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I'm a man. La.
Trevor, the food is gonna be here throughout the entire evening. Let's sing a nigga strong. Let's dance together and then we'll eat. I think you guys might have heard this song before. It goes a little bit like this. Hey, sama, the Baba Nanji. Hey, sama, the Baba Nanji. Hey, sama Sama, the Baba Nanji. Hey, come on, let's start it!
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Come on Hey, sama, the night is coming. Come on, the night is coming. Hey, sama, the night is coming. Come on, the night is coming. Hey, sama the banana, sama the strawberry. Hey, sama the banana, sama the strawberry. Hey. Hey, sama, the karnatic sama, come and tell the story. The karnatic sama Come and tell the story. La.
Hey, tama la tama, come on, let's start it! Hey, come on, she come on Love is hard. Come on, Hey, tama la tama Come on, let's start it! Hey, come on She come on, love is hard. La. Hey, sama, let's start it! The sun is coming up. Come on, Sama, and grab it. Darling. Hey, sama, let's start it! The sun is coming up. Sama, come on and grab it, darling. Let's start it! Hey, come on, let's start it! Hey, La, come on, let's start it! Hey, come on, la Tama la dona she come back sorry, hey. Tama la dona she come back sorry. La come on
Verse. Verse. I think we just replaced this three hours ago. Start. The Chaim, guys. The Chaim. Just too many territories to see there And especially in South Africa, everything from actors North Carolina high school, there's not much there. There's a lot there. A lot there, a lot there A lot there. I, after. By Chassidim Chayvor, I hope I don't need the mic. Let's sit, let's eat. When Jews eat, they're quiet. It's nice. That's the ickar of having the food here, so we can be quiet.
A yom, yom b'sorah. Today, chevrach. Throughout the day, guys have been Nicely coming over, saying good yontiv, rebbe. Sometimes a little bit smiling, sometimes a little bit cynical, sometimes a little bit less cynical. But what I want to speak about for just a few minutes, as an introduction to Revg Is just what this day means to me And why I put a concerted effort into making sure that this day is something which is celebrated. When a lot of guys come over and they say good Yontif, I say good Yontif back to you, and I mean that because it's not only a Yontif for me. It's not only a yontif for Chabad Hasidim, and it's not only a yontif for Hasidim; it's a yontif for Klal Yisroa. It's a yontif for Klal Yisroa. I'm not sure what Rebbetzin is going to speak about. I've spoken about this a few times over the last few days. What the Besorer, what the Geulah of Yitzez Kislav essentially is, and what it was, and what it is today.
And it's not only the physical release of the Alter Rebbe from prison. But it's the spiritual release; it's the spiritual hashgacha that Hakadosh Baruch Hu said that now it is time. Now it is time, Yefutsu my nasecha chutzah. Now it is time, Chaver. For the learning of pnimias Torah to be something which is not only for the chassidim and not only for the iluyim and not only for Gdolei Yisrael, but it's for everyone. And Chaver, some of you might think that you know this year in yeshiva, maybe in high school. This is the first time that you guys are learning Chassidus. Someone asked me the other day, 'What's the first Chassidus that I should be learning? Should it be Nesiva Sholom? Should it be Lakutei Sichos?' I said, 'Kid, you've been learning Chassidus since you've been in kindergarten. You just don't know it.' You don't understand how much the Hasidic movement The spiritual movement has impacted our educational system and our spiritual system.
There's a chukka. There's a serious reason out there for Am Yisrael to feel closer to Kirvah Selokim, feel closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and Yutaz Kisav is the day which we celebrate Hakadosh Baruch Hu saying, "Here is the key." Here is the tool. Here is one of these tools which has been hidden for such a long time. And look at Am Yisrael in the last 250 years. Look where Am Yisrael has come. I want to tell you a quick story. Rav Yol Kan, Zechrona Levracha, Zechertzadik Levracha, just passed away a little bit under a year ago. He was the Choser of the Lubavitch Rebbe. The Choser of the Lubavitch Rebbe. That means that he used to say over the sichos. He used to memorize the sichos that the Rebbe would speak on Shabbos for sometimes upwards to six hours, and he would remember them and he would write them down on Motzei Shabbos. And Rav Yol Kan, about ten years ago, came to yeshiva.
And he, there was a fabrangen on Yutess Kisliv, and Rav Yakovson, who was then the Rashi Shiva. Rav Yakovson gets up and he says In his deep Hamelech voice Ezepela What, what a pella, what a gevaled! In two thousand, in Tavshinpe, wherever it was, we're having in Yeshivat Shalavim a fabrangen on Yutess Kisliv. With no one else than Rav Yolkan, the Choser And what Rav Yakovson was saying was that this yeshiva wasn't necessarily the most Hasidic yeshiva when it opened. Rav Schlesinger wasn't exactly A neo Hasid. Let's just say that. And what Rav Yakovson was saying was, look how far Am Yisrael has come. Look how much the spreading of Chassidus has come so far. It's impacted so many people. And Rav Yolkan gets up on the amud, he gets up on the shender And he starts saying over a siyah from the rebbe. And the rebbe opens up his siyah with a diuk from the gra From the gra
A diuk which the rebbe makes in the gra in orachaim in hilchas hashkamas haboker, and over there he comes to a big yisod in toras achasides, and I think the avoda of yutes kislev is for us to recognize, for us to realize that Chassidus is not some cherry on the top. It's part of our Torah. It's part of our Mitzvah. It's something that the Baal Shem Tov wasn't coming to be Machadeish. He was coming to be Machazik. He was coming to be Machazik. We could speak all night about what Chassidus is and what the Indian of Chassidus is. But I'll just be mistaped with one Indian. In the Sfar Nachdoshin, they speak about what the avoda of the Balshemtov was. Am Yisrael was in a dire place after Shapteitzvi. And after all the fake messianics and after all the pogroms that the Jews in Europe were going through, Am Yisrael was in a very, very hard place.
And what the Balshemtov came to do What the Balshemtov came to do was to wake us up To wake us up from this drowsiness of gullus. To wake us up and to remind us who we are—that we're a chay lekalokamim al mamish, that we're a piece of God. And that we can have care of us Elokim, no matter where we are in every aspect of our life—and that's a little bit what we're getting closer. Yitzez kislev is already bechinas Chanukah. We're getting closer to that or haganus To that hidden light. So I daven that this evening should just be the beginning. There's an avoda of Yutes Kislev. It's not just sitting around, listening to a nice shmuu and having nice food. That's beautiful. It's amazing, but there's an avoda, and the avoda should be that we should wake up a little bit in our avodas Hashem.
We should wake up a little bit and we should say, "Hey, there's a baldira here. There's someone there, and I want to have a relationship with him." And I want to have a kirva with him. So, lechaim. We should be zochetaka. To have kirvah selokim in the way which everyone finds it. But today is a yom b'seira. Today is yutes kislev. It's chav kislev. By the chassidim that febrang on both nights Just a joke. The reason why they febrang Many chassidim febrang on chav kislev because when the alter Rebbe was released from jail, you guys know this. The alter Rebbe was released from jail, so the chassidim told him to go to the so and so address. So the chariot pulls up, and he walks into the apartment building and he walks in. He opens the door and he walks into the house of the msnagid.
And the msnagid starts screaming at him. And he's in the msn's house for like five or six hours. Just like absorbing like all of this. Like you know The altar rebbe was filled with Ava, so he just absorbed all of what the mashgiach had to say. And the altar rebbe said that the seven hours by the msnagid was worse than the fifty three days in Saint Petersburg. High prison. We should be zochataka to connect to this day in a real way. And I'm so happy that this is our fourth This is the fourth year that we're having a farbrengen here in Shalvim Tachin Pei Beis with Rav Berg, and Rav Josh Ma'Yidid Nefesh is going to inspire us with some nigunim. Some Torah Some food, some meat tzotzos. And I think that's I think that's it. Closing this one. No.
