The twentieth "cheder" in the hall of Hayom Yom.
Thursday, 9 Teves, 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Vayigash, chamishi, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 9th of the month, from chapter 49 through chapter 54 inclusive.
Tanya, in the middle of chapter 7, from the words "achar kach" until page 12 at the word "lanetzach".
The Rebbe brings here the custom of the day, whose source - as the Rebbe notes - is from notes that the Rebbe recorded; it appears in the Rebbe's journal from the summer of 5697, when the Rebbe Rayatz and the Rebbe were in Vienna, and there the Rebbe heard this matter. And so the Rebbe writes: "The custom is to say in the text of Aleinu that they bow to hevel valarik (vanity and emptiness)".
What is the emphasis here? In the sefer "Kuntres HaSiddur" of Rav Chaim Naeh he writes that the text should be "shehem mishtachavim l'hevel varik", without the lamed in the word "varik", and he brings several sources for this. There are siddurim in which it is written that way, and a hint is even brought from one of the places, that the word "varik" (without the lamed) comes out in gematria exactly like the name of that man - 316: "Yeshu" (yud, shin, vav) equals 316, and likewise "varik" (reish and kuf - 300, vav and yud - 16) equals 316.
But in practice, this is what the Rebbe brings here from the Rebbe Rayatz; and there is also a letter in the "Igros Kodesh" of the Rebbe Rayatz that emphasizes this, that despite the above, the text is as it appears in our siddur - that one should say "shehem mishtachavim l'hevel valarik". It is interesting to note, for completeness, that in the Tosafos Chadashim on Yoreh Deah siman 179 it is brought that the birth of that man was on the ninth of Teves - today's date.
This is the first part of the text in "Aleinu Leshabeiach". And the continuation - that this text "is also said in the Mussaf prayer of Rosh Hashanah". As is known, in Mussaf of Rosh Hashanah we say "Aleinu Leshabeiach" within the Mussaf prayer, and this is the text: "shehem mishtachavim l'hevel valarik".
A further addition regarding the text of "Aleinu Leshabeiach": "and one is careful not to say umispallelim etc.". What is meant? In the book of Yeshayahu (chapter 45, verse 20) it says regarding the idol worshippers "umispallelim el keil lo yoshia" (and they pray to a god that cannot save). There are several siddurim that in "Aleinu Leshabeiach" followed this wording - that is, after saying that they bow to vanity and emptiness, they add "umispallelim el keil lo yoshia". And there are even maamarim in chassidus that explain this wording - its meaning and the precision in it, why it says specifically "lo yoshia" - and it is all precise. Nevertheless, in practice, as the Rebbe Rayatz writes and as the Rebbe brings here, we do not say this additional passage within "Aleinu Leshabeiach", and we do not add it.
And within this there is another interesting detail - a practice observed in "Aleinu Leshabeiach" when saying the words "shehem mishtachavim l'hevel valarik": "the spitting is after the saying" - one spits after these words, at the conclusion of saying "shehem mishtachavim l'hevel valarik". And what is the reason for this? The Rebbe Rayatz explained the reason for the spitting: "because from speech saliva is produced, and one does not wish to derive benefit from this saliva". When one speaks, saliva is produced from the words; and the saliva produced from these words one expels, since one does not wish to derive benefit from it, and therefore one spits it out.
I will add a further introduction, that the Rebbe Rayatz, when he spoke with the Rebbe in 5697 about this custom, added that the spitting is very small, since one says no more than four words - "shehem mishtachavim l'hevel valarik". By contrast, according to the other versions that add five words - "umispallelim el keil lo yoshia" - there turn out to be nine words, and therefore there is more saliva; but by us, where it is only four words, the spitting is minimal.
And now to the matter itself, before we look at the interesting source for this spitting. The Rebbe was once asked: if one does not wish to derive benefit from the words that speak of the idols of the nations, why specifically in "Aleinu Leshabeiach"? After all, there are earlier passages in the prayers in which the nations who bow to idols are mentioned, and there is no custom of spitting there - so why specifically here, in "Aleinu Leshabeiach"?
In one of the places the Rebbe notes that "Aleinu Leshabeiach" is a very important prayer, which was instituted by Yehoshua bin Nun. And a further point - that it is at the conclusion of the prayers, and at the conclusion the rule applies that "everything follows the closing". Therefore here, at the conclusion of the prayers, there is this emphasis that is not found in other passages - precisely because of the importance of this prayer.
And what is one of the sources that the Rebbe notes? For the spitting is not a custom that originated in Chabad alone, but a custom that has an early source, and the Rebbe brings several sources for it. I will bring one of them - the Rebbe cites the Taz in Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah siman 179. But first I will preface what is written in the Shulchan Aruch.
And this is the language of the halachah: "One who whispers an incantation over a wound or over a sick person" - a person who has a wound, and he says a certain incantation which he believes will help heal it - "and spits", and after he said the incantation he spits, and afterward "recites a verse from the Torah" - "he has no portion in the World to Come". This is the language of the Shulchan Aruch.
On this the Taz says - a great rav who lived about three hundred years ago, a very important rav in important communities in Poland. The Taz quotes the language of the Shulchan Aruch "and spits and afterward recites" etc., and first explains the reason: "since he mentions the Name of Heaven upon the spitting" - he spits and immediately afterward mentions a verse - this is a disgrace, chas v'shalom, that he spits and mentions the Name of Heaven, and this is not fitting, and therefore he has no portion in the World to Come.
And then the Taz asks: "and therefore one should not raise a difficulty from what is customary regarding the spitting" - for there is a custom that in "Aleinu Leshabeiach", after saying "shehem mishtachavim l'hevel valarik", one spits, and immediately afterward says "va'anachnu kor'im umishtachavim"; and why is there no problem here, since it seemingly appears to be a disgrace - he spits and says "va'anachnu kor'im umishtachavim" to the Kadosh Baruch Hu? To this he answers: one should not raise a difficulty, "for there everyone knows that the spitting is for the disgrace of the idols of the star worshippers, and not on account of the Name of Heaven that he mentions afterward". Here it is the opposite - it is clear to all that the spitting is not connected to what one is about to say, but rather to what was said beforehand.
It emerges that already three hundred years ago the Taz writes plainly to explain this custom of spitting in "Aleinu". So there are very early sources for this practice; and as we have seen, in practice the Rebbe would always do the spitting when he said "Aleinu Leshabeiach", and in such a manner that he would turn his face to the side, conceal it in his mouth, and do it so quickly that one who did not know the custom would not even notice that anything had happened. That is, without any prominence at all - but this is the custom that is practiced in "Aleinu Leshabeiach".
Regarding the point we discussed, that the sayings correspond to the order of the Rambam's books: today's saying fits nicely after Hilchos Talmud Torah - the topic we learned in yesterday's saying; and after it comes in the Rambam Hilchos Avodah Zarah, which is exactly the topic we learned today in the saying - the idolatry of "shehem mishtachavim l'hevel valarik", its nullification and the disdain for it.