The nineteenth "cheder" in the Hayom Yom hall.
Wednesday, 8 Tevet, 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Vayigash, Revi'i, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, for the 8th of the month, from Chapter 44 through Chapter 48 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day we begin studying from the beginning of chapter 7, from the words "moach nefesh" until page 22, at the words "u'vatchu rabbanan."
The brief teaching we study today is from the notes that the Rebbe recorded in the year 5686, from what he heard from the Rebbe Rayatz. And so it is written in the saying: "the Tzemach Tzedek" — the third Rebbe of Chabad — "instructed all the melamdim who taught his young grandchildren, that in addition to the usual studies they should study with them the meaning of the words — the simple meaning". That is to say, besides the usual studies that one learns with every child according to his age — letters, Chumash and Mishnayos — they should learn with the children the meaning of the words and their simple explanation, simply to understand the plain meaning of the order of prayer and of the words.
The Rebbe addresses this teaching in "Likkutei Sichot" volume 2. The Rebbe explains that the matter of prayer is a wondrous thing that the Holy One, Blessed be He, gave us — that through prayer we can receive all the things we need. We have many matters that we require, and by praying we are given the opportunity to ask the Holy One, Blessed be He, to grant us everything we need. And in order for prayer to indeed accomplish its effect, one must know the meaning of its words, and from a young age one must know the meaning of the words.
And if the child is so young that he does not yet know or is not yet able to understand the meaning of the words, but is already being trained in prayer — the Rebbe says that at the very least he should understand the content of the prayer, he should understand what is being done here; for if there is no understanding at all, this is not prayer.
The Rebbe tells about the Rebbe Rayatz, who is the great-grandson of the Tzemach Tzedek, how they conducted themselves with him in his childhood. He relates that when he was a child, even before his bar mitzvah, his father — the Rebbe Rashab, the fifth Rebbe — taught him the meaning of the words of all the prayers: the weekday, Shabbos and Yom Tov prayers, the Haggadah of Pesach, and a significant portion of the prayers of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Still as a child. And he told him: "To pray without knowing what one is praying is of no value at all" — one must understand what one is saying.
Thus, as a child, before his bar mitzvah, his father went through all the prayers with him and taught them to him; and after the bar mitzvah he went through all the prayers with him a second time. Afterward, following the bar mitzvah, he taught him the chassidic interpretation of the words: he began with "Modeh Ani," and explained to him each line and each verse in the way of Chassidus, with particular emphasis on the "bechen" of everything — what its practical application is.
And how long did this take? It is fascinating, so that we may grasp the approach in the chassidic interpretation. The Rebbe Rayatz was born, as is known, on 12 Tammuz — his birthday — in the year 5640, and his bar mitzvah was in 5653. The Rebbe would relate that two years later, in 5655, around the time of his birthday, he reached together with his father the line of "Leshem Yichud" that precedes "Baruch She'amar." That is to say, over the course of those two years the father managed to teach him from "Modeh Ani" up to the "Leshem Yichud" before "Baruch She'amar."
And when the Rebbe Rayatz relates this, he says: "Such a teacher and such a manner of study becomes engraved in the mind, and remains in the heart in a living memory for years." This was with the Rebbe Rayatz; and here we are speaking of a much earlier period — when the Tzemach Tzedek himself instructed the teachers who taught his grandchildren, that they should explain to them the meaning of the words of everything.
And the conclusion of the saying: "and once a month they would come to the Tzemach Tzedek to be tested on this". Once a month the grandchildren would come to their grandfather, and he would test them on the meaning of the words of the prayers. This concept of doing something once a month appears in the Gemara in several places regarding the Amoraim who would review their studies — as related about Rav Sheshes and about others — that once a month they would review their learning. Thus we see here that the Tzemach Tzedek would do this once a month: he would call the grandchildren and test them on the meaning of the words of the prayers.
To conclude, we saw in the preceding days that the teachings in "Hayom Yom" began to correspond to the order of the halachot in the Rambam. We spoke about the halachot corresponding to Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah, and yesterday about the matter corresponding to Hilchot De'ot in the Rambam. The next halachot in the Rambam are Hilchot Talmud Torah.
And at the beginning of Hilchot Talmud Torah, in chapter 1, immediately in the second halachah, the Rambam writes: "A person is obligated to teach his grandson" — just as a person is obligated to teach his son, he is obligated to teach his grandson, the grandchild. And this is precisely our subject in this teaching: that the Tzemach Tzedek concerned himself with the education of his grandchildren, that they should learn properly, and he himself would test them once a month on their studies. This corresponds exactly to the halachot of the third topic in the Rambam — Hilchot Talmud Torah. This is the correspondence with the daily halachot. Thus far the daily saying.