The Rebbe's "House Full of Books" Campaign | Mivtza Bais Maleh Sefarim

Let me begin by wishing everybody a good Yom Tov. Hey Teves, the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Teves, is a Yom Tov, a day of celebration. It celebrates the victory in federal court of the trial where the library amassed by the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe was returned to its rightful place as the common property of Chabad as a movement. And it symbolizes the uh much more than just the return of the property, but the affirmation of the ongoing living activity of Chabad. So, having said that, I guess let me just explain uh everything has guf v'neshama. A body and a soul. The uh or maybe you could call it the the outer trappings and the inner spiritual uh meaning. Like, for instance, on Rosh Hashanah, the mitzvah is you you you blow the the shofar. But, the inner meaning is the coronation of the of God as king, right? So, the inner meaning of Hey Teves is really about the continued leadership of the Rebbe and the Rebbe's continued relationship with Chassidim. And that that's not interrupted by physical passing. And as the Rebbe said many time times during that period, "M'zar'eh b'chaim, af hu b'chaim." quoting the Talmudic dictum that refers to Yaakov Avinu, "Just as his descendants are alive, so he is alive." That as long as as people are studying Chassidus and living according to Chassidus, so so the Rebbe is alive. So, that's the inner meaning of Hey Teves. But, the outer expression of that, if you want to put it to a tangible action, it is the purchase of, repair of, and study of holy books. So, it is very uh providential, hashgacha protis, that tonight's class, which is a monthly series, which we have been doing this year on the uh mitz- mitzvah campaigns, the mivtzoim, that tonight, and I don't think this was planned this way, but we're doing the mivtzah bayis malei sfarim, the Rebbe's campaign to amass books, to have a home full of holy books, that this coincides with Hey Teves, which really there's no more appropriate day on the Jewish calendar to be speaking about amassing books. So, let's uh let's jump in. Let me talk a little bit first of all about about Hey Teves um in connection with books. The actual incident of the the uh the verdict happened uh taf shin mem zayin, uh 19 uh 87. And there was a great celebration, unbridled celebration, legendary celebration for a week. But, it wasn't so clear that it was going to become a an annual observance. And and and for those who know a little bit of the what what we call inside baseball, uh there was an event that occurred about a month before the first anniversary, where they were actually bringing the books of sfarim, the actual containers with the holy books in them were being brought back to 770. And yeshiva students came out and were dancing, and the Rebbe voiced clear disapproval of that activity. "Why are you dancing when we're bringing the books back? Go study the books. Don't dance, study." So, because of that, it wasn't clear if the Rebbe was happy with Hey Teves being celebrated every year. But, then on the first anniversary, meaning a month after that incident, that incident of Beis Kislev, um on the first anniversary of Hey Teves, meaning taf shin mem ches, uh the Rebbe made it very clear that yes, this is an event to be celebrated each and every year on on the date. And uh that's when the Rebbe said the way to celebrate it. Again, we're we're speaking about there's the the inner and the outer, right? The deeper meaning of Hey Teves is infinitely deep. But, the outer expression of it, the tangible expression, uh the Rebbe said has to do with books. Why? I mean, the connection is obvious that the whole Hey Teves came about because of contested property that were books, okay? Obviously, the whole uh the the the the story of Hey Teves touches much deeper than just these books. Like as I was saying, it has to do with the whole notion of the enduring uh relationship of a Rebbe with Chassidim. But, as point of fact, the contested property and the that which precipitated an actual legal battle were books. So, therefore, the way to celebrate and commemorate uh Hey Teves is also with books. And so, um that year, the first anniversary of Hey Teves, 5748, uh 1988, um the Rebbe said that um it should be celebrated in conjunction with purchasing books. And then the Rebbe mentioned actually that year, 1988, or taf shin mem ches, was the 500th birthday of Rav Yosef Caro, the Mechaber, the uh the author of the Shulchan Aruch. So, the Rebbe said that there should be sales, discounting the the price of uh Shulchan Aruch, so that people will study the uh the works of Yosef Caro. Now, on the second anniversary of Hey Teves, taf shin mem tes, talking about now 1989, the Rebbe reiterated that the the outer expression of the day should