Jnet Chai JNET GIMMEL TAMMUZ LEARNING CAMPAIGN …Chassidus as it was taught by the Besht did not...

Jnet Chai elul learning Campaign | 1J N E T G I M M E L TA M M U Z L E A R N I N G C A M PA I G N | 1

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In honor of the 18th of Elul, marking the birth of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidism in 1698, the subsequent found-ing of the Chassidic movement in 1734 and the birth of Rabbi Sch-neur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), founder of the “Chabad” branch of Chassidism, JNet is having a campaign to learn a sicha (talk) of the Rebbe about this day.

This campaign is open to anyone wishing to study the material. After learn-ing the material with someone, go to www.jnet.org/chai and answer the questions to be entered into the raffle.

The winner will be announced on Monday, the 20th of Elul, August 26th, 2013.

May the merit of the learning strengthen our commitment and connection to the Rebbe and his directives and help bring about the coming of Moshiach, may it be speedily in our days!

JNet770 Eastern Parkway Suite 302Brooklyn, NY 11213718-467-4400

Jnet offers one-on-one phone or online learning, on your schedule, for half an hour a week. there is no charge for the program. the study partners are all volunteers. For more information or to sign up to learn or volunteer, go to www.jnet.org. JNet is a division of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch and was established with a generous grant from The Rohr Foundation.

Chai ElullEarning Campaign


Chassidus Chabad The AccomplishmenT

of The individuAlIn this Sicha the Rebbe shows the innovation of Chassidus Chabad over the Chassidus of the Bal Shem Tov. The Bal Shem Tov taught us what

should be done and the Alter Rebbe showed us how to do it. Chabad is about your own hard work and accomplishment.

The 18th day of the month of Elul marks the birth of two central figures in the Chas-sidic movement. It celebrates the birth of the movement’s founder, Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem tov (the Besht), in the year 5458 and also the birthday of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad branch of Chassidism, 47 years later in the year 5505.In a beautiful account by the Previous Rebbe, where he speaks of the impact that the day had on history and of his personal memories of the day, he explained that the number 18 equals the word chai – life, and is an expression of the new vitality that was added on this day.

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The 18th of Elul is a day that is designated for joy and bless-ing—for all Chassidim as a whole, and for Chabad in spe-cific.

There is an old Chassidic adage that was expressed in two ways:

(A) The 18th (chai) of Elul is the day that both brought and brings life into the month of Elul. (B) The 18th (chai) of Elul gives a life into the service of אני לדודי ודודי לי - “I alone am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.”

Likutei Diburim 3 Pg. 946

During the month of Elul we must con-centrate more on our service of Hash-em and specifically increase in vari-ous areas of our G-dly service. Each of these diversified points of G-dly service are expressed in another acronym. In general there are four acronyms:1

But for one who]“ 2 אנא לידו ושמתי לך .1has not lain in ambush and G-d] has caused it to come to his hand, I shall pro-vide you [a place to which he shall flee.] In this verse it is written concerning the six cities of refuge. Even if a person killed someone, there is salvation for him by running to one of the six cit-ies of refuge. Just as there are physical

1 See Avudraham, Seder Tefilot Rosh Hashana, Pri Etz Chaim Shar Rosh HaShana Ch.1, and Arugas HaBosem.

2 Mishpatim 21:13


cities to run to, on a spiritual level too, there is Torah which serves as a refuge for a person’s soul.3

-I alone am my Be“ 4 אני לדודי ודודי לי .2loved’s and my Beloved is mine.” This ex-presses the service of prayer which serves as the conduit through which the Jewish people connect to Hashem and is as well a way of serving G-d in a way of love—my Beloved.

Sending“ 5 איש לרעהו ומתנות לאביונים .3delicacies to one another, and gifts to the poor.” This verse speaks about the gifts of Purim which are expressive of the gener-al acts of kindness that we must involve ourselves with.

Hashem, your]“ 6 את לבבך ואת לבב .4G-d, will circumcise] your heart and the heart [of your offspring.] This verse dis-cusses the removal of the coarseness of a person’s heart, “to love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart, and with all your soul.” When we remove the coarse-ness of our hearts we are automatically able to love G-d. This is expressive of Te-shuva which removes any blockage that may be in our souls.

All these acronyms expressed in the various verses are specific areas that we are to rectify and stress during the month of Elul. Chassidism, the way it was taught by the two luminaries born on that day, infused a special vitality into all these specific services. When one is imbued with a life of Chassidism, his entire G-dly service is different—

3 Makot 10a4 Shir HaShirim 6:35 Esther 9:226 Nitzavim 30:6

from the way that he studies Torah to the way that he rectifies his sins.

What this essay will articulate is the specific vitality that was imbued into the way we serve G-d as expressed by the specific teachings of the Besht and of the Alter Rebbe.

