יהי ה' אלקינו עמנו - תשכ"ד - חלק ג Yehi Hashem Elokeinu Imanu 5724 - Section Three -
ב"ה About Simply Chassidus Simply Chassidus releases one ma amar of the Rebbe each month with English translation and commentary. Each ma amar is divided into three sections, each of which can be learned in approximately one hour. By learning one section per week, usually on Shabbos morning, participants can finish one ma amar per month, with time to review the ma amar on Shabbos Mevarchim. Simply Chassidus is written by Simcha Kanter and is a project of Congregation Bnei Ruven in Chicago under the direction of Rabbi Boruch Hertz. The translation of the ma amar was reviewed with Rabbi Fischel Oster. ארי' יהודה בן שרה רבקה in the zechus of refuah shleima for Made possible by The ma amar Yehi Hashem Elokeinu Imanu 5724 from Sefer Hamaamorim Volume 4 is copyrighted by Kehot Publication Society, a division of Merkos L inyonei Chinuch, and is reprinted here with permission.
3 ד"ה יהי ה' אלקינו עמנו Section Three In the first two sections of the ma amar the Rebbe explained the following points: In 5687, the Frierdiker Rebbe said a sicha from the train platform while he was on his way to exile in Kastrama, his (reduced) sentence for spreading Judaism under communist rule. This sicha was based on the possuk, May Hashem our G-d be with us, as He was with our forefathers; let Him not leave us, nor forsake us. In this sicha the Frierdiker Rebbe said, [We request that] Hashem should be with us, and [we are certain that] Hashem will be with us, just as He was with our forefathers. This statement led us to our first question: If requesting and expressing certainty are two opposites, how can the Frierdiker Rebbe s request for Hashem to be with us include the statement that Hashem will certainly be with us? The Frierdiker Rebbe also stated that Hashem should be with us like He was with our forefathers even though we can t be compared to our forefathers, as they actually risked their lives for Torah and mitzvos. This statement led us to our second question: How can the Frierdiker Rebbe say that we can t be compared to our forefathers, as they risked their lives for Torah and mitzvos, while he clearly did risk his life (and was risking his life at that very moment) for Torah and mitzvos? In addition to these questions regarding the Frierdiker Rebbe s sicha, we also asked two questions on the possuk itself:
ש "פ קרח, ג' תמוז ה'תשכ "ד 4 o o Question Three: Why does the possuk request may Hashem be with us if he is already our G-d (who is our strength and our life)? Question Four: Why does the possuk use the word im (with), implying that Hashem is only secondary to us and our forefathers? We then answered question four by explaining that the possuk is focusing on yiras shomayim (fear of Hashem), which is dependent on the Jews own service. Therefore, we are requesting that Hashem our G-d (the revelation of G-dliness) will be with us to support us in accomplishing this goal through our own efforts. The reason why yiras shomayim needs to come through a Jew s own efforts is because yirah is an expression of bittul, and true bittul can t be imposed from the outside. If a person s bittul is a reaction to something outside of him, then it doesn t fundamentally change him into someone who is bottul. Similarly, mesiras nefesh needs to come from the person himself, as mesiras nefesh is an expression of bittul. We see this most strongly expressed when a Jew has mesiras nefesh for aspects of Judaism which he isn t required to risk his life for. This gave us an even deeper understanding of why the Frierdiker Rebbe chose to start his request with the possuk which says that Hashem should be with us, stressing the fact that this type of service is mostly dependent on a person s own efforts and is only assisted with the revelation of G-dliness from above. Based on an analysis of the grammatical implications of the word im, the Rebbe explained that in terms of effort, the main focus is our own efforts, but in terms of motivation, the
