The Path of Truth & Integrity הדרך הישרה שיבור לו האדם היא דרך התורה ומצוות Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz

Welcome to our class in Sukkos, we're going to be learning a beautiful Sukkos discourse in the Rebbe. The name of the Sukkos discourse is called Rebbe Omer. The Rebbe said this Sukkos discourse on Shabbos Parshas Emor, that year was the third day of the month of Iyar in the year Tav Shin Mem Daled, 42 years ago. So again, the Sukkos discourse is based on the Mishnah of Pirkei Avos we're learning now between Pesach and Shavuos, and again Chabad custom is all throughout the summer we learn Pirkei Avos. So the Rebbe brings from the Mishnah it says as follows, Rebbe Omer, Rebbe says, "Aizehu derech yeshara?" What is the right way sheyavcharehu adam, the person should choose, kol sheyihye tiferes lo v'sa, whatever is beauty for the human being, v'tiferes leman adam, it brings him beauty from other people. Rebbe says we know the Sukkos discourse from the previous Rebbe of Shabbos Parshas Emor in the year Tav Shin, and then the Rebbe says that year was the same schedule as as this year when the Rebbe said this discourse on this Mishnah, which is the which is the beginning of the chapter in Pirkei Avos which is learned in that Shabbos, based on the custom to learn Pirkei Avos between Passover and Shavuos, which is basically a custom which everyone accepted, not like the custom to learn it also throughout the summer, which is that only some people which is that happens to be the Chabad custom, and he points out over there he says, "What does it mean when Rebbe is saying in a clear way that a person should pick the straight path in serving Hashem?" And he says it's a derech yeshara, it's a very straight path. In other words, what does that mean? It means he's saying is there's other paths, there's there's crooked paths, there's weird paths, but this is the straight path. Um, and the other ones also, but this is the straight path. So in other words, what's what so what's so unique and what is the what does it mean that we're saying this is the derech yeshara, there's other paths, there's other good paths, whatever they are, but this is the straight path. What does that mean? Now, also it said the what does the Mishnah say? Tiferes lo yisa, it's beautiful beautiful for the person doing it, and tiferes leman adam, it brings him beauty from from from other people as well. So the fact that Rebbe says one second, when when when you're doing it it's referring to you. Like the Mishnah says, aizeh derech derech yeshara sheyavcharehu adam, it's referring to the path the path that you're doing. It's so which is beauty to the person that's doing it. So what does it mean v'tiferes leman adam, that it's going to be bring you honor. We're referring to the person. So Rebbe says then to understand all this he'd like to give an introduction based on a verse that says in reference to it says as follows, ki yesharim darchei Hashem, the ways of Hashem are yesharim, are straight. And it's explained at length in the explanation of the Zohar what what that means, and he explains as follows, that the way which is called a true path, what it means a path, a road, that means it connects you the from the from the the analogy from the palace of the king up to like the most secret anti-chamber of the king with the most furthest way city country of the of the kingdom. So a path takes you from the highest place to the lowest place and the lowest place to the highest place. Now, in every path there's something which is called in Kabbalah ratzoi v'shuv. So you you go you you you you you're leaving and you're coming back. That's the nature of every path. Then through that path of going and coming you go from the palace of the king to the furthest part, and then you go from the furthest part back to the king. And that's why it says yesharim, the verse says yesharim, it's it's straight, the ways of Hashem. What are the ways what is the path? What what are those paths? So in in a palace you're talking about a physical road. What's the road that takes us from the lowest place to the highest places? Very simple, it's learning Torah and doing mitzvos. Because when a person learns Torah you connect to Hashem, when you do a mitzvah you draw godliness down into the world, and that that that connects the Jewish people with the palace of the king and with the king himself, the essence of Hashem. And that's why it says tzadikim yelchu vo, that the the righteous people go in that path of Torah and mitzvos, and we know v'amech kulam tzadikim, everyone's a tzadik, so everyone's going in the path with Hashem. Now, when it comes to the work of learning Torah and doing mitzvos, there's there's there's there's there's two levels. Like he explains in in in that Sukkos discourse. In other words, when a person initially learns and does a mitzvah, you're doing on your on on on on your on your own understanding. In other words, what does that mean? You're doing it for yourself to to to to fix your soul that came down to this world, the soul came down here, and the soul is going to be stuck here if you don't learn. So you're learning Torah and doing mitzvos to connect the soul with Hashem. And that's what it means tiferes lo yisa, it's beauty for the person that's doing it cuz it's taking you out of being engrossed in the materialistic world and it's connecting to you Hashem and bringing down Hashem energy to you. So it's referring to the person doing the mitzvah, it's a beautiful thing. Wow, the person's connected to Hashem. That's level number one. But then you come to a higher level, v'tiferes leman adam, it's beauty for the person. What does it mean? Adam is referring to the human being, which is referring to not the the person, but it's referring to the adam ha'elyon, referring to Hashem. That when a person does their work in a complete way by learning Torah and doing mitzvos, we affect Hashem. And like the Zohar says on the verse that says asher yasa oisam ha'adam v'cha bahem, that you'll the person will go ahead and do that and you'll be alive. So oisam is is is is is written aleph vav samech mem, which is oisam mem, but the Zohar says you take out the vav cuz