The two-hundred-and-seventy-sixth "room" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Monday, 29 Menachem Av, 5703.
Chumash: Shoftim, Sheni, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 29th of the month, from chapter 140 through chapter 144 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day one completes the ninth letter, which was begun on the previous day. The lesson begins on page 114 with the words "Al kein ahuvai," and concludes at the end of the letter with the words "b'Tzion holah."
The daily teaching is brief, and its source is in Yiddish. The origin of the saying is a farbrengen talk of the Rebbe Rayatz on Simchat Torah 5697. At that gathering, the Rebbe Rayatz addressed the fact that we find ourselves at the end of the month of Tishrei — Simchat Torah is already approaching, and we are leaving behind the entirely "golden" month, and there begins what is called "and Yaakov went on his way"; as is known, it was customary to proclaim "and Yaakov went on his way" at the conclusion of Simchat Torah, at which point several processes begin.
The Rebbe Rayatz says: after all the revelations of Tishrei, the avodah in one's own strength begins. Until now a person received powers over the course of an entire month, and from now on he must begin to act and work with them. What is the difference between avodah in one's own strength and avodah in which one receives revelations from Above? The saying addresses this further on: "What is required is that the avodah be in one's own strength." That is, that a person should work on the matter not because he is being held by the hands and given divine revelations, whereupon he is swept along by the surroundings that envelop him, but rather that he should exert himself on his own to reach the matter.
What is the difference between serving Hashem through one's own effort and serving with help from Above? "Loftier is the level at which one is led hand in hand from Above" — when a person is taken by the hand and led, he will surely reach far higher peaks, for the one leading him is a sublime power that is Above, and it carries him on its shoulders. "More precious is the service done through one's own effort" — yet it is more precious when a person accomplishes it himself; and although through his own effort he may not reach levels as lofty as when he is led, nevertheless what he has achieved is his own — and that is far more precious.
It is well known that this is precisely the difference between the approach of Chabad and the approach of Polish Chassidus, as explained in the two ways of reading the phrase "and the tzaddik shall live by his faith" — "yichyeh" (shall live) or "yechayeh" (shall give life). In Polish Chassidus the order was "yechayeh," meaning that the tzaddik gives strength to his chassidim and elevates them, and so on. In Chabad, however, they specifically followed the approach of working through one's own efforts, and not relying on the tzaddik to push them from above.
In the continuation of that same talk, the Rebbe Rayatz relates a brief story, and we shall preface it with an introduction. It is known that after the passing of the Maggid, his disciples divided among themselves all the cities, towns, and settlements throughout Russia — each disciple was assigned the territory under his spiritual responsibility, and no other was permitted to enter his territory. The Alter Rebbe received the region that he received, and within it were three towns — one of them Beshenkovitz — which Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin had been accustomed to visit beforehand and to which he had access.
After the Alter Rebbe received this territory, Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin wished to continue visiting and working in one of the places that were under the Alter Rebbe's territory. Naturally, he did not enter without permission, but rather requested permission from the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe said to him: "There is no problem, but there are three conditions." The third condition was that all his involvement with his chassidim and those close to him there would be conducted according to the approach of avodah through one's own effort; and if he would agree to this condition — he would be able to enter. Rabbi Shlomo agreed to the first two conditions, but to the third condition he did not agree, since this was a drastic change of approach. This is the Chabad approach, the approach of the Alter Rebbe — avodah through one's own effort, and this is the emphasis here.
It is interesting that there is a sicha of the Rebbe from Elul 5748 which raises a fascinating point: in the life of a Jew, a situation can arise where even a person who fulfills all the mitzvos properly, both those of the Torah and those instituted by the Sages, and observes all that is written in the Shulchan Aruch and also all that is written in the "chassidic Shulchan Aruch," and heeds all the directives of the Rabbanim and of course all the directives of the Rebbe — everything with him is in perfect order — will still find, over the course of the day, many situations in which he does not know exactly how to conduct himself, for they do not appear in any Shulchan Aruch.
And then he might think to himself: Why does the Holy One, blessed be He, place me in situations where I do not know how to respond? To this one must know that the Holy One, blessed be He, is guiding you, and wants you to have avodah through your own effort; there is no need for you to be shown with a finger at all times what to do. His effort must be to recognize that this too is an order in life — based on all that he has learned and all that he knows, and based on "In all your ways know Him" — and thereby he will find on his own the correct way to conduct himself in every matter. This is avodah through one's own effort: even when they did not explicitly state what to do, one must aim in the right direction. And this is in fact the point that the Rebbe expresses here in the daily teaching.