How the Baal Shem Tov Taught Love | Letter #1 of 30 Letters in 30 Days

all right this is 30 letters in 30 days again we did this a year ago uh Isaiah and we're doing it again because Baruch Hashem the public reaction to this this preparation for the Devil's birthday was received so favorably and so many requests were made to do it again so we are doing it again today Shabbos kadish Shabbos Parsha zacher was yud aleph other which makes it a month or 30 days before your office and actually uh there's a short month so we'll we'll finish our 30 days actually on the night not going into udolph Nissan like we did last year but coming out of yodel of Nissan and we'll share with you whatever plans we have about our our cm that that will be forthcoming um I just want to mention some practical stuff before we jump in there was not time to create a printed booklet last year there was a printed booklet this year what we're going to ask you to do is to get the PDFs which you can download if you're watching on YouTube right now there's a link right below the player that says it's clickable it says 30 letters 30days.com so you can just click on that and it'll take you to the 30 letters 30 days site where that's your One Stop Shop for everything related to this uh to this program to this project including archives of previous classes when we'll start to have previous classes tonight's the first class so there are no previous classes yet and further information about the project so this is the the PDF which you can download and you can print this is literally what I'm using is the printed out PDF that everyone has access to and of course it would be a good time for me to mention secrets in English are Partners in this project who made the English text available to us and I would also like to mention some more important people who make this possible I have sort of the uh disingenuous uh privilege of sitting here alone in front of the camera and it makes it appear like Chase Taub is making all of this happen which is absolutely not at all accurate this is a group project and really something that I could never pull off without the support that I get first of all I just want to acknowledge Robbie Levy ambassy shemtov of West Bloomfield Michigan who are the ones who started the project last year and who made sure that resources whatever was needed was provided and again played that same instrumental role again and are playing that instrumental role again this year also of course the VOD or veg from the igoodham and specifically I want to mention everything the director of the women's division of vaderm who oversaw this project last year and is again overseeing this project as well as Hani shemtov and also my research team you don't think I'm this smart I'm not my research team zalek shemtov and Mendel rosenblue and of course our project coordinator lady cats and as I mentioned stickers in English although I'll call him up by name because he's a personal French Molly often rubbish movie often from circus in English and there are many many others involved as well but uh that that will suffice for tonight uh very very briefly the importance of studying the Reb is egress is something that cannot be overstated meaning to say that as much as we'll explain it it really probably requires more explanation the Deb is scholarship in his and is my modem is well known and um for whatever reason it seems that not a lot of people realize that the egress the egress kadish are a treasure Trove of wisdom and insight and really a way of learning a whole new thought pattern and a way of approaching life and last year that was one of the main goals of the project and again this is a goal of the project is just to give people a sampling from egress so that they will get turned on to this type of limud themselves and also we should mention that this limud this study of egress is a fitting gift for you at alavnus and for the Reba's birthday because the Reba specifically requested Gifts of Torah to study Torah and we are studying the egress so this is uh definitely in that in that category there's much more to be said about this I try to stick to a 30 minute time limit that was the original concept 30 letters 30 days 30 minutes so I'm not going to speak more about it tonight but I encourage you for more background about the egress and about how the rabbit personally uh conceived of the project and pushed the project and guided the project and and treated it with the utmost priority and urgency and what the dev is vision for the project of egress was that you can find in the first couple of lessons of last year's 30 letters in 30 days um last year we were studying from halik yud aleph of egress this year we're studying from um there are many different ways of approaching the study of the rebez iris one way would be to just take various different letters on one theme regardless of the year and to study like that but what we chose to do and I want to remind you uh I mentioned it a year ago if you don't remember what we've chosen to do is to take one volume and to go through it chronologically we're not reading every letter obviously there are far more than 30 letters in in the volume but to go through it chronologically and to give you a sampling a a cross-section if you will of one volume of egress and and the reason for this approach is because when you go through the egress from one page to the next that Evan may be speaking to a communal leader on one page in the very next page that I was speaking to a mother about her about her family about her children one page that I may be speaking to somebody who's a great