English translation — שיחה לילדי מחנות קיץ "קרית גן ישראל" ו"אמונה", "צבאות השם" שיחיו

In the synagogue,

after Minchah prayer — Tuesday, Parshas Ki Savo,

12 Elul 5742.

Tekiah —

Shevarim-Teruah,

Shevarim-Tekiah,

Teruah-Tekiah.

They recited the Twelve Pesukim and the Maamarei Chazal¹.

They proclaimed "We Want Moshiach Now".

The camp directors, may they live, spoke before the audience, may they live.

We have all gathered together in connection with the fact that,

as it is called,

the vacation period is ending,

the time that was spent in "camp",

And since the true gathering of Jews,

and especially of Jewish children,

and especially at a special occasion,

is connected with the mitzvos of the Most High,

beginning with Torah, prayer, and tzedakah —

Therefore it is fitting that one should gather in a place where one prays to the Most High,

and where one studies Torah lessons every day,

and where one also gives tzedakah on weekdays. Thus the place is suited to the matter and content for which one has gathered.

However, one must immediately note:

Every Jew,

and especially every Jewish child,

about him it is said:

"Man is a tree of the field"² —

the Torah of truth compares him to a tree.

One of the characteristics of a tree is:

As it finds itself in the field, it utilizes all the possibilities and powers of the field so that it continues to grow and produce fruits,

and in the fruits there are seeds,

and these seeds are then planted in the ground,

and from them grow new trees of the field that also produce new fruits. And so on until the end of all the world.

So too must it be with every Jew,

and especially with every Jewish child

(who is like a "tree of the field")

that he continues to grow,

and even when he finds himself "in the field" he utilizes all the possibilities and powers of the "field" so that he continues to grow and produce fruits.

And consequently, it is understandable that it is not correct to say regarding any good matter that this is an "end",

a "finish", Heaven forbid,

because one is in the midst of growing and doing matters of Torah and mitzvos,

rather, within the growth itself there are also different levels. A smaller level now ends,

and through this one has all the full powers to move into a higher level and grow more and produce more beautiful fruits that have seeds within them. And so on and on.

So too, when a "camp" ends,

this is not, Heaven forbid, an end in itself,

it is merely a preparation for doing thereafter all matters of Torah and mitzvos in a higher manner:

That through being in "camp" one has gathered spiritual powers through learning Torah, praying, and fulfilling mitzvos,

and through having utilized the time while in "camp",

so that the body,

the physical body,

should also become healthier and stronger,

so that one's service of the Most High should be healthier, stronger, and more alive —

It demands of every child who was in the "camps",

that each one of them should immediately begin to utilize these powers,

knowing that this is not, Heaven forbid, an end to a matter,

but on the contrary —

this is only the beginning of a much greater, stronger, more alive, and more luminous life in serving the Most High through learning His Torah and fulfilling His mitzvos.

This is further emphasized according to what is known that everything is with Divine Providence,

and therefore a Jew must learn from every matter for himself,

because it is not accidental, Heaven forbid,

it is with Divine Providence from the Most High Himself,

as the Baal Shem Tov says³.

It was arranged that the so-called "end",

"finish",

of the "camps" should be in the month of Elul. It is known what the Alter Rebbe says⁴,

that in the month of Elul the King,

the Most High Himself,

is found in the field. And one must approach Him and speak to Him and know how to connect with Him.

And since the so-called "end" of "camp" is always in the month of Elul —

it is even more understandable that this is not an "end", Heaven forbid,

but on the contrary —

one utilizes the gathered powers,

both physical and spiritual,

of the entire summer,

for doing Torah and mitzvos with greater strength and vitality,

and from "camp" one goes and dances directly with joy into the month of Elul,

and there one immediately finds the King in the field,

Who rejoices with you and you rejoice with Him,

as you just recited in the Twelve Pesukim and Maamarei Chazal,

that "Yisrael will rejoice in its Maker"⁵ and "Hashem will rejoice in His works"⁶

(because "Yisrael will rejoice in its Maker" is the explanation (as you just said) that every Jew rejoices "in the joy of Hashem Who rejoices and delights in His dwelling in the lower realms"⁷,

which is the matter of "Hashem will rejoice in His works").

