The thirtieth "room" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Sunday, 9 Tevet 5703.
Shiurim: On this day we begin studying a new Chumash — Chumash Shemos. Sunday, the first section with the commentary of Rashi.
Tehillim: for the 19th of the month, from chapter 90 through chapter 96, inclusive.
Tanya: on this day we begin chapter 12, which starts with the word "veha'beinoni," and we conclude on page 32 with the words "kol yamav." The daily teaching is brief.
One of the purposes of the "Hayom Yom" is to instill the Rebbe Rayatz's practice of studying the three daily lessons — Chumash, Tehillim, and Tanya. The Tanya practice is given to us each and every day, for the Tanya was first divided up by the "Hayom Yom"; so that every day, the daily Tanya lesson appearing in the heading — this is the daily instilling of the Tanya lesson. In addition, throughout the year there are teachings that also strengthen the daily Chumash lesson and the daily Tehillim lesson, and our daily saying comes to strengthen the daily study of the Chumash lesson with Rashi.
The source for the words the Rebbe brings in the daily teaching is a talk delivered by the Rebbe Rayatz exactly one year earlier, on Shabbat Parashat Shemot 5702. The Rebbe Rayatz opened the farbrengen and said that the customs practiced in Lubavitch are not merely those customs founded upon halachah or upon hiddur mitzvah — although there are such customs as well — but rather in the special customs practiced in Lubavitch there is a spiritual matter that touches the soul. These customs, when they are observed, establish the home on a firm foundation of avodat Hashem and influence all the members of the household.
Following this, he brings that there are customs pertaining to chassidim in general, which everyone must observe, and there are personal customs of our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im, themselves. After this introduction, he brings the teaching: within the saying itself there is a part that applies to everyone, and later he says that within this very matter there is also something unique to our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im.
It appears that for many years, ever since the Alter Rebbe, this was a practice observed among select individuals — not a custom widely spread among all the chassidim, but rather one handed down from generation to generation among those chassidim who knew of it. And what is it? "The Alter Rebbe teaches — an enactment from that time — that each day one should study a portion of Chumash with Rashi's commentary from the weekly parashah" — an enactment that began in the time of the Alter Rebbe, to study each day the parashah in Chumash with Rashi's commentary from the weekly Torah portion. This enactment had already begun with the Alter Rebbe, and the Rebbe Rayatz gave it great force and very wide dissemination.
In that same talk the Rebbe Rayatz adds that among our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im, there was also a practice: aside from studying Rashi's commentary, they would study an additional commentary, and each year they would add a different one — sometimes Ibn Ezra, sometimes the Ramban, and sometimes the Ohr HaChaim. He explains that the purpose of studying the additional commentary is to become bonded with the soul of that particular commentator, and this helps one to learn correct matters. There are very interesting expressions there, but this is a personal practice of our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im; whereas the general chassidic practice, which should be observed by everyone, is the custom of studying Rashi's commentary.
The idea of studying Rashi's commentary each day is actually also written in the Shulchan Aruch. In the laws dealing with "shnayim mikra ve'echad targum" that one should recite each week, it is written that a G-d-fearing person should study each week not only the parshah with the Targum, but should add Rashi's commentary as well.
The Rebbe Rayatz cites this halachah and, in concluding the teaching—in the final sentence—expresses it in an interesting way: this is a custom practiced not only by the chassidim, but "so too did the Rebbeim conduct themselves," the leaders of Chabad chassidus. And once the Rebbeim practiced it, there is a concept in halachah of "ma'aseh rav"—that something the Rav himself does takes on halachic force on an entirely different level; and here we are dealing with a custom that our Rebbeim, our leaders, themselves observed, and therefore it most certainly obligates each and every chassid.
Over the years, the Rebbe expressed many wonderful statements at farbrengens about how deeply this custom influences one's life. The Rebbe even explained that the intent is not merely to study and recite the words of the daily portion with Rashi, but primarily to derive from it the practical lesson — as the well-known saying goes, "to live with the times," to live with the weekly parashah, and to see each day how one lives with the theme of the parashah.
There is an interesting expression that the Rebbe wrote in Elul 5710 to a certain Jew, which appears in Igrot Kodesh, volume 3. The Rebbe writes to him (in the original Yiddish, and in translation): "My hope is that he and his household will be fitting vessels to receive the Rebbe's blessings, both materially and spiritually." And then comes the interesting conclusion: "Among the ways to prepare the vessels and to guard the shiurim that the Rebbe granted" — and the first thing he lists there: "each day, a portion of Chumash with the commentary of Rashi" from that week's parashah. In other words, this is a vessel through which one receives the Rebbe's blessings; and of course, there are also the additional shiurim — Tehillim and Tanya.
In another interesting letter, a Jew once wrote to the Rebbe that he specifically makes a point of studying Chumash every day, and he wanted to exempt himself from the other shiurim, saying, "I am not succeeding in Tehillim and in Tanya." To this the Rebbe wrote him: What do you think—for whose benefit were the shiurim established that the Rebbe set? They are for your benefit, and they bring you the greatest good in life; and if you wish to free yourself from the obligation of the daily shiurim, know that you are also freeing yourself from the good things that they bring you.
The one cannot exist without the other. If you wish to receive all the abundance and goodness that these study sessions bring, you must live them and be scrupulous about them — that no day should pass without studying the daily lesson together with Rashi's commentary. This is the message the Rebbe seeks to convey in the daily teaching.