Room one hundred and fifty-seven in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Monday, 28 Nissan, 13 days of the Omer, 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Kedoshim, Sheni, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 28th of the month, from chapter 135 to and including chapter 139.
Tanya, on this day we begin studying chapter 44, from the beginning of the chapter with the words "Vehinei kol", and the shiur concludes on page 63 with the words "tzafra, etc.".
It is interesting to note something related to the daily teaching: The year in which the Hayom Yom calendar was published, as we see in the date, is 5703. The calendar was actually published for chassidim at the beginning of the month of Nissan, on 11 Nissan 5703. And on that very day, 28 Nissan 5703 - the exact date we are reading today - there is a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz to a certain chassid, in which he writes to him about the Hayom Yom sefer.
He writes him very interesting expressions: It is "a booklet in a modest and small format" - just as a chassid should be small in his own eyes - yet it is "packed with pearls and diamonds from the greatest wellspring and treasure". The Rebbe Rayatz mentions the name of the Rebbe, the compiler of the Hayom Yom, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, graced with a special ability to establish a chassidic palace with three hundred and eighty-three rooms, each day having its teaching and content. And then the Rebbe Rayatz says on that day: "I will quote for you the teaching of the day, 28 Nissan - what did my son-in-law choose to write on this day?", and he quotes the entire teaching.
Let us look at the teaching. Its source, which provides the background, is in a letter from the Rebbe Rayatz himself, written on 15 Menachem Av 5695. In that letter, the Rebbe Rayatz relates regarding the Mitteler Rebbe, the son of the Alter Rebbe, who, as is known, was appointed by his father while he was still alive to be the guide of the young men, and he would sit with them and farbreng with them. Once, at a farbrengen in the presence of the Mitteler Rebbe - even before his neshius - the topic of ahavas Yisrael was discussed.
One of the chassidim took a cup of l'chaim for himself and said: "L'chaim, may the Holy One, blessed be He, grant me to have true ahavas Hashem". After some time, the Mitteler Rebbe raised a cup of l'chaim and said: "May Hashem, blessed be He, grant me to have true ahavas Yisrael". A debate broke out among the chassidim - which is greater, ahavas Yisrael or ahavas Hashem - and they were perplexed and did not know how to decide. It is written there that for several weeks discussions went back and forth, regarding which is greater, until they decided to ask the Alter Rebbe. They made the appropriate preparation, approached him and asked him, and the Alter Rebbe answered briefly and with a niggun - and this is the daily teaching.
Let us look at the wording: "The chassidim asked our Alter Rebbe: Which avodah is greater, ahavas Hashem or ahavas Yisrael? And he answered" - what did the Alter Rebbe answer? "Ahavas Hashem and ahavas Yisrael are both equally engraved in the neshamah, ruach, and nefesh of every single Jew". First of all, both of these loves are engraved in the neshamah of each and every one; everyone, in the pnimiyus of their neshamah, has ahavas Hashem and ahavas Yisrael.
But which is greater? To this the Alter Rebbe says: "And an explicit verse is stated in Scripture" - there is an explicit verse, in the Navi Malachi, right at the beginning (in the second verse): "I have loved you, says Hashem", that the Holy One, blessed be He, says He loves the Jewish people. "And based on this, ahavas Yisrael is greater" - of the two loves, ahavas Yisrael is greater than ahavas Hashem. And why? "Because one loves what the Beloved loves".
Meaning, what is the test that we truly love the Holy One, blessed be He? It is that we love all that He loves. Since He loves Jews, if we love Jews - it is a sign that we truly love the Holy One, blessed be He, because we love not only Him but also what He loves. And since we love what He loves, it turns out that ahavas Yisrael is greater than ahavas Hashem. This is the ultimate test that you truly love the Holy One, blessed be He - that you also love what He loves.
There are several other teachings in the Hayom Yom calendar about the relationship between ahavas Hashem and ahavas Yisrael - for example on 12 Menachem Av and on 6 Tishrei - teachings that complement the relationship between the two things.
The connection of the teaching specifically to this day, 28 Nissan: Today is parshas Kedoshim, Sheni, and in the "Sheni" portion of parshas Kedoshim is the verse "And you shall love your fellow as yourself" - so this matter is quite literally connected to this day.
And if we look for the connection to the cycle of the Rambam's Yad Hachazakah: We are currently in Sefer Avodah, now in Hilchos Yom Kippur - after concluding Hilchos Maaseh Hakorbanos. And if we contemplate the essence, what is Yom Kippur? A day that expresses the deepest, most pnimiyus connection between a Jew and the Holy One, blessed be He, and the love of the Holy One, blessed be He, for a Jew on the highest level. Therefore, it is a day on which the Holy One, blessed be He, reveals His love for a Jew, cleanses and purifies him, and forgives him for all matters.
If so, the day that expresses the greatest love of the Holy One, blessed be He, for the Jewish people is Yom Kippur, and this is essentially the content of the teaching - that the Holy One, blessed be He, loves, "I have loved you" says Hashem. And this aligns with Hilchos Yom Kippur, which we are currently studying in the cycle of halachos.