And the gathered powers are utilized immediately,

and with joy,

until one sees that this comes down into action is the main thing,

that it is utilized in doing deeds with greater vitality, luminosity, and a joy of mitzvah.

And one also prepares for the new year,

the preparation for which is throughout the month of Elul.

And since "Love your fellow as yourself" is a "great principle in the Torah"⁸ —

you will surely influence the entire surroundings in this spirit,

that one does all matters of Torah and mitzvos with renewed powers and vitality,

Beginning with influencing your home, your class in school, and the synagogue where you pray.

And then go together,

with renewed strength, vitality, and Judaism,

together with the King in the field,

to the capital city and there, in the king's palace,

in the palace of the King.

Until this also hastens in a revealed manner and in a stronger and more vital way —

that very soon you,

together with every Jew and with all Jews,

the entirety of the nation,

the entire Jewish people,

together with the Torah and mitzvos that you have gathered and that every Jew has gathered,

and especially during the time spent in the "camps" with greater strength and vigor,

the entirety of the Torah —

will go in the true and complete redemption through Moshiach Tzidkeinu,

Through the fact that the Most High will gather each one of us, each one of you, and each one of the Jewish people,

all together,

and we will go to Eretz Yisrael,

"a land that Hashem your G-d always looks after, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year"¹⁰,

and to Eretz Yisrael in its completeness,

and there, go to the king's city,

to Yerushalayim, the holy city,

"the city of the great King"¹¹,

and there, to the king's palace,

to the "Sanctuary of Hashem, established by Your hands"¹².

And all this —

speedily, in our very days,

very quickly,

in a manner of "I will hasten it"¹³,

because the Most High will grant,

with joy and a good heart, with a smiling countenance and a pleasant face¹⁴,

the request, the prayer, and the cry "We Want Moshiach Now",

speedily, in our very days.

The gathering

(in connection with the "fun" of "camp")

could have taken place on various days in the month of Elul —

since it occurs on the present day,

according to the aforementioned words of the Baal Shem Tov,

there must also be in this a special instruction connected specifically with this day.

It is known the saying of the Alter Rebbe¹⁵ that one must live with the time,

with the parshah that one studies at that time —

that one lives through and arranges one's own life according to the instructions of the weekly parshah,

and within the parshah itself —

according to the portion of the parshah that belongs to that day,

in our case —

to the portion from Shlishi to Revii of Parshas Ki Savo that belongs to this day of the parshah.

In these matters

(the entirety of the parshah Ki Savo,

and also the portion of the parshah from Shlishi to Revii)

there is an instruction,

down to "action is the main thing",

for each one of us and each one of you.

And even if it turns out that this is difficult to achieve —

one has the promise of the Torah of truth,

that "If one says, 'I have toiled and I have found,' believe him"¹⁶

(as you just said),

that if you only truly desire,

and you will do what depends on you,

you will surely achieve it.

The instructions and the lessons from the parshah Ki Savo in general are:

The parshah is called "Ki Savo",

and as the verse says¹⁷ "When you come to the land that Hashem your G-d gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it" —

that "Ki Savo",

the entering inside,

refers to entering Eretz Yisrael,

and in a manner of "and you possess it and dwell in it",

that one takes and inherits it eternally and settles in it.

The general instruction and lesson from this for everyone:

Eretz Yisrael is a land where one sees G-dliness more than one sees it in the entire world —

"a land that Hashem your G-d always looks after, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year"

(as above).

The task of a Jew is,

that while still in the diaspora,

wherever he may be,

he arranges his life,

so that it becomes a "Eretz Yisrael"¹⁸:

with him himself,

in his home and in his school —

it is seen there that "the eyes of Hashem your G-d are upon it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year",

through his fulfilling Torah and mitzvos with great strength and vitality,

and thus influencing the entire surroundings,

as discussed earlier.

And he does it in a manner of "and you possess it and dwell in it",

that it becomes an inherited matter —

as you just said¹⁹,

"The Torah that Moshe commanded us is an inheritance of the congregation of Yaakov",

with each one of you and each one of the Jewish people.

And in the inheritance is "and you dwell in it":

one settles in it,

i.e., the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos becomes the daily settlement in the daily life of the Jew,

in a manner that it is seen that "the eyes of Hashem are upon it".

Upon this itself comes the special instruction and lesson from the third portion of the parshah,

from Shlishi

(connected specifically with the present day).

