The twenty-third "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Sunday, 12 Teves 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, on Sunday we begin a new parshah - Parshas Vayechi, the first parshah with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, the 12th of the month, from chapter 66 through chapter 68 inclusive.
Tanya, today we begin from chapter 9 from its beginning, "V'hinei makom," until page 26 at the word "shebamochin."
In today's teaching we learn about an incident that took place with the Rebbe Rashab in the year 5648. The teaching tells of a custom of those times, that they would choose a "gabbai for the chevra kadisha" - and "gabbai" here means something like a president, a chief officer and the like.
The practice was that after the gabbai of the chevra kadisha was chosen, that gabbai would make a kiddush on the night of Simchas Torah - something like a farbrengen - for all the members of the chevra kadisha, in his home in an intimate setting; and after the kiddush they would escort him to the central shul of the place, with a chuppah and with great joy, with the rav accompanying him.
So it was also with the Rebbe Rashab, "in the year 5648 my father [the Rashab] was chosen as gabbai of the chevra kadisha." When he arrived at the shul he stood at the amud and delivered a special maamar of chassidus, whose opening words were the phrase from the Gemara: "Ein HaKadosh Baruch Hu ba b'truniya im briyosav" (the Holy One, blessed be He, does not come with complaints against His creatures).
Those present in the crowd were all the people who come to shul on Simchas Torah. Besides the regular Jews, on the night of Simchas Torah all the simple people came especially - the butchers, the wagon drivers, the tailors, the carpenters - they all came to the shul, and the Rebbe Rashab said the maamar. And although every maamar of chassidus was generally delivered in Yiddish, apparently on that occasion it was said in even simpler language.
One can also understand the connection of the teaching to the day of 12 Teves, on which we begin saying the first parshah in Parshas Vayechi, in which Yaakov Avinu says to Yosef, "and you shall do with me kindness and truth," and Rashi there comments that the kindness done with the deceased is "a kindness of truth" - which was also the name given to the chevra kadisha; and apparently this is the connection to this day.
"And according to the custom," the teaching continues, "they escorted him on Simchas Torah, accompanied by the rav and the members of the shul. He then said the maamar Ein HaKadosh Baruch Hu ba b'truniya." This maamar was very beloved; the Rebbe Rashab was especially fond of this maamar, repeated it many times, and had it printed several times - once it was distributed as a matter of course to all the students of Tomchei Temimim in Warsaw. This is a maamar that the Rebbe Rashab cherished greatly, and many other maamarim are founded upon it.
[In the letter in which the Rebbe Rayatz tells of this, he adds a few sentences about the conclusion of the maamar:] "The conclusion of his words was in a mighty voice, issuing from the depths of his heart, aflame with a fiery blaze" - so the Rebbe Rayatz described it; and he concludes by saying that even today, decades later - more than thirty years afterward - "even today, thank G-d, the majesty of the voice of the flame of his holy words rings in my ears." That is, the Rebbe Rayatz says that the flame of those words still resounds within him, and how powerfully it ignited a fire in his heart.
And what did he say? "And the conclusion of his words: even the people of intellect who are present now" - people of intellect, who understand and know Torah and grasp things in a deep and inner way - "must set aside their intellect and not follow taam and daas," not to build up every matter and wait until they understand and connect.
Among the things said there was another expression that does not appear here, which the Rebbe Rashab himself said: a simple person is ready to devote himself to goals without preliminaries and without understanding. And he brought an example: they want to establish a cheder? The simple person gives the first coin - and in his words he named the coin "tzvantziger" - he gives the first coin without thinking; it is not hard for him to give over his soul, even though perhaps it is difficult for him. In contrast, the man of intellect thinks and deliberates, and in the end his intellect tells him not to give over his soul. This is the problem with approaching a matter with intellect.
And here he says it in a simple way: not to follow taam and daas, "for they can be led astray by their intellect etc." - that the intellect is liable to turn him in a wrong direction - "until, G-d forbid, it will only be at the end etc."; that is, if the intellect leads him in the wrong direction, he will not want to devote himself, and he is liable to arrive at a place that is not good. "And this is the main thing in this time, in the footsteps of Mashiach, not to follow the intellect and taam and daas, but rather to fulfill the Torah and mitzvos with sincerity and simple faith in the G-d of Israel."
There is another interesting point: in one of the sichos the Rebbe brings a parable from that very maamar - the well-known parable of the foot. When one wants to place the foot into boiling water, the foot obeys immediately and enters; but the head, if you want to put it into boiling water, hesitates and does not jump in right away. So too the simple people - they are like the feet.
In conclusion: whenever the Rebbe speaks about the subject of mesirus nefesh, specifically during the time of exile and specifically in the time of ikvesa d'meshicha, he cites as a source this maamar of "Ein HaKadosh Baruch Hu ba b'truniya" from the year 5648 - a famous and unique maamar on this subject. This concludes today's teaching.