English translation — שיחות אור ליום ב' פי שלח, י"א סיון ה'תשד"מ

A general "Yechidus" of the guests, may they live, who came for the holiday of Shavuos.

The Torah instructs¹ "A person should not part from his fellow except through a matter of halacha,"

so that when Jews travel away from each other to separate places

(for whatever reason)

one should connect this with a halacha.

And the reason

(inner)

for this is:

Since we want to ensure

that the parting from each other should not cause any division among Jews,

we connect it with a matter that will unify them even when each one is in his own place, and that is the matter of halacha,

which is a part of the Torah,

which is a Torah that is "one,"

given by Hashem who is "One."

Furthermore:

The matter of Torah has within it the power

(not only to unify in general,

but also)

to bring unity into a place of division.

And as is known,

that the Torah was given to "one nation in the land,"²

whose purpose and intention is to draw down "One"

(unity)

into "land,"³

into a place of division. And in the language of the Megillah⁴ "There is one nation, scattered and dispersed among the peoples,"

so that even while being "scattered and dispersed," Jews are "one nation."⁵

In clearer words:

The very fact that Jews separate from each other to places that are physically separate and distant,

is indeed according to the will of the Almighty,⁶

who desired that each one in his place should fulfill the one purpose and intention,

to draw down "One in the land."

Consequently, it is understood,

that this separation from each other is not only not contradictory to the matter of unity,

but on the contrary — through this the matter of unity is most emphasized,

that even the very thing

(the division)

is for the sake of one purpose and intention,

"I was created to serve my Maker."⁷

And this is the meaning of "A person should not part from his fellow except through a matter of halacha,"

that at the time of parting from each other one must emphasize that everyone's intention

(which is the same)

is the main thing,

it turns out,

that in the essence of the matter, all are one entity,

and the division is merely secondary and preparation for the main thing.⁸

Thus, not only is the distance and division not contradictory to unity,

but furthermore — through this they act upon and influence the place where they are located,

so that that place too should not be separated from the other places,

since all these places together bring about the fulfillment of the one purpose and mission — "I was created to serve my Maker."

And this is also emphasized in the content of the matter,

for the fact that the places are separated from each other,

to the point that they are distant from each other — is according to law;⁹

and likewise regarding people — that according to Torah "their opinions are not equal"¹⁰ — but nevertheless,

a unity and unification is revealed in all of them,

through the recognition and feeling that the separate service in all places and of all Jews is for the sake of one purpose and intention — to make for Him, blessed be He, a dwelling place in the lower realms,¹¹

in this lowest world, below which there is no lower,¹²

one single dwelling.

And the matter of unity — how the entire world is "one dwelling" for Him, blessed be He,

just like the Holy Temple and the Holy of Holies — is expressed in a law in the laws of prayer:

The matter of prayer exists every single day,

and it applies

(as brought in the Shulchan Aruch¹³)

both to men and to women, and even

(from the perspective of education)

to children.

And as we see in practice,

that even very young children,

also do something akin to prayer according to their understanding and comprehension,

and especially at the beginning of the day

(immediately upon awakening¹⁴),

by saying "Modeh ani lefanecha Melech chai vekayam shehechezarta bi nishmati b'chemlah,

rabbah emunatecha,"

which one can say includes both aspects that prayer has,¹⁵

praise and thanksgiving, and request —

for "Modeh ani etc." is thanksgiving and praise,

and "rabbah emunatecha" is the request,

that the Almighty should conduct Himself thus always, all the days.

From all this the importance of the matter of prayer is understood,

and how it applies to all Jews.

We find regarding the matter of prayer a law in the Shulchan Aruch,¹⁶

that when one stands to pray,

one must stand with one's face toward one single place — the Holy of Holies.

That is, Jews who are located to the east of the Holy of Holies must pray in such a way that their faces are toward the west, and those who are located to the west of the Holy of Holies pray with their faces toward the east — all Jews from all corners of the world face one place and point — the point of the Holy of Holies,

the point of "And I will dwell in their midst,"¹⁷

the place where the Divine Presence is

(was)

revealed.

And here we see clearly the matter of unity among Jews from all corners of the world,

as it is physically,

that all stand in one motion,

to make for Him, blessed be He, a dwelling place in the lower realms.

And one could say,

that through the study of this halacha and law in the Shulchan Aruch

(of standing in prayer with one's face toward the Holy of Holies),

one fulfills the principle of "A person should not part from his fellow except through a matter of halacha" in a special way,

since this is a halacha that speaks about the unity of Jews,

how every Jew is connected to the Almighty,

and through this all Jews stand in complete unity even while being scattered throughout the entire world.

All the above also has a connection to the proposal that was discussed recently,¹⁸

that each person should study a portion in the Rambam's book every day,

and that the portion should be the same for everyone — which is indeed a unification of all Jews,

even among those who are located at a distance from each other,

through the fact that all study the same subject,

the same "halacha" in the Rambam.

And this matter has already been accepted,

and it is studied by many many

(a great many)

of the children of Israel.

And in continuation of this — comes the special study of today's daily portion in the Rambam's book,

which brings out the connection of Jews to the Almighty,

which brings

(as above, section 4)

also unity among Jews.

