Elul: The Month of Divine Mercy אני לדודי ודודי לי הרועה בשושנים Kabbalah Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz

Welcome to our class on Seder. We're going to be learning a beautiful Seder discourse from the Rebbe. The name of the Seder discourse is called Ani Ledodi Vedodi Li. The Rebbe said this Seder discourse in Shabbos Parshas Re'eh. That year was the 27th day of the month of Menachem Av. It was also the Shabbos that blessed the month of Elul in the year Tav Shin Mem Daled, 42 years ago. So again, the Seder discourse is based on the verse in the prophets which where it says Ani Ledodi Vedodi Li. Which if you take the first letter of each one of these words, Ani Ledodi Vedodi Li, Aleph Lamed Vav Lamed, it spells out the month it spells out Elul. So Ani Ledodi, I am to my beloved, Vedodi Li, my beloved is to me, Haroeh Bashoshanim, who pastures amongst the lilies. And he brings out the the the the the the Rebbe, the Rashab, in the in the in the Seder discourse on this title, Ani Ledodi. Over the year Tav Resh Nun Zayin. And he says, what does it say in the verse? Haroeh Bashoshanim. What does that mean? That he's pastoring in in with in in with the with the lilies, with the roses, etc. Which what does it what does it mean practically? That Hashem is is is is shepherding and he's and he's taking care of the Jewish people with roses like the like the the the the translation of the word is, that Ani Ledodi, I am to my beloved, Vedodi Li, Hashem is to me, that Hashem is going out and taking care of me. But on the other hand, there are times when the Jewish people are called Rayosi, Parnososi, my my spouse, my the one that gives me things. And like it says clearly in the Talmud, that the Jewish people, we go ahead and meparnes and we go ahead and give Hashem what he needs. So in other words, on one hand it says Hashem is taking care of us. On the other hand it says that we are Hashem's spouse. On the other hand it says it says we're taking care of Hashem. So he explains over there that what does it mean we're we're we're we're we're providing something? What What do you provide something? So, he says parnossa, providing, it goes into two categories. There's mazoin, food, you provide food, and then you provide garments. Two things, food and garments. And like it says in the in the Talmud in tractate Kesubos in reference to the obligation of providing sustenance of the of the husband for his wife, and it includes both ideas. You have to give the feeder, you have to give her good food, and you have to give her clothing. And like like we find in reference to the Akiva, and he says this is not brought down in the discourse, but we find in reference to the Akiva where it says, we praise and he says, you're going to give me food to eat and garments to wear. So, you see that these two ideas is called parnossa, food and clothing. And the same thing also in our serving Hashem that so to speak that we're serving Hashem, so it means we have to give Hashem two things. If we're finding a source we're giving we have to give him clothing, and we have to give him food. So, what kind of What does it mean we're giving him food? What does it mean we're giving him clothing? So, he explains, what does it mean food? It's referring to the sacrifices, the spiritual service of the sacrifices in the temple. And like it says clearly in reference to the sacrifice, it says a carboni, the sacrifice lachmi, lishai, my bread. And like I'll tell us that Hashem Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu, until you you instead of you commanding me what I need to do for for the Jewish people, command them to take care of me. >> [snorts] >> So, that is what is the is it bringing the sacrifice. That's the food for Hashem. What is the garments? Garments is charity. Like the verse says, levush tzedaka, the garments of charity. Okay, so what do we see? That when it comes to supply that Hashem supplies food and clothing, we supply Hashem food and clothing. Food is the sacrifices, and the clothing what is tzedaka is is charity. Rebbe said he liked to connect this idea of charity with the month of Elul, the month of Elul that we're in right now. Even though he doesn't he doesn't explain it specifically in this discourse and not in the door discourses afterwards with this with this insight, but he's explaining it based on two ideas. Number one is that we know in the month of Elul we say slichot and like it says in the Torah from the Alter Rebbe that even though even though it's not the Chabad custom to say slichot every day in the month of Elul Elul, but the fact is it is brought down in code of Jewish law in the name of the going on and other fired him other people say slichot the whole month of Elul. Um and what do we say in the beginning of slichot? L'cha Hashem hatzdaka. To you Hashem is charity. So what is it referring to? The the charity on high. So you see that charity is connected what with the month of Elul. That's point number one because you say in the you say in the slichot. And number two, it's brought down in in in the books of Kabbalah that the 12 months of