The four hundred and fifteenth "room" in the hall of Hayom Yom.
Wednesday, 27 Sivan 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash: Korach, Revii, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim: 27th of the month, recite from chapter 108 to the end of chapter 134.
Tanya: We continue chapter 7 in Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah. The daily shiur is on page 84 from the word "umemalei", and concludes with the word "vetachlit".
The daily teaching is taken from a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 25 Nissan 5695. The letter is addressed to a chossid who complained to the Rebbe that he has worries regarding his livelihood, and the worries are also affecting his health. The Rebbe Rayatz elaborates with him, first of all, on the fact that human nature has the capacity of "the mind rules the heart". He tells him at length the well-known story about Rabbi Moshe Meisels, whose life was saved by his use of this wondrous principle of "the mind rules the heart". Therefore, first of all, the mind must rule the heart and calm it, so that there will not be worries that throw a person off balance.
Besides this, the Rebbe Rayatz says that a believing Jew is not supposed to fear worldly worries or worries about livelihood at all. Why? Here comes the quote in the daily teaching. The Rebbe wrote to him: "It is written, 'And the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do'" - the Holy One, blessed be He, will bless you. And where will the Divine blessing rest? "In all that you do". And what is included in the definition "in all that you do"? It refers to what you are required to do - you must only make the vessel in which the Divine blessing will rest.
As he specifies: "A person only has to make a vessel for his livelihood". A person should not enter into worries and pressures about how the abundance will come, how much there will be and from where it will come; he only has to make the vessel for his livelihood - to have some work, some occupation through which the blessing can flow.
An additional point: It is not enough to make a vessel for livelihood, rather in order for the vessel to be a good vessel, it must be a pure vessel. What is the meaning? "And to endeavor with all his strength that the vessel be pure of all dross and waste of deceit, etc., meaning that everything be according to the laws of the Torah" - meaning to observe the various halachos related to business, in matters of deceit, robbery and falsehood, etc., what is called conducting business faithfully. A person must ensure that the vessel he makes for his livelihood is a pure vessel, that there is nothing in it that is unsuited to the parameters of halacha, but that everything will be according to the laws of the Torah.
And if a person makes such a vessel, which is according to the laws of the Torah in all its details - "then it is a vessel fit for the Supernal blessing". When the vessel is clean and good, it is a fit vessel through which the Holy One, blessed be He, can channel the abundance.
And what is meant by a "fit vessel"? "In two respects" there are two important goals here that we want the vessel to lead to. The first - "ample livelihood"; for the size of the vessel does not matter, and the Holy One, blessed be He, can give a great profit even in a small vessel, and the main thing is that the vessel is halachically clean, and then there will be an abundant livelihood. This is the first point.
The second point - "and that the livelihood should go to the appropriate place"; since there is, heaven forbid, a situation where a person has a plentiful livelihood, but the money goes to all sorts of expenses - medical and things that constantly need fixing and replacing - so that he receives much livelihood, but the money does not reach a state where he can enjoy it. Therefore there needs to be a blessing that the livelihood will go to the appropriate place and not, heaven forbid, to undesirable matters. And consequently, a Jew should not be worried; he only has to make the vessel and ensure that it is pure and clean.
The connection of the daily teaching to the Rambam's Yad Hachazakah. We are now in the final period where the teachings correspond to Sefer Taharah. We have reached Sefer Taharah, Hilchos Keilim (Laws of Vessels), and the entire subject of Hilchos Keilim is to address this point - that the vessel must be pure. There are various halachos there regarding which vessels contract tumah and which do not contract tumah. And this is the entire content of the daily teaching: how one makes a vessel to be a pure vessel, through which the abundance will flow properly, with G-d's help.