The one hundred and twenty-seventh "room" in the hall of Hayom Yom.
Shabbos 27 Adar II, Parshas Hachodesh, 5703.
This Shabbos is Shabbos Mevarchim for the month of Nissan, as well as one of the four Parshiyos - Parshas Hachodesh. At the beginning of the teaching, there is a reference to this being Shabbos Mevarchim, and as with all Shabbosos Mevarchim, the Rebbe repeats the same emphasis: "We bless Rosh Chodesh Nissan." What is the custom on Shabbos Mevarchim? "Saying the entire Tehillim early in the morning, a day of farbrengen" - every Shabbos Mevarchim is a day of farbrengen, as enacted by the Rebbe Rayatz.
Now there is a reference to the Haftorah read on this Shabbos. Since we read Parshas Hachodesh, the Haftorah is not the Haftorah of Parshas Shmini but rather the Haftorah of Parshas Hachodesh, which in all communities is from chapters 45 and 46 in the book of Yechezkel. However, on this Shabbos, there is a difference between the Sephardic custom and the Ashkenazic custom in reciting the Haftorah.
According to the Sephardic custom, the Haftorah begins in chapter 45 verse 18, with the words "Koh amar Hashem", and continues until chapter 46 verse 15, which ends with the words "Olas tamid". According to the Ashkenazic custom, they begin earlier and end later: they start in chapter 45, but not from verse 18 like the Sephardic custom, rather from verse 16 with the words "Kol ha'am"; and the conclusion is not in verse 15 like the Sephardic custom, rather in chapter 46 verse 18, which ends with the words "Ish me'achuzaso".
Here the Rebbe emphasizes that our custom follows the Sephardic custom, "Haftorah: Koh amar - Olas tamid" where we start from "Koh amar" and end with "Olas tamid". However, there is an interesting point that is not written here, but is an interesting piece of information: our Rabbeim themselves customarily read the Haftorah of Shabbos Hachodesh according to the Ashkenazic custom, meaning they started the Haftorah from "Kol ha'am" and ended at "Ish me'achuzaso". Why? Because these additional verses discuss the sacrifice of the Nasi, a matter unique to the Nasi, and our Rabbeim themselves would recite this addition which is unique to the conduct of the Nasi.
The Rebbe relates in his diary in 5702, that he heard the Rebbe Rayatz recite the Haftorah according to the Ashkenazic custom, from "Kol ha'am" to "Me'achuzaso". And apparently he asked why the Rebbe Rayatz acts differently from what we know is the custom. The Rebbe Rayatz answered him: "This is a personal matter of mine, and if you wish - it is a general matter". Meaning, this is a personal matter of the Rebbe, and if you wish - a general matter. Why is it his personal matter? Because the Rebbe is a general figure, a Nasi, and therefore he acts this way, but this does not pertain to others; everyone else needs to know the custom is to read from "Koh amar" to "Olas tamid", while the Rebbe acts differently.
On that occasion, the Rebbe Rayatz shared an interesting point with the Rebbe about his father, the Rebbe Rashab. Following the passing of the Rebbe Maharash, there was, as is known, a period until the Rebbe Rashab agreed to accept the leadership, during which there was a certain division between him and his brother. He related that his father, the Rebbe Rashab, would receive the Maftir for Shabbos Hachodesh, and his brother would also receive this Haftorah - although generally they would take turns and cast lots as to who would receive the Maftir each Shabbos, on this Shabbos they both received it. Why? Because this is the Shabbos before the yahrzeit of the Tzemach Tzedek, the grandfather, who passed away on 3 Nissan; therefore, on Shabbos Hachodesh both the Rebbe Rashab and his brother received Maftir to mark the grandfather's yahrzeit, since their father, the Rebbe Maharash, was no longer alive.
It is related there, that the Rebbe Rashab saw that his brother was reciting the Haftorah differently than he did - from "Kol ha'am" to "Me'achuzaso", and not from "Koh amar" - and asked him why he said it this way. His brother replied: "Father also used to say it this way". The Rebbe Rashab asked: "Well, but that was Father" - since their father was a Rebbe, therefore he said it thus. His brother answered him: "What do you think? Father said it because he intended it for his father; and I say it, and intend it for my father". In other words, this is indeed a unique conduct of a Rebbe, and this is what is connected to this Haftorah; but again, this is not the general custom for everyone.