the year are connected to the 12 uh different combinations of the name Yud Kay Vav Kay. So Hashem's name is Yud Hay Vav Hay and so you can you can you can you have they have the way the letters spell out Yud Hay Vav Hay, but then you can switch around the order. So he says that there's there's 12 different ways to switch around the order of Hashem. And every single month um another another um uh arrangement of the Yud Hay Vav Hay letters are arranged and that gives that that gives the power of that month month. Then he goes to the side note and he says even though we know it says in Sefer Yetzirah that if you have four um bricks, which is referring to four four letters four letters, so you don't only get 12 um different combinations, you have 24 combinations. And those are the four letters of Yud Hay Vav Hay technically can make 24 combinations. So he says the Rebbe says even so besides the fact that and many also ideas is we have 24 combination of Yud Kay Vav Kay >> [snorts] >> because over here it's different because the fact is that the Yud Kay Vav Kay there's two letters which are similar cuz you have a youth came and above came so you don't have so you have technically only have like three letters and therefore it's possible they only have 12 12 12 12 different combinations. Now this that you have 24 because you have the first came is and the second came is two different levels but that's again a side note that's possibly you have this 24 but back to the point you have the 12 12 12 combinations. So what combination shines in the month of Elul is the combination of again we're doing with a youth came above came so these these letters we're playing with and you the combination that shines is came came above youth. And which what what's the what's the connection? So if you take the verse in the when the Torah would says "Utz daka tiya lanu." So if you take the the the those [clears throat] four those those four those four words so you have the the the last letter of of utz daka is a came tiya is a came lanu is above and key is a youth. So the so that the the the the letters set up as came came above youth is the verse utz daka tiya lanu and what what word is what word is that in in that verse? It's daka. So now we see the connection with chodesh Elul and daka. So the Rebbe says two points. Number one is this recap that the two things that we do for Hashem is the sacrifices and charity. And he can make a connection even though it doesn't doesn't bring down the acidic discourse between daka and chodesh Elul one is a slicha that some people have a custom in chodesh Elul say slicha every day of month Elul it says the choshen and daka and number two is that the the the arrangement of the letters is connected to the verse utz daka tiya lanu key and that you have the idea of daka. Okay but now let's get back into the main point. So the Rebbe says what's let's explain the idea of the charity and the parnassa the sustenance on high that would happen through our spiritual work of food and and garments. We said already food is basically the sacrifices and the garments is is charity. Because generally the whole idea of learning Torah and doing mitzvahs, why do we learn Torah? Why do we do mitzvahs? It's to give strength and high. And like it says, the a person will do and a live with them. That's what the verse says in the Torah. And what is the Maggid of Mezritch explain? That a person when he goes ahead and he does a mitzvah and multiple mitzvahs, you add not live with them into you, which is also true, but you add energy into the mitzvah. And the same thing also when you learn Torah, cuz it says when a person sits and learns Torah, Hashem is learning with you. So, when we go ahead and learn Torah, we're connecting the Torah with Hashem. And we actually add energy in the Torah. Because when we sit and learn Torah, Hashem is right now learning with us. Right now we're sitting and learning Torah, Hashem is learning with us. Now, so what do you see from here? That by us going ahead and doing a mitzvah, we're adding energy into the mitzvah. By us learning Torah, we're adding energy into into Torah. So, he says one second, we know Chazal tell us the first 3 days of the first 3 hours of the day, Hashem is sitting and learning Torah. So, what does that mean? So, how we adding? He says no, cuz when we learn Torah, we add on top of that. It's not a contradiction and like it's explained in many places. And not only that, more than that the Rebbe says that Chazal tell us that the Jewish people add in the power on high. Like it says, and now it's going to become greater the power of Hashem. What does that mean? That we add not only into the Torah and the mitzvahs, but we literally add energy into Hashem, so to speak. And like the Zohar says, where it says in the Torah, you will do make them So, he says and you'll do it. And Hashem is saying as if you are making me. When we learn Torah, we're making Hashem. What does that mean? The Rebbe says, well, let's stand based on what it says in Khazars that just like the soul fills the body, so the same thing also Hashem fills the