Today, with God's help, we will begin to enter the book. We will not yet reach the first saying, nor will we yet reach the introduction to the first saying, but rather the opening of the book. We will begin from the title page of the book, from the very beginning.
On the title page of the book it states what the content of the book is. Written in large letters is "HaYom Yom, the calendar of Ohr Zarua for the Chabad Chassidim." This expression is taken from the letter of the previous Rebbe. Yud-Tes Kislev is the date on which the book begins. And it is written תש"ג תד"ש. This was the year in which the Rebbe published the HaYom Yom; it began on Yud-Tes Kislev 5703, and continued until Yud-Tes Kislev 5704. But the inscription here in the title is 5703 (תש"ג), and it does not say 5704 (תש"ד), but rather תש"ג תד"ש.
What is the reason it is written this way? This is something mysterious. In the Rebbe's private daily journal he wrote notes in his own handwriting in the margin of the page — we have a copy of this — and the Rebbe writes there regarding these words: "and not tash"d, according to the command of my esteemed brother-in-law and father-in-law, the Rebbe, may he live long." And then there is a statement that the previous Rebbe said in Yiddish: when the time comes, everyone will understand. There is something mysterious here, why it is written this way. This is the command. The time will come, and they will understand why. We do not yet understand why, but this is the command that was written.
Let us continue. There is the introductory piece [ha-me'ein hakdama] that the Rebbe wrote as an opening to the book. A large portion of this introductory piece is taken from the letter that the previous Rebbe wrote to the Rebbe, which we already read in the previous lesson. We will read the introductory piece — what the Rebbe writes here. The introductory piece begins thus: "The plan of this collection and its purpose, as well as its name, are explained in the letter of my revered teacher and father-in-law, the Rebbe, may he live long, dated the 3rd of Kislev 5703." And this is his wording.
And then comes the wording that the previous Rebbe writes to the Rebbe about the book. We already read the basis, let us read it again. "The festival of festivals, the 19th of Kislev, which is the Rosh Hashanah of the teaching of Chabad Chassidus, may it be beneficial" — this is the language of the Rebbe Rayatz to the Rebbe, in which he requests of him, "may it be beneficial to arrange a calendar for the year, beginning from the 19th of Kislev until the 19th of Kislev that comes upon us."
We already noted, when we read this the previous time, that the Previous Rebbe wrote the letter on the 20th of Kislev, and he writes to him to arrange a calendar from the 19th of Kislev — that is, from the day before through the coming year — "and they shall be included in it especially," meaning what topics the sayings and passages of each day should encompass. There are three things here. "First, study lessons in a daily fixed practice that are equal for every soul. Besides this, on each and every festival" — that is, in addition to the personal lessons of each individual, there will appear here lessons that are a fixed obligation for every Chabad chassid — "and they are," this is what we know by the name Chitas: (a) Chumash with Rashi's commentary; (b) Tehillim after the morning prayer, as it is divided according to the days of the month; (c) study lessons of Tanya as I have divided it according to the days of this year.
This was the first time that the Rebbe Rayatz divided the Tanya into daily portions, and according to this we study the Tanya to this very day. It first appeared in this book, the HaYom Yom. Here too there is an interesting matter that was established, that the 19th of Kislev is the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. One could say that the first concrete action taken on the basis of this being Rosh Hashanah is the HaYom Yom, whose year begins on the 19th of Kislev. A calendar that does not begin from the 1st of Tishrei, but rather from the 19th of Kislev.
2 - The second subject that is to be in the book is "the customs of Chabad chassidim." On very many of the days, various customs in various areas. 3 - "Collections of sayings from the teachings of chassidus and the ways of the chassidim, short matters for each day of the days of the year. The calendar which he shall arrange," these are the concluding words of the Rebbe Rayatz to the Rebbe, "he shall call by the name 'Hayom Yom — the calendar of Ohr Zarua for Chabad chassidim.'"
And now the Rebbe writes what he did as a result of the directive he received from the previous Rebbe. The sayings in this collection, the compilation of sayings that we have before us in the book HaYom Yom, most of which appeared in print for the first time. That is to say, most of these things were not known to the chassidim beforehand. Some of them originate in manuscripts that the Rebbe had from the Rebbe Rayatz, and this is the first time they came out into the world. They are gathered from the talks of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe shlita, and from his letters. "And from his letters" — this of course refers to his letters, but since we know that very many of the sayings are from the maamarim of the previous Rebbe, one can also read this word another way, "and from his writings" (michtavav versus ketavav), since it is known that maamarim are also called chassidic writings. So some are from his letters and some from his writings. This word carries a double meaning.
"And as much as was possible, they were transcribed in their [original] language as they were spoken or written." That is to say, one can understand that the words did not always come as a word-for-word quotation, but rather there are certain warranted changes that the Rebbe chose to make. There is a certain style here: as much as was possible, in their [original] language. That is to say, when the Rebbe saw fit to make a change, he made a certain change, and therefore some of them are printed in Yiddish, since the sayings were originally taken in Yiddish. Therefore some remained in Yiddish and some were printed in Lashon HaKodesh.