So you guys. First of all, I'm happier that I get to do this with you guys here every year. Close some of the lights. And I'm really happy I get to share. It's really, really a special day. Everyone's gonna talk about it, and you're really gonna learn about it. You don't know about it now. You're gonna learn more about it. Music, melody, but more than just music. Nigun, the melody itself, the tune. Takes a very, very, very big place within Chassidus. And it happens to be especially within Chabad Chassidus, nigun is very, very, very central. They even say that most Hasidim around the Shabbos table sing nigunim with words. Chabad happened to be one of the Chassidus that usually stay away from words and stick with the melody itself. Chabad emphasizes this very much. Not that the other Hasidim don't. It's just that it's just that they show.
And emphasize the power of what a melody can do. We grow up singing songs. And we forget very often the reason why we're doing what we're doing here. And we can get disconnected from whether it's the feeling we have from the song or the words themselves. But when we remember that there's a really deep meaning behind these nigunim, the nigunim we're singing here are not just written and composed by anyone. These have a very strong mesorah that goes back to very, very holy tzaddikim. That's an understatement. Keliata, you guys know you heard most of it before. Keliata ve'deika. In case you never thought about the words Keliata, you're my God, ve'deika, and I'll thank you. You should know that Kael happens to mean mighty, mighty God. And people could look at Kael as being a name of harshness or din. Chassidus explains that Kael is a word that means the sweetening of judgment.
When you get this kiss slave, there was a lot of judgment that was sweetened. Think about your own life. Try to connect it in your own way. That's the main point. Keli yahata deyoy deka eloyah, aroy mi meka. Keli yahata deyoy deka elakaya aroy mi meka. Oyelie Watwa de oyeka. Eloye ka, adoye mi eka. Oyelie, atwa de oyeka. Alaykayyara minnaka, alaykayyatiyata minnaka. Alaykayyara minnaka, alaykayyatiyata minnaka.
Yelakayarai meka Keeliyata meydeka, yeloi kayarai meka Keeliyata. Ei One day I'll get up and try again to make up. I'll get the idea and try again. I'll try again to make up.
To see them happen to also have the minhag amongst other groups in KaliyIsrael Singing Anim Zmiros Anim Zmiros, which also is called Shir Kavod. Sure, a lot of people here know it. And Sabad has a really Really, really, really hauntingly beautiful Gracias Mieras. I want to just sing the melody with you guys. For those that do or don't know the words, I hope everyone's able to sing it together. Goes like this. Ah Do it
Aya yaya yama, dhi. Ri aya ma ya. Ri ra. Ri aya ma ya. Ra. Rai, r.
Rai. Maya. Rai. Ra.
Everyone knows. Everyone knows the story. The Doutor Rebbe was accused of anti-Czarist behavior Of fomenting rebellion with the teachings of Chassidus. So the Alter Rebbe was imprisoned in Petersburg. In a jail on an island. Was a jail that many people did not return from. When the Alter Rebbe was imprisoned, the Hasidim feared the worst. A very strange thing happened in the jail. Sitting with. All of these prisoners The Alter Rebbe was interrogated for fifty-three days. The Alter Rebbe was interrogated about the teachings of Chassidus. So you can imagine what it was like for the Alter Rebbe Sitting in jail. Teaching Chassidus to a bunch of Russian interrogators. The Alter Rebbe understood that this was not a simple time; there was a crossroads moment in history.
Where it was being decided in Shamayim if the teachings of Chasidus would be allowed to proliferate in the world. And 53 days later When the Alter Rebbe was released. Suddenly and miraculously The Alter Rebbe understood that this was now an invitation, so to speak, in Shamayim to begin to espouse the teachings of Chasidus on mass. He wrote a sefer called Tanya. Fifty-three chapters, corresponding to the fifty-three days that he spent being interrogated. By Tsarist Russia The Alter Rebbe was asked What is the purpose of chasivus? Truth of the matter is It's a question that still today many people are asking. Around this time of year, I'm sure some of you Not chas v'shalom in a cynical way, I'm sure I'm sure not in a cynical way. But it could be that some of you have asked around today, what are we getting together for? What are we sitting here in Fabregen for?
Maybe we should be in the beis medrash right now. Better use of our time. What are they trying to put on us over here? What are we speaking about? And I'm sure people have opinions. And you probably heard already from Refish. That chassidus could not have come to do anything new. Because if chassidus came to do something new And it has no part in our messiah, it has no part being part of the rich heritage of yiddishkeit. What is the purpose of chassidus? The Alter Rebbe answered this question And he said The purpose of chassidus. Is lishana es tivoysov. The Hasidim were midayik. The Alter Rebbe did not say lishana es midoysov. The Alter Rebbe said the tachlis of Hasidim, of Chassidus Was lishana es tivoysov. What's the difference? Lishana es tivoysov means that Chassidus teaches that a person has the capacity. To fundamentally change who they are You see a lot in the world of Mussar.
The notion of tikanam midos L'shana es midosov. Person has an issue with kass Work on your midos Have less kass. A person has an issue with laziness. Work on your midos and have more zrizos. Person has an issue with jealousy. Work on your midos. Have less jealousy. The Alter Rebbe was saying something more profound and more ambitious than simply working on your middos. The Alter Rebbe, in saying that a person could change his nature Was coming not with something new But he was coming to reveal something that was very old. That in Yiddishkeit we don't believe. That who you are is something static. It's not like this is who you are, and there are degrees of change. In saying Leshana es Tivoysof The Alter Rebbe was expressing a dynamic nature of a person. That a person does not simply vacillate between a good midah and a bad midah.
But on a fundamental level, he has the capacity to leave his own orbit. To fundamentally change the nature of who he is. For the thoughtful person Whether they've been exposed to chassidus or they have not yet been exposed to chassidus For the thoughtful person For a growth-oriented person This promise of the outer rebbe, this mission of the outer rebbe. That a person could fundamentally change his nature is exceptionally exciting. Because there's a certain not chas v'shalom a yish But there's a certain feeling of efo ani ba olam. Where am I in the world? Some days I have such good middos. Some days I have such bad middos. I find myself doing funny things in funny places at funny times. And it's hard for me to imagine that this is who I really am, and maybe it can get better in degrees. But people say about themselves Be etzem I am about chas Be etzem I am about tayva. It's just I have to work on this.
And there's a certain feeling of Again, not chas v'shalom yeyish, but a little bit of yeyish could creep in, and a person could say to themselves, "This is who I am." This is who I am, and so they're on that path of life. And it could be that at certain times in their life they'll be hesayrus and baruch Hashem and they'll do great And then at later times it won't be so good. And they'll look back fondly on their years in yeshiva and they'll say, in those times I was really striking. In those times I was sitting in beis medrash and I was working on my tefila. But now I've gotten older. I've left the bubble of yeshiva. And of course I'm still working on myself. It's come down to reality. And the word reality. It can be an anchor on a person, like this is who you are.
And so in the out the Rebbe said, Lashana es Tevaisav. In the world There was a tremendous excitement. You mean we don't need to be these people? We're not stuck. We're not anchored and rooted in the soil of our own filth. It's possible not just to be a better animal but to fundamentally change who we are. This was the revolution of Chassidus. In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe wrote that a person is not one soul but two souls. A person is not simply a yitzchahara and a yitzchatoiv. Schizophrenically choosing between the two. Rather, the Alter Rebbe says. That you are two fundamentally different people at once: a nefesh abahamis and a nefesh alikis. The nefesh abahamis is the soul that animates your body. And the nefesh abahamis has desires. The fundamental desire of the nefesh abahamis is survival. The nefesh abahamis is aware of its own death; it knows. Life is not eternal.