RedundAnT? When the Previous Rebbe wrote the abovementioned aphorism in Likutei Dibburim (describing the vitality that the 18th of Elul infuses into both the month of Elul as well as the service of it was because both ,(אני לדודי ודודי ליstatements are true and express a cer-tain idea not brought out in the other. Both statements teach us a certain di-mension in which Chassidus changed the way we serve Hashem.

With this in mind, there is something that seems difficult when analyzing these two aphorisms as they both seem to say a similar thing. In fact, the sec-ond statement is included in the first. It merely echoes the first statement albeit to a lesser degree. Once we have stated that “the 18th (chai) of Elul is the day that both brought and brings life into the month of Elul,” it is understood that it brings life to all the specific ways of serving G-d during Elul.

The specific service of G-d in the way of Ani L’Dodi V’dodi Li, is only one of the four specific services of the month.

If so, why do we separate it in an entire-ly different aphorism stating that the 18th of Elul brings life into “Ani L’Dodi,” when we have already said that it brings life into Elul?! It seems to be redundant!


What can possibly be added by saying that the 18th (chai) of Elul gives life to the service of אני לדודי ודודי לי?

Two pAThs of seRviceThe Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe both taught specific schools of Chas-sidus and each introduced a novel way of serving Hashem. According to the Chassidus that the Besht taught, a new vitality was brought into the general month of Elul, and according to what the Alter Rebbe taught, a new vitality was introduced into the specific service of “I alone am my Beloved’s and my Be-loved is mine.”

Just as the Besht introduced to the world a new way of serving Hashem, so did the Alter Rebbe present a novel approach.

Chabad Chassidus managed to stay true to the intent and message of the Besht while innovating as well another facet in which one can serve the Al-mighty.

Chassidus as it was taught by the Besht did not permeate the intellectual facul-ties, but was rather something that cap-tured the soul. What the Alter Rebbe did was to capture the essence of Chas-sidus7 and bring it into one’s mind so that the person himself can actually perceive G-dliness on a personal level. Unlike the general school of Chassidus that stresses faith in a tzadik,8 Chassi-dus Chabad demands that each person

7 See Pada B’Shalom 46858 Based on Chavakuk 2:4, see Likutei Diburim

1 pg. 141b

develop his own personal relationship with Hashem.

The way the Besht taught Chassidus “life is brought into the month of Elul.” The way that the Alter Rebbe taught Chassidus “life is brought into Ani L’Dodid V’Dodi Li.” Just as Chassidus Chabad is something entirely innova-tive while remaining true to its source, so too, the way to serve Hashem in the manner of Ani L’Dodi V’Dodi Li is in-novative although it remains a part of the general service of the month of Elul.

This is the difference between the two Chassidic aphorisms quoted by the Rebbe. “Chai Elul is the day that brought and brings life into Elul” de-scribes the general effect on the month of Elul which was caused by the man-ner in which the Besht taught one to serve G-d. “Chai Elul gives a life into the service of Ani L’dodi V’dodi li,” is expressive of the way the Alter Rebbe taught one to serve G-d.

The Besht changed the way we serve G-d in a general way, while the Alter Rebbe changed the way that we serve G-d in a specific way.

The diffeRenceWhile both the general school of Chas-sidus and Chabad Chassidus will raise an individual from the quagmire of this world, they do so in different manners.

The advantage of how the Alter Rebbe taught how we are to approach the ser-vice of G-d was expressed in the follow-ing statement:


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The Besht showed how we should serve Hashem and the Alter Rebbe showed how we can serve Hashem.

Hatamim 2:58

What this statement seems to say on a superficial level is that without Chas-sidus Chabad we merely know that we must serve G-d but we do not know how we are able to do so. Chassidus Chabad is what teaches the person how to actually accomplish this.

This is puzzling however. It is preposter-ous to say that the Besht did not teach an actual and practical way to serve the Almighty and that he merely theorized and taught that we must do so.

One needs only to look at the multi-tudes of his students (and students of those students) to this very day—all of whom served Hashem without learn-ing Chassidus the way that it was taught by Chabad.

They did not merely theorize about serving G-d, but did so practically.

How then can we be so presumptu-ous to say that it is specifically Chabad Chassidus that teaches a person how he can serve the Almighty?

A new ToRAhTo shed light on this issue it is impor-tant to reflect on the similarities of the way that Chassidus was revealed into this world and the general way in which the Torah was given.

Torah was given on Mt. Sinai—the Written Torah together with the Oral Torah and all its rules. After the Torah was given though, there were endless amounts of novel ideas that were intro-duced through personal toil in Torah.

