English translation — חוקת-בלק - י"ב-י"ג תמוז

One has already spoken many times about the statement of the Shelah¹,

that all the festivals of the year,

even "Rabbinic festivals",

have a connection to the Torah portions in which they occur.

From this it is understood,

that the "Festival of Redemption"²

of 12-13 Tammuz - when the Rebbe, the father-in-law, was completely freed from his imprisonment and exile - has a connection to the content of the portions Chukat-Balak³.

And in this itself there are three points:

A.

(a)

The connection to Parshat Chukat,

The connection to Parshat Balak,

(c)

The connection to both sedras <b>together</b>,

because - as spoken many times⁴

- when two sedras are joined and one reads them together on one Shabbat,

their joining is in a manner that they become <b>one</b> sedra

(the division of the reading is for <b>seven</b> readers,

there is only one haftarah,

and more)

; and consequently it is understood,

that in addition to the <b>particular</b> content that exists in each sedra by itself,

there is a <b>shared</b> content of both sedras

(because of which they can be joined as one sedra)

- and the connection of the Festival of Redemption 12-13 Tammuz to Chukat-Balak is also to their shared content

(as is emphasized in the determination of this year,

that 12 Tammuz occurs on Shabbat of Parshat Chukat-Balak)⁵.

(b)

2.

The name of the

(first)

sedra is "Chukat".

The simple meaning of "chok" is - a command for which one has no reason,

and one fulfills it only because "I have decreed a statute, I have issued a decree"⁶

- this is the will of the Almighty.

The concept of "chok" in the service of man is the service of self-sacrifice⁷,

which is beyond reason and intellect.

For the intellect can find reasons to do such things that add to the existence and perfection of man,

but not "to cast his life aside",

that he should become "outside" of existence⁸

; with this one explains⁹

why "the matter of self-sacrifice is not stated explicitly in the Written Torah"¹⁰,

because the Written Torah "is the aspect of <b>wisdom</b>",

and self-sacrifice is higher than wisdom and reason and intellect.

And this is the connection of the content of the holiday of redemption 12-13 Tammuz to Parshat Chukat: the work of the master of redemption and joy for the dissemination of Torah

(in that country)

- for which he was arrested - was in a manner of "Chukat",

with self-sacrifice above reason and intellect.

He alone stood against the decrees of a strong and tyrannical government,

and in a country which, according to the situation at that time, was

(almost)

impossible to leave its borders - and nevertheless he did not take into account at all all the dangerous obstacles and hindrances and did his work for the dissemination of Torah and Judaism with self-sacrifice.

3.

The name of the parsha - according to the custom of Israel - is

(not "Chukat &lt;b&gt;HaTorah&lt;/b&gt;",

but)

"Chukat"

(plain)&lt;sup&gt;11&lt;/sup&gt;.

And the reason for this can be said:

The "statute" of the red heifer,

about which it speaks in the parshah,

is distinguished also from other statutes by that it is &lt;b&gt;completely &lt;/b&gt;not within the category of intellect and comprehension,

for which even King Solomon - the wisest of all men - said&lt;sup&gt;12&lt;/sup&gt;

: About all of these I have stood, but the section of the red heifer ..

I said I will be wise, but it is far from me.

that the commandment of the red heifer is &lt;b&gt;the &lt;/b&gt;

(only)

statute of

(the entire)

Torah - because it is a "statute" also in relation to other statutes,

it is the true essence of the statute which is completely above the category of intellect&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;].

And with this it is understood why the parshah is called "Chukas"

(plainly),

and not "Chukas &lt;b&gt;HaTorah&lt;/b&gt;":

Although chukim in general are above intellect,

but also the human intellect "agrees" that a person

(should not rely on his own intellect,

but)

must fulfill chukim which he does not understand.

In what matters is this said?

Such chukim that are not &lt;b&gt;contrary to &lt;/b&gt;intellect - he with his intellect indeed does not understand their reason,

but he grasps

(or at least - not negated)

that in a much higher wisdom and intellect there is for them a reason.

Not so the red heifer,

which is a level of chok that has no grasp in intellect,

it is the opposite of intellect¹⁴,

completely higher even than the aspect of wisdom and intellect of the Torah - the chok a Jew fulfills only with the movement of self-nullification to the will of the Above.

4.

Regarding this there are two modes in mesirus nefesh¹⁵

There is the aspect of self-sacrifice which is connected with "accounting,"

indeed an accounting of holiness,

but still an accounting.

