English translation — משיחות ש״ס מחי, שבת חזק ה׳תשמ״ז

This Shabbos, we completed the first book of the Five Books of the Torah — the Book of Genesis.

And in the custom of Israel,

so when one finishes the reading of each of the Five Books of Moses,

the entire congregation proclaims loudly "Chazak, chazak, venitchazek."

One of the reasons for this is — based on the words of the Midrash: "This book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth²,

teaching that a Sefer Torah was in the lap of Joshua, etc.,

When Joshua finished, Hashem said to him: 'Be strong and courageous'²,

From here [it is derived] regarding one who completes the Torah, that we say to him 'Chazak'"*,

And the Acharonim⁵ explain the reason for this — based on the words of the Gemara*: 'Four [things] require strengthening'

(that a person should strengthen himself in them always with all his strength — Rashi)

and these are Torah and good deeds, etc.,

Torah and good deeds

Then the saying of "Chazak chazak venitchazek"

(At the conclusion of a book

(and a complete matter)

from the five books of the Torah)

is in order to give Jews• A

(addition)

strengthening in Torah and service of G‑d in general,

and a double strengthening"¹ and three times as much — "Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened"

(and afterwards — again by the Baal Koreh)

But since the saying of "Chazak, chazak, venitchazek" at the conclusion of each book of the Five Books of Torah comes in the continuation of a book and a specific part of the Torah

[As this is according to the custom of Israel which "Torah is it",

that every thing in the Torah is with utmost precision]

— It is understood that in addition to the strengthening that the declaration of "Chazak" gives to the Torah in general,

is the strengthening specifically

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Shabbos Parshas Vayechi,

Shevach Chazak

and 25

According to the rule that,

"All beginnings are difficult" — it is understood that the first,

Chazak Kaf"

(At the conclusion of the first book)

must have an added strengthening, blessing, and success,

in order to be able to break through,

open the way*' in strengthening in Torah,

Also for the strengthening in the books after this.

And added to all this — is the strengthening

("Chazak, chazak, v'nitchazek")

At the conclusion of the first book, connected to the content of the book,

And particularly from the last parshah

(Parshat Vayechi)

And in this itself — at the conclusion of the parshah,

And in the finest detail — the very last verse in the parshah,

As above.

And from this,

strong as\

becomes drawn strengthening in all of Torah,

beginning

(openly)

from the Book of Exodus

(the book closest to the Book of Genesis)

And there itself — at the beginning of the book of Shemos,

and in the first verses

(as one begins reading during Minchah prayer of Shabbos Chazak,

on that day when it was proclaimed,

Chazak chazak at the conclusion of the book of Bereishis)

And as follows.

And the explanation of all this must be understandable in its plain sense,

for every Jew — because regarding Torah in general it states,

"The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the congregation of Yaakov"

that Torah is an inheritance for every Jew**,

men, women, and children**,

from

the greatest of the great to the smallest of the small,

and the smallest of the small"

And emphasized also regarding the saying of •Chazak Kara — when they say

(and hear)

all Jews in the shul,

also the children.

that it is not enough to give an explanation about this according to the deepest secrets of the Torah

(that currently only those who have a connection with the deepest secrets can understand it)

Only the deepest secrets need to be clothed in letters

(not only in the manner of derush and remez,

but until)

in the manner of pshat,

which is understood simply even by the simplest of simpletons,

and a five-year-old studying Chumash*¹,

and not only for the intellect of the G-dly soul,

Only air before the intellect of the Nefesh HaBehamis,

— even the intellect of the Nefesh HaBehamis of a child who has studied Chumash for five years.

It will be understood by prefacing a perplexing matter:

According to what was explained above,

That the

"Chazak chazak venischazek" is a special strengthening from

(Yavan ain)

The matter that is discussed in the last verse

(which comes directly before the recitation of,

Chazak Chazak)

— becomes a tremendous astonishment regarding the conclusion of the Book of Bereishis:

The last verse of the Book of Bereishis is about the death of Yosef —,

Vayamas Yosef ben

Sefer HaSichos - 5747

one hundred and ten years, and they embalmed him and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

The stormy question arises: how can one strengthen oneself

(,

Be strong, be strong, and we will be strengthened״)

Thereby what 1)

veyinazet Yosef"

and 2)

what he remained — ״במצרים״,

"nakedness of the land"²³ — a descent the lowest,

And until such that Jacob said, "Please do not bury me in Egypt."

and carry me out of Egypt,

even not for a short time.

and 3)

remained not temporarily,

Only in a permanent manner to the spirit.

