English translation — כ"ד טבת ב

1.

It is known what the Shlah¹

writes,

that all the festivals of the year — all the designated

(apportioned)

days of the year

(and it is explained — including the birthdays and yahrtzeits of tzaddikim who are similar to their Creator²

and the like)

— are hinted at in the portions of the Torah that are read

(and studied)

in the times when these festivals occur.

From this it is understandable regarding the 24th of Tevet,

the yahrtzeit of the Alter Rebbe,

which occurs

(in most years — as in this year)

in the week of Parshat Va'eira,

that there is a hint in Parshat Va'eira³

regarding "his deeds, his Torah, and his service"⁴

of the Alter Rebbe

(which reach their perfection on the day of his passing⁵).

— A common point that binds together the name of the parshah — "Va'eira" — that the name of the parshah brings out the content of the entire parshah

(as discussed several times⁶)

— with the name of the Alter Rebbe:

The first name of the Alter Rebbe

(his main name — the name in the holy tongue⁷)

is "Shneur",

and the meaning of "Shneur" is: two lights

(two lights)⁸.

D.

H.

The matter of luminosity.

Also "Va'eira",

which means I have appeared — has the same content as

(action of God)

light: the function of light is⁹

not to add new things,

but to make bright,

and thereby to enable that the things that exist

(from before)

should be seen; the content of "Va'eira".

And one can say that in the word "Va'eira" is also hinted the concept of "shenei or" — two lights,

which the two lights of the old Rebbe are indeed

(as the Baal Shem Tov said¹⁰)

the light of the revealed part of Torah and the light of the hidden part of Torah:

The word "Va'eira" contains the letters "or a",

which allude to two lights: its beginning the letters "var",

which together form the word "or" explicitly — corresponding to the light of the revealed¹¹

: and the letter aleph,

which is the acronym of or

(the "or" is hidden,

in

an acronym),

alludes to the light of the hidden¹¹

of Torah.

2.

Since the name of the Alter Rebbe has the meaning of light,

it is understandable,

that this was also among the distinctions of "his wisdom and his Torah and his service" of the Alter Rebbe.

So the explanation is: the main work of the Alter Rebbe was — the revelation of the Torah of Chassidus Chabad.

And in the language of the leader of our generation, the Rebbe, my father-in-law, the Rebbe, of blessed memory¹²

: the founder of Chassidus Chabad — Chochmah Binah Daas — and the first leader of Chassidei Chabad,

he brought down the matters of the general Torah of Chassidus

(which was revealed through the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid)

into Chochmah Binah Daas,

in a manner that everyone could understand it with his intellect.

And so too regarding the "light" of the revealed part of Torah — his composition of the Shulchan Aruch — that among the main innovations in this was that he published "halachos with their reasons ..

milsa b'ta'ama"¹³

specifically,

so that the one who studies them should not only know the law how to conduct himself in practice,

but he should also understand the halacha clearly.

And this is the concept of "light" — which wisdom and intellect are called "light"¹⁴

: by grasping a matter with intellect,

with understanding,

the thing becomes "illuminated",

open for the person: when one

When one understands a thing, one sees the thing in its true reality,

one sees what the thing truly is.

When one believes in a thing,

even when it is with true faith in which no doubts are possible,

but since one has no understanding of it — the thing is not "open" to him: one knows with certainty that the thing is so,

but the "illumination" of intellect causes that one sees the thing in all its details,

until that there can come and there actually comes to a "wondrous union",

that the intellect, the intellectual process, and the object of intellection become one thing¹⁵.

3.

And this is the innovation of the Alter Rebbe in revealing the teachings of Chabad Chassidus

(the "light" of the hidden part of the Torah)

Until the time of the Alter Rebbe, the matters of the teachings of Chassidus were studied, for the most part,

(as all of them)

in a manner of

(taking — at least the details of the matters with)

faith — "and the righteous shall live by his faith"¹⁶,

through his faith

(his connection)

with the tzaddik,

the tzaddik would revive him

(because the one who was revived lacked vitality,

"light")

The Alter Rebbe,

through the revelation of Chabad Chassidus,

began "to illuminate"¹⁷

— the

The matters of the teachings of Chassidus were revealed to everyone.

And the same is also regarding the "light" of the revealed part of Torah — the composition of the Shulchan Aruch:

The concept of a Shulchan Aruch is — to know halacha for practical application.

Therefore, in it, seemingly¹⁸

the reasons are not relevant,

the give-and-take etc. around the halacha,

but only the conclusion of the halacha.

In practice,

as a person needs to do in actuality¹⁹.

But knowing only the halachic rulings,

without their reasons,

their manner of fulfillment

(mainly)

is only with acceptance of the yoke; he obeys the Shulchan Aruch and fulfills the mitzvah in its completeness

(and consequently he has what a mitzvah does — together²⁰

and connection etc.)

— but this does not shine for him.

Until the Beis Yosef says²¹

regarding his Shulchan Aruch,

That it comes in the continuation and is founded on his book Beis Yosef.

The Alter Rebbe,

through the composition of the Shulchan Aruch in a manner of ,

"Halachot with their reasons" specifically,

illuminated also the matter of acceptance of the yoke²²

the Shulchan Aruch: also ,

Shulchan Aruch — Halacha for practice — must have in it the reasons of the Halachot,

so that the fulfillment of the commandment should be in a luminous manner,

with understanding and comprehension.

(From the talks of Shabbat Parshat Va'eira 5741,

<b>Shabbos Parshas Tavo</b>

(18 Elul)

5740)