Chassidus Explained

After explaining the argument of the Greeks last week, the מאמר now explains how to fight against them, and how we see this in the story of חנוכה. Being that the Greeks defiled all the oil (-intellect), the only way to be victorious against them is by using the unbeatable power of the יחידה. Not only is there no struggle when it comes to יחידה; there is not even a discussion, because in the יחידה...

What exactly was bothering the Greeks about Judaism? What is at the core of doing מצות? Does understanding a מצוה weaken, or strengthen, one's connection to Hashem? We explore the perspective of the רמב"ם regarding מצות, and then the perspective of חסידות - uncovering that the Greeks had a problem, not (only) with illogical מצות, but with the Jewish approach of entirely disregarding logic.

What is the connection between חנוכה and סוכות? Why is חנוכה eight days? What makes חנוכה be higher than השתלשלות? Join us in this wonderful, fundamental מאמר on חנוכה, as we uncover the miraclous jug of oil and the powerful light therein - the powerful light of חנוכה!

Finishing the מאמר, the רבי explains the underlying theme of the two interpretations of "דילה הוו חיין" - owning your life through תשובה מאהבה, and מלכות being able to express itself with ביטול: When the שרש is revealed, it brings about the unlimited power of being able to handle opposites, drawing down from higher than time into time, and the ביטול עצמי into expression.

Continuing in the מאמר, the רבי fuses together the explanations of זהר and רש"י on "שני חיי שרה" in the opposite way as before - through "כולן שוין לטובה" one can reach "דילה הוו חיין": When the source of מלכות is revealed, not only do the other ספירות benefit from it, מלכות itself becomes redefined. Instead of selflessness (ביטול) in contradiction to expression, מלכות can now express itself selfl...

Link to Text Sheet PDF here . In this extended שיעור, we continue the מאמר, where the רבי applies the lesson we learned from רש"י to answer a famous question in תניא. To better appreciate this answer, we present the background of this question, and the various answers posed prior to this מאמר, slowly developing the tremendous חידוש the רבי is teaching us here.

Beginning a new מאמר, the רבי fuses together the explanations of רש"י and the זהר on the פסוק describing שרה's life, in the beginning of פרשת חיי שרה. Does תשובה really change me? How do I change my past that might not be so great? In learning a lesson from the life of שרה, the רבי shows us how we can be in control of our past!

Finishing the מאמר, the רבי shows how the י"ג מדות הרחמים are uplifted and infused with עצמות energy when they do their job in expressing the עצמות connection of Hashem and אידן. This is connected with the חידוש earlier in the מאמר that המלך בשדה is for every איד, even those in the שדה of קליפה. The מאמר finishes with answering the opening question: אלול includes "ודודי לי" - the י"ג מדות הרחמים,...

Continuing in the מאמר, the רבי analyzes the אלטער רבי's descriptions of the King's Presence in the field, uncovering Hashem's involvement during אלול in two ways: Reciprocal, and Core. How does that work together with what we know about אלול being about our עבודה?! This is the חידוש of the מאמר: The relationship of Hashem and אידן in אני לדודי is not about the עבודה of the אידן, it is about the v...

In this fascinating, stand-alone part of the מאמר, the רבי reveals a revolutionary depth to the idea of מלך בשדה. This idea is traced back through the אלטער רבי's and the פריערדיקער רבי's מאמרים, appreciating the רבי's חידוש as to the availability of the King in the field during אלול. This point begins the explanation as to why the אלטער רבי adds about the king's positive expressions to us, which...

Jumping in to a new year with אני לדודי, the רבי invites us to a deeper understanding of אלול by asking about the "ודודי לי" part, which seems to be the opposite of what אלול is about - "אני לדודי". The משל of המלך בשדה brings out the paradox of אלול: On the one hand it is "המלך", the king is making himself available to everyone, but on the other hand it is "בשדה", the king is not in a state of gr...

If חוקים, as was established in the מאמר, reaches the highest level of תורה; the way it is completely one with Hashem's רצון עצמי, why was דוד punished for expressing this?! The answer is, this is the highest level of תורה as תורה is itself. But in Hashem's Master Plan, the goal is to make a דירה בתחתונים. Specifically by fusing together Hashem's ability to be above the world into the world (as is...