be connected with books. Buying books, repairing books, the Rebbe mentioned returning books, you know. Books are one of those things you never got to be careful to lend them out because for some reason people never give them back. You know, you lend somebody uh I don't know. You you you your lawnmower, they'll bring it back. You give them sfarim, for some reason, they don't come back with it. Anyways, so if you have books that that that need to be returned, go return those books. Um and then the Rebbe gave out dollars that day. And interestingly, the Rebbe gave everybody $2. Now, the Rebbe always would give a dollar for tzedakah. That was the whole idea of the dollars is to make you a shliach mitzvah to go give tzedakah. Not with that precise dollar, because it was understood that people would want to hold onto it as a keepsake, but the equivalent of the dollar. The Rebbe was making you a deputizing you to be a shliach mitzvah to go to give a dollar. Uh so, but then taf shin mem tes, the Rebbe gave out $2 and said that the second dollar, the first dollar was tzedakah as per usual, but the second dollar was for buying sfarim because it's Hey Teves, and Hey Teves is about buying sfarim. And Kehot, which is the publishing arm of Lubavitch, they have a bookstore across the street across the parkway from from 770, it got absolutely swarmed with throngs of people because the Rebbe had just said, "Here's a dollar to go buy sfarim." So, then it really cemented that idea that Hey Teves, the celebration of Hey Teves, is connected with sfarim. Okay. But, now what I want to do a little bit is, after all, this is a class on mivtzah bayis malei sfarim, on the mitzvah campaign. So, I want to go back in history um about 10 years before Hey Teves. Um in fact, more than 10 years, the 13 years before Hey gave us. 1974. That is when the Mivtza of Bias Malchus Shomayim was established. But actually I have to go back even a little bit further than that. I have to go back to the Yom Kippur War, which was 1973. After the Yom Kippur War, the Yom Kippur War was it was not like the Six-Day War. Let's put it that way. There were many casualties and it was to a certain extent even though it was a victory, it was somewhat demoralizing. So there was a big discussion among the the IDF leaders how to boost morale. And the Rebbe spoke about this at the Yud Tes Kislev Farbrengen that year after the Yom Kippur War, that the leaders of the IDF were The Rebbe mentioned whenever you have Jews, so there's always an argument, right? So they were they were all arguing what's the best way to boost the morale of the soldiers. So different people said different things, you know, entertainment, different things. The Rebbe said, you know, that that that's that's all well and good, but that's not what has stood the test of time. What is tried and true among Jews, what has always boosted our morale even at the lowest times and given us, you know, a certain uh confidence and hope to go on, it hasn't been distraction, it hasn't been, you know, a frivolity. It's been Torah, Torah and Mitzvos. So the Rebbe said that really if they want to boost the morale of the troops, they should give them religious objects. And the Rebbe spoke about giving them prayer books and uh and and and tzitzis and and a pushka to give tzedakah. Later on that year around Shavuos time the Rebbe then expanded that idea and said, you know, everyone, all Jews are members of Tzivos Hashem. By the way, interestingly enough, this is before the Rebbe started the youth group or youth organization called Tzivos Hashem. But uh the Rebbe said all Jews are part of Tzivos Hashem Tzivos Hashem, which literally means the army of God. So what's good for the IDF is really good for Klal Yisrael, it's good for all Jewry. So then at that Farbrengen the Rebbe said that there are certain campaigns we're going to do to boost the morale of the Jewish people. And that's when the Rebbe sort of enshrined the Mitzvah Campaigns as Mitzvah Campaigns. Now, if you if anyone remembers, we had a class on Tefillin. Um the uh Mitzvah Tefillin started in conjunction with the Six-Day War, 1967. So that had been around already for a while. Um but now in 1974 the Rebbe sort of cemented it that there's a banner called the Mitzvah Campaigns. And so they had Mitzvah Tefillin, which had already been around since '67, plus the Rebbe added Mitzvah Torah, Mitzvah studying Torah, Mitzvah Tzedakah, the campaign for for giving tzedakah. Uh that was last class we did the tzedakah, right? And Mitzvah Bias Malchus Shomayim. And in fact the Rebbe connected the Mitzvah Bias Malchus Shomayim with Mitzvah Torah, almost like as as um sort of like they go together as as one thing. And very often in later years as the Rebbe referred to Bias Malchus Shomayim the Rebbe would uh refer to it in conjunction with Mitzvah Torah. Um so