Room one hundred and thirty-four in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Shabbat, 5 Nissan 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Tazria, Shevi'i, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim: For the 5th of the month, recite from Chapter 29 to Chapter 34 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day we begin Chapter 44, from the beginning of the chapter with the word "Ach". The shiur ends on page 55 with the word "ba'arichut".
The daily teaching is divided into two: First, there is a reference to one of the sections added in the Birkat Hamazon of Shabbat, and afterwards the teaching - the content of the day. The first reference: It is known that on Shabbat we add the "Retzeh" section in Birkat Hamazon before "Uvneh Yerushalayim", and at its conclusion - in the final sentence of "Retzeh" - we ask that the Holy One, Blessed be He, show us the rebuilding of Yerushalayim, and the conclusion is "ki Atah Hu ba'al hayeshuot u'va'al hanechamot" (for You are the Master of salvations and the Master of consolations).
Here there is an emphasis on how the words should be pronounced. The word "ba'al" appears here twice - "ba'al hayeshuot" and then "ba'al hanechamot". And the emphasis is: "In the 'Retzeh' of Birkat Hamazon, one says 'ba'al hayeshuot' with a dagesh (hard) bet, and 'va'al hanechamot' with a rafeh (soft) bet". In "ba'al hayeshuot" the bet must be said with a dagesh, and in "va'al hanechamot" - the bet without a dagesh (soft).
We had a similar thing in the teaching of 1 Adar II, in reference to "Yaaleh Veyavo", where it is written "zochreinu Hashem Elokeinu bo letovah ufokdeinu vo livrachah", and there the emphasis was that the first time we say "bo" with a dagesh bet, and the second time "vo" with a rafeh bet. This is related to the rule of the begad kefat letters: when these letters appear at the beginning of a word, sometimes they will have a dagesh and sometimes they will be rafeh. One of the rules in this matter depends on the syllable in the preceding word - if it is preceded by an open syllable (a vowel), the letter will be rafeh, and if preceded by a consonant, the letter will have a dagesh. Here, the first time "ba'al hayeshuot" is the beginning of a phrase and starts with a dagesh bet; and the second time "va'al hanechamot" comes after an open vowel - after "Hu" - and therefore it is a rafeh bet (pronounced va'al). This is everything regarding the correct pronunciation of the words in the "Retzeh" prayer.
Now to the teaching, which is an additional point. The teaching originally appears in a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 25 Nissan 5698. From this letter we will have two more teachings later in the Hayom Yom calendar - with God's help we will reach them on 25 Nissan and 1 Cheshvan. The content of the letter awakens its recipient regarding the concept "From Hashem are the steps of man established", meaning that the Holy One, Blessed be He, leads every person to the place they need to reach, and when they arrive at the place they must know that they have a task there - to refine the place and have an effect on it, and not to be influenced by the place, but on the contrary, to influence it. This is the content of the letter.
In connection with this content, the Rebbe Rayatz cites a saying there in the name of the Rebbe Maharash. Let us begin reading and explaining: "My master, my grandfather, my master and teacher said" - this refers to the Rebbe Maharash, the fourth Rebbe, as the Rebbe Rayatz refers to him as "my grandfather". "Regarding the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory" - he explained the inner meaning of the words of our Sages in the Gemara.
The text of the Gemara is in Masechet Taanit, page 21b. Let us first see what the Gemara says. It relates there that Rav Nachman bar Rav Chisda said to Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, "Let the master come dwell with us" - please, leave the place where you live (and as Rashi explains, he lived there among unimportant people) and move to my place, to us. "He said to him" - Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak replied to him - "We learned" - and then the teaching of Rabbi Yossi is cited: "It is not the place that honors the person, but the person who honors his place".
What is the intention? That the honor of the place does not depend on the place but on you. But what is the inner meaning of the teaching, that the place does not honor you but you honor the place? The Rebbe Maharash explains this. Let us continue reading the teaching: "The word kavod (honor) has two meanings" - in the sources there are two ways to understand the meaning of the word "kavod": one interpretation has a negative meaning, and one can also interpret the exact same word in a very positive and lofty way.
In one way it can be interpreted on the negative side: kavod as "the language of kaved (liver)", meaning heaviness - like the liver - which has a negative connotation. Because "as our Sages, of blessed memory, say" in the Midrash on the verse, "And Hashem said to Moshe, Pharaoh's heart is heavy (kaved)", our Sages say: What is the meaning of "Pharaoh's heart is heavy"? "That his heart became like a liver (kaved)" - his heart became like a liver. And what is "like a liver"? The Midrash says that the liver is dense and does not understand; meaning his heart became apathetic, lacking understanding, lacking discernment. This is the description said about Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's heart is heavy". Here, then, the word "kaved" has a negative meaning.
