The two hundred and twenty-sixth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Sunday, 8 Tammuz, 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Balak, first parsha with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, for the 8th day of the month, from chapter 44 through chapter 48.
Tanya: On this day we conclude chapter 11 of "Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah". The lesson begins on page 176 with the words "aval haemet", until the conclusion of the chapter with the words "kemo shekatuv bemakom acher".
The daily saying is taken from a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 26 Marcheshvan 5702. The letter is addressed to the Tmimim students at the "Tomchei Tmimim" yeshiva in Montreal, and it comes as a response to a question they asked the Rebbe: since the task of drawing close the chassidim and anshei shlomeinu living in Montreal is incumbent upon them, and for this purpose they must establish Torah classes for the public — establishing Torah classes for the public detracts from their personal time and their personal study, and thereby they lose time due to the extensive involvement in the public classes. Regarding this they asked the Rebbe Rayatz whether to do this or not, and how it is proper to conduct themselves.
The Rebbe Rayatz writes to them at length that they should not take into account their "waste of time," for wasting time for the sake of public Torah classes is the fulfillment of Torah. And he cites there from the wording of the Alter Rebbe, that when one works with the public, "his mind and heart become a thousand times purer." That is, one who dedicates time for classes and for assisting the public — his mind becomes literally much purer; and as a result, afterward, study that would have taken him a thousand hours to understand — he will be able to understand in a single hour. It turns out that he receives all that time back in a far more expansive manner.
Among the matters discussed, the Rebbe brings an example from Avraham Avinu. Avraham Avinu was a wondrous scholar and a highly intellectual man, and the nature of the wise, who love matters of wisdom, is to greatly value time and to use it to increase their understanding. Nevertheless, despite this quality, Avraham Avinu set aside his personal desire and occupied himself with teaching simple people, simple Arabs, faith in the Holy One, blessed be He, dedicating his personal time to this. This teaches us how we ought to conduct ourselves when we are faced with the question of preserving our own affairs versus the surroundings.
And at the conclusion — this being the daily saying — the Rebbe adds that not only did Avraham Avinu conduct himself as we have noted, but we find even more than this: "We find that the essence of the Holy One's endearment of Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him." What was the thing that at its core the Holy One, blessed be He, loved about Avraham, with all his greatness? It was "so that he will command — as in its meaning of 'to join together' — his children and his household." The verse says "so that he will command [yetzaveh]." What is "yetzaveh"? It is an expression of joining together — as in the meaning of "tzavta" (companionship); and "asher yetzaveh" means that he would join his children and his household together. That Avraham Avinu joined his family and his surroundings to the ideas of faith — and this is what caused the Holy One, blessed be He, to endear him more than his personal service; for although personally he gave his life for kiddush Hashem on many occasions, this does not compare to his involvement with his surroundings.
And as he specifies: "That is, that all the greatness of his avodah in withstanding the trials is not comparable to the matter of [the point] that he would command and connect others, that he would bring merit to others" — all the tremendous avodah of Avraham Avinu, who stood in the ten trials with which the Holy One, blessed be He, tested him and withstood them all, is not comparable; there is no relation whatsoever between all the trials that he withstood and this point of "he would command," to connect others and to bring merit to others. That is, what he brought others to merit is of far greater value than his own personal avodah, lofty as it was.
Later in the letter, after the Rebbe Rayatz writes to them how much they must dedicate time to public shiurim and so on, he adds that along with this, the main thing is that they should not waste time in preparing for the shiur and at its conclusion, in chatter and talk that squanders the time in bittul Torah; one must be careful about this. But the shiur itself, the time of studying with the public, in his words there, "brings great profits"; the investment one makes on behalf of the public is very immense.