English translation — בס"ד. שיתת יום ב' דר"ה (עש"ק) ה'תשמ"א.

His Holiness the Rebbe, may he live for many good days, Amen, washed his holy hands for the meal.

He instructed to announce that those who have not yet washed their hands for the meal should wash now.

Afterwards, he instructed to announce that they should say L'Chaim before sunset. And afterwards he asked if there were still "stragglers". And afterwards he said:

On "You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your G-d etc."¹! The Alter Rebbe says that "today" refers to Rosh Hashanah,

and since one is "standing...

before Hashem your G-d" - therefore this is in a manner of "all of you",

meaning that all Jews,

from "your heads, your tribes" to "your woodcutters" and "your water drawers" and all the levels in between,

stand in a manner of "all of you"

(as he explains there)

² "as one unit, like one person".

And this, that the concept of "You are standing today, all of you" also occurs from Above,

through

(that one is standing)

"before Hashem your G-d",

And this is also connected with the interpretation brought in Chassidus on the word "Nitzavim" - that it is in the Nif'al form,

meaning that Jews become "Nitzavim",

established,

by the One Above;

However, there must also be the service of man,

"his own portion"³,

through which he also receives the "nine measures of his fellow"⁴,

where "his fellow" refers to the One Above⁵, as Rashi⁶ interprets in Tractate Bava Metzia⁷ on the verse "Do not forsake your fellow and the fellow of your father",

that "your fellow is the Holy One, blessed be He"⁸,

meaning that through his service in "his own portion" he has all ten measures

("his own portion" and the "nine measures of his fellow").

And in general, the service of a Jew in this regard - that "Israel (the)

sanctified the times",

therefore one says

(on Rosh Hashanah)

⁹ "Who sanctifies Israel and the Day of Remembrance".

Additionally:

Through this, that Jews gather together "as one person with one heart",

for one purpose and one matter - they effect through their service the concept of "You are standing today, all of you".

And especially when one connects this

(the gathering together)

with a physical matter that becomes "blood and flesh as his flesh"¹⁰ - with saying L'Chaim,

about which our Sages, of blessed memory, said¹¹ that "great is drinking which brings close etc.".

And especially since this is also connected with a festival,

Rosh Hashanah,

about which it is stated¹² "the joy of Hashem is your strength",

and that then there must be "drink sweet beverages" in addition to "eat rich foods".¹³

And especially since this is a Rosh Hashanah of a Hakhel year,

which already begins from Rosh Hashanah of this year,

as the verse¹⁴ says that "at the end of seven years" there must be Hakhel,

and "at the end of seven years" already begins from Rosh Hashanah,

And especially according to what Chassidus¹⁵ explains on the verse¹⁶ "in the covered time for our festival day",

that the matters of "our festival",

the festival of Sukkot,

are already present on Rosh Hashanah in a manner of "in the covered time",

therefore the concept of Hakhel, which is specifically on Sukkot - is already present on Rosh Hashanah in a manner of "in the covered time".

From all this it is understood that now is not a time for being stringent and practicing humility and asceticism - rather, each one should still grab and say L'Chaim before sunset.

May it be His will that all the matters that need to be opened through these actions should be opened.

Afterwards he said:

Here the publicity of the matter is not so relevant

(in saying L'Chaim)

- rather, the main thing is the actual deed,

that one should take a bit of beverage,

and even better - wine,

which "gladdens G-d and men",

¹⁷ therefore this is connected with a great joy,

and this should become blood and flesh as his flesh,

And especially since this is connected with Rosh Hashanah and with Hakhel,

and one does this in a "great house"¹⁸,

"a place where Torah is magnified"¹⁹,

where there are Torah classes,

and "a place where prayer is magnified"²⁰ - he instructed -

He instructed to play three melodies

(of the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid, and the Alter Rebbe).