On the other hand, the word "kavod" also has a positive meaning: "and the language of kavod (honor)", which is a very positive word. In Chassidus it is explained that "kavod" means "a revelation of lofty Makif (encompassing) light" - just as when giving honor to a person, one esteems them greatly. From the perspective of the inner dimension of the Torah, the word "kavod" expresses a very high revelation. We thus find that the word "kavod" can have a negative meaning and can have a positive meaning.
Based on this introduction, that there are two ways to understand the word "kavod", let us return to the teaching of our Sages that we cited and see how the Rebbe Maharash explains it. What do our Sages say? "It is not the place that honors the person, but the person who honors his place". And this is how it must be understood: "And this is 'it is not the place that honors the person (mechabdo)'" - "mechabdo" here is in the negative sense; the place where you are is not meant to "honor you (mechabdo)", "meaning to cool him off" - it is not meant to make you heavy, cold, and apathetic to matters of Torah and mitzvot. You are not meant to be influenced by the place in a way that makes you indifferent to matters of holiness. Rather, the opposite - "but the person who honors his place" - you will draw a lofty light down upon the place and change it, and instead of being influenced by the place, you will influence it.
This is the inner meaning, as the wording continues: "but the person who honors his place". And what is "the person who honors his place"? "That he is given strength and might to illuminate his place with the light of Torah and avodah" - the Holy One, Blessed be He, gives robust strength to a person who comes to live in a certain place, to illuminate his place with the light of Torah. When a person arrives at a certain place, the Holy One, Blessed be He, gives him the power to be able to illuminate the place with the light of Torah and transform it into a positive and good place connected to the Holy One, Blessed be He.
And he brings an example of this from a person's descent to a place - not in the sense that he lives here or there, but in the broader sense, the soul's descent into the world. The soul was above, in the treasury of souls, seemingly in the most wonderful place for it, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, brought it down to this world, a world full of challenges and difficulties. Here too it is the same thing: "Just as with the descent of the soul into the body, they administer an oath (mashbi'im) to it: 'Be righteous'" - just as the soul descends into the body, and as is known what is written in the Gemara that they administer an oath to it "Be righteous" before it descends to the world. And what is "mashbi'im" (administer an oath)? "For this oath is the concept of being satiated (sova) with lofty powers" - the meaning of "shvuah" (oath) is related to "sova" (satiation); they satiate it, giving it special and lofty powers "so that it can fulfill the purpose of its descent", so that it can complete the goal of its descent. They send it to a place full of challenges, but there is a goal here, and they give it power to act in the world and change it and not be influenced by it.
"So it is with every single person in whatever place they are" - the same thing was granted to every single person in their place - on a micro level, every person individually, after having already descended into the world. In any place a person comes to live, they are not meant to be influenced by the place in a negative way, heaven forbid, but on the contrary - they honor their place, illuminating it and instilling it with special powers, for which purpose they descended into the world.
In conclusion, let us look at the connection of the teaching to the order of the books of the Rambam, as we see on many days. We have reached here the conclusion of the previous book, Sefer Zeraim, and the beginning of Sefer Avodah. We already discussed the hint to the beginning of Sefer Avodah in a previous teaching; Sefer Avodah opens with Hilchot Beit Habechirah. What is the connection between the teaching appearing here, Sefer Avodah, and the content of Hilchot Beit Habechirah?
Interestingly, the Rambam opens every book with a verse - each of the fourteen books opens with a verse. Sefer Avodah opens with the verse, "Pray for the peace of Yerushalayim; may those who love you be at peace". This is the verse that opens Sefer Avodah, which deals entirely with the Beit Hamikdash and the services within it. And in Hilchot Beit Habechirah itself, right at the beginning, there is the phrasing that once the Temple was built in Yerushalayim, all other places became forbidden; the Rambam explains that previously the Beit Hamikdash was in Shiloh, Nov, and Giv'on, and in various places, and once it reached Yerushalayim it became the permanent place. Thus we find that both the opening of the book and Hilchot Beit Habechirah deal with the virtue of Yerushalayim.
And here we opened the daily teaching with an explanation of the "Retzeh" section in Birkat Hamazon. If we consider the content of the section about which the explanation revolves - beforehand we ask the Holy One, Blessed be He, "vehar'einu", that He show us the rebuilding of Yerushalayim, and then we conclude, "ki Atah Hu ba'al hayeshuot u'va'al hanechamot" (for You are the Master of salvations and the Master of consolations). Since the Holy One, Blessed be He, is the Master of salvations and the Master of consolations, we ask Him to show us the rebuilding of Yerushalayim. This is exactly the content that opens the Rambam's Sefer Avodah in Hilchot Beit Habechirah - the virtue of Yerushalayim, which the Holy One, Blessed be He, will build for us speedily with God's help.