Continuing in the explanation of חוקים, the רבי presents a fascinating difference between עדות and חוקים: While עדות is "רעותא דלבא" - the connection to Hashem from the deepest core of the person's self (his עצם הנשמה), חוקים is putting one's self on the side and serving Hashem with קבלת עול. Consequently, while עדות is the idea of עצמות being expressed within the world, חוקים is the idea of a איד...

Understanding the difference between חוקים and משפטים (as they exist within every מצוה), we appreciate why דוד's praise of תורה in that it is greater than the world (זמירות) is emphasized specifically within חוקיך: Specifically by חוקים do we see how the details of the מצות - how they energize the world - are insignificant, and a מצוה is instead purely about Hashem's רצון. To further highlight thi...

Celebrating 30 years of the חג הגאולה, the רבי quotes two questions from the פריערדיקער רבי's מאמר, said on the day he was released, י"ב תמוז תרפ"ז: How can we say that there are helpers other than Hashem, and why would דוד המלך seek revenge from his enemies?! The רבי then analyzes the פסוק that refers to חוקים as "זמירות", beginning a discussion about the חוקים element within מצות - the submissio...

In this special Gimmel Tammuz שיעור, we explore עצמות through the lens of the רבי's תורה. How do we get over the 'ghost' of זלמן משה and appreciate the רבי placing עצמות front and center? What is the central quality of עצמות? What does עצמות look like in our lives? How do we access עצמות? Is חסידות self-help? (Delivered in Crown Heights on ג' תמוז תשפ"ה as part of a day of learning the רבי's תורה,...

Uncovering a depth in ביטול, the רבי shows how fulfilling a מצוה brings out a connection to Hashem even stronger than מסירות נפש! This explains why coming from the נעשה ונשמע euphoria of שבועות, the הפטורה of בהעלותך is רני ושמחי בת ציון, emphasizing the quality of the daughter-like commitment of fulfilling מצות.

In this מאמר, said on the שבת following the miraculous victory of the six-day war, the רבי quotes the מדרש that uncovers our three-dimensional relationship with Hashem: "Daughter" - מצות, "Sister" - תורה, and "Mother" - מסירות נפש. Although it would seem that מסירות נפש is the highest form of relationship, the רבי explains the quality that exists in the daughter form of fulfilling מצות and the ביט...

Finishing the מאמר, we uncover the unique quality of רשב"י's תורה, and how it was able to make the world compatible to the miracle he affected. In one word? חסידות! We also see how אחדות ישראל is an integral part of feeling the אחדות between Hashem and אידן.

Continuing in the מאמר, we explore the difference between the effect on the world through davening vs. through a ברכה. Based on that, it seems that תורה learning contains both qualities, and this is seemingly the explanation of the miracles brought about by תלמידי חכמים through their power of תורה. In that case, what makes רשב"י's story of rain unique? Stay tuned...

Beginning a מאמר for ל"ג בעומר, the רבי connects the dots between the אחדות of אידן with each other and their אחדות with Hashem (as well as how it manifests itself in a חתן and כלה). We set out to understand how רשב"י made it rain simply through תורה; without the need of the effort that is usually needed through תפילה.

Wrapping up the מאמר, we now understand the three-step process of how מצות bring Hashem's Presence into this world, in the order of עדות, חוקים, משפטים: Through עדות we connect to Hashem's עצמות, and through חוקים and משפטים, this connection is brought out in a tangible way. The חכם wants to know how this happens through the dry actions of מצות, and the answer is that this was the power of מתן תור...

To further understand the quality of the עדות component within every מצוה, the רבי contrasts it with the חוקים element: Although חוקים - engravement - signifies כתר, Hashem's Desire on such a level is to negate human logic, and thus cannot be a representation of his Essential Desire. Specifically עדות represent the core connection of the essence of a איד with the Essence of Hashem.

The three categories of משפטים, עדות and חוקים are reexamined as three elements within every מצוה: A מצוה expresses Hashem's Presence within this world. Understanding the difference between ממלא, סובב and עצמות uncovers how specifically through עדות do we draw down Hashem's עצמות; that which is otherwise inherently inaccessible.

What is the wisdom behind the wise son's question? Why does he seem to exclude himself from the performance of the מצות? The wise son is troubled by the importance given to the simple action of מצות. Unlike the deep spirituality of Judaism before מתן תורה, he wonders, what can be so powerful about mere deeds?! What does this have to do with עדות חוקים and משפטים? Why in that order? So many questio...