Room two hundred twenty-five in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Shabbat, 7 Tammuz 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Chukas, seventh aliyah with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 7th of the month, one recites from chapter 39 through chapter 43 inclusive.
Tanya: on this day one begins chapter 11 in Shaar HaYichud VeHaEmunah, from the beginning of the chapter with the word "וְהִנֵּה," and the portion concludes on page 176 with the word "בְּלִבּוֹ."
The passage in this saying is taken from a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 5 Tammuz 5695, addressed to the Rebbe — that is, to his son-in-law, our Rebbe. This is a very long letter, in which he relates at length about the order of conduct that prevailed among the early chassidim and among our Rebbeim, our leaders, and details many interesting points. In the Hayom Yom there are several sayings from this letter, and here we will study one passage quoted in it from words spoken by the Rebbe Rashab on Simchas Torah in the year 5648. And these are his words: "My master, my father, my teacher and my Rebbe said" — the reference is to the Rebbe Rashab.
"Chassidus — their beginning is embedded in their end and their end in their beginning." This concept appears in Sefer Yetzirah, which states that every point is embedded from the initial point to the final point, and these matters are bound up with one another. This is the point that illuminates in Chassidus — "the beginning is embedded in their end and their end in their beginning." That is, every point in Chassidus, whether it appears to be a small matter or whether it is a deep and lofty matter, these matters are bound up with one another at all their extremities.
In Kabbalah there are two levels: a level called "yosher" (straightness), and a level called "igulim" (circles). "Yosher" expresses an orderly seder-hishtalshelut; when there is an orderly seder-hishtalshelut, the highest point is on one level, the middle point is on another level, and the lowest point is on yet another level. In contrast, in "igulim" there is no first point and no final point — every point can be the first. The circle expresses the idea of "their beginning is wedged in their end and their end in their beginning," and it makes no difference at which point you are located.
The saying states: "the level of igulim, where there is found neither beginning nor end" — which seemingly has no location within it, and no order; there is nothing more important and nothing less important, and whatever you do is in perfect order. And regarding this the saying comes and states: even though Chassidus is in the category of "their beginning is embedded in their end and their end in their beginning," even though it is the level of "igulim," after all this — "yet despite everything, the main thing is order" — within the "igulim," within the beginning and end that are connected, matters must be done in a very orderly fashion.
And he elaborates: "The Baal Shem Tov was orderly, the Maggid of Mezritch was meticulous about order, and my great-grandfather - the Alter Rebbe - taught the chassidim to be orderly; one sees this in his maamarim, his letters, his niggunim." When one studies his maamarim, one sees that the matters are structured in an orderly fashion, layer upon layer; and likewise in his letters and his niggunim — everything is very organized and orderly.
And he brings a practical example from the conduct of the chassidim: what is "order," and into what details does it extend? "Chassidim who had a fixed time for their coming to Liozna — and afterward to Liadi — were not permitted to change the time without permission from the Rebbe." Chassidim who had a fixed time of the year at which they came to the Rebbe did not have permission to change the time. It was not possible to decide: until now I have been coming for Shavuos, and from now on I want to come for Rosh Hashanah. Each chassid had a fixed order according to which he conducted himself, and all the influences he received were in accordance with the particular order set for him. One who wished to change had to have permission from the Rebbe. Even on such a point — when to come — you do not decide as you please; matters must be organized and orderly.
"In order to receive permission, one had to justify the reason" — and in order to receive permission to change the date, this was not a matter of technical procedure, where the chassid would submit a request and receive approval. Rather, you had to present an explanation: why do you want to change? What has changed? What happened? That is to say, the matters have to be very orderly.
"By the Rebbe there was a special committee for directing the conduct of the chassidim, headed by Maharil [Yehuda Leib], the brother of our Rebbe; and a special committee for directing the conduct of the young married chassidic men, headed by the Mitteler Rebbe".
That is to say, the entire point of the saying is: even though Chassidus is rooted in such a lofty Divine level, where ostensibly there is no relevance to the concept of order, since everything there is above-order — this is not so. Chassidic conduct receives the greatest powers, and everything passes through the channel of order. We see this in many letters of the Rebbe, in which he demands of all the institutions and of all the conduct of the chassidim that everything should always be in a very orderly and organized manner. It is not that each person does as he wishes and whenever he wishes, even if by his reasoning it seems right to him — everything must be orderly and planned.
And if we wish to find the connection between this saying and the continuation of the Yad HaChazakah of the Rambam — for we began Sefer Kinyan on the previous day — then today there is an allusion to the halachot that follow, namely the Hilchot Zechiyah U'Matanah. In Hilchot Zechiyah U'Matanah there is an entire chapter, which is the first chapter, in which the Rambam brings various ways in which a person acquires property and how one effects a kinyan. There is a lengthy discussion there of what happens with the property of a ger: a ger has no relatives and no family members, and therefore if he passes away without family his property is hefker, and it has the aspect of "whoever comes first acquires it"; and precisely how one acquires it — and in this there are several details.
And the Rambam concludes, saying: "In what case is this said?" — all that I have said until now, that you can acquire the object in this way or that, applies "if the king has no known law," if the king has not established clear guidelines as to how the matter works. "But if the law and statute of that king" — if it were in a place where a king established a rule, that in the kingdom, even in such a situation, the matter does not work like "whoever leaps [first acquires it]," but rather there is an order for how things are conducted, they follow the king's law. The king decides, and things must be very orderly. This is precisely the idea we saw here — that the Rebbe establishes that the conduct must be orderly and fixed, and not that each person leaps as he wishes in every area and matter.