The two hundred thirty-second "room" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Shabbos, 14 Tammuz 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Balak, sevi'i with the commentary of Rashi.
Tehillim, on the 14th of the month, from chapter 72 through chapter 76 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day one studies the first part of chapter 3 of Iggeret HaTeshuvah, from the first word "Vehineh" until page 184.
The source of the daily saying is a fascinating and very interesting letter that the Rebbe Rayatz wrote to the Rebbe in the month of Nissan of the year 5693. The content of the letter: the Rebbe sent a letter to the Rebbe Rayatz and asked him a question — he had heard a saying in the name of the Alter Rebbe, that in America there was no giving of the Torah, and he asked the Rebbe Rayatz to explain this matter to him.
The Rebbe Rayatz opens and tells him: "The report you heard is correct, but the wording you quote, 'in America there was no Giving of the Torah,' is a corrupted phrasing." And he adds: "First I will explain the matter to you in a detailed manner." Before he reaches the point, there is a whole lengthy elaboration there, and it is worthwhile to read the letter from within it.
He explains at length the manner of the evolution and the order in which the Alter Rebbe delivered his Torah teachings. There were periods in which he delivered Torah teachings in public; and there were periods in which he taught only his sons privately, or he would summon very specific chassidim who were permitted to enter and hear the Torah teachings. Interwoven there is the well-known story about the Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, when he was a seven-year-old child, how he climbed into the oven out of a desire to hear the Alter Rebbe's Torah teachings in the other room, and how he was nearly saved from being burned as a result. All this is found in the letter.
All of this serves as an introduction to explain the incident in which the Alter Rebbe once said words of Torah before his sons alone, and what he said. And woven into this afterward is the answer to the Rebbe's question. Let us now read the wording that follows in the letter.
"This is the wording of the Tzemach Tzedek in one of his discourses" — one of the maamarim of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek. He cites a wording that had already been quoted earlier by the Mitteler Rebbe, who heard it from his father, the Alter Rebbe: "Our Rebbe, of blessed memory, in his sayings to his sons" — among the things the Alter Rebbe said to his sons, to the Mitteler Rebbe and to his son Rabbi Moshe — he said this to them "on Tuesday of Parashat Balak, in the year 5562"
And these are his words; below is a quotation of the words of the Alter Rebbe. We shall read the text and explain it. "To understand the question of the astronomers" — "hatochnim" refers to the astronomers — "since the earth is spherical and round like an apple, why do those red-skinned people opposite us below, in America, not fall off?" This is a question that has occupied the people of astronomy ever since, from the time it was discovered that there even exists a place called America, when this part of the world was discovered.
The question is: since everything is like a sphere, let us say that the Alter Rebbe, at the time he wrote the letter, was located in the upper hemisphere — then relative to him, those in the lower hemisphere ought to be standing upside down. For if it is a sphere, the lower you stand on the circle, and certainly in the bottom part, by principle you ought to fall. Why, then, in all places, does everyone remain standing upright? This is the question that occupied [minds], and the answer accepted among the astronomers is that the matter depends on the force of gravity, which pulls everyone toward the ground, and therefore in every place everyone stands upon the ground. This is the basis.
The Alter Rebbe says: "and their answer is not true" — this answer is not the true answer. The intent is not that he negates the concept of the force of gravity — this concept appears in Chassidus in several places, in the Rebbe's maamarim, as a concept — but rather that this is not the true reason. Why? First, according to this approach there is a question and there is an answer: logically they ought to fall, except that we have an answer for why they do not fall. Second, not all scientists fully agree with this explanation, and even among them there are differences of opinion. That is to say, this is not the true reason. The true reason why this happens derives from a spiritual cause, like everything in the world — everything that occurs in the world, its true cause begins from a spiritual root, and because there is a spiritual root in it, the matter is drawn down here below as well.
In order to understand the Alter Rebbe's answer, let us preface a few words. There is a concept that appears in Chassidus, whose source is in Kabbalah, that in the divine drawings-down within creation there is an aspect called "iggulim" (circles) and an aspect called "yosher" (straightness). There is a divine influence that we perhaps know better by the names "memale kol almin" (filling all worlds) or "sovev kol almin" (encompassing all worlds). There is a divine influence that descends in an orderly and measured manner, called "yosher," like a straight line — and in a straight line there is an upper part, a middle, and a lower part, and there are differences between them.
On the other hand, there is an influence called "sovev," "sovev kol almin." In sovev, just as physically in a circle, there is no point about which one can say that it is the beginning or the end, for all the points in the circle are in the same relation and at the same distance from the center, and about every point one can say that this is the beginning or that this is the end. Similarly, the concept of "sovev kol almin" is such a lofty divine level that in relation to it there is none who is closer and none who is farther — all are considered as null and naught. This is the spiritual meaning of "sovev." Of course, when one says "sovev kol almin" regarding Elokus, the intent is not to surround in a circle as we picture in a physical circle; it is merely called by that same name, and from it the physical circle in its form is drawn down — but the meaning is the spiritual meaning of the concept "sovev kol almin."