that's when the Mivtzoim, the 10 well they weren't yet 10, but when the Mitzvah Campaigns sort of became established. And then later on, the next year in 1975 and the year after that the other Mivtzoim were added until finally there were total of of 10. So that's that's the origin of Mitzvah Bias Malchus Shomayim. Okay. Now I want to go back even further. You know, just like we started with Hey Teves, which was in the '80s, and then we went back to the '70s where the Mitzvah the Mitzvah Bias Malchus Shomayim was was established. I want to go back even further now um to the to the '50s. And 1951 is when Kehos, we mentioned before Kehos. Kehos is the publishing arm of of Lubavitch when Kehos was founded. Um It was founded by the Friediker Rebbe. And the Rebbe who came over escaping war-torn uh Europe was put in charge of Kehos. So the Rebbe was uh was the sort of the manager or the the overseer of of Kehos operations. So even before the Rebbe was Rebbe the Rebbe was very involved in publishing. And not just in the scholarly side of it, in preparing the books for publication, which of course the Rebbe was involved in that part of it as well, but also the business side of things. And making sure that books should be affordable and that they should be accessible and making sure that they look nice and that they're attractive and they're well done. Um and that books are in print, the very practical side of things. In fact, I'll tell you something very interesting. Um during the Cold War there was a fund the Americans were paying for the printing of any books that they felt promoted Western values as opposed to the Soviet Union's communist values, which they defined as a threat to Western values. So the government the United States government would give money uh to help publish any books that they felt were of a cultural value that would promote Western cultural values. So the Rebbe got federal funding from the Americans by telling them, well, look, you guys want to put out literature that that that that that that opposes communism we're public enemy number one in Soviet Russia. Who did the communists oppose more than Lubavitch? So, you know, you go look at the who the communists considered to be dangerous that's us. So we're pretty anti-communist, we're pretty anti-revolutionary. So the Rebbe secured funding and um that's how many of the the books that were printed in those in those days, in the early days, in the 1950s. I'm sorry, in the 1940s. I said the '50s. Sorry. The the Rebbe became Rebbe in 1951. I'm talking back in the '40s, I should have said. In 1941 Kehos was Did I say that correctly? The 1941 Kehos was founded. If I said '51 before, play this up, that was a was an error. Kehos was founded in 1941, the Rebbe came over to America in 1941. So this this is back in the '40s. Okay. Also going back to that that same era, actually 1949, 1949. But again, still before the Rebbe became Rebbe, the Friediker Rebbe spoke about how every home, at least Chabad Chassidim should have three books in the home. Whether people study them or not they they I mean obviously ideally they would study them, but the point is that they should have these three particular books. Previous Rebbe spoke about it at the Farbrengen of Yud Beis Tammuz Taf Shin Tes, that's the summer of 1949. They should have Kesser Shem Tov. That's the book of the Baal Shem Tov, the the founder of the Chassidic movement. They should have Ohr Torah, which is of the Maggid. The Maggid was the disciple of the Baal Shem Tov. And they should have Tanya, which is the book of the Alter Rebbe, who is the disciple of the disciple of the Baal Shem Tov. So those three first generations of the Chassidic movement uh they should have um the the books of those of those Chassidic masters. And the Friediker Rebbe mentioned that it for for reasons that are known to those who know, obviously like some type of mystical reason. The three books should not be bound with one binding. They should be bound separately and that every home should have those three books. Okay. So, that already was from from 1949, you know, from before before the the Nasi is before the Rebbe's leadership officially began in 1951. Um but then obviously with with the Rebbe, the the emphasis on books and purchasing books and printing books became a very important thing and then like we said was the official launch of the the campaign by a small Rebbe to have a home full of Torah books. And you know, when the when the Rebbe spoke about a home full of Torah books, the Rebbe said the word full by a small Rebbe, a home full of books. What does full mean? Full means full. It means that if there's a Jewish book in the world that your house doesn't have yet, still not full. So, don't stop. It's not enough. Obviously, you start with the basics. You start with, you know, the the fundamental texts