Shiurim: Chumash, Shmini, the final portion of the Parshah, Shvi'i, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 27 of the month, from chapter 108 to chapter 134 inclusive.
Tanya, on this day we begin chapter 39 from its beginning, from the word "U'mipnei", and the shiur ends on page 104 with the words "mitzvah bifnei atzmah".
Now we will arrive at the teaching itself - a very interesting teaching, not short, but quite understandable once you grasp the concept within it. First let us discuss its source. The teaching appears in a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz - a fascinating and very long letter, containing very interesting expressions. He writes it to the son of one of the chassidim, and relates that as a child he sheltered closely in his father's shadow; first he shares with him memories from the Rebbe Rayatz's childhood, and only afterward turns to the body of the letter.
Let us cite one sentence from the beginning of the letter, where the Rebbe Rayatz writes: "We offer a blessing for the good, I have become small from all the kindnesses with which Hashem, blessed be He, has merited me, that the days of my education passed in the environment of the elder chassidim, beneath the rays of the sun of chassidus which shone in its full strength during the glorious days of my master, my father, my teacher and my Rebbe". Here the Rebbe Rayatz expresses how grateful he is to the Holy One, blessed be He, for having grown up among chassidim, and relates that from age nine he was present and heard one of the Maamarim that his father delivered - and here comes the quote.
Earlier in the letter there is an additional teaching, which with G-d's help we will learn when we arrive later in the month of Nissan, since a teaching from that same letter will appear in Hayom Yom. This time there is a teaching relating to Parshas Acharei Mos; we are now on the Shabbos when we conclude Parshas Shmini, followed by Tazria-Metzora, and then Parshas Acharei Mos - and here is a teaching regarding Parshas Acharei Mos.
Let us first state the content of the concept, and afterward we will see how it fits into the words. The content is very fundamental and simple: a chossid is required not to have "ratzo without shov". Ratzo without shov is a passionate yearning to ascend upward without a return, and this can lead to a shattering of the vessels - as happened with the sons of Aharon, who experienced a drawing near before Hashem, but did not bring it down into actual practice, and therefore it became "and they died", their souls soared away. Here the Rebbe Rayatz points out that even a person with deep contemplation in chassidus and profound intellect - for intellectual comprehension is sometimes on the level of sight, where you see things and deeply yearn to be uplifted - must always remember how to draw this downward, even though his inner, essential desire is to ascend. You must tell yourself "stop": it is not about what you want, but about what you are told to do, and to bring these matters down into the order of life. That is the idea.
Now let us see this in the words of the teaching. And this is how it is written: "From a sichah of my master, my father, my teacher and my Rebbe: The sin of the sons of Aharon was". And what was the sin of Aharon Hakohen's sons? "When they drew near before Hashem and they died" - they drew excessively close and did not know how to stop, and then it resulted in "and they died", they experienced a fall. He calls this "ratzo without shov": ratzo - a passionate yearning to ascend and cleave - without the "shov", without the return downward.
And he says, "The truth is that when 'drawing near before Hashem' one must be in a state of 'you shall be pure' - clean and pure, that it be exceedingly clear", one must be clean, clear, and pure. But on the other hand, this must be expressed in actual practice, and cannot remain merely a desire to be pure and uplifted; "and in a manner that it will be given expression in actual deed" you must see how this is expressed in action down here. "For whoever is higher and higher, descends lower and lower" - if you have ascended very high in your yearning, you must see how it descends downward and is expressed in the world. "And ratzo without shov is death" - if there is ratzo and passionate yearning but no "shov", no bringing it down into actual daily life, it is called death, and this is what happened to the sons of Aharon, "and they died".