scholar and a rabbi in the next page and maybe someone who's not even religious yet to men to women to old to Young uh all levels of observance um all walks of life all backgrounds uh and and that's what we wanted to try to represent to you in this uh in this 30-day sampling so what we've done is we've just sort of going through one volume uh well like I mentioned it's uh volume 18 which corresponds to the year um tough shin your tests and uh and as we go through the letters you're just going to encounter all types of different situations that run the gamut of human experience and you'll see how the Debbie responds to each of these individuals without further Ado let's jump into tonight's letter which is the first letter of this volume of egress Brooklyn New York and to whom is it addressed snife Shabbat the chapters of the branches of the Chabad women's movement in all places wherever they may be Hashem bless you all addresses women as opposed to shalom and we explained that in last year's classes as well I think it's interesting one of the main features that we we emphasized last year in the 30 letters in 30 days connects to individuals and this letter is not to individuals but to a group it is not a myth of clolly proper where the rabbit would at various times of the year write a letter to all Jews everywhere All Sons and Daughters of Israel but it's it is a mirth of clolly in a in a sense in that it is addressed to a large group uh from a very large organization located in many different locales and um so we do not get that glimpse of the personal touch that we do in other letters nevertheless it is the first letter in the volume and I don't think this was exactly the planning but here's a little practice this letter has within it story and we're launching the 30 letters 30 days initiative this year's and of course as many of you know it is a time-honored hallowed tradition to tell a belshanto story and matsushabis so we have our al-shamto story and what's the Shabbos straight from so here we go oh and this is in Yiddish most letters in egress are in Hebrew but some are in Yiddish and especially when the rebel would write to women quite often that was the language that the devil would use okay and it's a different Yiddish than your dish that you're used to if you used to look at the circus Yiddish I think you'll you'll notice that all right being on the threshold of a new year which should be for blessing for all Jews I I wish for you Allah all of you in general and each of you individually masuka a good sweet year I don't want to read too much into this but I just want to make a comment and that is obviously nothing that ever writes is formality the debit doesn't just write things because it sounds good or that's the way that people say things so when the Reba says I want to wish you all of you together and each of you specifically a good sweet year um that has meaning that has a lot of meaning um if the debit is blessing everyone individually then why does he have to mention he's blessing them all together you know you get the same result though you know why does it ever have to say both and first the rabbit says all of you together and then the devil says but each of you individually as well sounds a little bit redundant to maybe poetic uh this is not insignificant I think it could be argued that this may even be one of the main themes in all of the Revis Torah a theme that perhaps I will refer to as uh the Paradox encapsulated in vayak El pakode is we should mention this year is a year of hakil a year of assembly the yakil is assembly and pakode is individual accounting and in many years those two parishes are read together and they have opposite meanings and that I would often speak about that Paradox not just in years of ayako pakode but in fact not just when vyakov kude were read together the the final fabrangin that we have until now from the rabbit before and other was a Shabbos again spoke about the Paradox it's a very important idea the individual and the group the group and the individual each one adds something to the other and I think it's a very important thing to remember that you we we look everywhere we see the world is confused about this about collectivist societies and individualist societies and when does the greater good uh Prevail and and when should we honor the individual uh path of each person and this Paradox is a is a theme and a motif that runs through all of the Devastator and uh even here in what seems like a a simple uh way of phrasing a a new year blessing is contained this idea it's particularly relevant to Rosh Hashanah remember this is a blessing for a good sweet year that I was writing this letter out of Rosh Hashanah we know Rosh Hashanah is all about that's the partial we read always before Rosh Hashanah you are standing all together and the idea of of Jewish Unity before we head into the uh into the new year says a good sweet New Year is a vort not from but about uh speaking about the sweetness you know we we dip apples and honey so what's the idea of the honey it I I forget what the actual someone could Google it and find it but uh a b in its lifetime makes a ridiculously small amount of honey it's tiny it's a microscopic amounts nothing that anybody could enjoy so when you have a spoonful even just a spoonful of honey that actually represents the work of thousands of bees and if you have a whole jar of honey then that could even be generations of bees and and the the symbolism is that when we're being judged and Rosh Hashanah we say to Hashem don't just look at what I'm doing look at the whole timeline look at the Jewish