The twenty-eighth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Friday, 17 Teves 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Vayechi, Sixth aliyah, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 17th of the month, from chapter 83 through chapter 87 inclusive.
Tanya, we are in the final section of chapter 17, from the word "ve'od" until the conclusion of the chapter, "as is explained elsewhere."
In the daily teaching the Rebbe refers to a certain custom, which in that year (5703) fell on this day, 17 Tevet, but it is a custom that exists every year. Essentially it depends on the secular date: the night between the twenty-fourth and the twenty-fifth of December each year. This night is called "Leil Nittel," and we will explain what it is and how it concerns us.
Let us first read the opening line: "The custom not to study on Nittel" — the practice is not to study Torah on the night of Nittel. First we shall briefly explain what "Nittel" is. Here "Nittel" is written with a tav, and there are places where "Nittel" is written with a tet, and each spelling has meaning. In one of the letters the Rebbe writes that if "Nittel" is spelled with a tet — then it derives from "nital," taken away, an expression of lack and absence; or, in Latin, "natal" means birth, and this is the day of the birth of that man, may his name and memory be blotted out. And if "Nittel" is spelled with a tav, as here — then it derives from "nitlah": on this day he "was hanged."
In any case, on this day — which in most places is fixed, as mentioned, on the secular date between the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December — the custom is not to study Torah at night. Until when — we will see at the conclusion of the teaching.
What is the reason that Torah is not studied, and what connection does the Christian holiday have to this? The Rebbe brings in the name of the Rebbe Rayatz: "I heard from my father and master [the Rashab, of blessed memory]" — the Rebbe Rayatz relates what he heard from his father, the Rebbe Rashab — "the reason." In general, in the seforim — there is a sefer called "Taamei HaMinhagim" — many reasons are brought for this matter.
[The Rebbe himself, in one of the places in "Likkutei Sichos," brings a reason why they instituted not to study on this night: because there were places where, on this night — the Christian holiday — they would beat Jews who were seen in the street, and it was a danger to one's life to go about outside; therefore they decreed that people should not go to the beis medrash so as not to be harmed — a matter of pikuach nefesh, so as not to encounter them. This is one of the reasons the Rebbe brings.]
There are additional reasons, and here the Rebbe explains an inner reason, according to the esoteric dimension, why one should not study Torah: "the reason is in order not to add vitality." The study of Torah draws vitality into the world, and at times — as is known, when a person studies Torah not for its own sake — the divine vitality of the Torah passes over to the places of the kelipah. As the Alter Rebbe writes in his Shulchan Aruch in the laws of Talmud Torah, that of a "wicked person who studies Torah" it is said, "But to the wicked one God says: what right have you to recount My statutes"; a wicked person who studies Torah, if his intention is not proper, his study passes over to the places of the kelipah. Thus, when the deficiency lies in the intention, the study goes to the wrong places.
There is also a problem with the time itself: there are times when the power of the kelipah intensifies, and then — whatever the intention may be — the Torah studied at that time is liable to go to improper places. Therefore one does not wish to add vitality to that man and to those who follow his approach. This is also the reason that Jews living in the lands of the Ishmaelites, where there are no Christian holidays, are entirely unaware of this custom of not studying, with which the saying opens.
And when we say "not to study" — the intention is not only Torah of the revealed level, but not to study anything at all, not even Chassidus. For example, Rabbi Weinberg, a precious Jew who had regular radio classes on the sefer Tanya, once had the class fall precisely on this date between the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December, and he asked the Rebbe whether to teach a Tanya class on that day. The Rebbe told him to use the radio class to tell chassidic stories, since stories have a stronger power and they do not spill over into the wrong places. In any case — one should not study, not even Chassidus.
It is interesting that in the Rebbe's diary notes it is related that once the moreh-tzedek of Lubavitch entered the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek precisely on the night of Nittel, the night between the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December, and saw that the Rebbe was sitting and studying. The rav was shocked, and said naturally: "Rebbe, it's Nittel." The Tzemach Tzedek answered him: "Who asked you to say so?" — yet he closed the book and stopped studying. It may be that a Rebbe's study carries a different significance, but this is the story.