They began to play the melody of the Alter Rebbe, "Avinu Malkeinu",

and His Holiness the Rebbe, may he live for many good days, Amen, said:

On Shabbat we do not say "Avinu Malkeinu".²¹ And they played the melody for greeting Shabbat,

the melody of the Mitteler Rebbe. The melody of the Tzemach Tzedek.

A melody.

The Rebbe Maharash.

The melody of the Rebbe

(the Rebbe Rashab) of blessed memory.

The Beinoni. "Atah Bechartanu".

He instructed to play a melody and said the Maamar beginning "Zeh Hayom Techilas Ma'asecha".

The concept of "Zeh Hayom Techilas Ma'asecha" and the difference between "Zeh" and "Ko"

(which was discussed in the Maamar)

- is also discussed in the discourses of the Tzemach Tzedek.

²² And additionally:

The glosses and explanations

(in the Tzemach Tzedek's glosses)

in Likkutei Torah²³ that discuss this matter - are,

apparently,

from the Tzemach Tzedek.

And the concept of Rosh Hashanah

("Zeh Hayom Techilas Ma'asecha")

also has a special connection with the Tzemach Tzedek,

because his birthday was on Erev Rosh Hashanah²⁴,

and his circumcision was during the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.²⁵

And as was discussed in the previous farbrengen,

²⁶ that when the Tzemach Tzedek was born,

his grandfather,

the Alter Rebbe,

delivered a discourse on "They administer an oath to him: Be righteous etc."²⁷

(which later became the first three chapters of Tanya).

And "They administer an oath to him: Be righteous etc." is connected with the birth of the Tzemach Tzedek - because the concept of "They administer an oath to him: Be righteous etc." applies to every Jewish child before he is born and emerges into the world.

This (the birth of the Tzemach Tzedek and that then "they administer an oath to him etc.")

is also especially connected with Rosh Hashanah:

On Rosh Hashanah was the creation of Adam, the first man,

which is analogous to the descent of the soul into the body and the birth of every person,

and especially of every Jew - because "you are called 'man'",

²⁸ and as the Mishnah²⁹ says that every person is a "full world",

just like Adam, the first man, who "was created alone",

and moreover:

so that one should know today that every person is a "full world",

"therefore man was created alone" thousands of years ago!

And this further emphasizes the connection between the creation of Adam, the first man

(on Rosh Hashanah)

with the birth of every child.

And since each and every year at the time of Rosh Hashanah "they are remembered and done"³⁰, the matters that occurred on Rosh Hashanah the first time are repeated,

including also that Adam, the first man, was created on Rosh Hashanah³¹ - it is understood,

that Rosh Hashanah each and every year is the birth of every Jew.

And one could say that therefore the Alter Rebbe delivered the discourse on "They administer an oath to him etc." on Erev Rosh Hashanah - because since the birth of every Jew

(which is analogous to the creation of Adam, the first man)

is on Rosh Hashanah itself,

then the "they administer an oath to him etc." must be before the child emerges into the world,

which is on Erev Rosh Hashanah.

Although the first time

(at the time of the creation of Adam, the first man)

there were several hours on the day of Rosh Hashanah itself before the creation of Adam, the first man,

as the Gemara in Sanhedrin³² details how the creation of man unfolded during the hours of the day.

In the fixed calendar of this year, there is further emphasis in the "they are remembered and done" of Rosh Hashanah

(and of the creation of Adam, the first man):

The creation of Adam, the first man

(on Rosh Hashanah)

the first time was on the sixth day of the week.

However, there is the rule that "Rosh Hashanah does not fall on the sixth day"

[as the Rambam³³ brings down,

to the extent that according to the opinion of the Ra'avad it is from the Torah³⁴],

meaning that Rosh Hashanah cannot occur on the sixth day of the week as it was the first time;

The only possibility for Rosh Hashanah to occur on the sixth day of the week - is in the fixed calendar of this year,

where the second day of Rosh Hashanah is on the sixth day of the week.