people on a Continuum of History look at look at our holy forebearers just like the Spoonful of Honey represents a uh a whole uh ancestry of bees at any rate so the Debbie gives a blessing for a good sweet new year take the entire Cloud to the group together as well as to the individuals okay what's in them is zelbs for stenler sniff now obviously it's self-evident goes without saying self-understood that in this bracha for a good sweet ear is included success in your chapter of the Chabad women's organization so when the dev is giving braches to people for a good sweet here obviously he's giving that they should succeed in their in their uh public service that they're involved in in this case these women are involved in and affiliated with um is quantitative which level says increasing the number of members is also qualitative from the arbit to deepen the work so those are two those are two brachas two distincts the Kamas and the ahas the quality the quantity and the quality that you should get more members to sign up that's quantity and you should deepen the work meaning that the the connection to the people should be on a on a deeper level it should move them and should change their lives and you know all the qualitative aspects of the work foreign when it comes to things that are good and holy there's always a place no matter how good things already are to to do to add more and more things that are good and holy what's good and holy good and holy we know from Tanya actually it says in chapter six of Tanya that what is Holy Holy means Bittle to elacus something that is surrendered to to godliness and godliness is infinite so if you're dealing with things that are infinite then no matter how good things are now you have an infinite room for growth I think that's also an important point just to make here uh regarding the deba's approach to encouraging people um the web is obviously famous for being very demanding and having high expectations and some people celebrate that but I'll be honest and I'll tell you I've heard people especially labavagers say sometimes it makes them nervous like will they ever ever be satisfied that ever said he's never satisfied does it mean that I haven't pleased which is a thought that can obviously uh can be a difficult thought to to Harbor and so here's what I want to try to clarify nowhere here does the devil say anything anything even similar to well I can get I'm giving you a brother you guys should finally start getting it right there's no implant God forbid there's no implication of that at all to the contrary actually the Reba starts with acknowledgment that they're doing good stuff already but because they're dealing with that which is infinite so as good as it already is you can do more you know the web is uh common phrase that he would invoke when encouraging people who had just succeeded at a project to take on an even greater project that I would say yeah um which there's two halves of that one is to go to strength but also there's coming from strength going from strength to strength in other words implicit there not even implicit explicit is an acknowledgment that what you've done is already strong and based on that strength now Bill take that and carry the momentum forward to a greater strength so I think it's just very important to to realize that as much as the rabbit demands more it's not a negation of the previous accomplishment to the contrary it's an affirmation of the previous accomplishment and because you've succeeded already therefore let's take that to the next level okay just I think an important point in the Deborah's approach in general to encouraging people and I see that I'm not in the rhythm of this class and I don't want any comments yes I know I'm human it's 10 22 and I haven't even gotten into the heart of the letter I know I'm gonna go over time please I'm human forgive me I'm gonna go late I gotta get into the Rhythm and it's a long letter I gotta get back into the rhythm of these 30-minute sessions and uh I promise you with God's help before the 30th letter I'll be back in the in the 30-minute Zone okay let's continue a little less commentary for me Israel versus the basis of the work you do the work that does Israel which is a theme which is elaborated upon at length in many places in citizen especially from by the way okay I said I'm going to cut down on the commentary but I I just can't let this go by I think it's I I learned something when I read that paragraph if you would have stopped me before I learned this letter and said what is the foundation of the work of Michelle okay I don't know maybe it's if it's for women it probably has something to do with women uh maybe women's Mitzvahs I don't know what what I'm not sure well that episode is very clearly here the the foundation of the work of this organization called the Rabbit doesn't even say it like hey I want to let you in on something I want you to know this the debit just says like that's a given because the foundation of the work of it is on to what he's about to say which we haven't read yet but after I read it it was like of course of course the foundation of the work of nishes because the never said that from day one at the first official fabregan accepted leadership that never spoke about the three loves right the mission statement love of Hashem and love of Terror and love of Jews so of course everything's going to be about the love of Jews that's that's the foundation of everything also I should mentioned that today was parshus titsave where my shoulder's name is glaringly omitted it's missing and uh as maforsham explained one reason