of his question?
The Rebbe told him the following: In the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, in the laws of Shabbos, siman 285, se'if 6, the Alter Rebbe brings two approaches — two opinions — as to how and when one must recite shnayim mikra ve'echad targum. The first opinion in the Shulchan Aruch states that one should finish the entire parashah on Friday after midday; the second opinion states that one should finish the entire parashah on Friday after the Shacharis prayer. And that Jew asked the Rebbe what our custom is and how we conduct ourselves.
Before the Rebbe answers him, he notes that when one studies the rules of the poskim, there is a discussion regarding this: many times several opinions are cited in the Shulchan Aruch, and a person wonders according to which opinion he should conduct himself — the first opinion, the second, or the third. When one examines the rules of the poskim, as gathered in the sefer "Sdei Chemed," one sees that there are differing views on this: there are poskim who always follow the first opinion in the Shulchan Aruch, there are those who follow the middle opinion, and there are those who say specifically like the third opinion. And to round out the matter, one sees that the Rebbe Rashab held that when there are two opinions, one follows the second opinion.
All of this is a general statement regarding the question of what one does when one sees differing opinions in the Shulchan Aruch. But regarding the specific question of that Jew — what to do concerning Shnayim Mikra ve'Echad Targum — the Rebbe tells him, in practical terms: see "Hayom Yom" of 4 Shevat. The Rebbe directs him to the "Hayom Yom" of 4 Shevat, where he will see what is done in practice. From here we also understand that although it is written in the heading that this is the conduct of the Rebbeim of Chabad — and at times there are practices of the Rebbeim of Chabad that are their own conduct alone and not necessarily an instruction for the general public — here we see from the letter that the Rebbe directs everyone to look there and see the order of how one conducts oneself.
Let us examine the custom of the Rebbeim of Chabad. This appears in the sichah of the Rebbe Rayatz on Shabbos Parshas Shemos 5702, in which he spoke about it, and the Rebbe brings from it the relevant passage. This is how they conducted themselves: the Rebbeim of Chabad would recite the Shnayim Mikra v'Echad Targum "ain a parsha ader tzvei" [in Yiddish: one parsha or two]. For although one says "the weekly parsha" in general, the parsha itself is divided into parshiyos — pesuchos and setumos. They would conduct themselves "Donershtag bei nacht ader Freitag tzu tag" [Thursday night or towards Friday] to go through one or two parshiyos from the beginning of the sidra, and that was all.
"On Friday after midday one would begin again from the beginning, and one would recite the entire parsha together with the haftarah" [on Friday after midday they would begin once more from the start of the parsha and recite the whole parsha with the haftarah] — all of this on Friday after midday.
And it did not end there. The continuation: "Shabbos in der fri farn davenen fleg men zogn nochamol fun shevi'i" [on Shabbos morning, before prayer, they would say once again, from shevi'i] — they would not begin from the start of the parashah, but rather would say once again, on Shabbos morning before prayer, from shevi'i until the end.
The Rebbe concludes the teaching: "ven es kumen tsvei haftorot" [when there are two haftarot] — such as Shabbos Rosh Chodesh, Shabbos erev Rosh Chodesh, and the like, in which there is the fixed haftarah of the weekly parashah as well as an additional haftarah that must be recited. What does one say when reciting shnayim mikra ve'echad targum? Our Rebbeim, our Nesi'im, had the practice of saying the haftarah of the parashah on Friday, when they would say the entire parashah after midday. "un di andere haftorah" [and the other haftarah] — the additional haftarah, such as that of Shabbos Rosh Chodesh ("Machar Chodesh") and the like — they would say on Shabbos morning before the Shacharis prayer, from Sheni until the end. This is the practice of reciting shnayim mikra ve'echad targum.
This passage is connected specifically to this day. First of all, it is Shabbos, and here a custom is brought that our Rebbeim practiced on Shabbos. And specifically it is also connected to Parshas Mikeitz — and I say this as an introduction to the following passage — for we have just mentioned the custom of how the haftaros were recited. And what is the haftarah of Shabbos Mikeitz? The haftarah opens with the words "Vayikatz Shlomo vehineh chalom" ("And Shlomo awoke, and behold it was a dream"), and Parshas Mikeitz itself likewise speaks of dreams.
After the Rebbe discussed the haftarah and when it is recited, and taking into account the specific haftarah of this parashah as well as the parashah itself, an additional passage is brought in Hayom Yom — something unusual, that in Hayom Yom there are two different sayings — an additional passage on another matter, which is also connected, indirectly or directly, to the way one views the parashah and the haftarah.
The source of the second passage is in a maamar of the Rebbe Rayatz, in the discourse beginning "Tzohar taaseh la-teivah" ("Make a window for the ark"), Shabbos Noach 5695. Within that maamar a specific passage is cited, and the Rebbe brings it here. We will provide a bit of background on the topic discussed in the maamar.