and the Rebbe mentioned many times that every house should have a siddur, prayer book, a chumash, you know, the the five books of Moses. Should have a Tanya, the the the basic book of of Chabad Chassidus. Um a Shulchan Aruch that the Rebbe would always mention they should have Halacha books, books of Jewish law. Books that talk about practical observance. But that's just the beginning. Full of books full of books means that you don't stop and you fill you just keep on you just keep on bringing books into the home. The Rebbe also mentioned that full can mean quantitatively also mean qualitatively. That what does it mean qualitatively? That what really fills out the home, what really completes it are the books. So, therefore a person should sort of prioritize the books as his prized possessions. And he should feel what really, you know, what do I care about most in this home? The holy books. The holy books are what makes the home. So, it's a feeling. It's a feeling a person an attitude a person should have. That's what it means the house is full of holy books. What fills in the home? What makes the home a home? Is that it has it has Jewish books. Okay. Um One of the things also that Rebbe said in conjunction with this mitzvah campaign is that communities should establish public libraries. In Crown Heights, they actually started the Levi Yitzchok library which was named for the Rebbe's father. And that was in response to the Rebbe talking about libraries. Uh I'm sure people are aware. Uh and if they're not aware, they should be aware of an incredible resource we have locally in the Five Towns. Chabad of the Five Towns has also our Levi Yitzchok library which is named for Levi Yitzchok Wolowik, alav hashalom. So, that is an incredible resource and that is a living embodiment of this call that the Rebbe made that there should be public libraries. And the Rebbe actually didn't just say there should be public libraries. The Rebbe spoke about it in detail. Um that, you know, they should have hours where they're open every day so that people can go there. The Rebbe said the building the library building should be attractive so that people will want to walk in there. Even people who not necessarily are interested in Jewish books, but they'll see a nice building and they'll and they'll walk in. Um the Rebbe spoke about the fact they should have all kinds of Jewish books like to appeal to all different levels and different you know, different kinds of interests. And so that was that was a very important aspect of this campaign, the idea of public libraries. But in addition there was the concept of private libraries. That really every Jewish home should have its own library. Should be a library. Um And the Rebbe gave over the years various directives regarding each home being a library. Um we mentioned that the Rebbe mentioned uh certain core books. Um I don't know if we said uh a Tehillim. I don't think we mentioned Tehillim, a book of Psalms. Uh and the Rebbe also mentioned as far as books of Chassidus to have Torah Or and Likutei Torah. Those are books from the Alter Rebbe. We mentioned Tanya already, but Torah Or and Likutei Torah are also books of Chassidus from the Alter Rebbe. Um the Rebbe mentioned Halacha Seforim. Um the Rebbe said when a when a chosson and kallah when a bride and groom get married when they're newlyweds, they should already start building their personal library. And the more the better. They should get started right away. You know, it's interesting when people get married, they have like the gift registries, right? And the Bed Bath & Beyond and you get them the Cuisinart and the blender and the you know, whatever. But don't forget the Seforim. And the Rebbe spoke about that that there's there's a there's a custom when people get married, so often the bride's father will buy for the groom a Shas, a set of of Talmud which are, you know, big books and it's an expensive set and it's large. But it shouldn't just be the Shas. It should be many books. And also that the groom should buy for the bride a gift. And the Rebbe mentioned that there was a custom that apparently there was a very popular You know, it's funny cuz we did this um my wife and I when when when we got married, but there was an old custom there was a popular siddur called the Siddur Korban Mincha. The Siddur Korban Mincha was a prayer book that had the regular Hebrew prayers, but then everything was translated into the into Yiddish. And that was popular because many women couldn't read Hebrew, but they could read Yiddish because Yiddish was the mama loshon. That was the vernacular. It was the language they spoke from day to day. So, they could read Yiddish. So, it was like a customary thing that a groom would buy for his bride the Siddur Korban Mincha, the siddur that has Yiddish translation of the prayers. Which I did. I