The two hundred and forty-ninth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Tuesday, 2 Menachem Av, 5703.
Lessons: Chumash, Devarim, Shlishi, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 2nd of the month, one recites from chapter 10 through chapter 17 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day we conclude chapter 10 of Iggeret HaTeshuvah. The lesson begins on page 198 with the words "Ume'achar shehatefilah," until the end of the chapter with the word "ila'ah."
The Rebbe does not indicate in "Hayom Yom" the source of this daily teaching; quite simply, the Rebbe heard it from the Rebbe Rayatz around the time of the writing of "Hayom Yom". And thus it is written: "a directive for the masses" — and the emphasis is "a directive for the masses". As the Rebbe writes in one place, in the household of the Rebbe, that is, in the household of our Rebbeim the Nesi'im, they began to put on tefillin much earlier than what is written here; but what is brought here is the directive for the masses, for the general public.
And what is the practical instruction? "One begins to put on tefillin two months before the bar mitzvah". By our Rebbeim, our nesi'im, they would begin putting on tefillin more than two months before the bar mitzvah — for example, the Rebbe Rayatz himself began putting on tefillin already at the age of twelve — but the instruction for the general public is that the beginning should be two months before the bar mitzvah.
As the Rebbe notes in one of his letters, even though some of the later authorities are concerned about the matter of a "clean body," and say that perhaps one should not begin before the bar mitzvah, since it is not yet certain that the boy will be able to maintain a clean body — the Rebbe says that this is an explicit directive of our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im. On the contrary, in our era before the coming of Mashiach, the closer Mashiach draws, the more we must spread the wellsprings outward to as many circles as possible, and this matter is part of spreading the wellsprings — to influence whomever it is possible to influence.
This matter of putting on tefillin two months before the bar mitzvah is part of the spreading of the wellsprings, and it draws down new spiritual influences upon that very lad who is putting them on. And it is clear that Chassidim must do this, for with regard to Chassidim the Rebbe is their posek, and this is how he rules.
The saying continues: "at first without a blessing" — one begins two months before the bar-mitzvah, and at first the boy dons tefillin without a blessing — "and after some weeks, with a blessing," meaning that after a few weeks he begins to recite the blessing. It is not specified here how many weeks, even though the common practice is to do a month and a month, but here the matter is not specified.
If so, what is the timeframe? It says "several weeks," but when exactly? In one of his letters, the Rebbe writes the reason why no time was specified, and why one does not begin reciting the blessing right away: because one cannot yet rely on the boy to know how to wrap them properly and place them correctly, and if he does not know how to place them properly, it would be a blessing recited in vain. Therefore, he is given time to practice, until we are certain that he knows how to place them correctly; and after several weeks, once he already does this properly, he may begin reciting the blessing. This concludes the daily teaching.