at least is because that was the fulfillment of the argument told Hashem don't wipe out the Jewish people if if they go I go and uh even though his mashiramino's argument was effective because the words of azadiq have to be fulfilled at least to some extent so there was one Parsha from which his name was omitted and that is parshus titsave and like that explains that instead of having maation's name we have the essence of Maisha as indicated by the Atta and you Maisha as he transcends even his name and what is the essence of Maisha for Jews how did he get his name omitted by standing up for Jews Jews who were sinful and being my sinatish for them and so what's the the and you the pronoun which transcends names of my shouldbeno it is his love his sacrifice for Love of All Jews and uh so now after you read it it's like oh yeah that's right the foundation of the work of Michelle should have known it didn't know it know it now okay fine let's continue so since the foundation of your work Israel I'm gonna bring here and what excerpt am I going to bring a story Everyone likes stories hot zeinetside and this story which is an excerpt from a fabregan is actually a good test kiss is that as a story that was originally told by the time so the rabbit is not going to tell a story that his father-in-law told which was originally told by the time out of Rosh Hashanah Israel which is the date of this letter is the Tomato's birthday so here we have on the Timar saidek's birthday a story that the temerity told later retold by the Friedrich karabem and now the rabbit is sharing with us here we go and like I said what's a Shabbos it's a custom to tell about shamto story so hint what story what kind of story this is going to be is writing he refers to the the Tamara it's his grandfather it was actually his great grandfather but there is a so the fried says that my great grandfather heard from his grandfather the altareb which he in turn heard when he was in the town of mesdrich which was where the Magid held Court the Magid was the successor and chief disciple of the balshamtov um a story about the balshamtov here we go before he was revealed and while shemtov had three phases of his life 26 10 26. they were the first 26 years of his life uh then he started to travel with the Sadiq nistadam and learning with the uh with uh the Navy shilani who taught him tairah and said satira all of this in a secret fashion and then after 10 years of that at the age of 36 he became revealed and he was a public leader and figure for 26 more years after that so 62 years in total so before his rev being revealed it was on his birthday actually his 36th birthday before before his being revealed uh and this wasn't just um before he was real also even after he became revealed reflected a room foreign he used to travel into Jewish villages okay so this is something that balsamdev did when he was still anister a hidden sadik and something he did also at the beginning years of his public life so he traveled to Jewish cities on flecked in Mitten Mark he'd go to the middle of the marketplace I would say but I'm dating myself that it's kind of like the mall today but you see that um yeah I was born in the 70s Millennials are like the mall what's a mall but yeah once upon a time human beings did all sort of congregate in public areas that would center around merchandise it was before Amazon existed so yeah people would go to public centers of Commerce and that was just sort of a place where you would find people anyways um I guess today you'd have to go on YouTube to find people which is why we're on YouTube and I'm not sitting in the marketplace but the balshamtov used to go to the marketplace um yeah and Suzanne claibina roomzer he would gather around him deposited in the simple Jews men women and children men women and children say she put him and he would tell them stories now most of the stories he told were agarita they were actually the stories that you would find in in yankov which are the uh agarita from in other words stories from hazal from from so you tell these stories mostly that's what he would tell reflect maitrex and he would sort of go at length explaining the stories he would give commentary not claiming my commentary is on that level but I'm just saying he would tell stories and give commentary or sometimes he would tell his own story like a contemporary story and he would connect it with something from the teachings of the Sages and why did he do this big day as their Indians by the header it would help that the concept would be absorbed by the listeners so in other words he wouldn't just teach the teachings of the sages he would translate it into terms and to stories and sayings that would be relatable for his audience that's that's how he taught Toyota by Azad to Zaman kumen one time at such a gathering them Indian foreign loving your fellow Jew the greatest star sign by Eden and how great meaning how important avas Israel has to be by us this and he explained that how do you know how big our office Israel has to be to one another by how big it is from Hashem to us meaning when you reflect upon how much Hashem loves a Jew then that should be an indication for you as well that you should also strive to love a Jew s and he explained this with an example here's the example once upon a time there was a Jew by the name is he was expert by memorization the entire talmud and commentaries of Russia and thesis and that is how he would study he would study without books he would study by memory so you can imagine the type of concentration that such study required remarks parenthetically and by the way