And someday Hakadosh Baruch Hu will come calling. And therefore, the nefesh abahamis lives with an impoverished mentality. That since at some point I'm going to die There's a need for survival. And because of that need for survival, because of the impoverished mentality of the nefesh abahamis The nefesh abahamis employs all sorts of tools in order to feel more alive. The ego The gaiva The tayva of the nefesh abrahamis is all in an effort to be conscious and aware of the fact that one day I'm going to die. So stay alive and feel alive as often as possible, even sometimes to the detriment of the nefesh abrahamis. An addict. Someone who's chassid shalom fall and prey to addiction. An addict is a nefesh Abraham is on steroids. He's so afraid of his own death, so consciously aware that one day this will all come to an end.
That to numb that pain He'll engage all sorts of. I don't want to say the words. He'll engage all sorts of different deviant behaviors that are designed to numb that pain. But can actually bring a person chas v'shalom to their death even earlier. In this regard, the nefesh abahamis is completely illogical. In contrast to the nefesh abahamis, we have the nefesh lekiss. The nefesh lekiss is, of course, eternal. The nefesh lekiss does not come to animate our body. The nefesh lekiss is the uniquely Jewish soul that we are all endowed with. As the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya: "It's a chelak alakamimal mamish." Its relationship with the bayrei olam is that it is of the essence of Hashem. And the nefesh lekiss. Not only is it not afraid of death, the nefesh lekiss is not concerned with death. Death is not a factor. Because the nefesh lekiss is aware of the infinite nature of the rabbanis shalom And therefore it's aware of the infinite nature of itself.
Because the nefesh shalaykis is not concerned with death. The nefesh shalaykis has no gaiva Has no ego. The nefesh shalaykis has no tayva. The nefesh shalaykis exists to help others. The guiding light of the nefesh shalaykis is what can I do for another yid? I'll share with you a ma'isa. Many years ago I was at a simcha, a family simcha in Crown Heights. I had the privilege of going to Crown Heights for Shabbos many times. I was a very little boy. But I saw the Rebbe. My cousin used to make sure that when we davened by the Rebbe, we would stand right near where the Rebbe would walk back. He would walk from davening back to his office. So the sea would split. Everyone would allow the Rebbe to go through, but everyone knew exactly where the Rebbe would walk. So there was a coveted spot that you could be Because if you knew exactly where the sea was going to split and when it split, you could be there right on the gavul. So the Rebbe would walk right by you. I many times was right there as the Rebbe would walk right by.
My father had a very good sense of humor. When we would go to Crown Heights for Shabbos, my father would dress like he was not an Orthodox Jew. So he would try to see how many Chabad people would be makarav him on Shabbos. So I remember one time he wore Wore a cowboy hat. Wore a cowboy hat to seven seventy. And the sea split and the Rebbe walked by And the Rebbe looked at my father You know that famous motion of the Rebbe where he did that was So the Rebbe looks at my father and he looks at So my father looks at my cousin and he goes, "I think I just got ejected from the game. He got thrown out of 770." " So anyway I was in Crown Heights for a simcha. And the rav The shliach that was makar of my family Is a very big tzaddik.
Is literally buried right next to the oil. His name was Rabbi Gordon, a very famous Chabad shliach. So I wanted to give Rabbi Gordon some nachas. Wanted to give him some nachas. After all, he was makariv my family. He was very close with us. So I wanted to tell him that I was learning in Kylo. Like, I could imagine. I'm sure it's not true, but I could imagine that sometimes these chabad shluchim feel a little bit like What am I doing? I'm in Montana. The only time I get to see a Jew is if an El Al plane. Loses an engine and lands in Montana. Like what? Like there's no. What am I doing here? I wanted to give him some nachas. How many yidden does he feel like he's actually touched in a way that he made a difference? I went over to Rabbi Gordon. I said, Shalom aleichem, Rabbi. How are you? Has everything? He said, New. What are you doing now with your life?
So I said, I'm learning in Kotel. And I saw that he had a very bitter look on his face. A very bitter look. And I was taken aback. I said, Rebbe is not happy. And he just walked away. His mamash is not happy with me. So I didn't understand. I was learning at the time by my Rebbe Shlita, Rabbi Zechariah Fuchs, of Parnas. I didn't understand In the Brisker tradition, to sit and learn is the greatest thing in the world, and of course that's true. What was Rabbi Gordon so upset about? So I went to my mother. And I said, "I think Rabbi Gordon is very upset at me." She said, "Why? What'd you do?" I said, "Nothing. I told him I'm learning in Koyel." So she smiled. She said, "Right. That's what you did." What did I do wrong? I understand when my parents were upset at me, but I don't understand why Rabbi Gordon was upset.
So my mother said to me It was the first time I had ever heard this concept. My mother said, "Rabbi Gordon thinks you're being selfish." I said, "What do you mean I'm being selfish? What's that mean? I'm sitting and learning. What greater secrets could there be in the world? So my mother looked at me And she said, "But what are you doing for Klali Yisro?" " I was shocked. I was shocked to my core. It took me many years to understand that story. It took me many years to understand. That Rabbi Gordon was not even in the slightest way being mezalzel the notion of sitting and learning in kaiul, not even a little bit. That a yid sits and learns Torah It is of course the greatest thing in the world, and one only needs to learn Tanya to know that the greatest mitzvah that we can do is limurat Torah, and there is no hskashus to Hashem without limurat Torah.
Today, every time Rav Weinberger speaks, he has to make sure to say for all the people out there that are hanging on every word to catch him. Rav Weinberger has to say this: this not at the exclusion of serious sitting and learning, because every time Rav Weinberger speaks, everyone's paying attention. Does he mean to take people that they should just be like going to mikva and davening and growing long peyus and listening to certain types of music and then they're chassidim Like is and that's to take us away from the base madras. Rav Weinberger says a dozen times in every shiur. This is not to the exclusion of serious sitting and learning. We're not here tonight Taking time away from the beis medrash because we don't chas v'shalom value every minute or every moment of Torah. What Rabbi Gordon was saying was, how could there be a yid whose response, when I ask him what he's doing, stops at 'I'm learning in Kailah'?
What he wanted me to say, I believe, what he wanted me to say was. I'm learning in Kailo So that I could go out and share the Torah that I have with others. That it shouldn't be something that's hidden inside the recesses of my own soul, that's not shared with another Jew. Because the nature of the nefeshalikis is that a Jew cannot be selfish. It's not possible. Of course, we all have a nefesh abahamis, and there are times where we act beneath our dignity. But in our essence, in our guts, in our chayus, it's not shyach for a Jew to be selfish. Yosef haTzadik Yosef haTzadik is described by the Torah as a nar. Rashi says What it means that he was a nar is that he was misakin basaroh; he was fixing his hair. We see this by Yosef. Yosef somehow has some sort of connection to his hair.
Even by the house of Potiphar When Yosef is described as very beautiful, it means that he was curling his hair. The Medrash says. What's this Indian of Yosef HaTzadik in his hair? A person has to understand al pi nimi as hatayra. A person has to understand that Yosef is the tikkun for Esav. That really. Yaakov avinu was ish tam Yosef ahalin. The Yaakov Avinu was a Jew who was meant to sit and learn Torah, and he was not meant to engage the world. But there was a partnership that was supposed to take place. Yaakov was supposed to be in the beis medrash. And Esav was supposed to fulfill the Tachlis Habriah by building a Dira B'Tachtonim for Hashem. The medrash in Parshas Naso says that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world because He had a Tiver. Nisaveh Hakadosh Baruch Hu, lios barach, diru b'tachtonim. Hakadosh Baruch Hu had a desire to have a dwelling place in the world down below, and in order to have a dwelling place in the world down below, it's not enough.