Chassidus too was introduced in steps. It was first taught in a general way, with the general school of Chassidus, and afterwards it was also expressed in Chassidus Chabad in a way that can be perceived intellectually. Once we un-derstand the format in which Torah was revealed to the world in general, we can understand the way in which Chas-sidus was also revealed to the world.

Pertaining to Torah study, the Talmud teaches:

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All new insight that a diligent student comes up with was al-ready given to Moshe on Sinai.

Yerushalmi Peah 2:49

This statement seems to not make any sense, as it contains an inherent con-tradiction. On the one hand, we say that the insight of a diligent student is new—which implies that it had never been thought of before—and on the other, we say that it was already taught on Sinai. Is the insight new, or is it not new?

Another thing that is problematic in the statement is that it implies that

9 With variations. See as well Megila 19b, Sh’mos Rabba 47, Vayikra Rabba 22


Moshe learned the Torah in its entirety on Mt. Sinai. How is it even remotely possible for Moshe to have learned the entire Torah (including the insights of all generations—including the tre-mendous depth of Torah that will be revealed with the coming of Moshiach) in such a short span of time?!

What is more bothersome is that it is clear that Moshe did not know the en-tire Torah, as is indicative in the follow-ing Talmudic passage:

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Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: When Moshe ascend-ed on high he found the Holy One, blessed be He, engaged in affixing crowns to the letters. Moshe said, “Lord of the Uni-verse, who stays your hand?” He answered, “There will arise a man, at the end of many gen-erations, Akiva ben Yosef by name, who will expound upon each crown heaps and heaps of laws.” “Lord of the Universe,” said Moshe, “permit me to see him.” He replied, “Turn thee round.” Moshe went and sat down behind eight rows. Not being able to follow their argu-ments, he was ill at ease, but when they came to a certain subject and the disciples said to the master, “Whence do you know it?” and the latter replied, “It is a law given unto Moshe at Sinai,” he was comforted.

Menachos 29b

What is clearly expressed in this above-mentioned Talmudic passage is that Moshe did not know the whole Torah.

How then can we say that the Torah in its entirety—including the novel in-sights of all generations—were given to Moshe on Mt. Sinai?

The answer is expressed in the fol-lowing Medrash which explains that Moshe was not taught the whole To-rah but was rather taught the rules by which to learn Torah. Since Moshe was taught the Torah with all the tools with which to derive insights, it is as if he was taught the entire Torah.

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Did Moshe learn the whole To-rah? Does it not say concerning Torah “Its measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea” (Iyov 11:9) and Moshe learned it in forty days? Rather the Holy One blessed be He taught him the rules [of exege-sis in which Torah is learned].

Shmos Rabba Parsha 41

When we learn using those rules which Moshe was taught on Mt. Sinai, we dis-cover new insights that are imbedded in the Torah. The Torah that the dili-gent student learns is therefore novel in one sense and not novel in another.

It is novel in the sense that no one has ever learned this thought before, and it is a totally new experience for the in-dividual10 which he now revealed into

10 See Hemshech 5666 Pg. 383


this world, and is referred to as a chi-dush – a novelty.

On the other hand, it was always there in the Torah, given through the rules that Moshe was taught. The individual who realized it did not add to the Torah given by Moshe, but only understood some depth that had prior not been perceived.

(The same can be said with Chassidus Chabad: On one hand it is merely an expression of something already im-bedded in general Chassidic thought, and on the other it developed some-thing novel that had not been before Chassidus Chabad came about.)

What makes the Torah which he stud-ied “new,” is that he brought it into his own intellect. While this may seem like a small feat, it is precisely there where his soul finds perfection.11

In order to truly say that a person un-derstands something intellectually, the person must understand the subject completely on his own without the as-sistance of anyone else. So long as he requires another person to explain the concept to him, it is clear that he has not yet grasped it in his mind.

The litmus test to see if the person truly understands the concept on his own is when he is able to develop a novel insight into the subject that is being studied. If he cannot come up with his own path to understanding the Torah concept, it implies that he is relying on what he was told by others.

11 Igerres HaKodesh page 145a

The puRpose of ToRAhThe ultimate purpose of Torah is that one’s mind becomes completely one with the Torah concept.

When a person accomplishes this, the Torah and his mind are united in an awesome bond, and in doing so he be-comes united with the Giver of the To-rah.12

It is for this reason that a person must completely understand a Torah concept to the point that he becomes so ‘one’ with it that he can develop his own nov-el insights. When a person understands Torah to that extent, he can truly make an “awesome unity” between his brain and the “wisdom of the Almighty.”

Essentially, there is the Torah the way that it was given to us and the Torah the way we wrap our brain around it.

The giving of the Torah was expressive of the way that the Torah was superim-posed onto our identity. It is similar to the student that is taught an idea by his teacher, but does not completely digest what he has been taught. Even though the teacher has told him the entire thought process (albeit in a summa-rized format) the student does not see the length and breadth of the concept in the teacher’s words.

