The thirty-fifth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Friday, 24 Teves 5703.
Chumash: Shemot, Shishi, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, for the 24th of the month, from chapter 113 through and including chapter 118.
Tanya: We begin chapter 13, from the word "uvazeh," until the passage that ends with the words "hachoshech kanal."
The daily teaching has two parts. In the first part the Rebbe refers to the date of 24 Teves, which is a chassidic date, and conveys information about its significance — these are the first two lines. The Rebbe states what 24 Teves is: "the passing of the Alter Rebbe in the village of Piena on the night following Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Shemos, 5573, and his resting place of honor is in the city of Haditch." Let us say a few words on this point.
First of all, the title "the Alter Rebbe," which we already encountered on 2 Kislev. It is interesting that the three titles of the first three Rebbes — the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, and the Tzemach Tzedek — are titles that came into being only after their passing, and it was only in the time of the Tzemach Tzedek, after his passing, that the titles "the Alter Rebbe," "the Mitteler Rebbe," and "the Tzemach Tzedek" were established.
What is the reason for these titles? The Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek is called after his sefer, which was first printed after his passing. The Mitteler Rebbe — since the Tzemach Tzedek was the third and the Alter Rebbe was the first, it follows that he was the middle one. And the Alter Rebbe — "zaken" ("elder") does not refer to age, but to the fact that he served as Rebbe the greatest number of years relative to those generations: the Alter Rebbe was nasi for slightly more than forty years, the Mitteler Rebbe for fifteen years, and the Tzemach Tzedek for slightly more than thirty-eight years. After the passing of the Tzemach Tzedek, when they summed up the three preceding generations, it emerged that the first — the Alter Rebbe — was nasi for the greatest number of years, and therefore he is called the "Alter Rebbe," the Tzemach Tzedek after his sefer, and the Mitteler Rebbe as mentioned.
In any case, his passing took place in the village of Piena. The sequence of events, as is well known, was that the Alter Rebbe traveled in the wake of the war that was fought between the Russians and the French. On the eve of Rosh Chodesh Elul he set out with the members of his household to a place called Krasna, and they stayed there only a week; afterwards they fled from the French and he was tossed about along the roads, until, with Divine assistance, they arrived on the eve of Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach at the village of Piena. And from the eve of Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach he remained there until his passing, on the night following Shabbos Parshas Shemos.
The Tzemach Tzedek describes the histalkus in a letter that appears as the first letter in his Igros Kodesh, and he specifies the exact hour — on Motzaei Shabbos, at half past ten, on the eve of 24 Teves. These are his words: "For then the Aron HaKodesh was taken captive, the light of Israel, the anointed of Hashem, and he was summoned to the yeshiva on High" — thus the Tzemach Tzedek describes the histalkus of his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe.
There is a very interesting point that the Rebbe once wrote in a note, concerning the fact that it is noted that the Alter Rebbe passed away on Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh. The Rebbe asks that seemingly there is a statement in the Gemara: "One who dies on the eve of Shabbos, it is a good sign for him; one who dies at the conclusion of Shabbos, it is a bad sign for him." If so, according to the language of the Gemara, a person who passes away on Motzaei Shabbos has "a bad sign for him," so why is it noted regarding the Alter Rebbe that he passed away on Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh? For seemingly, mentioning this date does not add to his honor.
And the Rebbe explains something wondrous: if one looks at a person's personal virtue — what is good for him and what is a favorable sign for him — then indeed, one who passes away on the eve of Shabbat, it is a favorable sign for him, since the reason is that he will enter immediately into rest, and on a personal level it is better for him on the eve of Shabbat. But, says the Rebbe, it is known, as the Alter Rebbe himself writes in Tanya, that the day and moment of a tzaddik's passing is, for the chassidim and for the flock of his pasture, a time of the revelation of a very great time of favor, and it grants immense strength to the flock of his pasture and to his chassidim in their avodah.
The Alter Rebbe said of himself that he would not look after his own personal benefit; had he sought his own benefit, he would have arranged that his passing take place on Erev Shabbos. But he thought of the flock of his pasture, and said that when one enters the weekdays on Motzaei Shabbos, special strength is required. Therefore he forwent the personal advantage of passing on Erev Shabbos, and said that his desire was to be with his chassidim and to give them strength as they enter the weekdays — their benefit was greater in his eyes than his own benefit. And this is the emphasis here, that they note that he passed away on Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh, which highlights the greatness of the Rebbe's ahavas Yisrael for his chassidim — that he forgoes his own advantage in order to give strength to the chassidim; for it is specifically when one enters the weekdays, at the beginning of the week, that greater strength is needed. This is why this point is emphasized.
A final point: his passing, as mentioned, took place in the village of Piena, but his resting place of honor is in the town of Haditch. Why was he not buried in the village of Piena itself, at the place of his passing? Because in the village of Piena there was no cemetery at all, and the nearest cemetery was in Haditch. They then took him in a sleigh over the snow — this was in Tevet, in the winter — from the village of Piena to Haditch, a distance of three hundred kilometers. For three hundred kilometers they conveyed the holy body of the Alter Rebbe from the village of Piena to Haditch, where there was a Jewish cemetery, and there was his resting place of honor. And in the stories of the chassidim, many miracles are recounted that occurred along the way of the transport, but this is not the place to elaborate; this is only to note what the Rebbe noted here in the "Hayom Yom".