That is, before one goes for self-sacrifice,

one first looks into the Shulchan Aruch&lt;sup&gt;16&lt;/sup&gt;

whether one is obligated in this self-sacrifice according to Torah.

And this is "Chukat &lt;b&gt;HaTorah&lt;/b&gt;" — it is the "chok" and self-sacrifice as it is

(dictated and)

"measured" from the side of Torah,

from the side of intellect and wisdom of holiness,

which therefore already has upon itself a certain measure and limitation.

The second manner of self-sacrifice is,

when one does not make any calculations by it,

which &lt;b&gt;the &lt;/b&gt;level of self-sacrifice is called "chok" simply — it is higher even than "Chukat &lt;b&gt;HaTorah&lt;/b&gt;"&lt;sup&gt;17&lt;/sup&gt;,

because it derives from the essential soul of a Jew,

which is

(in its root)

&lt;b&gt;higher &lt;/b&gt;than Torah&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;,

as the Sages said&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;

"The thought of Israel preceded &lt;b&gt;everything&lt;/b&gt;",

even the thought of Torah.

And due to the essential connection of Jews with the Above which is higher than Torah,

also the self-sacrifice of a Jew to fulfill the will of G-d is higher than any limitation and calculation.

And &lt;b&gt;such a &lt;/b&gt;manner of mesiras nefesh was by the Baal HaGeulah VeHaSimchah*&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;.

H.

The harbotzas haTorah vehaYahadus of the Baal HaGeulah VeHaSimchah spread out over very many areas of work: sending rabbanim and shochatim to places where they were lacking,

establishing mikvaos,

founding yeshivos for older bochurim,

chedarim for tinokos shel beis rabban,

etc.

But the main decree of the government,

which was the main reason that they arrested the Rebbe,

was not

(so)

because of his work in spreading Torah and strengthening Judaism among adult and older Jews,

but mainly because of his devoting himself to the education of young children; and not looking at all dangers,

the Rebbe threw himself specifically into this type of work with a special storm and enthusiasm and with a very great scope.

And at first glance there is a place for a question: True,

it was necessary to occupy oneself with spreading Torah and strengthening Judaism,

but why should this be in a way that, naturally, there are no prospects for success?

At first glance it would have been better to occupy oneself with such spreading Torah work where one can have success also naturally — and not to do the work in a manner that puts

(in a natural way)

in danger the entire spreading of Torah in all areas.

And here the question is even greater: How does one endanger the strengthening of Torah and commandments and Judaism for those obligated because of the study of Torah of young children?

And it may be said the answer to this,

that the service by the Rebbe was in a manner of true “<b>Chukat</b>” — self-sacrifice without any calculations.

Knowing his mission,

that he is a prince of Israel who must care for the existence of the community of Israel — which depends on the study of Torah by the young schoolchildren²⁰

(and as the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory,²¹

“If there are no kids, there are no goats”)

— he therefore invested himself with the greatest self-sacrifice to build and maintain cheders for very young children.

Oy,

according to nature it is not seen that the work should be for long duration and consequently successful — so if this were a self-sacrifice that is limited and measured according to calculations of intellect,

the intellect of Torah,

then there would be a place for such a claim;

Since, however, the Rebbe's mesiras nefesh was in a manner of "Chukas" — then in this the calculation is not relevant — whether he will succeed or, G-d forbid, not,

or whether he will be saved at all or, G-d forbid, not — this belongs to the &lt;b&gt;Almighty&lt;/b&gt;!

that if they will have merit, the Almighty will save them,

but even if not — "vehen lo" — they will nevertheless not bow, G-d forbid, to the statue; even then when they are not saved,

it is not because &lt;b&gt;Nebuchadnezzar &lt;/b&gt;has the choice and permission, G-d forbid, to kill them&lt;sup&gt;23&lt;/sup&gt;,

rather this is from the Almighty,

Nebuchadnezzar is only an agent from the Almighty to carry this out&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt;].

6.

The level of self-sacrifice,

in a manner of "chok",

One saw by the Rebbe during all his years of leadership in this world - the thirty leadership years²⁵

which were divided into three periods of "ten years"²⁶

The first ten years

(approximately)

were connected with the work of spreading Torah and Judaism in a situation of danger to life <b>in actual reality</b>.