And although ostensibly this is only the second day of Rosh Hashanah and not the first day of Rosh Hashanah - however, both days of Rosh Hashanah are a "long day",

one long day.³⁵

And accordingly, it turns out,

that in the fixed calendar of this year, Rosh Hashanah is on the day of the creation of Adam, the first man, just as it was the first time - on the sixth day of the week.

And the sixth day of the week itself,

the time of the creation of Adam, the first man - occurs at the end of this "long day"

(which is on the second day of Rosh Hashanah)

- analogous to how it was the first time,

that the creation of Adam, the first man, was at the end of the sixth day.

Here is the place to comment regarding the fact that Rosh Hashanah is two days,

which is not only in the Diaspora but also in the Land of Israel,

In this, the concept of "

(You are standing today)

all of you" is emphasized,

because regarding all other festivals there is a difference between the Diaspora and the Land of Israel,

that in the Diaspora one observes the second day of the festivals of the exile,

unlike in the Land of Israel;

however, Rosh Hashanah is observed for two days both in the Land of Israel

("a land which the eyes of Hashem your G-d are upon it from the beginning of the year until the end of the year"³⁶),

and also in the Diaspora,

where the majority of the count and the majority of the building of the Jewish people are found,

until our righteous Mashiach will bring them to the Land of Israel.

And the later authorities seek

(for this, that Rosh Hashanah is two days)

a source.

One finds a source for this in an explicit verse in the Written Torah:

In Nehemiah³⁷, which the Alter Rebbe calls in his Shulchan Aruch

(in the Laws of Rosh Hashanah)

³⁸ by the name "Ezra", chapter 8,

in continuation of what he relates that occurred "on the first day of the seventh month",

on the day of Rosh Hashanah - that they told the Jews "eat rich foods and drink sweet beverages and send portions to one for whom nothing is prepared, for the day is holy to our Lord, and do not be sad, for the joy of Hashem is your strength",

and afterwards³⁹ - that the Jews did so in practice,

"and all the people went to eat and drink and send portions and make great joy etc." it says⁴⁰ "and on the second day etc.",

The commentators⁴¹ interpret that "on the second day" means

(not the day that comes after Rosh Hashanah, rather)

"on the second day of Rosh Hashanah",

And they explain⁴²

(from the words of our Sages, of blessed memory⁴³)

the reason for this, that there were then two days of Rosh Hashanah,

because in the days of Ezra they intercalated the month of Elul,

so that it would have thirty days.

The aforementioned from Nehemiah, that on

(the first day of)

Rosh Hashanah it was "and all the people went to eat etc. and to make great joy" - is similar to what His Holiness my father-in-law, the Rebbe, writes in Sefer HaMaamarim 5703 at its beginning,

⁴⁴ that one sees in an earthly kingdom that when they crown a king, "the coronation comes with great joy etc.",

And since "the earthly kingdom is like the heavenly kingdom",

⁴⁵ therefore also the coronation of the King in the heavenly kingdom - when they crown the One Above on Rosh Hashanah - is with great joy.

A parenthetical discourse:

Regarding this, that one says that since "the earthly kingdom is like the heavenly kingdom",

so just as in an earthly kingdom the coronation of the king is with great joy,

so too in the heavenly kingdom - then there is the question:

The One Above is not obligated to do matters Above as they are below - so how can one say "therefore",

that because in an earthly kingdom the coronation of the king is with great joy,

therefore the coronation of the King in the heavenly kingdom is also in this manner?!

And this question applies to all the parables brought in Chassidus and in the statements of our Sages, of blessed memory, regarding the One Above,

"a parable: to what is this matter comparable? To a king of flesh and blood" etc. - how can one say that a matter is in a certain manner Above,

by the One Above,

because it is so below?!

And this question also applies to the parable that the Maggid brings,

⁴⁶ that just as by a father below the form of the son is engraved in his thought,

so too Above,

that the souls of Israel are engraved in the thought of the One Above, with the difference,

that in the parable of the father,

who is flesh and blood, it is...