There it is written²⁰ "You have affirmed Hashem today to be your G-d..." and "Hashem has affirmed you today to be His treasured people...".

The Gemara²¹ explains the meaning of "You have affirmed Hashem... and Hashem has affirmed you":

"The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: You have made Me a single entity in the world, and I will make you a single entity in the world":

"Hashem has affirmed you today" —

The Most High has chosen and takes pride,

He boasts,

in every Jew,

and makes them a "single entity in the world",

as you just said²² —

that "All of Israel",

every Jew,

is "a planting of My planting, the work of My hands, in which to take pride".

And "You have affirmed Hashem today to be your G-d" —

Jews are "affirmed",

they choose the Most High as their King and their Leader

("to walk in His ways"),

Who leads them "from the beginning of the year to the end of the year"

(as above),

and "You have affirmed Hashem today to be your G-d, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and to listen to His voice" —

Jews follow His instructions,

through learning Torah and fulfilling Torah and mitzvos.

And through "You have affirmed Hashem" one causes the Most High to give anew²³ powers for learning Torah and fulfilling Torah and mitzvos.

The above is an instruction for every day of the entire year. However, there is a special instruction on the present day —

the third day, which was doubled with "it was good"²⁴,

good for heaven and good for creatures²⁵:

That one should influence in the aforementioned sense both "for heaven" and "for creatures" —

upon oneself in all spiritual matters

("heaven")

and also upon all people around

("creatures") —

that "Hashem has affir..." —

will become "Hashem has affirmed you";

one takes pride in the Most High,

and the Most High takes pride in every Jew and in all Jews.

This instruction has a special connection with the month of Elul

(when "camp" ends)

and with the general instruction of the month of Elul

(as discussed above):

Earlier it was mentioned that the month of Elul is a preparation for the month that follows it,

the month of Tishrei,

the letters of "reishis"²⁶,

the beginning of Tishrei,

which is the day of Rosh Hashanah²⁷. And it is explained in many places²⁸ that the main matter of "You have affirmed Hashem today" and "Hashem has affirmed you today" is on Rosh Hashanah,

because then one accepts upon oneself the kingship of the Most High and crowns Him as King²⁹ with renewed vitality and luminosity —

"His kingship they accepted upon themselves willingly"³⁰.

The Most High desires that everyone should prepare for this in a fitting manner —

He gave the month of Elul to prepare for this,

and He is then found as a King in the field,

together with every Jew and all Jews,

in order to help them in the preparation for "You have affirmed Hashem",

accepting His kingship, may He be blessed,

and He promises that surely there will be "Hashem has affirmed you".

And action is the main thing:

You and every Jew and all Jews together must utilize the days of the month of Elul with joy and a good heart,

And with love of Israel —

unite with every Jew and with all Jews,

through learning Torah,

having a letter in the Torah, and through fulfilling mitzvos,

whereby one becomes "as one man with one heart"³¹.

And then "Hashem has affirmed you" is fulfilled,

because when it is "all of us as one" then "Bless us, our Father, with the light of Your countenance"³²,

and still in the month of Elul,

when it is "G-d, Hashem, will illuminate for us"³³,

when the King is still in the field,

as the Alter Rebbe explains³⁴.

And one has a luminous month of Elul,

with a luminous writing and sealing for good still in the month of Elul.

And one goes together to crown the Most High,

"You have affirmed Hashem today" on Rosh Hashanah,

and "His kingship they accepted upon themselves willingly",

with joy and a good heart.

It is always demanded of a Jew that when he makes a good resolution

(a good decision),

knowing that action is the main thing —

he should demonstrate that he is zealous and immediately begin to fulfill his resolutions in practice.

Therefore it is also fitting that one should continue the gathering in connection with the aforementioned resolutions,

in general —

doing with greater strength and vigor in Torah and mitzvos,

which is divided into three matters —

Matters of Torah, service, and acts of kindness.

The study of Torah was already done through the recitation of the twelve verses and sayings of our Sages.

The matter of prayer was also –

they prayed the afternoon prayer together.

Now, however, we will again review the matter of Torah through what will be recited,

and with joy and a good heart,

a matter of Torah –

the verse³⁵ "But the righteous will give thanks to Your name; the upright will dwell in Your presence";

and the matter of prayer –

everyone together will sing the prayer of "May it be Your will etc. that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days etc."³⁶.