In any event, the Alter Rebbe says as follows: since the world is a sphere and round, and all nine galgalim — called "galgalim" from the word galgal, a round wheel — receive their primary influence from the Divine level called "sovev," and since in "sovev kol almin" there is no above and no below but rather everything is in a single equivalence, from this there devolves also into the physical world that at whatever point you find yourself — there you stand. It does not mean that there is another point that is the upper one while you are located at the lower one, raising the question of why you do not flip over. In a sphere there is no upper point and no lower point; everything is essentially in a single equivalence. This is the spiritual reason, and from this it devolves into physicality.
Let us now read the text itself. "And our Rebbe, of blessed memory, said" — the Alter Rebbe explained on that occasion, when he was speaking with his sons, that according to the true resolution there is no question at all to begin with as to why they do not fall, for this question arises only when one establishes that there is an upper part and a lower part; but from the perspective of "sovev kol almin," which is a circle in which there is no upper and lower, the question does not begin at all.
"For it is explained in Eitz Chaim" — this is based on what is written in Kabbalah in "Eitz Chaim," "that the nine galgalim receive from the level of "iggulim" (circles)." The nine galgalim (spheres) that revolve and exist within Creation — their divine or spiritual root is from the level called "iggulim." "And in a circle," just as in a physical circle so too in its spiritual sense, "there is no up and down," and there is no need at all to define which is higher and which is lower.
"Umehai taama" — for this reason, since in its supernal Divine root the matter derives from the aspect called "sovev" and "iggul" (circle), "behold those human beings who are opposite us below" — "opposite us," meaning we are located in Russia, in the upper part, and they, opposite us, appear to be situated below. Likewise there were periods in which this part of the globe was not known at all, and it was revealed only at a certain, later stage, and therefore it is regarded as though it is "below." In truth, however, "behold the firmament that is above them is above in one equal measure with the firmament that is above us"; and with respect to the firmament above them and the earth beneath them — there is no difference between us and them. In every place and at every point there is a lower part and an upper part, a firmament and an earth, and in the place where you are — there you stand, and there is no reason that you should fall. The meaning is not that there is someone above and you are below relative to him. "Veha'aretz desham" — the earth of there, of America, "is below relative to the firmament that is above it." In each and every place there is a firmament and there is an earth. This is the true answer to the matter.
Now we will complete what was in that letter of the Rebbe Rayatz, and we will return to the saying about which the question was asked — that they say that in America there was no Mattan Torah. The Rebbe Rayatz answers: The matter depends on how one views the revelation of Mattan Torah in creation. From the aspect of the revelation called "iggulim" (circles), there is indeed no difference; that is, what is written that at Mattan Torah the entire world trembled when the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke the Ten Commandments — "and no bird chirped" — where did this happen? Everywhere; in every place in the world, in whatever part it may be, there was exactly the same effect at Mattan Torah, and there is no difference between one place and another.
Rather what? If we speak from the aspect of "yosher," from the aspect of the divine revelation which contains revelation and concealment, which has places of more revelation and less revelation — then it is clear that in Eretz Yisrael, a holy place which contains the Beit HaMikdash and all the revealed virtues, there was a loftier divine revelation compared to more distant places. An example of this is brought there from the maamar: just as in the human body — there is a part called the "brain," in which a greater revelation of the soul rests, compared to parts such as the legs or lower places, in which there is less revelation of the soul's faculties. But the soul itself is present in every place to an equal degree — where is the soul located, where is the DNA located? It makes no difference whether in the upper part or the lower. Therefore, where was Mattan Torah in a revealed manner? In truth it was in the upper hemisphere, and there was a greater revelation of the matter there; but in actuality Mattan Torah took place in all the places entirely.
If I wish to add something by way of homiletical wit, why does this saying appear here specifically on 14 Tammuz: First, this Torah teaching was said in Parashat Balak, as noted, and we are in the week of Parashat Balak. But by way of homiletical wit, I have seen that some write that this comes after the festivals of redemption, 12–13 Tammuz, on which the Rebbe Rayatz was released from his imprisonment, and as a result subsequently left Russia and eventually arrived in America, and brought it about that even in America — a place of which it was said that there was no Giving of the Torah in a revealed manner — this matter would be revealed. That is, people thought, according to the saying, that "America is different," and the Rebbe came and said "Amerike iz nisht anderesh" [America is not different] — to reveal that the people in America do not fall spiritually; and if you think that the children there must fall — no, they do not fall. It turns out that this saying comes precisely after the release of the Rebbe Rayatz, and through this the doorway was opened to reveal that even in America one does not fall, in each and every place. This, by way of homiletical wit, is the connection between this saying specifically and this day.