The one hundred and sixty-second "room" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Shabbos 3 Iyar, 18 of the Omer, 5703.
First of all, the Rebbe addresses the Haftorah recited on this Shabbos, the Haftorah of Parshas Kedoshim, and writes: "The Haftorah - Vayehi devar Hashem etc. halidrosh osi". What is the emphasis here? According to the Ashkenazic custom, the Haftorah for Parshas Kedoshim is from the book of Amos, beginning with the words "Halo chivnei Cushiyim"; but according to our custom we already said it last Shabbos, Shabbos Parshas Acharei Mos, as we read in the teaching of 26 Nissan. Therefore, on this Shabbos, Parshas Kedoshim, we follow the Sefardic custom, that the Haftorah is from the book of Yechezkel in chapter 20, with the words "Vayehi devar Hashem etc. halidrosh osi".
Shiurim: Chumash, Kedoshim, Shvi'i, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 3 of the month, from chapter 18 through chapter 22 inclusive.
Tanya, on this day we learn all of chapter 45, from its beginning with the words "Od yesh", until the end of the chapter with the words "kemo shekasuv bemakom acher".
Afterwards, the Rebbe emphasizes a custom that we practice: "We do not drink water before Havdalah". What is the exact point here? In the Gemara in Maseches Pesachim page 105, the Amoraim, Rav and Rav Huna, debate whether it is permissible to drink water on Motzaei Shabbos before Havdalah: Rav permits, and Rav Huna forbids. In the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, siman 299 seif 1, the Alter Rebbe writes that the prohibition to eat or drink before Havdalah does not include water, meaning that water is permitted. And here is the novelty: Even though the halachah was ruled that it is permitted to drink water before Havdalah, our practical custom is that we do not drink water before Havdalah, and this is based more on Kabbalah, to be particular not to drink even water before Havdalah.
The source of the daily teaching is in a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 28 Menachem-Av 5701. There he answers a Jew who complained a little about the hardships in his life, about the flow of life and the burden, etc. The Rebbe Rayatz writes to him that there are two ways a person can look at his life: when a person feels difficulty, he can look at those whose lives are better than his - and then a feeling of jealousy awakens within him; or look at those whose lives are worse than his - and then a feeling of joy over his situation awakens within him. And further on, the Rebbe Rayatz directs him how it should be.
This idea also appears in the Hayom Yom teaching of 22 Cheshvan, where the Rebbe writes that there is a difference between spiritual matters and physical matters: in spiritual matters one should always look at one who is above him, so that a person will have kinas sofrim to want to be like him; and in physical matters conversely, one should look at one whose situation is lower than yours, and he will be joyous about the situation in which he finds himself.
The Rebbe Rayatz writes there that the trait to be jealous of one who has more than you, jealousy, is one of the negative midos, and nevertheless it is possible to use every middah for the good, if one knows how to direct it to a good form. And as an example of taking a not good middah and deriving a lesson for the good from it, the Rebbe Rayatz brings the example whose language we will examine in the teaching.
And so he writes: "All midos, even also the midos which are not good or even evil according to their description and their names" - all the midos in a person, those that are not good and even those that are literally terrible and evil, "it is possible to use them for the avodah of Hashem according to the Torah". It is possible to take a negative middah, for there is a rule that "from everything that a Jew sees or hears he must learn a directive in the avodah of Hashem"; and according to this rule, even if you encounter a not good middah, you have in your hands the tools to derive from it a good directive in the avodah of Hashem.
And he brings an example, "And just as the righteous Rav, Rebbe Meshulam Zusha of Anipoli, of blessed memory, learned several ways in the avodah of Hashem from the thief". What is possible to learn from a thief? There are several good and lofty virtues in the avodah of Hashem, which specifically the thief teaches us how to conduct ourselves in them.
"1) Hatzne'a leches" - just as the thief does all his ways in privacy, so that they will not recognize him, so too a person in the avodah of Hashem must learn from the thief and be walking privately, to do good actions and not necessarily in public, but in a way of hatzne'a leches.
"2) He places himself in danger" - just as the thief enters into all kinds of situations knowing that if he is caught or if a mishap occurs on his way he is liable to pay for it even with his life, and nevertheless he places himself in danger because of the goal that he sets before his eyes; so too the Jew must learn from this in the avodah of Hashem, to do what is necessary and not to fear, even if the matter involves a certain risk.
"3) The smallest thing is considered as a big thing" - even when he comes to steal small things, he invests in them as if they were a big thing, since for him everything has importance. And so too in the avodah of Hashem: a person must attribute importance to good things, even if they appear small, like to big things, and to relate to them with the same seriousness and with the same intensity.
"4) Toiling with great effort" - the thief does not seek an easy life, but exerts himself and toils greatly in order to reach his destination. So too in the avodah of Hashem a person must toil with great effort in order to reach the destination.
"5) Zrizus" - he learns and trains to do things with zrizus and with speed, to finish the job quickly and to run away quickly. So in the avodah of Hashem a person must learn from him to be with zrizus.
"6) Trusting and hoping" - he does not think that he will be caught in his theft, but trusts that he will succeed and hopes that he will not be caught; what holds him and pushes him is the trust and the hope. And so too in the avodah of Hashem, certainly a Jew needs to have trust and hope in Hashem, and not to always be in tension and in apprehensions.
"7)" The final point - "If he did not succeed the first time, he repeats many times". He has a goal before his eyes and he does not stop; if he did not succeed this time - he will come a second and third time. So in the avodah of Hashem, if a person tries and does not succeed, he must not despair, but rather continue and go many several times.
In connection to the seventh example there is an interesting letter that the Rebbe writes to someone regarding a shidduch, who wrote to the Rebbe that he is trying and meeting and is not succeeding. The Rebbe brings him this teaching and emphasizes the seventh point, and says: "One must make the effort, like the thief - we do not succeed the first time, we will try the second time, and if not the second - the third". A person does not know how much the Holy One, Blessed be He, established for him to undergo until he will reach his destination. And he concludes and says to him: The matter is certain that proper matches will be found, provided that he will be trusting and hoping to reach the destination, and then with the help of Hashem we succeed.