The thirty-second "room" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Tuesday, 21 Tevet 5703.
Lessons: Chumash, Shemos, third portion, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 21st of the month, from chapter 104 through chapter 108 inclusive.
Tanya, we are in the middle of chapter 12, from the words "rak mipnei" until page 17, at the words "haTorah kanal."
Here we have a brief saying that describes a certain situation, without its background, and I will give you the background to which it refers. The teaching relates that in a certain situation the Rebbe Rayatz said something. The record of this is found only in a personal diary that the Rebbe wrote, for this was an event that took place when the Rebbe Rayatz and the Rebbe were together.
I will read the first sentence: "My revered father, master, teacher and Rebbe, the holy Rav, encountered someone carrying pails full of water and said." When did this take place? In the year 5692. In that year, on 10 Sivan, the wedding of the Rebbe Rayatz's youngest daughter, the Rebbetzin Sheina, to Rav Menachem Mendel HaKohen Hornstein took place [both of whom were later killed in the Holocaust]. Their wedding was on 10 Sivan 5692.
The wedding took place in eastern Lithuania, in a place known today as Lentvaris. On the eve of the festival of Shavuos, several days before the wedding, the Rebbe traveled with his father-in-law, the Rebbe Rayatz, to the mikveh, in a city called Trakai, about ten kilometers from the place where they were staying. On the way, during the journey, they encountered a person carrying pails full of water, as described here.
When they encountered that man who was carrying pails full of water, the Rebbe Rayatz said — and this is the sentence that the Rebbe heard from his father-in-law: "When one meets water, the Baal Shem Tov says that it is a sign of blessing." So said the Rebbe Rayatz. And this requires explanation: what is the purpose of this elaboration and emphasis, that one must say that the Baal Shem Tov said it is a sign of blessing?
On the first night of Sukkos 5740 [during those years the Rebbe would often deliver a talk each night and explain the significance of the ushpizin of that day; for just as there are ushpizin mentioned in the Zohar, beginning with Avraham Avinu, Yitzchak, and so on, there are also chassidic ushpizin — from the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid, and onward. On the first day of Sukkos the ushpizin are Avraham Avinu and the Baal Shem Tov] the Rebbe spoke about the ushpizin of the first day — the Baal Shem Tov — and in that talk related the following story, that once he was walking with his father-in-law and they encountered a man carrying pails.
Then the Rebbe asked: Why is there such a need to emphasize that the Baal Shem Tov says this is a sign of blessing? What is the emphasis here? And the Rebbe said something interesting: "A sign of blessing" means the drawing down of blessing, and blessing can be drawn down in many different ways — where will the blessing be expressed? It may be expressed in spirituality, and it may be expressed in physicality; and even within this itself, both in spirituality and in physicality, the blessing can be expressed in all sorts of ways.
Therefore it is emphasized that the blessing comes because the Baal Shem Tov says so. What is the Baal Shem Tov? The Baal Shem Tov was known as a person through whom matters of wonders and miracles always came about, to the point that when one sees a certain wonder, one naturally says that this is a story of the Baal Shem Tov. Therefore they want to emphasize: the blessing that is to be drawn down when one encounters water — in what manner will it be drawn down? In the manner of the Baal Shem Tov, that is, a blessing that transcends nature, a blessing beyond measure and limitation, which will be drawn down all the way below. This is why the Baal Shem Tov is emphasized so much — in order to emphasize in what manner the blessing will be drawn down.
This teaching has an interesting connection to the day of the week, the third day of Parshas Shemos. For on the third day of Parshas Shemos — the day on which the saying appears — the Torah tells of Moshe Rabbeinu who was by the well and drew water; this is precisely the Chumash portion of that day, and therefore the Rebbe brings here the story about the water and about what one says upon seeing a person carrying pails full of water.
One can also connect this idea to two additional fascinating sources, in which we see the flow of blessing associated with water. The first source: in the Book of Bereishis it is told that Yaakov Avinu came before Pharaoh, and it says, "And Yaakov blessed Pharaoh." Rashi there explains — with what did he bless him, and what was the special blessing? That the Nile should rise toward his feet; that each time Pharaoh would go out to the Nile, the waters would rise to meet him. We see that Yaakov Avinu wished to express a blessing, and in what form did he express it — that the waters should rise to meet him. This is the very same idea that is being said here.
It is possible to connect this with an additional point. There is a story in the Gemara, tractate Chullin, page 95, about Rav who once went to visit his son-in-law, Rav Chanan; and in order to reach his destination he had to cross a river. When they arrived at the river, the Gemara relates, the ferry came across the water straight toward him, without his having to summon it. Rav immediately expressed himself, saying that if travelers see on the water that the ferry comes toward them, this is a good sign for travelers — a sign that on that day they will have special success. Here too we see the point: when one sees on the water a special rising and the like, there is in this a sign of a special blessing. This is the content of the teaching, in which the Rebbe relates something he heard from his father-in-law on that occasion.