whole world." What do we see from here? That just like the soul and the body's connected, so you have that you have a human being, you have a body, and you have a soul. That's it, you're alive. You are right now, but if you want to stay alive, you have to eat, and you need a garment to protect you. What does the What does the food do? It connects the soul with the body. The soul should stay in the body. And the garment protects you if it's too cold, it's too hot, etc. Because if if you don't have the proper food, and you don't have the proper gar- garment, what will happen? The soul's going to leave the body. That's in our physical body. But the same thing also on a spiritual level. When we go ahead and do our food and our garments, which is referring to learning Torah and doing mitzvahs, and like that like how the Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya, that Torah is considered food, and the mitzvahs are called garments. So, that's how we basically provide sustenance for Hashem, that there will be a connection between the soul, which is Hashem, and the body, which is the the physical world. And what does that mean? The Alter Rebbe explains as follows. What We know it says, "Marabu ma'asecha Hashem." How much how great are your actions? "Kulam b'chochma asisa." Everything you made with chochma. What does that mean? That the creation of the world and coming is comes down through what? Through the first sphere of chochma. And from chochma it goes down through all the spheres into malchus. And like it says, "Aba yesod barta." That means the chochma is connected to the last sphere. And and in in this in in spheres of malchus is connected to speech. And over there you have all Through that you have Through speech you have the connection to all the whole world. So, what do you see from here? That in order there should be a connection between godliness and the world, chochma has to come down into malchus. It has to come down through all the levels. And not only that, but based um based on we know the teaching that says "Cool on the Hashem sees all." What does that mean? Everything was made to Hashem that even Hashem compared to Hashem it's nothing. It's like it's like an action. And like the author explains in Shaar Yichud U'Emunah in in Tanya, that the fact that Hashem is totally infinite compared to anything in this world. So, what does it mean that it's that it's compared to Asiyah? Cuz we have no ways to describe it. Hashem is obviously far much greater. So, what do we see from here? That in even in order create Hashem, which is the highest level, you need to draw down a very heavy energy. And how does that come down to this world? It comes through Tanuk. Which is in Keter, you have the higher level the lower level Tanuk and it comes from the level of Tanuk. And the way it's in this world that when you the fact is we see that when a person has certain pleasure of something, so all of the sudden you have new energy. And it comes not only in Tanuk, it comes through Bina. Your your whole body moves when you have new energy. When and it comes off from Tanuk. So, the same thing also that when you is Tanuk, when there's pleasure what creates the pleasure? Through us doing our work of learning Torah and doing mitzvahs, so literally we're drawing down the essence of Hashem into the level of Hashem until it comes down to Malchus, until it comes down to the world. And that's why we're called Rayosi Parnosasi. That means we give energy to Hashem. So, in those just like when we get excited about something, we have pleasure, it comes to Hashem and to Bina and to our whole being. The same thing also when we go ahead and learn Torah and we do mitzvahs, Hashem's Tanuk gets excited and goes down to Hashem and to all the until it comes down into this world. Now, here was something very powerful. This is when things were normal and we served Hashem in a complete way. And then we're called what? Rayosi Parnosasi. We're basically we're we're feeding Hashem and Hashem is giving us all the blessings. And like it says "Pischu li achos osi." Open up to me. My sister, and bride. And that is when the Jewish people are on the level of a sister and then they become the level of a bride. But, that's the way it should be. We learn Torah, we do mitzvahs, and Hashem draws down all the blessings. But, sometimes we're standing in a level we're not doing what we're supposed to complete. And in the months of the year, when is that? It happens in the month of Elul cuz that's the month of we make an an accounting. And when you make a true accounting, really a soul-searching accounting, we come to the realization that we have to finish our work. Not only to finish in terms of lahashlim from completion, but also to finish things that were that are lacking. And then you need help from Hashem. Then Haroeh Beshashanim, then we need Hashem to come and pasture with us. That basically Hashem is taking take with a pasture and Hashem is being the one who's leading it. And that's why it's Haroeh Beshashanim, that just like a the the a rose has has 13 petals to it and which is referring to