The twenty-seventh "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Thursday, 16 Tevet 5703.
Lessons: Chumash, Vayechi, fifth aliyah, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, for the 16th of the month, from Chapter 79 through Chapter 82 inclusive.
Tanya: we are still in the middle of chapter 10, from the words "a tzaddik who is not complete," page 30, etc.
Here we have a short teaching that the Tzemach Tzedek said to a chassid whom the Rebbe Rayatz refers to briefly as "Reb Hendel." His full name was Reb Chanoch Hendel Kugel, a very lofty Jew whose virtues the Rebbe Rayatz praises exceedingly. He was in Lubavitch, a man of good character traits without equal, and it is difficult to describe his ahavas Yisrael. In one place the Rebbe Rayatz brings an interesting expression: that the description "good-hearted" or "a man of good character traits" is not considered a description at all in relation to him — his stature was so great that in saying these things you have still said nothing about him. He was a person on a very high level.
Opening of the teaching: "The Tzemach Tzedek said to Reb Hendel during his yechidus" — Reb Hendel was in yechidus with the Tzemach Tzedek, and the Tzemach Tzedek told him the following statement.
Let us preface: it is explained in the Tanya and in other places that in the service of Hashem there are two states. There is a state in which the neshamah is revealed and shining — this is an excellent state, in which the service of Hashem proceeds in a wondrous manner. And there is a state in which the neshamah does not shine in a revealed way. Why does it not shine? As it is written in the Tanya in chapter 29, there is a state in which the body is material and coarse, and then "mevatshin lei" — one must crush the body so that the neshamah will shine.
In the saying that the Tzemach Tzedek told a chassid during yechidus, he provides him with the counsel — both what to do in order to reveal the soul, and what to do in order to refine the body. It is interesting that in the place where the Rebbe Rayatz brings this quotation, he prefaces it with a fascinating introduction and offers a parable: when one processes leather, it is placed in a pot with various substances and with water, and boiled in order to soften it. There is a situation, the Rebbe says by way of parable, in which a Jew has "thick leather": he is placed inside the pot, and inside are good substances — Torah and mitzvos, Chassidus and teachings of Chassidus — and yet the leather does not soften. And who is to blame that this is not happening — the leather or the sauce? Sometimes, he says there, one needs good counsel, to see how to soften the leather and how to reveal the soul. Regarding this, the Rebbe immediately brings the saying, so that it should contain counsel on how one acts so that the leather will soften after all.
And so he says: "The Zohar elevates the soul" — the Zohar possesses a unique power, in that reciting the letters of the Zohar elevates the soul, meaning it brings about a revelation of the neshamah. It is worth quoting an additional source on this matter: the Chida, in his work "Moreh Be'etzba," writes about the superiority of studying the Zohar over all the other parts of Torah. He says that with the Zohar, even if you do not understand what you are saying, and at times even err in the reading, this is a great tikkun for the soul. And the reason for this: in the other parts of Torah, which are clothed in stories and explanations that you understand, you concentrate more on the plain meaning that you comprehend and less on the holiness of the letters; but with the Zohar, even the ordinary reader understands that these are secrets of the Torah that are above his comprehension and grasp, and therefore his connection is directed straight to the holiness of the letters of the Zohar, and this acts upon the neshamah with great intensity. And this is what the Tzemach Tzedek says to R' Hendel — that the Zohar elevates the soul.
What is further of interest is that there is a letter that the Rebbe wrote in 5711 to a Jew who was seeking a path of rectification and teshuvah, in which the Rebbe writes to him "that he should set a fixed study session in reciting the letters of Tehillim and Zohar" — the very recitation of the letters is what will bring him rectification and teshuvah.
The next sentence in the teaching: "Midrash awakens the heart". This part too comes primarily regarding the avodah of revealing the neshamah. For Midrash, as brought in Tanya and in the Gemara, is the portion of Torah about which it is said, "One who wishes to know the One who spoke and the world came into being — let him study Aggadah," and Midrash connects the Jew to knowing the Holy One, blessed be He. There is an expression that most of the secrets of Torah are hidden away within Midrash — as the Alter Rebbe brings in Tanya concerning the "Ein Yaakov," in which many of the midrashim are found — and this awakens the heart and the neshamah. And there is a letter that the Rebbe wrote on 18 Kislev 5729 concerning the matter of studying Midrash, in which there is an expression that this portion of Torah is greatly, greatly needed to be studied, for it is the Midrash that awakens the heart.
And then comes the final expression: "and Tehillim in tears cleanses the vessel" — meaning the body. This is similar to what is mentioned in Tanya, the concept of "mevatshin lei," to work upon the refinement of a person's body. And what accomplishes the refinement of the person? Reciting Tehillim with weeping, quite simply. And from where does the weeping come and what is its nature? The weeping comes from a broken heart, when a person is broken over his condition to the point that it brings him to tears, and the weeping is what softens and refines the body.
To complete the matter, let us mention a point from a Chassidus maamar that the Rebbe delivered on Shabbos Beshalach, 7 Kislev 5706 — the well-known maamar "Margla B'pumei D'Rava." In the maamar the Rebbe states that in our generation the avodah of teshuvah through bitterness is not applicable; rather, it must come from joy. Regarding the recitation of Tehillim, even though it is written that it should be with a broken heart, the Rebbe says that the well-known teaching of our Rebbeim is known: "Think good and it will be good" — the good thought brings about the good. If so, there is no need at all for the aspect of bitterness, reciting Tehillim while weeping "with a bitter soul," and giving tzedakah; today, in our generation, the avodah must be in a different manner — a good thought will bring about the good, and so our Rebbeim assured us.
The Rebbe continues (and I am quoting a later passage), that in our generation, after all the troubles and suffering we have endured — and suffering, after all, refines, elevates, and purifies — the generation is already refined, and the Jewish people are in a lofty and good state. Today we belong to teshuvah ila'ah, and everything must come from joy and not from bitterness; we accomplish the very same result, but in an entirely different manner. It is interesting to illuminate with this the point we read in today's saying.