"Cheider" three hundred and three in the chamber of Hayom Yom.
Sunday, 26 Elul 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash — here we begin a new parashah, "Haazinu," the first section with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 26th of the month, one recites the second half of chapter 119 — from the letter מ, which begins with the word "מה", until the conclusion of the chapter with the words "לא שכחתי". And the three additional chapters during the month of Elul, on this day one recites chapters 76, 77 and 78.
Tanya: On this day we study Iggeret 19. The daily portion begins on page 254 with the words "Ach ha'inyan," and concludes on page 128 with the word "ha'otiyot."
The source of the saying studied here is a farbrengen of the Rebbe Rayatz for Shabbos Parshas Tavo in the year 5700. It is noteworthy that at that same farbrengen, in the passage preceding this point, the Rebbe Rayatz relates that in the year 5566 the Rav of Zalkva would deliver sharp pilpulim on the sayings of Chazal, explaining them by way of Chassidus. And then the Rebbe brings this teaching, which instructs us in the meaning, according to Chassidus, of the laws connected with preparing meat for eating.
We have already learned in "Hayom Yom," in the saying of 11 Adar Sheini, that every halachah in the revealed part of Torah must be understood in a way that makes it possible to draw from it a lesson in avodas Hashem — how a person should conduct himself in this world according to the will of Hashem. And here, in the teaching studied just below, we see a concrete illustration of this: how one takes a halachah from the revealed Torah and translates it into avodas Hashem.
Which halachah is being discussed here? In the Shulchan Aruch, "Yoreh De'ah," siman 69, in the laws of salting, the author writes that when one wishes to make meat kosher for eating, one must of course extract the blood contained within the meat before cooking it. First one must rinse and wash the meat with water in order to cleanse it of the blood clinging to its outer surface; for if one were to salt it before washing, the external blood would prevent the salt from drawing out the internal blood, and therefore one must first wash it.
The Rema adds that ideally, before salting, one must soak the meat in water for about half an hour in order to soften it, and only after the water drains off it does one salt it with salt. And after the meat has remained in the salt for the duration of the salting (regarding which there are several opinions as to how long it needs to be), one must rinse the meat so that all the salt that drew out the blood, which now rests upon the meat, comes off completely; and then the meat is ready for cooking. This is what is written in the halachah.
In the daily teaching, the Rebbe Rayatz takes these three stages — soaking in water, salting, and the rinsing that follows — and explains their meaning in avodas Hashem. Let us examine the wording: "the order of making meat fit for eating" — what is the process by which meat is made fit so that it may be eaten? That is, "to remove from it the forbidden blood."
In the analog — in one's service of Hashem — the "flesh" represents all of a person's physical matters: his physical body and all his material affairs; and within the flesh there is "blood" — the boiling passion and excitement that a person has for all worldly matters. This excitement must be drained out; that is to say, you may make use of all your physical matters and your physical body, but without the boiling of the blood. This blood must be drained out.
And what is the order for extracting the blood, the "boiling," and the worldly matters from within the meat? "Soaking, salting, rinsing" — that is: to soak in water, then to place the salt, and finally to wash and rinse so that it will be entirely clean. "Their meaning in avodah" — what is their significance in the service of Hashem? The matter proceeds according to this order.
"Sheriya" — quite simply, one soaks the meat in water, and regarding water it is well known what is said, "water refers to nothing other than Torah." And here, what is this soaking in water? That a person must "steep himself in the words of the Rebbe," that his entire being should be absolutely immersed in the Torah of the Rebbe and submerged within it. This is the first action, before one begins to speak or do anything — first of all, to soak thoroughly in the Torah of the Rebbe. This is called "sheriya."
The second matter — "salting". After one soaks the meat, that is, after a person has become immersed in the words of the Rebbe, there awakens within his soul a need and also a desire to enter into "yechidus" with the Rebbe. For yechidus is like the salt: just as the salt precisely draws out the blood from all the places where it is absorbed in the meat, so too in yechidus the Rebbe gives the chassid the guidance and the strength to draw the "blood" out of himself. Now, after he has first soaked himself in water, he already desires and is already fit, and he has reached the stage of yechidus.
And the third stage — "rinsing." After the yechidus, after the salting, one must rinse. What is this rinsing? The rinsing is the "niggun." The chassidic niggun works to remove the blood, so that it does not return inward but rather is washed away, and it prepares the physical flesh to become a vessel for the revelation of the soul. This is the order learned from the laws of kashering meat.