It's not enough for a Jew to sit and learn in the Beit Midrash. But a Jew needs to go out into the world to engage physically with a physical world in a way that reveals Hakadosh Baruch Hu's presence in the world. This was the job of Esav. And of course we know that Esav unfortunately went out into the world and fell prey to the traps of the world And therefore he abandoned the mission of Dir BeTafteinim. Rivka Imenu saw this. And Rivka Imenu did something incredible. It's a story that we don't necessarily understand. It's a story that we don't necessarily pay attention to so deeply. But when Rivka Imenu Dressed Yaakov up as Esav. When we were children, we learned that it was for the sake of fooling Yitzchak. But al pi pnimi as atayra, something much deeper was happening. Yaakov Avinu was taking the role of Esav in this world.
Which is why it was important for her to put on not only Esav's clothing But literally to put skins on Yaakov Avinu that felt like Esav. That Yaakov Avinu, of course, remains Yaakov Avinu, but he takes on the role of Esav. And of course, we know that the coat that Rivka took from Esav to give to Yaakov Avinu was the coat that Esav had taken from Nimrod. That he killed Nimrod and took that coat on the day of Avraham Avinu's betira. And of course, we know that Nimrod got that coat. The midrash says that it was passed along for generations, but that coat was the original coat that was given to other Marisha. By Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So when Yaakov Avinu received that coat He was taking on the mission, just like other Marishon had to go out into the world after the sin of other Marishon.
To reveal Hakadosh Baruch Hu and dirah b'tachteinim. So now Yaakov Avinu was taking on that role, and that's why Yaakov Avinu, in the duality of Yaakov Avinu, he goes out to Yeshiva Shem Be'ever And he sits and learns before he goes into the house of Lavan, because he's accessing that dimension of Yaakov Avinu. But then ultimately he leaves to go to the house of Lavan to become the Esav, to be mitsak in the Esav, and we know that what does Chazal say? Rashi brings down that at what point does Yaakov Avinu leave the house of Esav? Only with the birth of Yosef HaTzaddik. That Esav is compared to straw, Yaakov Avinu is compared to fire, but it's the spark of Yosef HaTzaddik that's going to ultimately destroy Esav and be mitsak in Esav. To bring Hakadosh Baruch Hu into dir b'tachtayna. So there are two people in Yaakovinu's family that have the capacity to rectify Esav.
Of course, the first one we all know is Dinah. Dinah from a lashon of Din Because Leah was meant to marry Esav. Leah and Esav are really from the original creation of the world. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, He created the world originally with Din. And then Hakadosh Baruch Hu saw that the world could not sustain itself with din. So Hakadosh Baruch Hu came, and He said, 'I'm going to make the world with Rachemim.' But underneath the world of Rachemim, the original world that still exists, and that's the world of din. When we say that Leah and Esav were a shiduch, it's not because Chassvah Shalom had one of these foolish ideas. She's the firstborn and he's the firstborn, so we'll put them together. That was much more sophisticated than that. Esav was the firstborn. Da'heinu. It means that Esav lived before the creation of Rachemim in the world.
There are tzaddikim that live in that place. Esav was meant to live in that place. Leah lived in that place. Leah saw that she could not be m'saken Esav Arush. So she begged that she should be married to Rachel Imenu. She begged Hakadosh Baruch Hu. She davened. She cried her heart out that she should be married to Yaakov Avinu. But the capacity for Leah to bring a tikkun to Esav was always there. And she had a child that she knew could bring a tikkun to Esav. But she saw that Rachelimenu would then have less children than the Shvachos, which we don't have time to get into right now. What exactly does that mean? So Leah, we know she. She poskined tzaddik gezer v'achadosh baruch hu mekayim Leah poskined that child should not be a boy That child should be a girl. That's why the child's name was Dina.
Because Dina had the essence of Leah inside of her, but in the most intense possible way. That's why her name was literally Din, and that's why we know that Yaakov Avinu made a terrible mistake when he put Dina in the box. And he didn't allow Dina to meet Esav Because really Dina was the one. Even if Leah couldn't do it, because Leah by herself understood that she wasn't enough to be mitsaken Esav, but she had that nitzotz inside of her that could have been mitsaken Esav. So Dina had the capacity to do it, and Yaakov Avinu made a miscalculation and he hid Dina away. And that's why Dina had no choice but to go to Shem Because she had to be mistaken, Shem ben Chamor. Shchem is Rashi Teves shame kavoid malchusa That she had to bring down shame kavoid malchusa with the chumrius Shchem ben Chamar. She had to attach these two worlds because that was the nature of Dina.
And even though, again, not to get into this right now, but even though we know that of course a terrible thing happened to Dina But at the same time we know that Dina was also very matsliach That everybody in Shchem fell in love with her. And Shem himself fell in love with her. Shem, who was a disgusting person who did terrible things to women Even Shem finds himself afterwards. He's in love, and he's speaking in a beautiful way. And the whole chevr is willing to get a bris milah, and everybody wants to just be closer to the Rebbe. So even though it means that a terrible thing happened to Dinah, Lamaisa Dinah was matsliach. And that's why it's such a complicated parsha. What was happening over there with Shimon and Levi and Yaakov Avinu That it doesn't sound like Yaakov Avinu was so upset. Of course, he was upset, but it sounds like Yaakov Avinu is almost like how could you have done such a terrible thing to kill off all those people? What's going to be with my name in the world? What when the world is Yaakov Avinu talking about?
His daughter His daughter was made into a zina. But the Targum says that Yaakov Avinu understood that this was the nature of Dinah. That there's a nitzotz inside of Yaakov Avinu, which is the nitzotz of Esav that has to come out into the world to bring shamekaved malchusai down into the chumrios of the world. And of course Dinah's counterpart The ultimate foil to Esav Arasha is Yosef Hatzadik. And that's why it's only when Yosef Hatzadik is born that Yosef Hatzadik is now going to be able to defeat Esav. That Yaakov says, "now we can return." Now we can we can remeet Esav. With this in mind, we can understand something very deep. What were the shvatim? What were the brothers so upset about by Yosef Hatsadik? What was bothering them so much? Yosef Hatsadik came with his dreams. He dreamt of the sun, the moon, and the stars, and the stalks of wheat.
What was bothering them? On a simplistic level, which is certainly true It sounded like gaiva. Everyone's going to bow down to you. We see that Yaakov Avinu, even though he's upset at Yosef Hatsadik, says the pasuk says Va'aviv shamer es hadaver. Yaakov Avinu said there is something going on over here. So what was going on? So we know that Yaakov Avinu understood that he had the bchinah of Esav inside of him, that it was his job to build the d'ributachtayim. And that Yosef Hatsadik was going to be the one to fulfill that mission. So when Yosef Hatsadik comes with a dream of the sun, the moon, and the stars, he's dreaming of science. Astrology was the science of the times, and Yosef Etzadik is saying on a very deep level, 'I'm going to reveal Hakadosh Baruch Hu in this world, in the science of this world, a person is going to be able to experience Hakadosh Baruch Hu.'
And the wheat is the economy of the world. I'm going to bring Hakadosh Baruch Hu into the marketplace. And this is what the brothers heard. The brothers heard Asav speaking. And it even sounded like Asav's gaiva. Everyone's going to be bowing down to me. So the brothers said Avram Avinu had Yismael Yitzchak had Esav. Is it possible that we're all going to be tzaddikim? Perhaps there's one of us. They were waiting to see who it was. Perhaps there's one of us that's going to go astray. So when Yosef had tzaddik came with those dreams, and he says, I'm going to bring Hakadosh Baruch Hu Shem Kavod Malchusai down into the world of Chumrius And everyone's going to be bowing down to me. They saw, this is Esav. This is Esav. And then Yaakov Avinu goes ahead and he gives his coat to Yosef HaTzaddik. Which coat did he give?