cuz it spells adam, you. In other words, Hashem is saying when you're going ahead and doing your part, you're literally creating me, you're making me. What does that mean? When a person goes ahead and fulfills the 248 mitzvos, we go ahead and we build the sfira the sfira of of Zeir Anpin. As we know that we take nine, which is times nine, times three, and you add the heichalos together, you have you you have you have you have 248. So by doing the 248 mitzvos, we go ahead and we build Zeir. Also the the like like like it's explained that when a person goes ahead and prays down here, we go ahead and create create that Hashem is praying. And the same thing also when we learn Torah down here, Hashem is learning with us. So the first level he's saying is when you learn Torah you're doing mitzvos, wow, you're you're pulling you're you're you're you're you're making yourself shine. But the second level is you're actually causing Hashem to shine. Cuz as we learn, pray, do mitzvos, Hashem has an upgrade. Rebbe said he'd like to add based on this an explanation of other other points of the same Mishnah. Because seemingly what does it mean tiferes, it's beauty for the person that's doing it. Another tiferes lo oiseh, the one that's doing the mitzvah. In other words, what is the it says over here the Mishnah says derech, the path. So what does a sia, action, have to do with a path? What is a path? A path means you're walking there, not standing in one place, and the Mishnah is referring to a path that a person should pick to go in it. So what does it mean oiseh, action? So based on what we just learned Rebbe said it's beautiful, why? Cuz what is the path referring to? It's the path is referring to learning Torah and doing mitzvos. And in Torah and mitzvos, yes, action does apply. Because the ultimate completion and the intent why Hashem gave us the Torah and the mitzvos, specifically we're in this physical world in in our oilam ha'sia, in the physical world, which means we have to do the mitzvos physically, and we have to bring down the Torah into the physical world. And based on this you can also explain the Mishnah why it says, aizeh what is the way aizeh derech sheyavcharehu adam yeshara sheyavcharehu adam, that what is the straight path a person should pick? And he says they should pick. What does it mean pick? Because what is what is picking mean? It's referring to transforming the physical world, and how do you transform form the physical world? You transform the world through learning Torah and doing mitzvos, you go ahead and you elevate the world. And Rebbe said based on this Rebbe says we will will understand the whole idea why it says, aizeh derech yeshara, it's the straight path the person should pick. In other words, that what comes out from there that it's that you can pick it, which means you have the power. The human being, we have the power to go and do we have to do. What does that mean? Because seemingly Rebbe was saying one second, what do we say? We're focusing transforming the holy sparks. But seemingly there's a higher there's a higher there's a higher level of elevation. What's the higher level? Repentance, returning to Hashem. Cuz we know when a person does teshuvah, zedonois, something which is a sin becomes a positive thing. And over here you're saying, no, that's not considered the straight path of teshuvah. Because why why is that? Now this teshuvah even though it's high as it is, not the straight path, why? Because a person on his own accord, on his own choice, you're not allowed to go ahead and say I'm going to sin and then I'm going to repent. And like we know it says clearly in the Rambam that a person said I'm going to sin and I'm going to go ahead and repent, it's the opposite of Torah. Yes, when a person sins and you repent, God gives you a gift that you can do teshuvah. And like the like the verse says, no yirah l'eilu b'nei adam, which means God goes ahead and creates the the the the person should sin so that he can reach a higher level. And like the Zohar says when a nefesh kishlacha, when a person sins, wow, what how can a person sin? Because according to Torah Sheleima, and especially according to Zohar which is the internal part of Torah, there's a powerful question that asks, how's a person that how's a person that a soul can sin against Hashem? But as we know the whole purpose of the sin is Hashem makes it happen so we can reach a higher level. So when someone's sinning, the person doesn't really want to sin. What do we have to do with sinning? But Hashem makes it so so the person could what? Wake up and do teshuvah and reach a high level no one else can reach. I'd like to explain at length in reference to the huge the huge feast Hashem is going to make in the future. I'd like to explain at length in the acidic discourses from the middle of Rebbe and in short of the Alter Rebbe and this is the one of the pleasures that Hashem has through a person doing teshuvah. And that's the only reason why sin exists. The only reason why sin exists is not because someone is a sinner, so that they can do teshuvah. And that's that's the acidic way to look at a sinner or a sin. The it's not it's so that you can reach a higher level of teshuvah and Hashem and Hashem gave the person a gift. But that's not the that's not the that's not the regular way. Because that's he's doing when you're sinning you're going against the Torah. So therefore it's not the right path a person should pick. You want to pick the right path? The right path is to learn Torah and do mitzvahs, do it right the first time. And basically the Rebbe explains he like to explain why who was the one that said this Mishnah? Rebbe. Rebbe is the one that taught us this Mishnah. Why? Cuz who was Rebbe? Rebbe was the one that put together all the Mishnayot. And like the Rambam writes in his instruction of of of of Seder Ariyot that because Rebbe saw that there were there's fewer fewer students and sadly there's a lot a lot of suffering that's taking place and the Roman kingdom is coming to to hurt the Jewish people and that we're going to be going ahead and into exile to all over the world. So he went ahead, "Oh my gosh, let's write down the Mishnah so at