bought for my my wife Siddur Korban Mincha which we have somewhere. One of our I don't know, we're still in boxes. We just moved houses again. We have a real bias small Rebbe right now except the Seforim are in the boxes and the house is full of the boxes. But the Rebbe mentioned that it actually could be that today women are more educated. So, if you if if the if the groom will buy the bride a Siddur Korban Mincha, she might actually be insulted because the Rebbe said she's going to feel like what are you implying that I don't know how to daven from a regular siddur? So, instead, what should you do? You should buy the chosson the groom should buy for the kallah the bride practical Halacha Seforim. Books that talk about practical day-to-day Jewish law, particularly Jewish law in the home which the woman is chiefly responsible for maintaining the standard of Halachic observance in the home. So, and then and and baruch Hashem today there are so many books on these topics. So, uh guys, if you're a newlywed or if you want to just act like a newlywed, you want to have a second honeymoon, go buy your wife some books about Halacha. Yes. That's right. What did you think I was going to say? That's that's that's how you be a Jewish husband. Okay. Um Now, there's a third part of this campaign. So, we spoke about public libraries. We spoke about private libraries. Now, even more specific let's talk about children's personal libraries. That every child should have their own collection of Seforim of holy books. Yeah. Something that the Rebbe spoke about on many occasions. That children should have their own Seforim their own holy books. In fact, even infants. And how do you see this that children that even infants should have holy books? That when there's a Jewish custom that when a child is born, you put up the Shir Hama'alos. You put up the card that has the words of Psalms on it on the doorway. So, you see that it benefits a child even an infant who can't read yet is benefited by being surrounded by holy words. So, everything that a child sees from infancy is going to have an impression. So, you go out and you buy Seforim. Buy holy books even for an infant. You don't have to wait until they can read. Just the fact that the infant is lying in his or her cradle and sees uh holy books, this has an effect, a lifelong effect. Um What else? Oh, the Rebbe mentioned that the book should expressly be the property of the child. That it shouldn't just be that oh, in our house we have books that the children can use. No, you should get the child his or her own books. And and for that reason by the way, when you have baruch Hashem ken yirbu, you have you know, more than one child, so that means you're going to have multiple copies of the same books, right? Because every kid has to have his or her own Chumash, his or her own Tehillim, his or her own siddur. These are basic Jewish books and each each child should have his or her own copy of it. Um and and oh, and not just the Chumash and Tehillim and siddur, but should mention this, very interesting, the Rebbe said every child should have his or her own Haggadah. Interesting. Why Haggadah? I understand basic books, Chumash, Tehillim, siddur. Why Haggadah? Because the whole point of the Seder Haggadah, where we tell the story of going out of Egypt, is that it's an answer to the question of the child. The child is supposed to say, "Mah nishtanah halailah hazeh?" Why is this night different from all other nights? And then we have the mitzvah, once the child asks, then we have the mitzvah of explaining we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. So, the whole Haggadah is about the child. It's the child's it's the answer to the child's question. Therefore, every child should have their own Haggadah. And the Rebbe even mentioned um a Haggadah with pictures, so that even if a child can't read or even if they can read, but they enjoy seeing the pictures. But certainly if they can't read, so the pictures are very meaningful for them. Um Now, here's an important point about children getting swattin. We all know that when you give a child a book, especially a a small child, they don't necessarily know how to uh take care of it. And children often rip books. If you go to a house where there are children, you will invariably find books that have missing pages or half-torn pages. That's just what children do. So, the Rebbe said that the parents should specifically tell the children, "Don't worry about ruining this swattin, that it's okay. And that if you ruin it, Mommy and Tatty will buy you a nicer newer one." So, like it's al- almost encouraging them to tear it up. And and in in fact, the Rebbe mentioned a midrash that says how Hashem feels loved when little children step on his name. It's a midrash that says that even when the askarah, the name of Hashem, is trounced