The ksainas passim. What was the ksainas passim? The Ksainas Passim was Esav's coat. It was Esav's coat that he took from Nimrod. It was Nimrod's coat that he ultimately got it from the coat of other Marisha. In giving this coat to Yosef HaTzaddik, Yaakov Avinu was putting Yishtabbel, and he was saying, 'Yes, Yosef HaTzaddik, go do it.' The brothers were furious. The brothers were furious. This is a Balgaiva. This is Esav all over again. Tati, how could you do this? And we know that Shimon Levi's they saw Yosef Asadik coming from afar. And what does the Medrash say? The Medrash says that they saw from afar means they looked into his history of the world and they saw all the idolaters that were going to come out of Yosef Asadik. And so they passed him for Misa. And Chazal say that who sat on that bezdin.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu sat on that bezda So it's not a simple thing. It's not as simple as we always thought about it. The brothers were wrong. Clearly, on some level, the brothers were right. Yosef HaTzaddik had that nitzotz of Esav inside of him But Yosef HaTzaddik is not who his brothers think he is. Yosef HaTzaddik has the midah of the hair of Esav. That Esav's essence is described as he's a hairy child. He's asui. He's born. He's finished. He's static. He's nefesh abahamis. There's no growth by Esav. Yosef HaTzaddik has that. But it's the seyar of a nar. It's the hair of a child. And Yosef HaTzaddik goes through a process, an exceptional process. To be mevatel himself To have no ego. The ego of the nefesh abrahamis needs to be eviscerated in the presence of the tzaddik. So it's necessary for Yosef HaTzaddik to go down to Mitzrayim.
Because if Yosef HaTzaddik is going to build dira b'tachtainim If he's going to do what Esav was meant to do, then he has to go to the lowest place in the world to do it. And with this in mind, we can understand the three journeys. Of Yosef Atzabik The first journey we know is to the house of Eshas Potipher. I want to speak very plainly for a moment And if you can, listen carefully. Not that you're not right now, but to open your hearts Because it's nagaya to every one of us. There are three aspects. Bittel is a very big word in the world of Chasidus. To be mevatel your yeshus, to have no ego, to have no gaiva Which is a big challenge Especially if a person is in yeshiva. Sometimes in yeshiva, I'm sure not here. Sometimes when a person is in yeshiva, they could feel a certain competitive nature.
There's a certain yeshus, a certain gaiva that could chas v'shalom creep into our avodas Hashem, and it's not posh to see. And therefore, it could be very insidious. It could be a very dangerous thing. It's important to learn chassidus to emphasize the word bittul in our lives. There are three dimensions of bittul that Yosef HaTzaddik goes through. The first dimension of bittul is as a slave. What does it mean to be a slave? To be a slave means that you have no choice. Total removal of choice. So the avoida of bittol for Yosef a tzaddik in the house of Potifar is can he choose to retain his dignity? Can he choose to remain loyal to Hakadosh Baruch Hu when he's living in a dimension that appears to have no choice? The nefesh abahamis when it's in an enslaved position. Says, "What do you want from me? I have no choice. I was just following orders."
The reason that's such a criminal thing to say is because when a person says,"I had no choice They've abdicated their fundamental nature. They're choosing to say, "I am a nefesh abahamis." The nefesh lekis is never enslaved. By being in the house of Potiphar and being a slave, with no choice. That Yosef HaTzaddik was able to be mevatel his nefesh of Ahamas and retain his dignity Following his nefeshal a kiss, even though he was an azam matziv that he was already giving into the avera, even though it meant that he was going to run out into the streets completely undressed, even though he understood that the entire Mitzrayim was going to be talking about him as if he Chas v'Shalom did a terrible thing. And everybody in the MeToo movement in Mitzrayim was talking about Yosef HaTzaddik, and this is what happens when you get so powerful you take advantage of women. He knew exactly what was going to happen, Yosef Etzalek.
But to choose to follow is nefeshalikis. To choose to retain the dignity of choice in a matziv where a person has no choice—that's the first level of bittel. And every one of us struggles with this. Every one of us in the entire world We struggle with this. Of course, we're not addicts. But the notion of numbing our pain with things. Of losing ourselves It comes to again. We'll speak in a clear way, just so we all know what we're talking about, because we're all human beings. A person has challenges. Shmiras einayim. Shmiras habris, lashon hara Kina, taiva, kavod. It's hard. It's hard for a guy in yeshiva. You're not a bad person. You're struggling. It comes that a person feels like I have no choice. I'm mamish. I'm stuck in that place. I have no choice. I find myself doing the same thing, and I just don't feel good about it. And I go and I have a streak, and I have a streak for a week or two weeks or three weeks or a month or three months, but then I fall. And Baruch Hashem, today we can run to our Rebbeim to talk about things, and we could say, Rebbe, I fell. How do I get up? What do I do?
But for a person to know that in a place where he feels like he has no choice in his life He's lost that bechina of bechira. For him to discover in that moment that I do have bchira, and that nobody could take that bchira away from me That's a tremendous level of bittel of the Netzach Habamis. And of course, once Yosef Hatzalik has passed the first test, he moves on to the second test. The second test we know is in jail. What's the nakuda in jail? If being a slave means that you've lost choice. Being in jail means that you've lost place. I want to tell you something. It's underrated. Having a place for yourself in this world We baruch Hashem. Probably almost everybody in this room has never had to think about these things. But to lose your place in the world is a shreklecha thing.
I don't know if you can remember because it's already so long ago. Do you remember when you came to yeshiva? Do you remember when you got off the plane and you were looking around And you were trying to decide if you fit in or you don't fit in, and you're looking at all the chavra and saying, am I like them or am I not like them? And then you came to the yeshiva and you got to your room and you unpacked your things and it's probably a very far cry from your homes. Where you probably had your own room, in a nice bed and you didn't have to contend with any roommates. There's a watch in yeshiva every year. There's an uncomfortable feeling. A person's like, 'Where am I?' Where am I, I still arayim mezeh when I go to my parents' house. The first thing I do, I open up the door like I'm still like a little kid. I just go to check What do my parents have in the little pantry over there? What type of snacks do they have?
It's like a funny thing. I'm over forty years old. I'm still like a five year old walking in, mommy has Swiss fudge cookies. Because in my head it's still a Jewish brand, Swissfudge cookies. You know it's it's not Stella Doro is not a Jewish company, but we think that. Pash, this it looks like stryimel. That's the way they made it for Yidden. So there's a bechiner of a person learning that even when I have no place in the world, there's a place inside of myself. That place inside of myself It cannot be taken away from me. Like what Victor Frankel wrote about in the Holocaust That a person mamish has He feels like he has no place in the world. He has a place inside of himself. This is why the whole story of Yosef Hatzadik in Mitzrayim in the jail in Mitzrayim was a story of can he be mevatel himself totally to Hakadosh Baruch Hu? It's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's place. It's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's dreams. I can't interpret anything. Everything is the Rebbeinu Shlom. And even for that little bit of shemitz that Yosef Hatzadik says.
Maybe you'll think of me. Maybe when you make it to Paro, you'll mention my name. Even that tiny little bit, Yosef Hatzadik is punished for. What does it mean? Why would he be punished for that? Because the whole Yisoyud of being in jail was to be Mivatel the Yeshus that your place in this world is in your control. It's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's world. It's not our world. It's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's world. And that's what we have to recognize. Wherever we are In the beis medrash, out of the beis medrash. In the dorms, in business, with our families, with our children, in our communities It's the rabbanu shel olam's world. It's not mine. The last one And then we'll take a pause for a couple of moments to eat, to sing, to fabring. The last dimension of the bittel of Yosef HaTzaddik is in malchus. Malchus is an unbelievable thing in Yiddishkeit.