Today's portion in the Sefer HaMitzvos of the Rambam is the negative commandment "Not to walk beyond the Shabbos boundary on Shabbos,

and it is His statement¹⁹ 'Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day,'"

the prohibition of going out beyond the boundary.

The "Chinuch"²⁰ explains the reasons for this commandment,

"From the roots of this commandment is that we remember and know that the world is created, not eternal, as stated regarding the commandment of Shabbos,²¹ for in six days Hashem made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day...

To remember this, it is fitting that one rest in one place, meaning that we should not walk on the road except in a way of strolling and pleasure,

and in walking...

[the Shabbos boundary]

there is great exertion."

In simple words:

All week a Jew is toiling to provide for his livelihood physically and spiritually;

so when Shabbos comes — it must be "and you shall call the Shabbos a delight,"²²

he must have a special pleasure,

through connecting with the Almighty

(as "and He rested on the seventh day" and "on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed"²²)

through the fulfillment of all the commandments of Shabbos,

including the negative commandment "Let no man go out of his place,"

for a person has pleasure specifically when located in his place,

not having the exertion of traveling on the road,

but rather being "in his place" he is indeed "going" but only "in a way of strolling and pleasure."

And from this Rambam we have the aforementioned lesson,

how every Jew is connected to the Almighty while being in his place,

and he stands in a motion of "Oneg Shabbos,"

he provides himself only with pleasure.

And although today we are indeed on a weekday

(not on the day of Shabbos),

nevertheless the aforementioned lesson has relevance to every day of the week,

and as is known that "Remember the Shabbos day"²³ means,

that every day of the week one must remember the Shabbos²³

(as it is brought in halacha,²⁴

and as is the custom of Israel),

and through this power one prepares for the coming Shabbos. And especially since today is Sunday, coming immediately after the conclusion of the holy Shabbos.

May it be His will,

that it should indeed be so with each and every one of you and each and every one of the Jewish people —

that even while standing in the "weekday" of exile,

it should be evident that one is preparing for the "day that is entirely Shabbos and rest for life everlasting,"²⁵

through the preparation for the true and complete redemption through our righteous Moshiach,

when there will be no exertions or worries, heaven forbid,²⁶

only the pleasure of the good things one did while in exile,

and the delight will be with all Jews without exception,

for all Jews will indeed go out of exile.²⁷

And it will be "And you will be gathered one by one, O children of Israel,"²⁸

that the Almighty will take every Jew by the hand,²⁹

from small to great,

and go with him to our holy land,

and to Jerusalem, the holy city,

and to the Holy Temple,

in which is located the Holy of Holies.

And this aforementioned blessing is also revealed through taking upon oneself the resolution to utilize the enthusiasm with the delight and all the powers that one has drawn during the time of the Giving of our Torah

(the holiday of Shavuos)

— every day and all the days of the year,

that there should be even more love for the Torah,

which is expressed in the study of Torah,

which leads to the fulfillment of the Torah's commandments,

and doing all these things with joy and a good heart.

And this contributes to the joy and good heart of all matters of every Jew throughout all the days of the year,

in his thought, speech and action,

in good health physically and spiritually,

and in good livelihood,

and in true nachas from Torah,

Chassidic nachas from children and grandchildren,

with joy and a good heart.

All the above is also based on the greeting and the blessing for the holiday of Shavuos that was instituted

(and transmitted)

by the Nasi of our generation, His Holiness, my father-in-law, the Rebbe — that it should be "receiving the Torah with joy and with inwardness."³⁰

That is, that one does all these matters with true joy,

and one does them "with inwardness,"

meaning that there is no difference

(heaven forbid)

between a Jew's inwardness and externality — he is a Jew in all matters,

and when one looks at him,

one sees that this is a Jew in all his particulars.

Yud.

And all this also diminishes the longing that exists among Jews when they must part from each other,

even for a short while — for (a)

very soon Moshiach our righteous one is coming,

we will meet again in the true and complete redemption, and (b)

even in the time before his coming,

when one travels to different places, one feels united in general,

and particularly in fulfilling the same purpose of "to make for Him, blessed be He, a dwelling place in the lower realms."

And the Almighty gives the blessings,

that the service of "making for Him, blessed be He, a dwelling place in the lower realms" should be able to be carried out in the best of health,

and with good livelihood, and

(as mentioned earlier)

with much Chassidic nachas from children,

and also from oneself.

And all this will further hasten the redemption through our righteous Moshiach.

In order to take a part and have a share in the merit of carrying out all these aforementioned missions,

and out of joy and a good heart,

one will conduct oneself according to the custom of Israel,

that when Jews part from each other,

one gives

(one to the other)

a "shlichus mitzvah,"

and how good — the mitzvah of tzedakah, which is equivalent to all the mitzvos.³¹

Therefore, one will

(as is customary)

give each of you a dollar,

so that each one should give in his place the money

(the exchange of the dollar for the currency of his country)

for a matter of tzedakah.

And may this bring about the fulfillment of the statement of our Rabbis, of blessed memory,³² "Great is tzedakah, for it brings the redemption near,"

that the mitzvah in which one will increase — will further hasten the true and complete redemption through our righteous Moshiach,

speedily in our days, literally.