5 ד"ה יהי ה' אלקינו עמנו main focus is that Hashem must be served (and not that we want to serve Him). This type of motivational focus adds to the completeness of a Jew s mesiras nefesh, as he doesn t even consider the possibility of not doing a mitzvah (even if that will require mesiras nefesh). This explanation helps us understand why the possuk asks that Hashem should be with us as he was with our forefathers : וזהו ה( יהי הוי' אלקינו עמנו כאשר הי' עם אבותינו, דבעבודת האבות מודגשים שני ענינים הנ"ל. שקיימו כל התורה עד שלא ניתנה, 29 דבזה מודגש שעבודתם היתה )לא מפני הציווי מלמעלה, אלא( בכח עצמם. ואעפ"כ היו בתכלית הביטול, דהאבות הן הן המרכבה. 30 The way in which our forefathers (Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya akov) served Hashem also emphasized these two ideas of our own effort and motivation for Hashem s sake: The forefathers fulfilled the entire Torah even before it was given, which emphasizes the fact that they chose to serve Hashem with their own effort (and not just as a reaction to a commandment from above). Even though they served Hashem with their own effort, they had the ultimate bittul to Hashem, as the Midrash says, the forefathers were [as bottul to Hashem as] a chariot [is to its rider]. The Rebbe explains the bittul of a chariot:
ש "פ קרח, ג' תמוז ה'תשכ "ד 6 וביטול המרכבה להרוכב הוא ביטול בתכלית. דביטול המרכבה להרוכב הוא לא מצד הרצון דהמרכבה )שרוצה להיות בטילה להרוכב ומרכבה אליו(, אלא מצד הרוכב. The bittul of a chariot to its rider expresses the ultimate bittul, as a chariot isn t bottul due to its own will (as a chariot doesn t have any will of its own); rather, the chariot is bottul due to the will of the rider. We are now able to answer question three: Question Three: Why does the possuk request may Hashem our G-d be with us if he is already our G-d (who is our strength and our life)? וכיון שבביטול יש כו"כ דרגות, לכן, מבקשים יהי הוי' אלקינו עמנו כאשר הי' עם אבותינו, שהענין דיהי הוי' אלקינו עמנו, הביטול שלנו לאלקות, יהי' כאשר הי' עם אבותינו, ביטול דמרכבה. Answer to Question Three: Based on what we explained above, we understand that the phrase may Hashem our G-d be with us means that we should have complete bittul to Hashem, as implied by the word im. Therefore, we request to reach the same degree that our forefathers did the bittul of a chariot. We are also able to answer the first two questions regarding the statements of the Frierdiker Rebbe: Question Two: How can the Frierdiker Rebbe say that we can t be compared to our forefathers, as they risked their lives for Torah and mitzvos, while he clearly did risk his life (and was risking his life at that very moment) for Torah and mitzvos?
7 ועפ"ז ד"ה יהי ה' אלקינו עמנו ו( יש לבאר מה שאמר בעל הגאולה "מיר זאיינען דא ך ניט גלייך צו אבותינו, וועלכע זיינען געווען בעלי מס"נ בפועל", שכלל גם עצמו בזה, כי אמיתית הענין דמס"נ הוא כשהמס"נ הוא מצד הביטול )כנ"ל סעיף ד(, וכיון שבביטול יש כו"כ דרגות )כנ"ל סעיף ה(, לכן, שייך שיאמר על עצמו )מצד ענוה( שחסר לו בענין המס"נ. Answer to Question Two: The true expression of mesiras nefesh is when mesiras nefesh is motivated by bittul to Hashem, and there are many levels of bittul which a person can reach. Therefore, when the Frierdiker Rebbe said that we can t be compared to our forefathers, as they actually had mesiras nefesh for Torah and mitzvos, he meant they actually had mesiras nefesh with the ultimate bittul. Obviously, the Frierdiker Rebbe couldn t have said that he didn t go on mesiras nefesh out of humility, as this is not a reasonable claim. However, the Frierdiker Rebbe could claim (out of humility) that his mesiras nefesh (which is an expression of bittul) can t be compared to the mesiras nefesh of the forefathers (even though, in truth, it can be compared), which was an expression of absolute bittul. This is why he was able to include himself in the statement that we can t be compared to our forefathers. Question One: If requesting and expressing certainty are two opposites, how can the Frierdiker Rebbe include in his request for Hashem to be with us the statement that Hashem will certainly be with us? ועפ"ז יש לבאר גם מה שאומר בהשיחה שבהבקשה יהי הוי' אלקינו עמנו נכלל גם הפירוש דיהי לשון הבטחה )וועט זיין מיט אונז(, כי זה שתפלה )בקשה( והבטחה הם שני ענינים שונים הוא כי תפלה היא בקשת האדם והבטחה היא מלמעלה,