We will also perform a physical deed –

give each one money to give to charity,

and as is customary,

each one will be distributed two coins –

one of them to give to charity,

as a continuation of this gathering.

It is also a fitting thing and a very good and very important thing

(as was spoken about once³⁷) –

that each one of you,

both boys and girls,

should have his (her) own prayer book from which he (she)

will pray,

at least from time to time,

and will guard it,

knowing that this is his

(her)

prayer book.

And together with that –

also have one's own charity box,

which will remind him even more to give charity

(according to his capabilities),

so that every day, with the help of Hashem, he drops into it for charity.

And on the Sabbath day –

which has a special connection to the coming year that begins with a Sabbath –

he also opens the charity box,

and on the contrary –

more than on weekdays:

Through the fact that he has a charity box and one sees

(he himself sees and everyone sees)

that every day

(on weekdays)

he puts money into it,

and then when the Sabbath day comes,

which is holier than all other days, also than festivals,

he fulfills the statement³⁸ "on the seventh day you shall rest",

in that he does not touch the charity box,

and certainly does not drop any charity into it,

because he does not "transact",

he does not handle any money at all –

this itself adds further to the holiness of the Sabbath,

through the fact that he has a charity box and when the day of Sabbath comes he does not use it.

And through the fact that each one will have his

(her)

own prayer book and charity box, one also has all three matters mentioned above,

Torah,

service

(prayer)

and acts of kindness

(charity):

In the prayer book –

the matter of prayer. And in the prayer book there are also matters of Torah,

also in the praying itself,

like the matter of the Shema recitation,

beginning with "Hear O Israel, Hashem our God, Hashem is One"³⁹

(which you just recited in the twelve verses and sayings of our Sages).

And the charity box –

the matter of charity.

Therefore it is worthwhile that each one of you

(from the children),

and also influence friends –

that during the days of the month of Elul until after Hoshana Rabbah

(needless to say, excluding the days of Sabbath and festivals and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur),

one should, with the help of Hashem, drop into the charity box at least one cent

(or a prutah,

each according to the coins of his country).

And the good resolution in this already now will certainly be accepted by the Most High to further hasten the true redemption through our righteous Mashiach,

because charity brings the redemption near⁴⁰.

The sum total,

instruction and request to do in practice from all the above:

We will now conclude with another matter in Torah and another matter in prayer

(singing the aforementioned melodies)

and the matter of charity.

And also:

The children who do not yet have their own prayer book and their own charity box should acquire these for themselves.

And during the days of Elul until Hoshana Rabbah,

and certainly on Hoshana Rabbah itself –

with the help of Hashem, give into the box at least one prutah

(one coin)

for charity.

And the good resolution in this,

and moreover –

that which we will already now begin to do in this,

that after the melodies one will also give for charity and the children will drop one coin into charity –

let this be a good beginning,

so that with all the strengths that have been gathered during this summer,

one should with increased strength and vitality and brightness –

add in the matters of Torah, service, and acts of kindness,

of learning Torah and praying and fulfilling commandments,

beginning with the commandment of charity.

And this will bring about that the world will stand and the world will endure⁴¹,

this will bring a strength that the world will stop shaking,

because it will begin to conduct itself as the Most High desires.

And this is the preparation for "to perfect the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty"⁴²,

through our righteous Mashiach.

And at that very moment,

also in this small world, man⁴³,

for each one in his life –

there will come more of the Most High's blessings,

And we will all prepare together to receive,

and immediately receive –

a good inscription and sealing for a good and sweet year in the revealed and manifest good,

amen, may it be His will.

They sang "But the righteous". "May it be Your will etc. that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days etc."

His Holiness, our Rebbe, may he live for many good days, gave to the head counselors and head counselors of the camps, may they live, ten-cent coins,

to give to each and every boy and girl, may they live, two coins:

one to give to charity,

and the second –

to do with it as they see fit.

Afterwards, His Holiness, our Rebbe, may he live for many good days, said:

A good inscription and sealing for a good and sweet year in the revealed and manifest good,

and very soon –

the true and complete redemption through our righteous Mashiach.

Before leaving, he began to sing "We want Mashiach now".