And to note — "And they embalmed him and he was placed in the coffin,"

"And they embalmed him" is simply in order to preserve that his body

(including the flesh and etc.)

should remain intact completely²⁴

(and worm and maggot²⁵ should not touch him")

and further — "and he was placed in the coffin,"

And He emphasizes a stronger permanence²⁷; and only after many years will Yosef's request be fulfilled,

"And you shall bring up my bones from this [place]"²,

And even more: only "my bones",

without the flesh etc.

(But not so in Egypt, where it was,

"And they embalmed"

And we can explain all this — as is understandable even for the simplest of simpletons,

And for a ben chameish l'Mikrah and so forth:

It is understood simply

(even for a young child)

that when the Jews go into exile — they need to have chizuk and netinas koach,

in order to withstand the trials of exile,

and remain whole in their faith and their study of Torah and fulfillment of the mitzvos and service of G‑d in general.

Therefore it is understandable that when one comes to,

And these are the names of the children of Israel coming to Egypt⁵⁰ — the primary descent is the Egyptian exile⁵⁰ — one must come to special chizuk and kochos in order to be able to go through it.

And this is the general content of the book of Genesis

(what comes before the book of Exodus)

the book⁵ of Yesher.

This is the book of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

(and the Tribes")

who are called Yesharim" — regarding the service of the Patriarchs,

But preparation and giving strength and reinforcement to the work of the children —,

“The deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children” — especially when the children descend into exile.

Including also the promises of the Holy One, blessed be He, to the fathers

(and especially in the Covenant Between the Parts)

then the Jews will go out

Sefer HaSichos - 5747

The existence of Yosef who is completely with them together in the exile of Egypt,

and not only in a temporary manner,

but in a permanent and complete manner — with his bones and flesh etc. —,

and they embalmed him

and "he was placed in a coffin in Egypt"³⁷,

and this strengthens Jews that they should be able to endure the exile,

and moreover — to rule over the exile,

in the manner of Joseph, that "without him—" no man could lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt,

and through exile to attain an even higher elevation

("and He brought you up")

and actually ascending from Egypt"⁴ to the Land of Israel,

until David the

("and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt")

the inner intention is revealed in the following verse "And these are the names of the children of Israel coming to Egypt" — "they are mentioned here for the sake of the redemption of Israel"⁴ — the redemption that comes through the descent.

Based on this, one will understand better the content of "Chazak chazak venitchazek" at the end of the Book of Genesis:

— "Be strong, be strong, and we will be strengthened": strengthen yourself with that which Joseph is with us in exile,

with his sorrows and flesh etc.!

Until even simple people and young children are also his acquaintances,

and they also understand the greatest strengthening in this — and they strengthen and encourage one another,

"Be strong, be strong, and we will be strengthened,"

and with what — with that "And Joseph died a stranger, and they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt,"

Joseph is entirely in exile with Jews!

And consequently, this instills a strengthening in the service of Jews while being in exile — in their study of Torah and fulfillment of mitzvot with hiddur.

(According to the simple interpretation, there is no "hazak hazak venitchazek" — strengthening in the Torah,

which is one of the four that "grasp strengthening",

that a person should strengthen himself in them always with all his might",

as above, sec. 1)

And if these matters are said regarding all generations of exile — all the more so in our generation,

the generation of the footsteps of Moshiach

which is from the decline of the generations

(in understanding and comprehension of Torah etc.)

the Almighty, in His great kindness, has shown Jews revealed instructions, etc.

[In addition to this that a Jew must himself strive to find a hint from every thing regarding his service]

His name

(the first)

From the holy, our master, teacher, and Rebbe,

the leader of our generation

(as an example, just as Yosef was the leader in his generation)

— is Yosef,

and his fa-

Sefer HaSichos - 5747

is "Ben Oni" — Yaakov then says that it becomes a "Binyamin",

such that the k'm'd becomes nullified,

Or he is always called

(and moreover, it is specifically one word)

Binyamin" without any other kamatz⁵³.

We see that the resting place of the holy Rebbe, my father-in-law, the Rebbe

(Yosef of our generation)

— is together with us in exile,

in the lower hemisphere" —.

and it was placed in the ark in Egypt"!

And the reason for this is — so that therewith should be,

"Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened",

that Jews, in times of doubled and multiplied suspicion from the generation of the footsteps of Mashiach,

should strengthen themselves,

and then strengthen again,

and again strengthen themselves with that,

Yosach"

with his essences,

including also in his commentary

(the inner meaning of "essences" from the language)

essence,

his essence

(and existence)

of Yosef⁵⁵,

version also his flesh and blood — finds himself with us in exile⁵!