"And regarding this came the command of Hashem to Moshe" - what the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moshe Rabbeinu at the beginning of Parshas Acharei Mos "(Vayikra 16:2)". What does the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Moshe Rabbeinu? "To speak to Aharon". And who is "Aharon" here? Not just his brother in the literal sense, rather there is a statement and a hint here to every Jew: The word "Aharon" is "the letters of 'nireh' (seen)". "Nireh" is from the root of sight, and hints here to profound intellectual contemplation that brings one to a level of seeing. If you have such deep contemplation, and you see the concepts and yearn for them - "and in the faculties of the soul this is haskalah (intellect)" - when one uses intellect, delving deeply and contemplating, then one sees the concepts.
They say to you: "Leimor (saying)". What needs to be said to you, what is the directive for such a person? On one hand you want to ascend - and to where? "In order to enter the Sanctuary", to ascend very high; and not just "the Sanctuary", but the verse says "within the paroches (curtain)". "Paroches" is a covering, and "within the paroches" means inside the covering; meaning one wants to ascend beyond the tzimtzum and grasp the greatest intensity. And in the words of the text: if you truly wish to enter the Sanctuary and connect to the supernal holiness, "also within the paroches" - to enter further inward from the curtain, beyond the covering, to see the cleaving to G-dliness "which is prior to the tzimtzum"; wanting to reach a state prior to the tzimtzum, very high.
Then "one must know that upon the Ark". The word "Aron" shares the same letters as "Aharon", and "HaAron" here - the letter Hei before the Aleph - both together are "the letters of 'hanireh' (the seen)", which means "the haskalah (intellect)". A Jew is told: Know this, "upon the Ark" - "is found a kapores (cover)", what is upon the Ark? A kapores. And what is a "kapores"? The covering. There was an Ark, containing the Tablets of the Covenant, and above them a covering; there is a paroches, which is a covering for the Holy of Holies, and inside the Holy of Holies is an Ark, and upon the Ark is a kapores - another covering. "A deliberate concealment" and know that this covering is not for naught, and it is not a covering that you must figure out how to bypass and nullify; rather there is a purpose in this covering and a calculated intent. Why does this covering exist? "It is 'the face of the kapores'", the inner intent of the kapores - what is its true purpose? To conceal from you and restrict you, and in this way you ascend to Hashem. Do not try to rush past the covering, for then you will reach a state of ratzo without shov.
"Regarding which is the warning 'so that he will not die'" - "so that he will not die" means: "not to suffice with ratzo alone" do not break out of your vessels, do not ask to be beneath the paroches or beneath the kapores, and do not remain solely with the desire and the passionate yearning. And the verse continues: "For in a cloud I will appear upon the kapores". What is a "cloud"? Concealment. And it says: If you want to see? You must know that it has to pass through the cloud, through the first tzimtzum which is the kapores, the covering which is the cloud. "The purpose of the first tzimtzum is the revelation" the entire intent of the tzimtzum is not to interfere, but this is the way the connection and the revelation will be received. This tzimtzum - when a person is brought back down to a state of shov to the world and to physicality, and he feels as if they have constricted him - is not an interference, but rather it is the path.
"While the introduction to this is the 've'al' (and not), personal bittul (self-nullification)" and what is the introduction, the path that connects you to the inwardness? The Rebbe takes the words "And he shall not come at all times into the Sanctuary", and the Rebbe Rashab explained this by dividing the verse with a different reading: Do you want to enter the Sanctuary? How will he come into the Sanctuary, and not in a state of ratzo without shov? Through "ve'al" (the negation of self) - and then "he may come at all times into the Sanctuary". And in the words of the text: what is the introduction, to the matter? One must remember what "ve'al" is - personal bittul. You must nullify the natural desires that are aroused right now, which are the ratzo. And whose voice should you listen to? "To fulfill what chassidus instructs" you must obey what chassidus says.
What does chassidus say? "Not what the intellect instructs" not what the intellect tells you - which is the "nireh", the haskalah. What does the intellect tell you? Ratzo, ascend, try to enter deeper inward, try to break out of the vessels - and this seems very logical to you. To this we say: "ve'al" - do not listen to the intellect, listen to what chassidus tells you. And what will you gain? "Only then will he come into the Sanctuary" - then he will enter the Sanctuary and you will connect to the ultimate intent. The title of the entire teaching is, therefore, one phrase: there must not be ratzo without shov; there must be ratzo, but one must always remember to return it to the "shov".