the 13 attributes of compassion in the the month of Elul. So, normally, yes, we learn Torah, we do mitzvahs, sometimes we we don't there. So, Haroeh Hashem Hashem comes and and he gives us what we need. And so, why is specifically a rose? Because that's has the 13 13 13 attributes of compassion. So, now we're going to go into that a little deeper. You have something yes, to understand the 13 attributes of compassion that takes place in the month of Elul. So, he brings in Likutei Torah on the parsha. He brings a parable of a king which is in the field. And that gives us going to explain some. So, he so you can say this that he brings a parable, why do you bring a parable? Because when you're dealing with something which is very very powerful um it relates to the physical world, so use a parable so we can relate to it. And not only that, that it's [clears throat] also found in the kingdom of the of the of the of the of the of this of the of the world. And cuz on a literal level, it's referring to the kingdom of King King David or or the other kings of the Jewish people. But, it's also referring to a a parable of the king of of the nations of the world. And the king goes out to the field. And you can say that the true idea is obviously in in in the Jewish kingdom. And this that the non-Jews also have it so that they should have freedom of choice. You have to have to have to you should choose. But, ultimately it's obviously referring to on the on the on the Jewish level. And what what is the parable? So, the parable goes like this, that when the king goes out before he comes to the city, so the people of the city come out and they greet him. Where do they greet him? Before he comes to the city, they greet him out in the in the field. And when he's out there, so the expression is that you're able to whoever wants to go ahead and greet the king in the field, you can go there and you he receives you with savor upon him your face with a beautiful face and he smiles at you, etc. That's the parable. Now, this that the the people of the city You're a city person. Why are you going out to the field? Not only the field, but not only you're going to the field, you've become a person of the field. And when you're working in the field you when you're in the field you're working like a person in the field. Like what what what is like all tells a person in the field you're you're you're plowing, you're sowing, you're cutting, etc. And everything that you're doing that's type of work you have to do it honestly and you have to do it faith. And in order to do it with honesty and with faith, you have to do all the work of the field. And [clears throat] therefore when you're out in the field from your garments when you're dressed out into work in the field, you can tell that you're a person in the field. So, what does that mean on the spiritual level? What's what's the parable? That in the month of Elul the 13 attributes of compassion are available. Even to someone that's a person in the field and you're wearing garments of the field and you're referring to the garments of the soul, which is basically the thought and the speech and the action. And not only is your speech and your action of a person in the field, but even the thoughts are of a person in the field. Cuz action and speech without thought it's not it's not that's not a human that's not a way a human behaves. That's just like an animal. But since we're dealing with a human being, so obviously your thought is connected to your your speech and your action. And it's just like it's in the parable. That's the way that that's the way it's in a nutshell. What does it mean practically? That the king goes ahead and he shows you a smiley face to everybody in the field. And he receives everything that you're asking. And the same thing also on every level. Hashem is there for us. So, there were sayings like this that normally, yes, we're supposed to take care of Hashem. What happens if we don't? Chodesh Elul, we realize, but guess what? Hashem accepts us. Hashem accepts us who we are, the way we are. And he continues on to explain in Likutei Torah, and when the king goes to the to the to the city, we go with him. Then you can say, "What does that mean?" This explains that when the 13 attributes of compassion are out there in the month of Elul, and then it's Rosh Hashanah, Hashem is taking care of us. What happens we get elevated to the next level. And what is the next level? Not only are we we are taking, we start giving to Hashem. Because since in the beginning we were people of the field, but then when we go back to the city, and we go back to the to the city of of of the king, not only to the to the to the to the outside part, etc., but we go to the king himself, and we're able to go there, we actually add in the honor of the king. How do we add in the honor of the king? Because we know the expression says in Malchut Olam. There's no such thing as a king without people. The king does need us. And Am doesn't only mean a nation, it means Am Yisrael coals that are dying. A king, you want to be a king, you need to have a nation