Chassidus Explained

We finish the מאמר by describing the גלות that exists even within what was meant to be the signs of Hashem - תורה and מצות. Elaborately, the רבי describes the narrowness we unfortunately experience in our Davening, learning תורה, and interpersonal emotions. The solution exists in the concept of "names", which is, ironically, where the problem presented itself as well. A "name" is the paradox of גל...

With פרשת שמות, we begin חומש שמות, the narrative of the Jews' slavery to, and ultimate redemption from, Egypt. The Biblical exile down to Egypt is still ongoing, because the redemption that took place then was only a partial redemption; we are constantly working towards the completion of that redemption. To understand our redemption, and redemption process, we must begin by identifying our Egypt....

In this 1-week מאמר, the רבי uncovers what is at the core of the celebration of י"ט כסלו, what caused it to happen, and the lesson we can all learn from it. The מאמר is based on the well-known letter of the אלטער רבי to ר' לוי יצחק of Berditchev, wherein the אלטער רבי describes his liberation of י"ט כסלו.The רבי analyzes the אלטער רבי's choice of words in recording the date upon which the salvatio...

We wrap up the מאמר by applying the three stages of נר"ן, חיה, יחידה to our day-to-day lives, thus answering the question from the beginning of the מאמר; how "פדה" and "שלום" can coexist. We first see how these three stages of war and peace existed in the lives of דוד and שלמה, giving us the three terms of "התלבשות", then "התגברות", and "מנוחה בעצם". In our day-to-day lives, these correspond to do...

We continue to describe the love of Hashem taking place during Davening and specifically during שמע. While "בכל לבבך" definitely deals head-on with the enemy, "בכל נפשך" is not either a true expression of peace, being that the enemy still exists, albeit subdued. True peace, as defined by the non-existence of the enemy, only happens in the world of "בכל מאדך", the world of יחידה, as it is nothing b...

Beginning the מאמר, the רבי points out the paradox of "פדה" and "שלום", and highlights the extreme opposites found in the two words. The topic of the מאמר is then introduced: identifying the "peace" and "war" within oneself that takes place during Davening. Loving Hashem takes on three stages. In this שיעור, we focus on the contrast between the first two: a logical debate - "war" - between the two...

We finish our מאמר with two different explanations of what we accomplish by doing מצות: 1) Completing Hashem's trip into our world, revealing levels connected to Hashem's journey, 2) touching Hashem's very essence, the Quintessential Concealment, through dealing with our own personal concealment. The רבי beautifully connects these two explanations to the two מאמרים of the רבי רש"ב on פרשת וירא in...

Building on the explanation of why מצות are called "Hashem's way", the רבי רש"ב emphasizes that Interstate 613 must be a two-way street. Hashem sends down תורה, and we send back our מצות. This happens when our מצות are done, not out of rote, but with self-scrutinization and pushing oneself past the comfort zone. Why is it so important that we mirror back Hashem's Light through our מצות? The first...

Welcome! In our מאמר, the רבי analyzes the differences between two מאמרים of פרשת וירא, from the years 5666 and 5667 (1905 and 1906). Although they are part of the same המשך (series) of מאמרים, they explain the פסוקים of "וה' אמר" from this week's פרשה differently. The רבי explains the concept of מצות being "Hashem's way", by way (pun intended) of an analogy: just as a physical road connects dista...