Malchus is not like what we see today. Today, we're watching the fall of Rome. We're watching what happens when you put massive balagayva in a position of power. The whole world is becoming polarized over these balagayva. Who's the bigger balagayva? Your guy is a balagayva. Clearly, he's the bigger balagayva. He's the rush. The entire world is dividing along these political lines of who's the bigger balgiver. Malchus in Yiddishkeit is less le migarmik klum. Malchus in Yiddishkeit means that a melech is supposed to be so transparent that when you look at the melech, all you see is the rabbinical. But power corrupts. Power goes to a person's head. It's unbelievable to see how the smallest amount of power in the world can go to a person's head. The tiniest little thing. An El Al stewardess is like the queen of her fiefdom. If Chas v'Shalom, your mask falls even the slightest bit beneath your nose.
Even though in five minutes we're all going to take off our masks to eat, sir, you need to put your mask on. And you see, like a not with all of them But just one in particular on my flight last week. And she looked at me in a very angry way because I asked her for four bottles of water. She knew exactly what I was doing. As long as you're drinking from that bottle of water, you can't possibly spread any corona. Even though we're all triple vaccinated with negative tests. Say it anyway. The At least it's been on the plastic. Baruch Hashem, no plastic. How could anything travel past that plastic? It's like kryptonite for COVID. The you see that Yosef HaTzaddik What did he do when he was in his position of power? His whole yuside was, "I'm going to provide for others." My whole yuside is the entire world is going to be hungry, but Yosef HaTzaddik says, "I'm going to feed you."
This is true, Malchus. That's why Yosef HaTzaddik sends a message back to Yaakov Avinu, Samani elikim al Mitzrayim. That I brought not just I became a lord in Mitzrayim, but I brought Hakadosh Baruch Hu into Mitzrayim. I brought Hakadosh Baruch Hu into Diri Bet Tachtain. That was his whole job. So we'll finish with this. So Yosef Hatsadik's brothers come down to Mitzrayim, and we know they're looking for him. And what does Rashi say? They're looking for him, and they can't find him. Why can't they find him? Because he has a beard. But of course, this is This is not. This can't be the pshat because first of all, they weren't looking for Yosef Hatsadik as a child. They were looking for Yosef Hatzadik as an adult, so pshat they thought he had a beard. And not only that, we know that Yosef Hatzadik had the same face as Yaakov Avinu, so he looked exactly like Yaakov Avinu looked. Why couldn't the brothers see Yosef Hatzadik? Rabbi Sa'ad.
Because the brothers did not believe that Yosef Hatzadik could undergo such a fundamental change, the change of the Alter Rebbe The change not l'shana es midoysav, but l'shana es tevoysav Because they saw Yosef Hatzadik as Esav. Because they knew what was in his heart, we're all going to bow down to you, and it's bringing our Kadosh Baruch Hu out into the world, and it's a very dangerous thing that you're trying to do. And you're the hair of Yosef But when they saw the hair, when they saw the zaken When they saw the beard of Yosef HaTzaddik They couldn't imagine that someone who was a nair could become a zake. That someone who was a child who played with his hair in a certain way Could actually develop into a person who's fundamentally different Through the midah of bittul. Through being mivatel his choice Through being mivatel his place, through being mivatel his power That he could actually transform and become another person.
And this is what it means that Yaakov Vino loved Yosef HaTzaddik. Why? Because what was he? What does the Torah tell us? He was Ben Zekunim. What does it mean? He was Ben Zekunim. It means he was both Ben and Zekunim. He was a child, but he also had that ziknos inside of him. He could become a zake. He could become something that you're not. This is what Yosef HaTzaddik teaches us. That's why Yosef HaTzaddik's bones were the bones that split Kriyas Yamso. They split the sea because the Medrash tells us that the sea did not want to split because it said Aloloh of the Avodah Zarah, Aloloh of the Avodah Zarah. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, why should I split for these Jews? They're idol worshippers. This is not what we agreed to in Sheshi Simay Bereshis. But it's only when the Yamso sees the bones of Yosef HaTzaddik And Yosef HaTzaddik's bones come along and say to the Yamsof that a yid could be something different than he is. And you can never judge a person by who he is right now.
Because you should know that in just a couple of moments he could be something not just better, but fundamentally different. Not just an intelligent animal, he could be a godly soul. And for this the yamsof will split. So on Yud Tzikleslev today We should be mekabel on ourselves. Should be mekabel on ourselves that whatever we are right now In whatever way we're doing Which is I'm sure wonderful and great. And with all the davening and with all the learning and with all the avodas amidos that a person is doing here in yeshiva But a person has to be mekable on himself. He has to open his heart. He has to allow these words to penetrate. The words of the Alter Rebbe. We are not here l'shana es mi daisav. We are here l'shana es tevaisav. Chaver Chaver, we're not Chaver. Guys need to go back. We're not finished here. We're Chaver should bring out food. We're gonna see a nigun. We're gonna see some more Torah.
It's only eleven thirty. It's early, Chaver. Chaver wants something loud. What? Let's do it, guys. Enna, en.
La. Trevor, sit down. Need some wings. Have some nachos. Do the lights up? Thank you very much.
Turn on the lights. Talk and turn on the lights. Turn the lights on. The air conditioner should be on also. Can someone get some ravioli, some wings, and some latkes? But for me, here we go. We got some wings, please. Some wings, some latkes. Come, chaver. Come, sit down. Come closer. Wow, Gavon. Unbelievable. Everyone, let's be in the stanchion. Let's move in. This is what is called the survival of the strong. We move in. Oh my gosh. Shut it up. Sorry. However, I just want to make an announcement. I didn't say this in the beginning. Baruch Hashem, as you guys can see Hashem, there's a chef. There's a chef. I like to thank all of our sponsors, starting with Goodyear. But seriously All the sponsors
Their families should. It should be a big source for their families. I'm not going to say the names. But byim shech. As I always say For Amar be Harizem Shubach Continue to be able to have Rebberg and other unbelievable rebbeim Unbelievable parvaisin, as we say in Yiddish. But if I bring him, if I bring in it's two things Par Torah and parvaisin. Barbison is the type of food you have in Fabbriang. We're Yidden of Yaakov Avinu. We live also in a world of Kripas Noga. So without any further ado, I don't take any more time, Rebbe. It's good. Eat, Yidden, need to eat. Lot, cause Rebbe, there's a big onion, the Or Haganuz. You see, if you squeeze it You'll see a little bit of Or Haganus. My name is Rabbi Navi. He's mad that people should eat during tefillah. During tefillah It elevates the food.
So all my rebbeim growing up told me not to eat during shir. They were in kashiba. I love to know a lot of people that are. I know a lot of people that also love it. I wish I would have known coming to this style. Where's our Madrid? Ronan? Ronan, what's with the air conditioner? No.
Cover. I want to say just one last thing. Ruvberg. I met Ruvberg like many of you at NCSY Kollel. And I wasn't zochet the summer to beat them. The funny story: I ended up in NCSY Kollel the summer after I was released from the army. Ruv Turetsky. Calls me up and he says, "I have this two-day job in Kol. I know you wanted to come" So there's a special yid that he needs some assistance And if you can come and help him. I ended up showing up there for two or three days. And I was walking through the night shiurim Like for the chavr And I heard reverse speaking. Never met you before. I heard you speaking something in inyanim of chessedis. Remember, I like sat in. And for the next two summers, I was the staff member that sat in on Reburg's shiur And from there, a connection, Baruch Hashem, I was zokh to really build a relationship with Reburg, and his Torah is mamish piercing as you guys can see And this is my plug for the svarim chevrat at the end. There's a box of svarim here, guys.