"one who never had a son could never say that the form of the son that he will have later would be engraved in his thought...

but by the Holy One, blessed be He...

even before Israel were created, their form was engraved in thought. Because by Him, blessed be He, the past and the future are one".⁴⁷

And the explanation of this:

It is not the simple meaning that because the matter is so below, therefore it is so also Above,

rather the opposite:

From that which one sees how the matter is below, one knows,

and this is a proof,

of how the matter is Above,

Moreover:

Because the matter is so Above,

"they were drawn down from them",

⁴⁸ and it becomes so also below,

and consequently, if one wants to know how a matter is Above,

one must look at how the matter is below and from this one has a proof of how it is Above.

And so it is regarding all parables.

The reason why the One Above arranged it this way,

is - so that it should be "from my flesh I shall perceive G-d",

⁴⁹ and He wants that His matters should be not only in a manner of faith,

but also in a manner of knowledge,

as the precise language of the Rambam⁵⁰ is "to know" and not "to believe",

as has been discussed many times,⁵¹

And this is also the explanation of the question that the Tzemach Tzedek brings in his Sefer HaMitzvot:

⁵² How is it possible to say a commandment regarding faith in Hashem,

when this is the foundation and the introduction to all mitzvot and commandments?

And he explains there,

that in addition to the explanation that the commandment is regarding faith in the details - there is further and primarily:

The commandment is

(not only "to believe" but also)

"to know that there is a First Existence".⁵³

Therefore, one needs parables that are found below in this world in order to understand with knowledge how the matters are Above - "from my flesh I shall perceive G-d".

- And so - and so it is also regarding the person below,

that he is "a likeness of the One Above",

⁵⁴ and consequently one can know from a king below how is the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He,

and from a father below,

how is our Father in Heaven.

And from this it is understood regarding what is written in Sefer HaMaamarim 5703,

that from that which one sees that the coronation of the king in an earthly kingdom "comes with great joy",

one knows that so too is the coronation of the King in the heavenly kingdom.

End of the parenthetical discourse.

As was discussed earlier

(section 7)

that in continuation of what is written in Nehemiah that on the first day of Rosh Hashanah it was "and all the people went to eat etc. and to make great joy",

the verse says that afterwards there was a second day of Rosh Hashanah.

The verse relates⁵⁵ what was then

(on the second day of Rosh Hashanah)

:

"And on the second day the heads of the fathers of all the people, the Kohanim and the Levites, gathered to Ezra the scribe, and to gain insight into the words of the Torah,

and they found written in the Torah that Hashem had commanded through Moses that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the festival in the seventh month",

And Ezra then told them "that they should proclaim and pass a voice throughout all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying: Go out to the mountain and bring olive branches, and branches of oil trees, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written".

The wording "Go out to the mountain etc." is similar to the wording that is written in Chaggai⁵⁶ that "in the sixth month

(the month of Elul)

on the first day of the month" the One Above said "this people says: The time has not come, the time for the House of Hashem to be built",

and in continuation⁵⁷ He said "go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the House etc."

(as was discussed regarding this at the farbrengen of Rosh Chodesh Elul);

However, there is a difference between them,

that here it says "Go out to the mountain" and there it says "go up to the mountain",

and the explanation of the difference is simply:

Here it speaks about a situation and state before the Temple was built, and one must first go build the Beis HaMikdash — this is an ascent from a low state of before the Temple was built to a state of building the Temple.

Therefore he says the phrase "Ascend the mountain etc."

However, in Nechemiah it speaks about a situation and state where the Beis HaMikdash already exists

(as he says in the subsequent verses),

and one needs only to go there — "Go out to the mountain etc."

And although on that day,

on the second day of Rosh Chodesh,

the Jews had not yet actually fulfilled the mitzvah of Sukkah — however, since they had already decided and accepted that they would fulfill what Ezra told them,

"that they announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem saying: Go out to the mountain etc." — then "a good thought, the Holy One, blessed be He, joins it to action",

⁵⁸ consequently, at the time of the good thought they are already assured that this will come down into actual deed.