Only after the student learns the sub-ject matter himself, and has properly digested it and broken it apart with his own mind, can the student reflect on how embedded in the teacher’s words lay the entire subject matter.

12 Tanya Chapter 5


Two AppRoAches To chAssidusThe difference between the way that the teacher teaches the concept and the way that the student digests and embraces it are embodied in the differ-ences between Chassidus Chabad and the general school of Chassidus. The Besht stressed the former while the Al-ter Rebbe stressed the latter.

The Chassidus taught by the Besht did not emphasize the need for the student to fully grasp the concept, and the stu-dent would therefore rely on the teach-er.

A teacher-based Chassidus emphasizes faith in the tzadik (which does not re-quire much personal work, as it capital-izes heavily on the fact that all Jews are believers, sons of believers13 and there-fore have an innate faith in G-d). Once they have the faith the tzadik provides the rest.

Chabad Chassidus stresses the way the student digests the concept using his own brain and intellectual faculties. When he does so, he has a new way of serving G-d that he developed with his own abilities.

This is the meaning of the statement, “The Besht showed how we should serve Hashem and the Alter Rebbe showed how we can serve Hashem.” Although the Baal Shem Tov had Chas-sidim who were on a tremendously elevated level in their service of G-d, they did not serve G-d using their own personal abilities. Rather, they served Hashem with a level of G-dliness that

13 Shabbos 97a

had been superimposed on their natu-ral way of perceiving the world. They served Hashem the way they should.

Chabad Chassidus introduced the con-cept that each and every individual can serve Hashem in a way that permeates his entire being, using his own personal abilities. It showed a person how he can serve Hashem.

Based on all that has been elucidated, we can properly understand the mean-ing of the statement of the Previous Rebbe:

A) The 18th (chai) of Elul is the day that both brought and brings life into the month of Elul.

B) The 18th (chai) of Elul gives a life into the service of אני לדודי ודודי לי - “I alone am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.”

While the general approach of Chassi-dus deeply affected people—it perme-ated the entire person’s service of G-d and breathed new life into it—it did so in a way that affected all the specifics of the person in an equal way. For when a person serves G-d with faith alone, there is no difference between one ser-vice and the other. It is for this reason that it merely says that new life was brought into Elul without going into the specific way in which people’s lives were changed.

The Alter Rebbe effected that the spe-cific service of G-d should be on an internal level and therefore articulated the specific way in which one’s life is changed.


A pRAcTicAl diffeRence The difference between the way a Chabad Chassid serves Hashem in Elul and the way that a Chassid from the general school of Chassidus serves Hashem during Elul is not merely the-oretical. There are practical differences between what they do as well.

The general Chassid need only think about the general way in which he serves G-d; he is mainly occupied in thinking about whether he is generally in a good place in his service of Hash-em or if he is, G-d forbid, not in a good place in his service of Hashem.

The Alter Rebbe taught that a person must start with Ani L’dodi. He cannot rely on G-d, rather he must actually figure out where he is specifically hold-

ing in his service of Hashem. He is able to become closer to Hashem in “Vdodi Li” as well, because it is truly a personal connection, like the student who prop-erly understands the thought process.

The Torah was given in a way that we do not, at firste, see the novel insights and we must work to understand them. A teacher first teaches and then the student understands it. So too, the ul-timate purpose of Chassidus the way it was taught by the Besht was that we develop a personal connection our-selves— and this is done specifically through Chassidus Chabad as taught by the Alter Rebbe.

(Based on Likutei Sichos 19 pg. 250, reworked by Rabbi Dovid Markel)


The Hebrew Sicha begins at the back of the booklet.

Sicha reprinted with permission from Kehot Publication Society

T H I S P R O J E C T H A S B E E N M A D E P O S S I B L E B Y :

JNet is a division of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch and was established with a generous grant from The Rohr Foundation.

מוקדש

לחיזוק ההתקשרות לנשיאנו

כ”ק אדמו”ר זי”ע

⋅

לזכות

הילד שלום דובער שי’

בן הרה”ת שניאור זלמן יהודה וזוגתו מרת שרה שיחיו

דוכס

T H I S P R O J E C T H A S B E E N M A D E P O S S I B L E B Y :

JNet is a division of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch and was established with a generous grant from The Rohr Foundation.

מוקדש

לחיזוק ההתקשרות לנשיאנו

כ”ק אדמו”ר זי”ע

⋅

לזכות

הילד שלום דובער שי’

בן הרה”ת שניאור זלמן יהודה וזוגתו מרת שרה שיחיו

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Jnet Chai JNET GIMMEL TAMMUZ LEARNING CAMPAIGN …Chassidus as it was taught by the Besht did not...

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