Mamish, every Torah is there, written in a beautiful way And a special one of the inyanim of Yitze Kisev bechlal. As many of you guys experienced, those who went to the summer concert, those who didn't, but the sales. You understand what goes behind having a sale like that. There's four virim in America, four virim that give millions and millions of dollars every single year, in order so people like us can learn chassidus at an affordable price. As many people will say, the chassidus farm. Have you ever seen those other chassidus farms? Very expensive. So there's gvirim out there that mamish. They're mostly nefers. They're the money that they worked hard for in order for us to learn. So it should be a schost. We should continue to learn from Berg. And again, thank you so much for coming. Maybe while the chevr is eating, to say another small shtickle Torah, maybe a couple minutes.
I was telling Rofrich before that Rav Gamliel and Rav Naftali Shlitah are makpid that chevr should eat during the shir. It's like the opposite of everything I grew up with. Your Rebbeim told you not to eat during class. So he says when a person eats and there's Torah being spoken. So the nitzaytes of kedusha that are in the food go up. So we should say over a little bit of siren now. I know I know. Refish said the aragonos is in these latkes. It looks like the aragonos is in the wings, also. It looks like the aragonos is everywhere we could turn. So it would be appropriate to share just a little bit on Hanukkah. As a hemshchik to what we've been saying So we know everyone knows the Gemara on Shabbos that's discussing the halachas of Chanukah. Right after Riff Tanhum says the halacha that a person is not allowed to light higher than twenty amos.
So comes the story in the middle. It's a total It's a total detour out of left field. It comes the story. Of Yosef the Tzaddik being thrown in the pit by his brothers It's a well known question. It's a classic question. Why is the story of Mechiras Yosef of being thrown into the Bar Reik in Bamaim of a Nachashim and Akrovim Yeshbay? Why is that in the middle of the story of Hanukkah? So we already said. That the Alter Rebbe said in Tanya, based on the Medrash in Parashas Naso That the reason why Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world was Nesave Hakadosh Baruch Hu Lios Lo Yisbarach Diri B'Tachtonim That Hakadosh Baruch Hu desires to have a dwelling place in the world down below. See now, every halacha. Sometimes we think in a disjointed way. We think there is halacha. And then there is. Like something else, it's like a message in Chassidus, a message in Penimius Atayra, a mussar to work on.
But the truth of the matter is that it's all one zakh It's all one thing. Every halacha really reflects a particular type of reality. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells us to do something, it's because it's reflecting the inner nature of the world, the way the world actually is. So when we say that the halacha is that a person Is not meant to light Chanukah menorahs above twenty amos. That's expressing this halacha. That when we illuminate the world, when a yid brings a menorah into the world He's not meant to bring the menorah into Shamayim. The menorah is dafga meant to be lower than twenty amos, because that's what illuminates dira betachtonim. That's the holiest site of Chanukah to illuminate the darkness of this world. That's why, by Yidden, the moon is more impressive than the sun Because in the daytime everything is revealed. But it's much more romantic at night Because that which illuminates the darkness tells us something about the true nature of someone.
When you illuminate the darkness of a person, when you illuminate the darkness of the world, that is where you find someone's true nature. So by lighting the Chanukah menorah less than twenty amos What the Torah is teaching us is that this world In the darkness of the night In the lowness of the physical world, with all the tayvos of the physical world, with all of the funny things that we do in the physical world Those things are shy to change. That's really at the core of Yiddishkeit. Is that this world, Eilam Hazeh, can become Eilam Haba? That this world can undergo a transformation. That not only on a personal level can we undergo a transformation, but the world itself does not need to be the way that the world is. So as the world is going through this process of change, of the six thousand years of creation, and then the thousand years of Shabbos, and then ultimately ushering in Eilam Haba.
That fundamental change is possible That goes to the core of tchias amesin. The core of tchias amesin is that what appears to be dead is not dead. That's a big thing. That yidden don't believe in death. That death is a cosmic accident. That it's a result of the sin of adamarishon. That a person should not chas v'shalim fall into the trap. That death is actually real. That life cannot die. The revival of the dead is obvious to us; it is logical to us. And that's why the next Hanukkah is that the oil lasted for eight days Because the fundamental machlokes between the Yevonim and the Yehudim was that the Yevonim believed in nature. A Greek person believes in tava. And because he believes in teva, what he believes is in the beautification of the body. That's why the Greeks were obsessed with the body; they were obsessed with physical beauty.
The nature of someone who believes in the physical world is that they're stuck in the physical world. There's no change. All there can be is improvement, the perfection of the physical. But to leave the physical. That the physical itself can undergo a fundamental change, that the physical itself can express the spiritual That a Greek person could not believe in. So believing that oil can last for eight days is not shyach in the world of Yovan. The world of Yovan believes in the natural, in the seven. It does not believe that oil can do something miraculous. That if oil. Is meant to last for only a certain amount of time. That's what will happen. But that oil should go beyond the bchinah of seven; that it should live in the eighth dimension, the dimension of oilam haba. That's not shyech to someone who's Greek. That's a uniquely Jewish idea.
That's why the Imrei Nayam says that when Yosef HaTzaddik was in the middle of his averu with Ashes Potifar So we know that he looked out the window and what did we see? He saw the Demus de Yokno of his father. He saw the image of Yaakov Avinu, and that's what inspired him to do tshuva. So the Emrei Noam says that night That Yosef Hatzadik was looking through his window. That he came home Lasei smalachdi. That he came home to his house to do his work. That was actually the eighth night of Chanukah. Nimrei Nayam says that if you look at the words Malachday. Malachday is the same gematria as Zayis Chanukah. And Lassayis Malachday To do his work Is the same gematria as Shem and Zayis. What gave Yosef HaTzaddik the capacity to change in that moment? What gave Yosef HaTzaddik the capacity to know that even though I'm mamish in the darkest place, in the middle of my avera, that I have the capacity to fundamentally change who I am in one moment and to run naked into the streets of Mitsrayim?
It's because he saw the Nes Chanukah. So as he looked into the future and he saw the image of his father And therefore he was transported beyond the physical world into a place that didn't exist. He drew power from a place that didn't exist. That's what gave Yosef HaTzaddik the capacity to overcome. And that's why we all know that the gematria of Melch Yavon and Antiochos is the same gematria as Yosef Because Antiochos Melch Yavon is the counterpart. It's the Asav to Yosef HaTzaddik. Yosef HaTzaddik, as we said before, is also involved in the world of beauty. But beauty to Yosef HaTzaddik is something fundamentally different than the beauty of Greece. The beauty of Greece is the physical of a person. The beauty of a Jew is that which lies beyond the physical of a person. That's why we all know And we need to tell the girls this. Not because they're not doing this, but because they don't know that this is true.
You should know that when I tell the girls this, they're shocked. Everybody knows. Every yeshiva guy in the world knows that the tsnius girl is much more attractive than the naznius girl. Every guy in yeshiva knows this. I've been doing this for twenty years now. And every guy that you speak to, they say, "That girl" And if she's like a really sneeze girl, you see the boys go, "Yeah. They say it in a nice way, but you know it's like Because, because by us By us, when you pay attention to what's deeper That's when you actually see what's beautiful. That's why Avram Avinu He didn't notice that Sarai Imenu was beautiful until he saw her reflection. What does it mean? He didn't notice that Sarai Imenu was beautiful. Of course, Avram Avinu had seen his wife. That's the halacha, right? You're not allowed to marry your wife without seeing her. What does it mean that he never saw her? The Teras says he never saw her reflection.
