The one hundred and fourteenth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Thursday, 8 Tishrei, 5704.
Shiurim: Chumash, Berachah, fifth [aliyah], with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 8th of the month, one recites from chapter 44 through chapter 48 inclusive; and the three additional chapters are chapters 109, 110, and 111.
Tanya: On this day we continue studying Iggeret 20 in Iggeret HaKodesh. The daily portion begins on page 262 with the word "ve'od," and concludes on page 132 with the words "demalchut de'atzilut."
Today's teaching is a continuation, and in fact the final part, of the saying of 3 Tishrei. On 3 Tishrei we discussed the saying of Rabbi Yosha of Anipoli, who said that the letters of the word "teshuvah" divide into five verses, which are the various stages in the path of teshuvah. We spoke about the letters up to this point: tav — "Tamim tihyeh im Hashem Elokecha" ("Be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d"); shin — "Shivisi Hashem l'negdi tamid" ("I have set Hashem before me always"); vav — "V'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha" ("Love your fellow as yourself"); beit — "B'chol derachecha da'eihu" ("Know Him in all your ways").
Today we come to the last letter, the letter hei. "A summary, the explanation of the manner of the fifth" — that is, the explanation given by the Rebbe [Maharash"b] to the Rebbe Rayatz regarding the meaning of the allusion contained in the letter "hei" within the avodah of teshuvah. To what does the hei allude? To the verse "Hatznea leches im Hashem Elokecha" ("Walk modestly with Hashem your G-d"). We already spoke about this on 3 Tishrei, that in the verse it is written "im Elokecha" ("with your G-d"), and here the Rebbe added the word "Hashem."
What is the meaning of the teshuvah connected to the content of the verse "hatznea leches" (walk humbly)? Today the Rebbe explains: the meaning of "hatznea leches" is "being careful that there be no protrusion," that a person should serve Hashem without displaying to his surroundings what he does, how, and why — "and as the saying goes, 'a person should always be shrewd in fear [of Heaven]'," meaning that he should always be clever in concealing his special fear of Heaven. He does not serve Hashem or fear Him for the sake of others, but rather wants what is needed because that is what the Holy One, blessed be He, wants of him.
And in what does that "cunning" of "cunning in the fear of Heaven" express itself? "The matter of cunning is that it should not be recognizable at all" — with shrewdness, so that the matter should not be recognizable at all, so that others would not identify at all his particular concerns in the service of Hashem. The Rebbe reinforces and strengthens this approach and says: "It is known that several of the early chassidim would conceal themselves" — early chassidim who would hide themselves so that they would not be recognized at all, and would appear as completely simple people, and no one would take notice that these were people of lofty stature; "and if they were discovered they would be distressed" — if suddenly someone recognized and discovered who he was and how he conducted himself, they would have great distress from the exposure.
What is the idea here, and why is this called "the avodah of teshuvah"? The avodah of teshuvah means that a person serves for the sake of Heaven, without any prominence and without any externality, that he truly thinks only about the Holy One, blessed be He, and about nothing else. It is possible that a person serves Hashem and does everything, but if in his life there is significance to what the environment says and how it relates to him — he has something to do teshuvah for. He must remove from himself all the "distractions" from the environment, and be completely focused on the goal.
An example of this: it is known that bittul is expressed by the word "mah" ("what"), as Moshe and Aharon said, "ve'nachnu mah" ("and what are we"). And it is written in Chassidus that there is a kelipah called "u'filagsho u'shmah Re'umah" ("and his concubine, whose name was Re'umah"); the word "Re'umah" is explained in Chassidus as two words — "re'u mah" ("see what"): he has "mah," he has bittul, but he is concerned that it be noticed — "see that I am nullifying myself" — and this is a kelipah. For bittul must be an entirely inner, personal avodah. And this is the conclusion of the teaching: "and this is the avodah of teshuvah that comes from walking modestly [hatzne'a lechet]" — this is the meaning of teshuvah.
It is interesting that Reb Elchanan the mashpia once spoke about this, in the name of the well-known chassid Reb Moshe Alperovitch, and he said that modesty is not only vis-à-vis others, but must exist even toward oneself. He would give an example: sometimes a person wants to daven earnestly in the shul, and he says that his surroundings disturb him and there is noise, and so he goes off to a closed room or to a corner, where he can daven quietly.
Regarding this, Rabbi Moshe Alperovitch said: If you were completely absorbed in avodas Hashem, without thinking about where you are and what your standing is, without thinking about yourself at all — you would be so uplifted that even your surroundings would not disturb you; what difference does it make whether there is a surrounding environment or not. The very fact that you need to step aside means that toward yourself you feel "now I am going to do such-and-such a thing"; even though you do not publicize it and people do not know, toward yourself you are a being with self-existence and reality. Therefore, he said, "walking modestly" (hatznei'a leches) is not only toward others, but must be even toward oneself — and this is an additional inner level in the matter of avodas Hashem.