And furthermore:

On the verse "And the children of Israel went and did as Hashem commanded Moshe and Aharon" regarding the Paschal sacrifice,

Rashi asks⁵⁹ "But did they already do it? Was it not told to them from Rosh Chodesh?"

And he answers:

"Rather, since they accepted it upon themselves, Scripture credits them as if they did it",

to the point that the verse states "and they did" without a comparative 'kaf'.

And from this it is also understandable regarding the decision of the Jews at that time,

on the second day of Rosh Chodesh,

regarding the mitzvah of Sukkah — that already then it is considered as if they had done it in actual deed.

Afterwards the verse relates⁶⁰ how the Jews actually fulfilled the mitzvah of Sukkah:

"And the people went out and brought and made for themselves sukkos, each man on his roof and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the House of G-d and in the square of the Water Gate and in the square of the Gate of Ephraim",

and "there was very great joy", and

(as he says earlier in the verse)

this was such great joy that from the days of Yehoshua bin Nun there had not been such joy.⁶¹

And in connection with this verse "And the people went out and brought and made for themselves sukkos, each man on his roof and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the House of G-d etc.",

it is stated in Teshuvos HaGeonim,

⁶² that they were asked a question whether one must make a sukkah

(also)

in a synagogue.

Initially the assumption was that one need not,

because a sukkah must be

("you shall dwell")

like the manner of your dwelling",

⁶³ one must make a sukkah only in one's own dwelling,

but in a synagogue, which is not "like the manner of your dwelling" — one need not make a sukkah there.

But afterwards he continues in that responsum,

that one must indeed make a sukkah in a synagogue for guests⁶⁴ and as he says there,

that in Baghdad

(where several Geonim lived)

they made sukkos in their synagogues,

and he also brings there that this was the case in the Mikdash from the verse in Nechemiah where it says "and they made for themselves sukkos...

in the courtyards of the House of G-d".

And afterwards he concludes in the responsum "and such is the custom of Israel" — that this is the custom of Israel for generations.

From all the above

(from what is related in Nechemiah,

and from the Teshuvos HaGeonim with the details therein)

one can derive several directives.

One of them:

On the second day of Rosh Chodesh one must already prepare for the festival of Sukkos,

and decide that one will do all the matters that need to be done on the festival of Sukkos,

to the extent of "very great joy".

And especially according to what is explained in Chassidus,

that on Rosh HaShanah all the matters of "our festival" are present,

the festival of Sukkos,

in a manner of "in the hidden"

(as above section 2).

And in practical terms:

Just as was discussed in the previous farbrengens,

⁶⁵ and in previous years,

⁶⁶ regarding the matter of "and send portions to one for whom nothing is prepared" which must be on Rosh HaShanah —

So too one must do regarding the festival of Sukkos — provide all the matters that Jews need in order to celebrate the festival of Sukkos with joy,

to the point of a "very great joy".

And so too one must do regarding all the intermediate days

(between Rosh HaShanah and the festival of Sukkos),

that they should be days filled with joy,

and "very great joy".

And this is accomplished among all Jews by providing those who need something in order to be in joy and good-heartedness — the matters they need — until —

Until one reaches "everlasting joy upon their heads",

⁶⁷ which is connected with the true and complete redemption through Moshiach our righteousness,

Who "will build the Mikdash in its place",

and then "will gather the dispersed of Israel",

⁶⁸ in a manner of "gather the people, the men, the women, the children, and your stranger who is within your gates"⁶⁹ in the year which is a year of Hakhel,

the year 5741,

coming toward us for good and for blessing.

And even before this, may there be "inscribed and sealed immediately for good life" in the book of the completely righteous",

⁷⁰ for "all your people are righteous"⁷¹ — that there should be a good inscription and sealing for a good and sweet year in the revealed and manifest good and below ten handbreadths,

And speedily in our days, literally.

He recited Birkas HaMazon. And afterwards he said:

The cup of blessing will be distributed, without a vow, after the farbrengen tomorrow

(Shabbos)

at noon.