upon by children, obviously not adults who know better, but little children who end up, you know, they drop a a a holy book and they end up running around on top of it or kicking it. Not not maliciously, but just cuz they're they're little children, that that's actually um something that Hashem regards as an act of affection. So, it's a beautiful thing when little when little children are stepping on swattin. Obviously, not that they're intentionally stepping on the safer in a way of disrespect, God forbid. But the fact that there's the point is there are so many holy books around and the children have such free access to the books that the books invariably end up being handled the way children the way small children handle things. And that we shouldn't worry about that. And not only is it okay, it's a beautiful thing. I think that's important um for us as parents because sometimes we get up tight. You know, we can't even have nice things around here, right? That's like the perennial parental lament. But in this case, it's actually a great thing. And if your kids ruin your swattin, the Rebbe says just buy nicer newer ones. Just replace them. It's fine. It's good. It's like, okay. So, that brings me to another another point here. Um which is even more, I think, of a novel idea. And that is Okay, it's understood that children end up mishandling the swattin. Now, obviously adults shouldn't mishandle swattin, but the Rebbe spoke about how it's a good thing when adults use their swattin so, let's call it uh excitedly, uh that they they're not very gentle with the swattin. Okay? Like someone who's very gentle, very careful. Come on. If you really appreciate these books, use them up. Like use them up, really. And and and there's a mishna in Pirkei Avot. Mishna in Pirkei Avot says, "Hafokh bah vahafokh bah." Turn it and turn it. We're talking about the Torah. The Torah is full and the simple Let me tell you first the simple meaning. The simple meaning is that Torah has endless meaning, so it's like we learn the parashah every year. Why? Because there there there's another layer that we didn't get to before. So, "Hafokh bah vahafokh bah." Turn it over, turn it over. And and always like find a new a new uh angle on it. "Hisiv uvelayva." And grow old and worn out with it. Like learn Torah and learn it and learn it and turn it over and turn it over and grow old and worn out with Torah. That's the simple meaning of the of the mishna in Pirkei Avot. But the Rebbe took those words and learned it homiletically. B'derekh derash. And said like this, "When you're learning a safer, when you're learning a Torah book, Hafokh bah vahafokh bah." Turn it over and turn it over. Turn it and turn it. Now, why turn it and turn it? Seemingly, you only have to turn the page once and then, you know, you're on the next page. Turn it and turn it means you turn the page and you start reading. You're like, "Ho- hold on a second. This is a I I found a contradiction." And then you turn back the page to an earlier page cuz you want to go check it out and try to cuz you have a question, you have a kasha, you know, and you want to reconcile it. So, "Hafokh bah vahafokh bah" means you're flipping pages back and forth. You're like, "Hold on a second. Let me compare this thing with that thing." Cuz that's how Jews learn. Jews learn very analytically and we question everything. So, turn it and turn it is that when you're learning a book the proper way, you turn the page up, but then you turn it back because you're constantly uh you know, scrutinizing everything. And then because you're flipping the pages around so much cuz you're really using this safer uh really, you know, the way the way it's meant to be used, then "Hisiv uvelayva." The book gets old and worn out through that. Hisiv uvelayva now is talking about the book. So, "Hafokh bah vahafokh bah." When you're flipping the pages back and forth, Hisiv uvelayva, the book gets old and worn out and that is a beautiful thing. In fact, the Rebbe says, I mean, you have to understand a little bit of Hasidic uh uh the Hasidic view on on somethingness and nothingness. I guess that's uh that itself is a whole other class. But uh you know, in in Hasidic uh in the Hasidic worldview, like the worst thing you can be is a yesh. Yesh just means an existence. It just means something that is. Yesh, it exists. Uh yesh, like what what do you exist? Ein od milvado, nothing exists but Hashem, right? So, you're supposed to have bitul. Bitul is self-abnegation, which doesn't mean, God forbid, like shattered self-esteem or, you know, self-loathing. That's Bitul doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. It means thinking of yourself less. It means freedom from self-consciousness, where you transcend the self and you just become so God-conscious that there's no separate me anymore. There's