The second period was the Rebbe in a land where large numbers of our brethren Bnei Yisrael lived and it was a place suitable to spread the teachings of Chassidus in a very broad manner — but this was there connected with restrictions,

whose reason was²⁷

: "And his brothers were jealous of him"²⁸

; and the Rebbe,

knowing that "and his father kept the matter"²⁸

— that the Above had also there placed upon him the mission of spreading Torah and Chassidus — he did there his work with mesirus nefesh.

And the third period was in "the lower hemisphere"²⁹,

there where for many years the assumption reigned that "America is different"³⁰

— here one cannot conduct oneself, heaven forbid, in completeness as one needs to conduct oneself.

Here one had to stand against a mighty current and implant Torah and Chassidus in a place that was externally not conducive to this.

7.

As said,

all three periods were connected with a service of unlimited self-sacrifice — but in each period this was in its manner:

It is not comparable at all the self-sacrifice in the last two periods to the self-sacrifice of the first period,

which was connected with danger to life &lt;b&gt;in actual practice&lt;/b&gt;&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;

; and moreover,

in his work of spreading Torah then the Rebbe risked not only his own life,

but he also sent others on missions that were connected with danger to life.

And by the Rebbe such self-sacrifice,

to place another Jew in danger,

is much harder and deeper than placing oneself in danger to life.

And even more: there were cases when such emissaries were discovered by the government and were sentenced to exile,

to tortures³²

etc. - and yet the next day one had to again stand in the movement of self-sacrifice and choose a Jew and send him as a replacement for the exiled emissary.

But,

on the other hand,

in the second period there was a different and

(in a certain sense)

a more severe difficulty,

when one had to overcome the matter of complaints etc. of “his brother”: why so and why not something else etc. and nevertheless one continues the work - this is to a certain degree even harder than the previous one and requires a deeper movement of self-sacrifice.

And completely different is the movement of mesiras nefesh in the third period,

when one had to go "against the stream",

not to be influenced by the scoffers&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;

and by the disruptors etc.; and after all this, the Rebbe was not satisfied with building the "private four cubits"

(and then came advisors with the proposal to enclose themselves in them as "I have saved my soul",

one cannot wage war with an entire world etc.)

- rather he threw himself into the work to transform the &lt;b&gt;entire &lt;/b&gt;land into a place of Torah.

Ch.

According to nature it is not possible,

that in the same person there should be the same measure of mesiras nefesh in all completely different modes of service.

Because in a service in which one has a tendency and passion,

the mesiras nefesh is greater than in another mode of service etc. - but how can there be the &lt;b&gt;same &lt;/b&gt;greatest movement of mesiras nefesh in all the completely different modes of service?

Is the explanation in this,

that by the Rebbe shone the point of self-sacrifice which takes itself from the essence of the soul,

for which &lt;b&gt;all his essence&lt;/b&gt; was self-sacrifice.

And therefore there was no difference in what kind of a "form" the power of self-sacrifice had to clothe itself - in every manner the service was the same essential self-sacrifice.

9.

The connection between the holiday of redemption and the portion of Balak:

Chazal³⁴

say that Balak hated Jews "more than all enemies."

Therefore he undertook to do evil to the Jews,

although the Jews were not allowed to take his land and had the command "Do not distress Moab and do not provoke them to war"³⁵,

He could not bear the existence of Jews.

Moreover: even after he saw that he himself could not stand against the Jews,

he exerted himself with a very great effort³⁶

and brought down another

(Balaam),

all in order to bring harm to Jews.

And in a similar example was also by the imprisonment and redemption of the Rebbe.

The work of spreading the Torah was - as the Rebbe writes in his well-known letter to 12 Tammuz³⁷

- "&lt;b&gt;It is permitted according to the law of the land&lt;/b&gt;"; and the imprisonment and exile came from the side of the informers of those who sought to take revenge themselves "on the keepers of the religion of Moses and Israel &lt;b&gt;against &lt;/b&gt;the laws of the land".

D.

E.

That because they could not tolerate a religious Jew and Judaism,

they exerted themselves with a great effort - even "&lt;b&gt;against &lt;/b&gt;the laws of the land" - just to be able to hinder the work of the Rebbe.

And just as it turned out with the episode of Balak

(and Balaam),

that not only did Balak not carry out what he wanted: “Curse for me this people”³⁸,

but on the contrary — his hiring of Balaam actually brought about,

that Jews should be blessed,

and through <b>Balaam himself</b>

(who “was a greater hater of them than Balak”³⁹),

and with most elevated blessings,

<b>And the L-rd your G-d turned</b> for you the curse into a blessing⁴⁰

So too was it with the master of the redemption and joy,

that the same people who arrested the Rebbe,

they themselves had to help in his release,

until they even exerted themselves that the Rebbe should leave that country⁴¹.

