The three hundred and eleventh "room" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Monday, 5 Tishrei 5704.
Lessons: Chumash, Vezot Haberachah, Sheni, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim: on account of the days of Tishrei, one recites today from chapter 29 through chapter 34 inclusive — the three additional chapters; and on account of the day of the month: chapters 100, 101, 102.
In Tanya, on this day we study from page 131, beginning with the words "uvazeh yuvan," and the portion concludes with the word "vechadperush."
Today's teaching is a continuation of the saying we had on 3 Tishrei, regarding the words of Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, that one should break down the meaning of the concept of "teshuvah" according to the initial letters of the letters of the word "teshuvah." On the previous day, on 4 Tishrei, we had the explanation of the first letter, tav, which stands for "Tamim tihyeh im Hashem Elokecha" (Be wholehearted with Hashem your God).
Now we come to the next letter in the word "teshuvah" — the letter shin. And so it is stated: "A summary of the explanation of the second aspect" — a summary of the Rebbe's explanation of the second aspect of teshuvah, alluded to in the acronym of the letter shin. What is the acronym of shin? The verse "Shin, shivisi Havayah lenegdi tamid" ("I have set the L-rd before me always"). That is to say, there is a path in teshuvah connected to this verse.
How is this verse connected to teshuvah? It is explained here that a person must always contemplate "Havayah." What is "Havayah"? The name of G-d that is called "the name Havayah" — "Havayah indicates the bringing into being of the world and the bringing into being of created beings"; "Havayah" is related to the word "mehaveh" (brings into being), alluding to the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings into being the world and the created beings.
What should a person contemplate? "That the coming-into-being of all creation and its life-force." There is coming-into-being in the world — that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings into being; and with regard to coming-into-being all created things are equal, for He brings into being the inanimate, the vegetative, and all of them. And there is life-force — a particular life-force, like the soul that animates a body; and understandably, each type of creature has the particular life-force suited to it.
A person contemplates that this Divine power, which brings creation into being and gives it life, "operates in a manner of "no comparison" — "from nothing to something"." The distance between the Divine power that brings creation into being and creation itself: creation is "something" (yesh), while the Divine power is "nothing" (ayin), and from "nothing" to "something" is an immense distance, truly beyond all comparison.
How does this contemplation help a Jew in the avodah of teshuvah? He explains: "and this is the avodah of teshuvah that comes about through this, namely, that constantly before his eyes is the matter of the coming-into-being of the world and all that fills it" of the world and all that fills it. When a person contemplates that at every single moment the Holy One, blessed be He, brings the world into being from nothing to something, there awakens within him the recognition that the world is essentially "nothing" and occupies no space.
This recognition will lead a person to the point where he will not wish to occupy himself with and pursue worldly matters, but will instead desire to cleave to that which is true — to Torah, to mitzvot, and to the Holy One, blessed be He. This is the avodah of teshuvah: that a person returns to Hashem by detaching himself from worldly matters — when he understands that they are "ayin," nothingness — and cleaves to the Divine truth. This is the avodah of teshuvah connected to "shivisi Havayah lenegdi tamid" (I have set Hashem before me always).