ש "פ קרח, ג' תמוז ה'תשכ "ד 8 The two concepts of requesting something and being certain of something are only different (and even opposite) when the request is a request of a person below, and the certainty is the certainty of Hashem above. This is also the case when it comes to tzadikim, even though it could seem that their requests come from above : וגם בצדיקים, כאשר הם מציאות )בדקות עכ"פ(, תפלה והבטחה הם שני ענינים. דהבטחת הצדיק היא בשליחותו של הקב"ה, ותפלת הצדיק היא בקשת הצדיק עצמו. Even in the case of a tzadik, if the tzadik has some (subtle) aspect of self, the two concepts of requesting and certainty are still two different concepts. When a tzadik promises something (expressing the concept of certainty ), he does this as a messenger of Hashem (above), while his requests are (subtly) his own requests (below, due to his sense of self ). משא"כ כשהצדיק הוא באופן שגם העבודה שלו בכח עצמו )שהיא לכאורה "מציאות"( היא בתכלית הביטול, אזי גם בהתפלה )בקשה( שלו יש גם ענין ההבטחה. However, if the tzadik has reached such a level of bittul that even his own efforts in serving Hashem (which would seemingly express self ) are an expression of his complete bittul to Hashem (the concept of may Hashem our G-d be with us like he was with our forefathers ), then even his own requests (which would usually be considered as below ) are an expression of certainty (from above ). Answer to Question One: The Frierdiker Rebbe was able to include in his request for Hashem to be with us the statement that Hashem will certainly be with us
9 ד"ה יהי ה' אלקינו עמנו because his complete bittul made his own requests have the certainty from above. The Rebbe also gave an aspect of this bittul to those who were influenced by him: ויש להוסיף, דמעין זה )שגם המציאות היא בביטול( המשיך גם בהמקושרים ושייכים אליו. ע"י שהשריש בהם מס"נ גם על ענינים שע"פ דין )ציווי דלמעלה( אין מחוייב למסור נפשו עליהם )מס"נ מצד האדם( ושגם המס"נ על ענינים אלו תהי' באופן שאין שייך כלל באופן אחר )מס"נ מצד האלקות(. By implanting within his Chassidim (and all the Jews which he was able to influence) the mesiras nefesh for aspects of Judaism which don t technically require mesiras nefesh (it is their own and isn t commanded from above ), and to go on this mesiras nefesh without considering an alternative (because Hashem must be served), the Frierdiker Rebbe gave them an aspect of this level of bittul as well. ולכן זה שבהבקשה דבעל הגאולה כלול גם ענין ההבטחה הוא גם מצד המקבלים. Therefore, the Frierdiker Rebbe said in his request and promise that Hashem should (and will) be with us (which also includes those who were influenced by the Frierdiker Rebbe), because they also earned it on their own level, as the Frierdiker Rebbe enabled them to reach a certain aspect of this complete bittul as well. The Rebbe concludes: ותקויים ההבטחה יהי הוי' אלקינו עמנו כאשר הי' עם אבותינו ברוחניות אור 31 אל יעזבנו ואל יטשנו, ולכל בני ישראל יהי' ובגשמיות. 32
ש "פ קרח, ג' תמוז ה'תשכ "ד 10 May the promise Hashem our G-d will be with us like he was with our forefathers, he will not leave us nor forsake us be fulfilled [explaining the possuk according to the interpretation of the word yehi as will be ], and all the Jews will have light [revealed goodness from Hashem], both physically and spiritually! Sign up online to receive weekly translations as they are released. www.simplychassidus.com
11 ד"ה יהי ה' אלקינו עמנו Footnotes from the Original Hebrew 29( ראה יומא כח, ב. קידושין פב, א )במשנה(. 30( ב"ר פמ"ז, ו. פפ"ב, ו. 31( ע"פ לשון הכתוב בא יב, כג. 32( לשון בעל הגאולה בסיום השיחה דג' תמוז תרפ"ז.
ב"ה לע"נ הרה"ח הרה"ת אי"א נו"נ עוסק בצ"צ דניאל יצחק ר' ע"ה בן יבלחט''א ר' אפרים שליט''א מאסקאוויץ שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר זי"ע למדינת אילינוי נלב"ע ב' אדר שני ה'תשע"ד ת.נ.צ.ב.ה DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF MOSCOWITZ ז "ל RABBI DANIEL LUBAVITCH CHABAD OF ILLINOIS REGIONAL DIRECTOR וא נ י ד נ י אל נ ה י ית י...ו א ק ום ו א ע ש ה א ת מ ל אכ ת ה מ ל ך AND I, DANIEL... ROSE AND DID THE KING'S WORK (DANIEL 8:27)