that part of it is dying. And specifically through them you can put the crown on the king. And not only that, the more the merrier. Berov Am Hadrat Melech. Through the that there's more Am, there's more people that have coals that are fading away, we actually add honor in the king. And that's why it says Vayosef Panim Asasi. After Hashem shines the 13 attributes of compassion in the month of Elul, we go to the next level that we actually take care of Hashem and we give Hashem what Hashem needs. Now, through the fact that the Jewish people do our work in the month of Elul, which comes through the 13 attributes of compassion, where it says Ani Ledodi Vedodi Li, I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me. In other words, we stand on the level of Ani Ledodi, that we turn to Hashem. And we turn in one one second. Like in the verse in Niddah, Ein Care, we turn around one second to Hashem. And how did that happen? Because Hashem gave us the 13 attributes of compassion, which is hiding all the powers that we have. And then we're able to go ahead and turn to Hashem in one one second. Now, this work of returning to Hashem and turning to Hashem in one shot is not enough. And that's why it says Harei'ach Beshoshanim, who is basically pasturing in in in the Don't call it Shoshanim. What does that mean? But to Shainim Halachos. Not only we're talking about roses, but we literally learn Halacha, which means we're basically learning Torah and laws of Torah. And that's why we know that in the Torah you have the 13 attributes of compassion that the Torah that the Torah is learned out through these 13 attributes. Just like [clears throat] the rose has 13 petals. Why? Because what does it mean you're returning to Hashem? It has to come into the vessels. Not just turning to Hashem, it has to internalize it. Which means learning Torah. And that's why learning Torah in the month of Elul is connected with teshuvah, returning to Hashem. And as we know that the month of Elul that was the last 40 days that Moshe Rabbeinu received the second commandments. And as we know that in these days Moshe Rabbeinu wasn't busy praying in the last 40 days. He was actually learning Torah. The difference between the first 40 days just like the difference between the first commandments and the second commandments is the difference between the the the spiritual work of a tzaddik and the spiritual work of a baal teshuvah. And not only that, since everything in the world, the source comes from Torah, like it says clearly, Hashem looked into the Torah and that's what he used to create the world. And the creation happens in every single second, like the Baal Shem Tov says in Siftei Chachamim and in Tanya in Shaar HaEmunah that the letters of the 10 utterances of the Torah, which is connected to the 10 commandments, like it says Asarah Asarah Kaf, the 10 utterances connected to 10 commandments, and we know that Chazal teach us that they give life and they and they and they give um um survival everything that's created every single second. And that's why the 13 attributes of compassion of the month of Elul is connected specifically with learning Torah that has the 13 attributes of compassion in there. And that's why the month of Elul we find that you have to add in two areas, learning Torah and praying. And like it's brought down in in in the in the commentaries, that even someone who's a Torah scholar, you have to spend a little more more time praying. Why? Because you need to have both components in the month of Elul. One is Haroeh Beshanim, which is referring to the 13 attributes of compassion. And the 13 attributes of is connected to prayer and and beseeching Hashem. And the second idea is to learn Halacha. And therefore you have to have learning to turn in the month of Elul. So he finished up and he said something very beautiful. Should be the will of Hashem. From these words of Halacha, when they come very very soon to this the words of Hashem is the is is the end. And like it's brought down there I don't bring down Halacha in in in in in Maimonides that the Jewish people return to Hashem immediately, right away we get redeemed. And we're going to get redeemed through Moshe Rabbeinu who is the first redeemer, the last redeemer. And we're going to go together for the third base of Migdash. Because it says by Yom Hashlishi, on the third day he commanded we're going to stand up, we're going to live in front of Hashem. And this is this should happen very very quickly. We're going to go to Eretz Yisrael, to Jerusalem, the holy city, the the the city of Hashem, and to the to the Temple Mount, the mount of Hashem, and to the Beit Hamikdash, the the Beit Hamikdash that Hashem created. And the Rabbi says finish it off like so beautifully as he always does, but it should happen very very soon. And most importantly, besimcha uvetuv levav, with joy and gladness of heart. So here we have our work cut out for us with the month of Elul to return to Hashem. Hashem will redeem us and next class will be in Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh. Have a great and blessed week. Shavua tov.