least we'll have the Mishnah." And and so why did he write it? Cuz even though we know that the oral law you're not allowed to write down because the verse says "Ace last Hashem they pray for his sake." When you're trying to keep Hashem alive you're allowed to go ahead and do it. As we know that there's difference of opinion if Rebbe wrote the Mishnah or he just composed it. Now the Rambam's opinion is that it was written in the times of Rebbe. Like it says he collected from everything and he made a Mishnah. Now so in other words that what does that mean practically? That the exile is referring to when the what's the source of exile? The soul comes down to this world and like the Alter Rebbe says that the soul came down that's exile for the soul. The soul is with Hashem. What's coming down in a body? That's exile. But the only reason why we came down here is to transform the body and the animal soul and the world for three reasons. The body, the animal soul and the world. And that's why it says specifically Rebbe is the one that that said it that the what's the right path to pick? Which is basically transformation. And doing it through Torah mitzvahs cuz Rebbe obviously was living in a very very hard time for the Jewish people. Rebbe said he like to add besides the fact that the the the work of teshuvah repentance is going goes ahead and transforms negative to positive but it's also a level which is called lamaylah mimudeh hagbalah. It's not a way of calculations. You go off the charts. And that's why Rebbe says in the Mishnah that the what's the right path? The proper path of learning Torah and doing mitzvahs in a in a in a in a finite way. In Hebrew bimudeh hagbalah. Why? Cuz even though we know there's tremendous quality of somebody willing self-sacrifice but that's not enough. The goal is a self-sacrifice has to bring you that you can internalize your work. And how do you internalize it? By learning Torah and doing mitzvahs. And Rebbe said you can say this is also hinted in the idea where it says tiferes beauty lo yisa the one that does it. Because what he's hinting over here that was aseha. So aseha literally means a person doing it. But aseha is referring to oisim with doing the will of Hashem. And as what does it mean doing the will of Hashem? The the spiritual work of going out going out of your box. And as doing yes self-sacrifice and without making any calculations. And but nevertheless he says the expression aseha doing. Why? Cuz just like when it comes doing the will of Hashem it says the idea of aseha because the goal of oitcha to doing with above of the infinite it's not supposed to remain in infinite. Just like the work of Rebbe and his friends. But the goal is to bring it down into your heart, your soul until you bring it into into the in the second part of Shema where it speaks about literally materialistic things which means in the physical world and in the laws of nature in the physical world. And that's why Rebbeinu Hakadosh he was the one that was put together the Mishnah because he's showing you Seder Mishnah the way to make the proper order. Because the goal of work is spiritual work is that you come into a proper order. Cuz even though we know that the oral law is worlds where that doesn't end but it has to be a system. And that's why he called it Shisha Sidrei Mishnah there's a system. And to to create a system and to bring the infinite part of Hashem into a systematic way. And when Rebbe finished off and he says when we do our spiritual work in exile we're going to come very very soon to the completion which is going to be like in the days of Mashiach. Because in them we're going to do the mitzvahs k'orei einayim. We're going to do the mitzvahs the way Hashem wants us to do it which is the completion of doing mitzvahs. The the the wholesome way of doing a mitzvah. Because everything in the world is going to be on a the highest level of completion both in the in in in the thing you're doing the mitzvah with and both in the person doing the mitzvah. Now even though we said before yeah initially you start off you're doing it because you want to transform the world. But the goal is to go from there l'chatchilah Rebbe. To go off the charts. To do the complete job. And the complete job is there's a way to go from one level to the next level. But it doesn't mean that when you start you should stay that way. But even the beginning of our work you have to keep on going growing and growing and growing like it's explained in reference to the the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer that we're doing now. Why it says hayom shnayim l'omer. We say today is two days in the omer. We don't say hayom yom shaini l'omer. And it's first it says shaini which which is the number which includes obviously the one and then we say it's yom of days and we don't say yom which is referring to that day shaini. Why? Because on the second day this first day is already included and it becomes part of the second day. Cuz it's about going to the next level right when you're starting the second day. And the same thing also in our work down here that when a person goes ahead and makes peace on the highest level and on the lowest level which is referring to the peace between the godly soul and the animal soul like it's explained in Kuntres HaTeshuvah. And when you have real peace we're going to come to the complete peace which we're going to have in the future when Mashiach comes. The day it's going to be only Shabbos. Day of rest in in the world. And then we're going to reach even a higher level. And as we know that a Torah scholar doesn't he's never at peace. He's always growing. You have to go from one level to next level. And Rebbe finished off so powerfully and beautifully he says it should be the will that this should all happen when? Very very soon in a way that right away we're going to go ahead and be redeemed. And most importantly Rebbe finished off so beautifully u'vesimcha u'vetuv levav with joy and gladness of heart. So let's hope and pray we're going to have the future of the coming of Mashiach. The next class will be Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh. Have a great and blessed week. Shabbua tov.