It is interesting to note that the Rebbe spoke about Nittel in 5659, and this appears in the Sefer HaSichos 5659, where there is a lengthy discussion of this subject of not learning on Nittel. The Rebbe says: the Rebbe Rashab, who is the one mentioned here and who explained "not to add vitality" — what would he do on the night of Nittel? He would play chess, or stand beside the game and direct it. And through this he wished to convey a message, as the Rebbe puts it in the sicha, that this time during which one does not learn should not be spent idly, but rather used for something that will bring benefit.
The Rebbe says that there is benefit in the game of chess, for there is wisdom in it, and when it is done for the sake of Heaven then it is proper, as during a time when one is forbidden to study. And its benefit is in several directions, says the Rebbe: First, it sharpens the mind, and consequently when one later comes to study Torah he will learn better, because he will have a better understanding. Second, there is a Kiddush Sheim Shamayim in it, for the gentiles see the wisdom of the Jews and their success in something that is, perhaps, more difficult for them. And third, there are those for whom this is their livelihood, and a person is permitted to work for his livelihood for the sake of Heaven.
In that talk the Rebbe relates that there was once a yeshiva bochur who went around with a jacket that had no buttons, and when he was asked why he does not fix his buttons, he answered: If he fixes the buttons now, what will he do on the night of Nittel? Therefore he waits until the night of Nittel arrives, and then he will mend his buttons.
The Rebbe further says that one can use this time to contemplate the image of the Rebbe — there are photographs and portraits of our Rebbeim, and one can gaze upon them during this time. There are many things one can do, but as for Torah — it was said not to study.
The conclusion of the teaching: "Once my revered father, my teacher [the Rashab, of blessed memory], said" — once the Rebbe Rashab said, and the saying is written in Yiddish: "The diligent students, for whom these eight hours touch the soul" — those students who are diligent in their Torah study, for whom the eight hours during which they are not studying touch them in the soul. The expression "eight hours" is somewhat difficult to understand, for there are not eight hours here — after all, the saying concludes, as we shall see, at midnight, so when then does it begin? It is hard to fit precisely eight hours into it.
Therefore, one wished to explain an interesting point: according to the directive of the Rebbe Rashab that one should study four hours of Chassidus and eight hours of nigleh each day, it follows that a "nittel" period, during which one does not study, detracts from the eight hours of nigleh. And there are diligent students to whom this matters, who must make up the quota of eight hours within that same day, for they do not wish to lose the hours that were forfeited.
The Rebbe Rashab says of those diligent students to whom the completion of their eight hours matters so deeply, touching their very souls: "I do not favor them." Why? Because if you study out of a desire to grasp the intellectual content of the matter, then indeed you must complete your quota — but this is not the proper orientation. And if you study out of a desire to receive the holiness of the Torah, then when you know that at this particular time the holiness of your Torah study might, G-d forbid, go off to the wrong places, you ought to be pleased that you are not studying. The eagerness to complete the quota reveals somewhat that the student is not seeking the Divine content within the study, but rather its intellectual wisdom.
The Rebbe concludes — and some say that the conclusion is addressed to those diligent students: "And this is only until midnight" — at midnight the matter concludes, and afterward it is permissible to study. It may be that he is telling those students: if you truly wish to complete the eight hours, go to sleep now and rise after midnight, and then there is no impediment to studying.
In any case, this is the point to know: Torah study must take place within holiness and purity, but one must be aware that there are times when the study is inappropriate. As the Rebbe cites in one of his letters: someone once asked how it could be said of Torah study that it is undesirable — is not the Torah a holy matter, and how can one speak of it as being undesirable? The Rebbe brings several examples: a person on Tishah B'Av, who is told that there are large portions of the Torah he may not study now, for he is limited to studying only those matters permitted on Tishah B'Av; and likewise a person during the seven days of mourning, who too is limited in his Torah study.
If so, there are situations in which the Torah says that at this time you cannot study. The difference is that there one does not study most parts of the Torah, and there are parts that are permitted; whereas here it is said that during these hours it is impossible to study anything at all. This is the fulfillment of the Torah in this manner, and this is the conclusion of the daily teaching of 17 Tevet.