When Avram Avinu saw Sarai Imenu, he always saw right through to her. The beauty of Sarai Imenu was for Avram Avinu; it wasn't for anybody else. When he saw her reflection and didn't see the inner beauty, he realized he was in trouble from the mitzvah. That's the difference between Yavon and Yados. And that's what it means: the Yaakov Avinu loved Yosef HaTzadik. He bends the k'unim huloi. Gematria of Kibben Zekunim is the same gematria as Menorah. And Loi is thirty six, is the same gematria as the amount of Chanukah Neros that we light. The Yaakov Avinu saw in Yosef HaTzaddik that he was a walking Menorah. That he was someone who had the capacity to fundamentally change his nature From being someone who was Acev Arasha to being someone who was Yosef HaTzaddik. That's why the Yevanim said "Kisru l'chem al Karen Ashar she'en l'chem chelik beelokei Yisrael." Write on the horn of an ox that you have no chelik in the God of Israel.
Why is it Dafka Alkerin Shor? Because we know that what was Yosef Hatzadik called? Yosef Hatzadik is called Ale Shor. The Chor Shirei Hodar Loy. Yosef Hatzadik is the Shor. What does Ale Shor mean? Ale Shor means arise, O ox. What does the Medrash say? The Medrash says that when Yosef Hatzadik became king, all of the girls tried to get Yosef Hatzadik's attention. And what does Yosef Hatzadik do? The consummate tzaddik, he doesn't look at any of them. We know that's the miraculous story of how Yosef Hatzadik ended up with Asnas. And of course, what was Asnas? Asnas was the product of the relationship between Dinah and Shem Ben Chamor. And we know that Yaakovinu had to hide Asnas. He had to hide her because he was afraid that Shimon and Levi would kill Asnas. So he hid her under a snat. Which is not for now, but a little bit written in the Sefer that snat is related to the snat of Moshe Rabbeinu. He wrote, Yaakovinu wrote, on a chain that he put on Asnas, that whoever finds this child finds the progeny of Yaakov Avinu.
But of course, it was written in Hebrew. Nobody knew what it meant. So Asnas was actually living in the house of Potiphar And she was always her entire life trying to get this translated. What does this thing mean? But nobody ever knew what it meant. But when she threw it at Yosef Hatzadik to get Yosef Hatzadik's attention, Yosef Hatzadik wasn't looking at any of the girls. But when he looked down and he saw this piece of jewelry, and he saw whoever has this piece of jewelry, whoever finds this person, finds the child of Yaakov Venu. That's how Yosef Atadik ended up with Yaakov. I am sorry, ended up with Asnas, which is of course the unbelievable Ashkacha practice that Kol Dushbaru had put in play. That Dinah, who was originally supposed to be Yosef, has a child from Shem ben Chamor, Shem Kavaid Malchuson, the child of Chamor, emerging the physical and the spiritual to fundamentally change the nature of the physical. At what point does that marriage occur with Yosef Hazadik? When he arises to power in Mitzrayim, only for the sake of giving.
When he becomes so fundamentally changed that not only is Yosef Hazadik not impacted by Mitzrayim, but Mitzrayim is impacted by him. This is the threat to Yovan. The threat to Yovan is that a Jew knows he is from the progeny of Yosef Hazadik. And that he does not believe in the gravity of the physical world, that he's not limited to this person that he is. That's the nes chanukah That's the nes of the yid. I'll finish with this ma'isa And then it is getting late, and we have to wake up for shacharis, and we have to have a good day tomorrow. The person does need to get some sleep. I'll finish with this ma'isa. It's one of my favorite ma'isas. Everyone here has heard of Eli Wiesel. So Eli Wiesel started coming around to 770 after the Holocaust. And he introduced himself to the Rebbe and he said I'm a vision of Tzrichasid, not a Lubavitcher.
So the Rebbe said to him It matters that you're a Chassid. It does not matter whose Chassid you are. And so he began to come around to 770. To come to Fabrangiens And once Simchas Torah Eliwizel came to seven seventy. He came over to wish the Rebbe good yontif. And the Rebbe said How do they celebrate Simchas Torah in Viznitz? So Eliwizel said, "In Viznitz we make a lechaim." So the Rebbe said, "In Labavitch too." So they poured a lechaim They made a lechaim together. And then Eliwizel asked the Rebbe. He said "I'm sorry." The Rebbe asked Eliwizel. He said, "Is the Minigin Viznitz to only have one?" So Eliwizel responded. He said, "In Viznitz, one is but a drop in the ocean." Just a public service announcement. Everyone needs to understand this story. At the level that it's being told, and not Chassvah Shalom to take it Lemaisa. You have to know. I am going to start getting. Ben Yehuda, you are going to get trouble. I am going to start getting complaints. You know In Shalvim, one is but a drop in the ocean.
It's not. It's not what I mean. So they make a second lechaim. And the Rebbe was in a very expansive place. So the Rebbe said to Eli Wiesel Ask me for a bracha. That's not a small thing. When a tzaddik says, 'Ask me for a bracha,' it means the shamayim are open. And a person has the opportunity to ask. And the Rebbe was a person about whom when people asked Many things happened in this world. Not to get into it right now, but my family has personal meisim, unbelievable meisim That the. Maisim that are very well known. Certain unbelievable things about brachos of the rebbe that came true in my family. So Eliwizel was quiet. He didn't know what to ask for at such a big moment. So the rebbe looked at Eliwizel and he said Ask me for a bracha that you should have the power to begin again.
So Eliwizel after the Holocaust. It resonated with him. It struck him in his heart. And he said, "Yes, Rebbe, that's the bracha I would like." We are a miraculous people. That we are here in Eretz Yisrael Freely learning Torah. With no daigas. Even though, unfortunately, we still have As evidenced this week, terrible things that could happen. Terrible, terrible things that could happen But by and large, we are in the process of watching something exceptional unfolding in history. Something miraculous. Something that's beyond nature. It's not normal. What's happening in the world? Anybody who has eyes in their head understands that what's happening in the world is not normal. It's not normal. If you're paying even the slightest bit of attention That this tiny country is the center of the entire world's attention. That everybody has an opinion And that everybody's talking about it, and it's like I don't even want to talk about these rishonim gemurim that they have in America in the political system that talk about replenishing the iron dome is an act of war against these sick people.
And yet, the Lameisa, what happened? As the entire world is sitting and discussing what's happening in our Dalitamos, in our tiny little country It's unbelievable. And they were with us, Lameisa. And they're with us and they're against us, and we don't know if they're coming or going. We could see that Mashiach is coming; that's clear. If it, we had to take the Chavetz Chaim's word for it. When the Chavetz Chaim said we're living beikves of the Mashiach, we had to take his word for it. And now. To be sitting here in Nofi alone at midnight Fabrangi Learning Chassidus together, Chaver, are you not Are you not excited to be here? At the final moments, the final minutes of history? Is that not an unbelievable thing? The resilience of Klal Yisroel is supernatural. Where does it come from? It comes from the Nei Chanuka. It comes from the understanding that what's here today doesn't have to be here in a moment from now. We could be something completely different. That in seventy years we could go from ashes to building something incredible.
And this is what Chassidus came to teach us Not l'shana es midaysof but l'shana es tevaysof Not only our own personal nature But the nature of Am Yisrael, not only the nature of Am Yisrael but the entire nature of the world We should be zeiche to continued hafatzla Bezer Hashem, next year Yud Tes Kislev again. Refresh should be zayecha to bring us together. It should be a schus for him and his family. It should be a schus for the entire yeshiva. It should be a schus for all the sponsors and most of all, chevrut should be a schus for you. You should take what we've learned here and bring it back to the beis medrash. I could make one. If I could make one last request, mamish, two minutes. The Alter Rebbe said that on Yutteskislev, if someone were to sum up all of his Torah into two minutes.
It would be the following niggun. Niggun is Daled Bavo. Some of you are familiar with the niggun from weddings. Chabad Hasidim only sing this niggun four times a year, and at weddings. And if we could all close our eyes, and if you don't know the niggun, you'll learn. And then with that we'll finish up. Trirai rai. Vrindadai, dhai, vrindadai, dhai. Da. La. Yah, y.
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