no separate me, there's just ein od milvado, there's nothing but him, there's nothing but the one, right? So, with that background that, you know, from the Hasidic point of view, the greatest thing is nothingness. If you can become a nothing, that's the true something because now you're at one with the everything. So, the Rebbe says, "If you're going to use a safer properly until you tear it up and it falls apart and becomes nothing, the Rebbe says, 'The safer is going to thank you. Thank you for making me a nothing.'" You know, like thank you for allowing me to become, you know, one with with the essence, basically. And yet, at the same time, the Rebbe points out a paradox. And everything in Judaism, especially in chassidus, is a paradox. You know, it's always the Whenever you have a question, is it this or is it this? And the answer is always, "Yes." You know, right? Like the famous story about the husband and wife come to the rabbi to complain, and the husband says his whole side of the story, and the rabbi says, "You're right." And then the wife says, "Hold on, let me say my side." She says her side, the rabbi says to her, "You're right." And then the rabbi's own wife is walking by, and she sticks her head in the door, and she says, "They can't both be right." And the rabbi says to her, "You're right." Right. But it's it's not just a joke. There's there's a truth in that. That uh ultimately truth is bigger than one position or another position. Truth can only be grasped through paradox. And so, we always find everything is always paradox. Here's the paradox. On one hand, seforim are meant to be worn out, used up, devoured. And that's a good thing. On the other hand, now you remind me of another joke. You remind I'm blaming it on you. I'm I'm talking to myself. A guy calls up a shul, and the receptionist answers the phone. "Hello?" "Yes, I'm looking for a one-armed rabbi." The receptionist says, "What? What are you looking for?" The guy says, "I'm looking for a one-armed rabbi." Receptionist says, "I I don't understand. You a one-armed rabbi?" He says, "Yeah, I'm looking for a one-armed rabbi. Do you have one?" She says, "I don't know why you're looking for a one-armed rabbi." The guy says, "Cuz the one I have right now, anytime I ask him a question, he answers, and then right away he says, 'But on the other hand.' So, now I'm looking for a one-armed rabbi, you know, one that's not going to say that to me, 'On the other hand.'" So, on one hand, seforim are meant to be used up and you know, torn apart, and that's that's that's how you show that you really love them. At the same time, on the other hand, seforim should be nice. What does it mean, nice? They should be attractive. They should be printed on nice paper, have a nice cover. You know, don't judge a book by its cover, but you do. But people do. And uh you know, the Rebbe actually gave uh feedback to Kehos regarding the size of books. Cuz the Rebbe once pointed out that a certain book, that it's not the right size that of of people what people normally have on the space between one shelf and another. Um typesetting. That the inside of the book should have nice, clear letters, so it's easy to read. So, on one hand, books have to be really nicely done. They have to be well-made. They have to be attractive. And at the same time, on the other hand, use them up, tear them up, let them fall apart, and that's the most loving thing you can do. And they're both true. That's the paradox. Okay. Um let's just talk a little bit about a few reasons why buy a small seforim. Why do they have a house full of of Torah books? Uh one reason is practical. You know, there's an It's said in different contexts, but they say, you know, if you hang out in a barber shop long enough, you're going to eventually you're going to get a haircut, right? So, if you surround yourself with holy books, eventually you're going to pick one up. So, that's that's the first thing is. And and I said before that mivtza buy a small seforim, the campaign of having a house full of Torah books, is connected to mivtza Torah, the the campaign of studying Torah. That if you have a house full of Torah books, eventually you're going to study them. Uh so, that's one reason. A second reason is a spiritual reason, that it the Rebbe said, "When you have when you own holy books, it invokes a certain skhus, a certain uh merit that uh in intercedes on your behalf in heaven." So, that's that's another benefit. And then a third thing, and this is very interesting. By owning Torah books, one, at least according to one opinion, or certain opinions, one fulfills the mitzvah. It's actually the 613th mitzvah, of writing a Torah scroll. Yeah. There are 613 commandments. The 613th commandment is to write your own Torah scroll. Now, we're actually going to talk about this in another in another class, because