Room two hundred seventy-nine in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Thursday, 2 Elul 5703.
Lessons: Chumash, Shoftim, fifth aliyah, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 2nd of the month, one recites from chapter 10 through chapter 17. Added here also is the supplement of three chapters that one is accustomed to recite each day during the month of Elul — on the 2nd of the month, from chapter 4 through chapter 6 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day we cover the tenth letter of Iggeres HaKodesh. The daily portion begins on page 230 with the word "Vehinei," and concludes on page 217 with the words "nafsho kesiv."
The source of the daily teaching is a letter from the Rebbe Rayatz dated 6 Elul 5697. The letter is addressed to a chassid who was then a carpenter in Afula, and the Rebbe rouses him to accomplish everything necessary in the place where he finds himself; further on in the letter he speaks with him about the fact that there is no mikveh in the place, and so on. This letter contains several important sayings in "Hayom Yom", and we already had in the calendar two teachings from that same letter during the month of Sivan — the saying of 10 Sivan and the saying of 30 Sivan — both from that very same epistle.
Here, on 2 Elul, we have before us a passage from that same letter, but from its first part. In the opening of the letter, the Rebbe Rayatz writes words of arousal to a Jew, that he should act in his place to strengthen Torah and fear of Heaven with self-sacrifice, and that he should do so "with counsel and knowledge" — through consultation and in a thoughtful manner, how to bring a Jew closer to Hashem. Propaganda always helps, and a person should never think "had I lived in a different area I would have succeeded more," for in every place where Jews are found one can act, and in every place one must act.
The Rebbe Rayatz then brings the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov on the words of the prophet, who calls the Jewish people: "For you shall be a land of desire." The plain meaning of the verse, as Rashi explains there, is that "chefetz" derives from the word "ratzon" — desire — for the Holy One, blessed be He, desires the Jewish people and wants them. This is the simple interpretation.
However, the Baal Shem Tov brings an inner interpretation and an additional meaning to the word "cheifetz" in the verse. The general idea of the Baal Shem Tov's interpretation we already had in "Hayom Yom" in the saying of 17 Iyar, and now we will see that same idea and the emphasis that the Baal Shem Tov places on it. Let us examine the wording of the teaching.
And this is what he says: "The Jewish people are called a 'desirable land'" — as in the wording of the verse. And what is a "desirable land" according to the Baal Shem Tov? "Chefetz" is not related to the word for "desire," but rather to the word for "objects." Just as in an actual land there are precious objects to be found — gold, silver, and all sorts of metals buried in the earth — so too, says the Baal Shem Tov, within the souls of Israel there are buried good objects. And in the words of the teaching: "that within them are several precious objects — in the love of G-d, in the fear of Him, and in good character traits". Every Jew has, in the depths of his soul, good objects.
"The revelation of good character traits depends solely on the one who arouses it" — the revelation of the good desires that exist within every person depends upon the one who is meant to arouse them. As in the physical analogy that he brings there: within the earth lie hidden treasures, among them wellsprings of water; there are places where one digs four or five cubits and reaches water, digging just a little and arriving at an actual spring; and there are places where one must dig fifty cubits in order to reach water. The question is not whether there is water or not, but rather how persistent the diligent digger is in his effort. So too in the analogy: uncovering the good within every Jew depends upon the one who arouses it.
"It is a clear matter that in every part of the earth there are wellsprings of living waters" — and the difference between one place and another lies "only in nearness and distance": whether the water is at a distance of four or five amos from the surface of the ground, or at a depth of fifty amos; but it is certain that there are wellsprings of water. "And if so, everything depends on the one who digs and on the strength of his patience and deliberateness" — if the digger has patience, deliberateness, and persistence, he will reach the water; and if he does not, and he despairs quickly, he will not find it. But it is certain that within every Jew there are good character traits and a love of Hashem, and the good desires are present within each and every one.
He concludes: "And since the will is a supernal faculty that decrees and commands over all the faculties" — the faculty of will within a person is an exceedingly powerful faculty, one that is above all the faculties, and all of a person's faculties are influenced by the will within him — "and compels them to act and to perform in accordance with its commands"; when a person desires something, the will rules over all the faculties and activates them precisely according to its wish.
"If so, then, the main avodah is to arouse the will to act." If there is a will — and the will governs all the faculties — one will succeed and find. "And to accomplish this both within oneself and within another" — both to work on oneself and reveal the good within, and to reveal the good within another — everything depends on the will. This is, in two words, the idea of the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, for the prophet calls the people of Israel "eretz cheifetz" — a land in which very precious treasures are concealed.