this is the Frida Krab is parenthetical um remark because the rabbit is remember quoting the way the freedom could have been told the story there are some changes minor changes but this is from the original uh Janet zeiten is Das nitgiven Kane zeldenheit in those days this was not that much of a rarity in Jewish towns in other words we would be hard-pressed to think of one person we know who's capable of studying the entire talmud and tastevis and Russia balpe without any books but in those days it wasn't that rare I mean obviously it was it was considered Advanced but uh there were such people such people existed was such a person unasmen learned ice venicked them learn when you learn by heart without a book you have to focus more on your studies right that's obvious we all understand that the venmen learned in a vanic much more than when you study with a book when you have a book so you look inside even if you sort of lose your focus you you can prompt Yourself by looking at the words on the page so this is the setup for the story listen give was studying in such a manner which obviously required intense focus and concentration yeah okay Yankovic it's one time the Bianca was learning in this manner like we said without books completely by memory he was learning a very difficult and big svis in the original um words of the filigree he calls it a bikinis a typhus with a with a bike with a with a belly um I don't know maybe the rabbit didn't want to use that expression but it's a and it's an expression to describe a a big typhus one that is um lengthy and you have to really navigate through each step and it's multi-layered so it's a it's not easy to learn even if you have a book in front of you and you can look at the words but Yankee was learning such a tasteful um by Heart by memory okay and um so he was learning yeah such a tasteful is a clean kind his little kid came over to him and told him some clever thing is very deeply focused on his learning and all of a sudden this little kid comes over and tells him some I don't wanna I don't want to say cute but cute I mean he was a kid it wasn't like he said anything as profound as the typhus that Bianca was learning for his age it was it was it was wise but childlike wisdom now what do you think happened you think of Bianca said please please please stop this learning right now please come back come back oh I'm trying to focus I'm learning tasteful by memory and you're coming over and you're telling me your cute things I you think that's what I'm Bianca said let's find out okay so this little kid came over yeah I told him something smart Israel Darkness was very impressed he was very taken by this smart thing that his child said now obviously a child's not saying anything smarter than Texas but it's his child he stopped he paused his learning foreign this is the effect that a child can have that's the story that the balship told there was a father who was a big scholar big genius and he was in the middle of his deep study and his little kid came over and told him something clever and the father stopped doing his deep stuff listen to his kid and he was impressed he said wow that was good wow that was really profound such a smart child you are and the feeder could ever says Hey after all that's the effect that a kid can have right when your kid comes over to talk to you I think it's interesting by the way since I'm over time already this is not the nimshile this is the Marshall maybe in our time maybe in our day and age this should also be the nimshul you know the difference in emotional the Marshall is the thing that's easy to understand get you to understand the Nim show which on its own would have been harder to understand so the fact that a father even a big genius would stop doing his genius stuff and listen to his kid that is easy to understand and from there we bring you to the Nim show which I don't want to give it away but I'll give it away right now is how Hashem takes interest in his children the Jewish people I'm just making a comment that maybe for us the the muscle itself is a nymshul the muscle itself is a Muslim is a lesson and an instruction that whatever we're dealing with no matter how deep no matter how important no matter how much focus it requires that not only should we interrupt for our children but have the capacity to really hear them and to be impressed by what they're saying to be moved by what they're saying but at any rate that's just totally my commentary here this story serves purely as an analogy so let's learn the analog to the analogies so to speak Hashem is that foreign explained foreign do with his day 12 hours in a day and explains in three hour segments what he does during those uh four or three hour segments in the first hours it says that uh Hashem sits and learns the holy Torah and so mourning is hashem's learning time and what happens and right in hashem's learning time chakras right praise the morning prayer expresses his request is it a math sick so Hashem the Holy One interrupts um and he occupies himself with the requests and the prayers of a Jew Hashem doesn't say oh tati is learning right now come back to me later no Hashem interrupts and he focuses on the requests of his child just like ramyankev stopped his deep study connect to his child of course we're learning all of this like we said because trying to explain how much we need to love each other so as a basis for that we need to First understand how much Hashem loves us foreign when Hashem told the angels that he wanted to create man on the sixth day of creation the Angels asked what's it going to look like so they