The Rebbe Rayatz speaks about the alien thoughts that fall upon a person — from where do they descend? He says that we must understand from where alien thoughts fall upon people who are of the category of "dwellers of the tent," scholars. And thus he says: craftsmen — it is understandable from where alien thoughts about business fall upon them, even not at the time of the business dealings themselves, for they are immersed in this matter, and therefore the thoughts fall upon them at other times as well. And as an example of the thoughts that fall upon a businessman even when he is not engaged in business, the Rebbe Rayatz draws from the matter of dreams.
He brings in the maamar an example from dreams, and says that most dreams come from the thoughts of the day — what one thinks about during the day comes in the dream. And here comes the passage that he brings in continuation of this in the maamar: "the good dreams in matters of Torah, in which a person is informed in a dream about matters of Torah." At first glance it appears as though this refers to people on a different level, special tzaddikim who are informed in a dream about matters of Torah; but from the wording of the maamar of the Rebbe Rayatz, and as will be seen shortly, this does not refer to a rare situation, but to an ideal state that ought to exist, and this depends on something that will be seen shortly.
Who merits the state in which matters of Torah are made known to him in a dream? Generally — "through great diligence in Torah during the day." If a person applies himself during the day to Torah in a wondrous manner, then at night too matters of Torah are made known to him in a dream. "And when one occupies himself with Torah with great diligence, or occupies himself with the service of the heart with tremendous exertion" — that is, if a person studies Torah with diligence, or engages in the service of the heart, meaning the service of prayer and the like, and does so with tremendous exertion — "behold, when at night his soul ascends on high."
What does "his soul ascends on high" mean? The Rebbe Rayatz explains there in the maamar that there is a state in which souls ascend to levels pertaining to tzaddikim, but there he says that the soul ascends on high during sleep — and this applies to each and every soul. Every soul has a resting place in a particular chamber, a general chamber, and there it abides. And where does it abide? That depends greatly, he says in the maamar, on what one occupied himself with during the day or with what one fell asleep.
We read from the maamar: "If on that day he performed some mitzvah with hiddur, engaged in Torah and prayer more than usual, and likewise fell asleep amid speech or thought in words of Torah" — that is, he dozed off while reciting words of Torah and the like — then he merits that his neshamah ascends. He speaks by way of a physical analogy: there is a courtyard, there is an antechamber, there is a reception hall, there is a sanctuary; each and every neshamah ascends to a particular place of rest in accordance with what he thought throughout the day and in accordance with his thoughts, and according to this it ascends on high.
And I will continue reading from the passage in Hayom Yom: "when his soul ascends on high and draws life for itself from the life above," as is explained in the Zohar that the soul draws life from the supernal life, "then, at that time, they inform him of Torah novellae, whether in the revealed part of Torah or in the inner dimension of Torah." The soul ascends on high, and if during the day it engaged in Torah with great diligence, they inform it in a dream of Torah novellae.
The Rebbe brings this in "Likkutei Sichos," volume 4. We know that there is indeed a situation in which a person went to sleep with a difficulty in a Torah matter, and during the night he received the answer. This is related in the Gemara: in Tractate Sanhedrin it is told that Rav Kahana once asked Rav a question about a certain matter, and Rav had forgotten his learning and did not remember what to answer him, so Rav Kahana remained without an answer. The Gemara says that at night, in a dream, Rav Kahana was shown a verse, and that verse was the answer to the question that had gone unanswered by Rav.
We see, then, that such a concept exists. And the Rebbe brings that this is not only found in great tzaddikim like Rav Kahana, but is relevant to each and every person, each one according to the diligence of his effort in the service of the day. And in the last yechidus for the time being, in which the Rebbe spoke with the yeshiva students, in Tishrei 5752, the Rebbe told the bachurim that their Torah study should be such that even in a dream matters of Torah would come to them. The Rebbe demanded of young bachurim that they study Torah with such great diligence, to the point that they would dream about it at night and complete the matter during the night.
There is a letter in which the Rebbe recounts that a chassid once came to his father, the Rebbe Rashab, and wept. What was he weeping about? He had had a bad dream that night, and he seemed to be saying: where is he holding? The Rebbe Rashab said to him: if during the day you are immersed in Chassidus and in avodah of the heart, in tefillah, you will not have such things, such dreams, at night. The dreams of the night are an expression of what happens during the course of the day.
And this is the point that the Rebbe brings here from the maamar — which gives us strong encouragement — how great a diligence there must be during the day in Torah and in the service of the heart, with tremendous exertion, so that all our twenty-four hours will be as they ought to be.
The Rebbe once related that the Rebbe Rashab told his granddaughter, one of the daughters of the Rebbe Rayatz, that she should sleep on Shabbos in honor of Shabbos. The little girl said to him: "Fine, things that I do consciously and while awake — it is understood that they should be done in honor of Shabbos; but when I am asleep, I am asleep — how can it apply to say that the sleep should be in honor of Shabbos?" The Rebbe Rashab did not accept this, and said: No; it is entirely possible that even during sleep the sleep should be in honor of Shabbos. Even from a small child he demanded this. Our forefathers kindled within us powers, within every person, to reach a state where all twenty-four hours are part of the service of Hashem.