Another very important statement worth paying attention to. "The compiler" — the Rebbe is speaking about himself, just as the Alter Rebbe called himself "the compiler" in his introduction, so too the Rebbe, in the introduction to his first book, HaYom Yom, calls himself by the same term, "the compiler." "The compiler chose such matters and sayings that even people who have only some slight knowledge of the teaching of Chassidut will be able to understand them." The Rebbe assesses that any chassid who studies these sayings need not be a great or learned person. If you have some knowledge of Chassidut, you will be able to understand the sayings in this book. These are very fundamental matters for each and every person.
"As an introduction to this calendar, there follows an outline of the main points from the history of the house of our Rebbe." Here in the introduction there is, for each of the Rebbeim, a full account of the days of his life, his family, and his works. For each of the Rebbeim there follows one section, before all the sayings. And where did all this material come from? "Based on the information found in the journal of his honorable holiness my teacher and father-in-law the Rebbe, may he live long, and in his notes." And at the conclusion the Rebbe signs his name.
Below is written a general note to the book: "Wherever it is written in the calendar 'my father, my teacher and master'" - "my father, my teacher and master" is an acronym for "my lord, my father, my teacher and rabbi," "and 'my grandfather, my teacher and master' - my lord, my father, my grandfather, my teacher and rabbi," the intention is to his father, "my father, my teacher and master," "my lord, my father," which refers to the father of the previous Rebbe, namely "the honorable holiness Admur MoHaRaShaB, may his soul be in Eden," and wherever it is written "my grandfather, my teacher and master" this refers to his grandfather, his grandfather, "namely the honorable holiness Admur MoHaRaSh, may his soul be in Eden." "Wherever it is written in the calendar 'the honorable holiness Admur, may he live for many good days,' the intention is to the honorable holiness Admur MoHaRaYaTz." This is like an introduction.
The next thing, we'll see it right on the next page, there is here a quotation of three lines, in which the Rebbe brings in the original, in Yiddish, and it has already been translated into Lashon HaKodesh. The Rebbe brings three or four lines from a letter of the previous Rebbe, which he chose to make the opening piece of the book, even before the introduction, which will come in the next section.
I will give a bit of background about what is being discussed. This is a letter that the previous Rebbe wrote on the 11th of Tammuz in the year 5702 (1942). 5702 was in the midst of the World War; the exact dimensions of the tragedy were not yet known, nor exactly how many Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. The Rebbe Rayatz was already in the United States, and he wrote a letter addressed to a gathering of "Yung Yisrael," "Young Israel," an organization of communities.
The letter is relatively long, and the Rebbe takes from it only a few sentences, and not even in sequence — he attached part of one place to the following part and brought it here in the "day-by-day." The original letter is written in Yiddish, and here he translates what is written into the Holy Tongue, and it reads thus: "In the present time of 'the birthpangs of the world' (hereis olam)," when the world is in a state of confusion, a time of war. "Hereis" is also related to the word for pregnancy. It is known that the redemption is called a birth, and the exile that precedes it is like a period of pregnancy. So at this time of "hereis olam," when the whole world is shaken by the birthpangs of Mashiach. The birthpangs of Mashiach are similar to labor pains, that is, before the birth. When the Blessed One has set the walls of exile aflame. The Holy One, blessed be He, has already begun to burn the walls of exile before the redemption.
Here, in the original letter, there is an entire passage that continues, dealing with a time when the enemy was already drawing close to the Land of Israel, for at that time they feared, God forbid, that the enemy would succeed in approaching the Land as well. And the Rebbe describes here that this is a time when we find ourselves under a harsh king, harsh like Haman. He mentions here that this is a time when tens of thousands of Jews are being slaughtered with cruelty. At that time the full scope was not yet known, and therefore it is written "tens of thousands," while we know afterward that it was in the millions.
What is happening in this period? The Rebbe quotes something from the continuation of the letter. "So now this is the task upon every Jew, man or woman, adult or child, to pose to himself the question," namely to ask himself, and then here comes a sentence in bold letters: "What have I done and what can I do to ease the birth pangs of Mashiach and to merit the complete Redemption through our righteous Mashiach?"
The Rebbe posed this question as an eternal one, not necessarily in the context of the specific war about which the letter was originally written. The Rebbe transformed it into a question that remains even after the war ends, but the "birth pangs of the world" continue, and we must know that the birth pangs of Mashiach continue, until the revelation of Mashiach comes. And this question should be in a manner that each person constantly asks himself: what have I done to ease the birth pangs of Mashiach in order to merit the complete redemption. This is a question that should encourage. With this question we remain, and this will be the introduction.
With God's help, in the next lesson we will advance to study the introduction to the sayings, and afterward, with God's help, will come the hall with the three hundred and eighty-three rooms that we will merit to study, with God's help.