heard the answer and they were like what what is a person that is worthy of mention that's a possock from um from tillem from Capital uh and this is which speaks there about this whole discussion between the angels and Hashem before Man was created so the angel said in the words of uh [Music] like this is what a person is this is what you're getting excited about you're going to make something like this what's the big deal about him as I mentioned what do you need such a thing for what do you need such a person is when a Jew gets up in the morning so we're gonna explain why Hashem is interested in having this this Mensch that he created here's why he's interested when a person gets up in the morning and he rushes off to pray with a quorum with a group early um the whole day he is busy he's preoccupied obviously with his livelihood um but then nevertheless he puts aside all of his business and he goes to David minhan show so it's not a big deal that minshol if you're uh in Cairo and you're already there you're learning all day we're talking about a guy who has a business and he's working all day and he is like it says he's completely preoccupied with his business and yet he stops and he goes and he davins Minka the afternoon prayer learning and yankov and then in between there's a share the rabbi teaches in yanker he listens because he's not capable maybe of learning on his own he's not a scholar but he sits by the sheer an might have and then he divins might have bring to him this is the most important part if you remember from our 30 letters 30 days last year our first letter about bringing home the fabregans he comes home and he tells his wife and children a little bit of the in yankov that he learned in shul so when a person does this is then small then Hashem tells them Allah tells the Angels get over here everyone gather around look at this look at this mentioned he's very proud Hashem is very proud of this person that he created Hashem says to the angels you you guys angels had Nick Kane you don't have millstones on your neck he translates it in Yiddish as a yoke those are different things but they have the same meaning it means you don't have any obligation to make a living you Angels you don't know what it's like to have to make money Kane Freud when Kinder you know have wife and children you don't have these obligations you don't have any worries can you miss him you don't have uh taxes you don't have any of these problems that a match whereas this person has millstones on his neck meaning has the burden of making a living and so just so you know Hashem mentions I told him it's not that he went off on his own and thought it would be cool to have to make money Hashem says my fault I set it up this way I told him that he has to go make a living that's the system that I set up I'll Peter that according to the Toyota died from a finance he has an obligation to to sustain his wife and children he has no choice and he's not doing it for fun if you think he's doing this for fun he's not he's doing because this is his obligation his holy obligation then he's all preoccupied and busy you know what miss him by knowingness he has taxes to pay he has the the Yoke of the goddess of foreign powers over him [Music] and look how he conducts himself look at that all of his challenges that that he has to deal with on a daily basis and the guy gets up he goes in davins middle of the day goes to Minka he sits by Ashira Diamond Smite if he comes home he shares a little Toyota with his family you're not impressed by that Hashem tells the Angels that's impressive to me you're telling me a man's not impressive this is very impressive and Hashem is proud foreign how much every little good thing that a Jew does gives Hashem so much pride that should have a big effect or it does have it does have a big effect when you'll actually think about it so this the feeling is saying in the name of this what he heard from the altadaba which he heard in mezadich this is what the balship one day in the marketplace was teaching he told this story about and he made a point he said think about how much Hashem cherishes and values a Jew a simple Jew the way that a father cherishes and values his little child okay so this ishana message to the all right so that's the excerpt now that ABBA continues if he's like it's been explained several times a an unwise the stories the teachings the stories of arabis that we hear from them our teaching or an instruction to guide everyone who hears these stories and simultaneously not only is it a guide but it's an empowerment so when you hear a story from not only does it tell you what you need to be doing but it actually infuses you with the power to be able to do it it gives you strength and blessing just by hearing just by hearing the story can you imagine that just by us hearing these words these holy words we've just been empowered to have greater obvious Israel as benzaldus can in that you should be able to carry it out obviously it's not enough to just appreciate it but you have to carry it out and now it only depends on the listener as all thus at a feeling light der cavana that he should carry it out according to the intent in other words you were told what you need to do you are given the power to do it you're given the power to do it and now it's just up to you to carry it out amazing in them foreign explained what that meant to grow the organization quantitatively and quality qualitatively because with a blessing to be written and sealed for good so yeah to all of you and your families and that is our first letter of our journey we'll see you tomorrow night