Let us continue. In this section the Rebbe cites an interesting quotation, saying: "Adoni avi zekeini mori verabbi [my master, my grandfather, my teacher and my rabbi] asked the Tzemach Tzedek." "Adoni avi zekeini mori verabbi" is the meaning of the acronym, and the speaker is the Rebbe Rayatz. From the Rebbe Rayatz's perspective, his father is the Rebbe Rashab and his grandfather is the Rebbe Maharash; thus the intent is that the Rebbe Maharash asked his father, the Tzemach Tzedek. In the source, the sichah describes that the Tzemach Tzedek would study with his son on a fixed schedule from time to time, and on one of the occasions when the Rebbe Maharash sat with his father the Tzemach Tzedek, he asked him a question.
What did he ask? In translation: What did Grandfather want — not merely "want" in the plain sense, but what was his plan of action, what was the direction, where did he wish to arrive by means of the ways of Chassidus that he instituted, and what did he want with Chassidus. And why did he ask specifically the Tzemach Tzedek about the Alter Rebbe? It is known that although between the Alter Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek there was an additional Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek received directly from the Alter Rebbe; as is known, the Alter Rebbe raised the Tzemach Tzedek from childhood, from the age of three, and he received truly directly from him. Therefore the Rebbe Maharash asked his father directly about the Alter Rebbe — what was his direction and what did he want, for you surely know and are familiar and have heard.
And the Tzemach Tzedek answered him: "the ways of Chassidus". What is "the ways of Chassidus"? As we shall see momentarily, this is an empowerment to succeed in Chassidus, and it comes as an introduction. "The way of Chassidus is that chassidim should be like one family, in accordance with the Torah, with love". The goal is that all chassidim should be like one family, living according to the Torah with love, that all the chassidim should be together. This is "the ways of Chassidus", and this is the direction that assists — in addition to the very matter of ahavas Yisrael, that all the chassidim should be together like one family.
Regarding Chassidus itself, he answered: "Chassidus is vitality — to bring in vitality and to illuminate everything." Through Chassidus the Alter Rebbe wished to instill vitality and to illuminate everything. As we are already familiar with the expression from the beginning of the Hayom Yom, that Chassidus is "the light and vitality of our soul" — Chassidus is vitality and Chassidus is light. The Alter Rebbe wanted, then, to instill vitality through Chassidus and to illuminate everything. This is what the Tzemach Tzedek said to his son.
In the original, in the sichah, it is written that the son asked his father: Everything? Does "everything" mean — even that which is not good? [Here in "Hayom Yom" this is not written as a question and answer but as a continuous statement, yet in the original he asked him: Everything, even that which is not good?]. And the answer: "Even that which is not good" — yes, even that which is not good one must illuminate, everything. And what is meant by illuminating that which is not good, seeing as it is not good? That is, "that he should know his evil as it truly is" — to illuminate that which is not good, to identify it and to recognize your not-good as it really is. And what is the purpose? "in order to correct it" — once you identify it, you will know how to correct it and to make it as it ought to be.
There is a lengthy discussion here about which the Rebbe once spoke. The idea of illuminating everything is already familiar to us from the Baal Shem Tov — the well-known teaching of the Baal Shem Tov that even the body, which is the "donkey of your enemy," one need not break, but rather serve Hashem together with it. But here there is an added point: not only with the body, but even with that which is not good, even with the evil — for even in evil there is a spark that can be extracted and transformed into good, to be rectified and turned back through teshuvah.
And if we are asked how we will succeed, how one can place such a heavy and responsible task upon every chassid — the answer is: if there are "ways of chassidus," if one lives together in love. And we are already familiar with a teaching that we read a few days ago in "Hayom Yom," where the Rebbe said that when two chassidim are together, these are two G-dly souls against one animal soul; and surely here we speak not of just two, but of the entirety of chassidim together in love, and if so, against each animal soul stands a whole battalion that assists him. This is no longer one's own strength, but a strength so great that with it success can certainly be achieved — to illuminate everything, even that which is not good, and to transform everything into good.
And here we will conclude with the point we mentioned, that along the course of "Hayom Yom" there are, in certain periods, hints to the progression of the Rambam's books. We already spoke about how, from 5 Tevet, the hint concerning the Rambam's first book, Sefer HaMada, began: from 5 Tevet, over the span of six days until 10 Tevet, each day contained a hint to different halachot in Sefer HaMada, in order. After that there was an interruption, from 11 Tevet until here, until 24 Tevet. And now, from 24 Tevet, we will speak over the course of several days about the second book in the Rambam.
What is the second book in the Rambam? After Sefer HaMada comes Sefer Ahavah. Sefer Ahavah begins with the laws of Kri'at Shema, and from there proceeds to tefillin, sefer Torah, blessings, and so on, and concludes with the laws of milah. The idea of Sefer Ahavah is alluded to in the daily teaching. Where? First of all, in its very name — "Sefer Ahavah": the saying of the Alter Rebbe was that he desired, through the ways of Chassidus, that the chassidim should live together in love, as one family in love, and this alludes to Sefer Ahavah.
And there is here an allusion extending to the very end. The conclusion of Sefer Ahavah is the laws of milah, and it is explained in the innermost dimension of Torah that the matter of the bris milah is a very great light that becomes revealed in the bris milah, whose purpose is to rectify even that which is not-good — to remove the orlah and to rectify even the not-good. And this is essentially what the Alter Rebbe said regarding what he wished to accomplish with Chassidus: to illuminate everything, and to illuminate even the not-good, to make a person mahul and clean. If so, in this saying there is an allusion to Sefer Ahavah up to its conclusion, the final laws which are the laws of milah. And in the teaching of tomorrow or the day after we will see an allusion to the laws in between, from Kerias Shema until the conclusion of the laws of milah, which are hinted at in the daily saying.