Yud.

Afterwards comes the relevance of the holiday of Geulah with Chukas-Balak together

(as above sec. 1)

- and the lesson from it in the service of each one - and one can say the explanation in this:

In the opposition that Balak showed to Jews one can still find some reason and cause,

as he said "Now will this assembly lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field"⁴²,

and all of Moab was very afraid of Jews - "And Moab was sore afraid of the people"⁴³.

There is, however, such an opposition against Jews which is in a manner of "Chukas-Balak",

the hatred and opposition

("Balak")

is without reason and logic

(only in the manner of "Chukas").

Even more: not only does he have no reason or logic for the hatred,

rather it is entirely &lt;b&gt;the opposite &lt;/b&gt;of reason to try to do evil to the Jews,

because it is &lt;b&gt;clear &lt;/b&gt;that one will not carry it out;

And as we find in the story of Balak and Bilaam,

that Bilaam knew that he would not be able to accomplish anything,

because being a prophet&lt;sup&gt;44&lt;/sup&gt;

and hearing from the Almighty "You shall not curse the people for it is blessed"&lt;sup&gt;45&lt;/sup&gt;,

he will certainly not be able to carry out the "Curse ..

this people"&lt;sup&gt;38&lt;/sup&gt;,

and as he says to Balak "I cannot transgress the word of the L-rd"&lt;sup&gt;46&lt;/sup&gt;,

"The word that G-d puts in my mouth, that I shall speak"&lt;sup&gt;47&lt;/sup&gt;

And nevertheless,

from the side of the essential hatred of Jews,

he could not restrain himself,

and attempted to carry out Balak’s request “Curse me this people.”

- And about this there is in the service of each one,

as the Rebbe explains in the discourse of the hillula&lt;sup&gt;48&lt;/sup&gt;,

that there exists folly of the kelipah which is below the intellect; and many behaviors that people conduct themselves thus only because “because so does the world” and they are “like a &lt;b&gt;statute &lt;/b&gt;that cannot be moved” - like the “times

eating and times of sleep”,

which as a rule are “absolutely not set aside at all”,

while the fixed times of Torah and prayer do not have,

G‑d forbid,

any fixed schedule,

and sometimes one pushes them off entirely, G‑d forbid — such a conduct has no place in reason.

And through that there is the service of “&lt;b&gt;Chukat&lt;/b&gt;” — the holy foolishness beyond reason and intellect

(as the Rebbe explains there in the maamar)

— one transforms the foolishness of the husk into holy foolishness.

11.

In such a manner - of "Chukas-Balak" - was also the opposition to the Rebbe:

As is known⁴⁹,

it is.

One of the two Jews who wanted to arrest the Rebbe, at the arrest carried the Rebbe's package,

saying "Chassidim remain Chassidim,

my grandfather carried the packages by your grandfather,

and I will carry your package"; also in a later case,

he in his words to the Rebbe called him "Rebbe!"⁵⁰.

This is in the manner of what the Mitteler Rebbe said&lt;sup&gt;51&lt;/sup&gt;

about the one who informed against him - and nevertheless he called him "Rebbe" - that "his mouth caused him to stumble,"

by him there was revealed that which inwardly he himself recognizes that this is the truth.

And likewise in our matter,

that that which L.

expressed himself and spoke to the Rebbe in such a way,

it came from that which in his inner soul he knew the truth&lt;sup&gt;52&lt;/sup&gt;

And not looking at this - and especially since the Rebbe explicitly warned him that he would eventually have suffering&lt;sup&gt;53&lt;/sup&gt;

(and as it indeed came to pass,

that those who arrested the Rebbe, the government eventually judged them etc.)

- did L.

do what he did,

his opposition was below reason and knowledge.

And through that which by the Rebbe there was the conduct of "Chukat",

the self-sacrifice above reason and knowledge,

it nullified the entire opposition in a manner - as he says in today's haftorah&lt;sup&gt;54&lt;/sup&gt;

- of "And all your enemies, etc.",

Bitz,

as discussed earlier,

that they themselves had to free the Rebbe,

and an additional Yom Tov came to Jews; and this will ultimately transform the entire month of Tammuz to joy and gladness and good festivals⁵⁵,

very soon.

12 Tammuz,

5735.

10 Shevat 5734)