Part 1 Hemsheichim (Series) – their structure and purpose. Overview of maamarim in general and a hemshech in particular. A Hemshech is a maamar that is way too long to speak at one time so it is broken up in smaller segments, each with its own divrei Hamaskhil (the address of the maamar) and a concluding paragraph. The standard structure of a maamar is to ask a question, change the subject, ask more questions, change the subject again. The middle of the maamar is the biur (what the Rebbe wants to talk about) then the questions are answered in reverse order. The Samach vav maamar of the Rebbe Rashab is an example of a maamar with perfect symmetry, but many maamarim are not finished and not all the questions are answered. In our maamar, Perek aleph asks two sets of questions which are answered in perek 18, and perakim 13-17; more questions are asked in perek beis which are answered in perek 12. The biur consists of perakim 3-11. MP3