Therefore, one should not be astonished by the exile,

and one holds oneself strong and firm in withstanding all the tests and concealments and concealments of the exile that

And all this is even if there would still remain much divine service in the time of exile; all the more so after my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, testified so many years ago — that now only the service of

"Prepare yourselves, all of you,"

stand with strength

(.

"Stand")

And in the manner of,

ready",

and all together in unity

(,

all of you")

because ¹⁹one has already finished and there remains only more than,

To fasten the buttons—"

They already have the,

but- tons",

and they fulfill their function

(to connect the right side and the left side of the garment and the raising of the right over the left)

only one button or two buttons and so forth remained to fasten,

Blow off the dust

(,

"dust" - as they say in the language of science)

from the button,

in order for them to be in ultimate perfection,

in ultimate beauty and splendor,

to greet our righteous Mashiach.

Gives the Jews in exile even more strength,

Knowing that we stand in the final moments of exile and it only remains to "fasten the buttons",

And also for this we have the assistance and strength from "Vayeisem

(Yosef)

be'aron beMitzrayim".

And similarly, when we stand within the thirty days of preparation*⁶ before the Tenth of Shevat

("thirty days before the holiday")

The yom hilula of the Rebbe, my father-in-law,

"Yosef" of our generation — when "all" his deeds, Torah, and service which he served all the days of his life,

"Is revealed⁷* and shines in a revelation from above to below.

And effects "salvations in the midst of the earth".

The lesson from this regarding practical action:

Standing in the generation of the Rebbe, my father-in-law — when they have "Yosef" together with us

(and especially the generation of 'his seed who live')

And especially standing as the thirty days before the tenth of Shevat — there must be "Be strong, be strong, and we will strengthen" in the service of cutting off the last remnants of 'fastening the buttons',

David because every Jew,

Men, women, and children,

is even more adding in Torah study and observance of the commandments,

And in general — in the three

Sefer HaSichos - 5747

One must also combine it with fulfillment of the instruction of the Mishnah\,

Acquire for yourself a Rav*⁵,

And to confer with him,

the Rav* about his work in his private and communal service,

in the three pillars of Torah, Avodah, and Gemilus Chasadim,

And making his house and room a house of Torah, prayer, and Gemilus Chasadim.

And with all this comes a special emphasis — as it was suggested\,

Thus the preparation for the Tenth of Shevat,

each and every one should increase in Torah study and charity, to gather together with his,

Rabbi,

and it is proper and correct that during the thirty days of preparation, one should go through the Avodah,

examinations" with him.

Rabbi,

and in this very thing — three examinations,

after every ten days,

In order to know how and how much he prepared himself for Asara B'Shevat: the first aspect — on the twentieth of Teves²³,

the second aspect — on Rosh Chodesh Shevat\",

and the third aspect — on Asara B'Shevat,

the tenth shall be holy"".

[And one should add,

that even if there is one who did not utilize the days of preparation as required“ — there is additional

And during that which we finish the last small things in.

To fasten the buttons — one will immediately go out of exile,

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Sefer HaSichos - 5747

All generations before and after in exile — certainly our Father in Heaven has thereof from great sorrow

(as it were)

And particularly when one adds with "In all their affliction He was afflicted" is also "The Shechinah is in exile."

Therefore, Jews must cry out and demand the redemption

(as discussed many times from Poskim, etc.)

or as we say in the daily prayer — and three times a day — "את צמח דוד עבדך מהרה תצמיח",

(in addition to)

and also on Shabbat and Yom Tov — "ותחזינה עינינו בשובך לציון ברחמים",

and during that one needs.

Intend the meaning of the words,

and

(the meaning of the words)

as a human being understands it

(not at all like an angel understands etc.

-"and may our eyes see",

our eyes will see,

"when You return to Tziyon!",

like You,

the

Almighty,

return to Tziyon!,

Tziyon simply,

And specifically "with mercy"!

And in the last prayer — what the Holy One, blessed be He, desires the prayer of the righteous"

(And Your people are all righteous")

And especially through that which one also adds "great is hospitality that brings near""²⁴,

One says "L'Chaim" over a cup of wine,

then this brings one Jew closer to another ¹⁰¹,

and consequently — also brings closer the redemption

(Which depends on Ahavas Yisrael,

nullification of the cause of the exile²)

Claims of Jews that the redemption comes immediately,

Immediately they are redeemed ¹⁰³,

"Immediately" even faster than "in the blink"⁴ of an eye״

Sefer HaSichos - 5747