the Rebbe also made a a campaign of buying a letter in a Torah scroll, in a communal Torah scroll. But uh there is an opinion, namely of of the Rosh, who says that the mitzvah to write a Torah scroll doesn't mean just to have a Torah scroll. It means to own Torah books that one is able to study from. And the mitzvah is a Torah scroll, because initially the only book in Judaism was the book, was the Sefer Torah, because that was Torah Shebichtav, the written law. And everything else was oral tradition, which was not allowed to be written down. Remember, for thousands of years, oral tradition was never written down. Not until Yehudah Hanasi came along and, 2,000 years ago, made the Mishnah, and that was the first recording of of oral law. And then after the Mishnah, there was the Gemara, and then so on and so forth, until now we have uh who knows how many volumes, endless endless endless volumes of uh written oral law. So, it's funny, because it's the oral law, but it's now it's written. And it's written because if it wouldn't be written, we we would, God forbid, lose it and forget it. So, the Rosh says that the mitzvah is to have a Torah scroll, because the mitzvah, speaking from the perspective of the Torah, of the written law, at which time, you know, when that that was given, there was only the written law. There were no other books. But now that we have Torah Shebichtav, we have oral law recorded in books, so the mitzvah to write a Torah scroll is actually fulfilled by buying Jewish books. So, the Rebbe mentioned that also, that by having Jewish books in your home and owning them, you're you're doing that mitzvah. Okay. Um I think I'll just mention one more thing. Baruch Hashem, uh this this much more to be said about this, but I think I'll just mention one more thing. And and and that is something the Rebbe said uh Yud Tes Kislev, uh Taf Shin Lamed uh Gimmel. 1970 Well, it still it was still 1972. It wasn't yet 1973. It was the last uh couple months of 1972. And it's interesting, because the Rebbe said this before. If you remember, before I said that the mivtza buy a small seforim, this this campaign was launched in the summer of '74. So, actually this sicha, this address is from before the uh the this campaign was launched. Although, like I also mentioned, the Rebbe was talking about books and dealing with books and promoting books, you know, long before uh the official launch of the campaign. So, just just just share with you something the Rebbe said Yud Tes Kislev Taf Shin Lamed Gimmel. Just a beautiful concept. At least I felt it was it was it was beautiful, and I want to share it with you. And that's that's what I'll leave you with. Um that there's a special connection between mivtza buy a small seforim, having a house full of Torah books, and women. Why women? Um because a woman, generally speaking, is the one who is responsible for not just setting the tone in the home. We mentioned that before, that, you know, getting a woman uh halacha books about practical halacha in the home, because she's the one who oversees it. But more than that, uh just very practically, generally speaking, the woman is the one who designs the house, like physically, like the decor, the furnishings, all that stuff. Yeah? I mean, guys, tell me, when's the last time you picked out drapes? Imagine what would happen if you would come home and start putting up drapes. See how well it would go over. Right. Anyways, the woman is the one who designs the home. Mivtza buy a small mivtza buy a small seforim, in addition to all the other things that we're we were we've been talking about, having a home full of Torah books, it also is, in a certain way, it's the decor of the home. And it um it creates an environment, a feeling, so that people have the feeling they're in a Jewish home. And so when a when a woman is designing her home, that's a core element of it. In other words, I don't think it cheapens it to say, I don't think it's crass to say that having lots of books a whole a wall full of books that that's uh important interior design. And uh so I want to encourage everybody to beautify your home, especially the women, uh to beautify their homes by having lots of fun. I want to mention that this class is part of a series of classes that we started at the beginning of this Jewish year. And these are all dedicated in loving memory of Dina Leah Rosenzweig alav hashalom. And that when you do these mitzvahs that we speak about, you should have her in mind that we're doing them for Dina Leah. So I encourage everybody buy books, like today, now. I mean, you don't it's beautiful. Today you just go online and just go buy some books, holy books, Jewish books. And when you do so, please have in mind that uh you're doing so uh on behalf of of Dina Leah. And uh the holy book should have a good effect on you and your family.