Class One. The world was created on the 25th of Elul which is special in so many ways, but we celebrate Rosh Hashana on 1 Tishrei, because of the revealing of G-dliness in the lower worlds. This is connected primarily to the נשמה, but the נשמה needs the body to bring it to this world....

Class One. There are three Teshuvos in the Pesukim שובה ישראל גו. 1) שובה ישראל עד הוי’ אלוקיך 2) קחו עמכם דברים ושובו אל הוי 3) אמרו אליו כל תשא עון גו They correspond to the three תשובות found in לקוטי תורה ד”ה מה טובו which are: 1) סור מרע, 2) עשה טוב 3) בקש...

Class One. Korbanos and Ketores both involve fire (light) and shade (darkness that is above light). But in Korbanos it is about the fire and the (visible heat and) light; and in Ketores it is about the shade and darkness. Korbanos: 1) bring close, 2) are a service of the mind, 3) reach -only- the...

Class One. This class explains two ideas in Teshuva (that are to a great extent opposites): 1) Actualizing the nature of the נשמה. This itself has two aspects: A. Its nature to reunite with its Source (Hashem) after being separated and placed in a physical body. B. Its desire to do what her Maker (Hashem)...

Two levels of wholeness and perfection and the difference between them: 1) אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם- עולם על מילואו נברא. 2) אלה תודות פרץ- לעתיד לבא יעלה הפורץ לפניהם. These are two levels of perfection, one at the beginning of time where everything is A. potential and not yet actual, B. limited and in...

השמים כסאי ה’תשמ”א Class One. Heaven and earth are beyond any form: they refer to Torah and Mitzvos. In the beginning, the heaven and the earth are: 1) potential and not actual, 2) finite and not infinite. השמים כסאי ה’תשמ”א Class Two. In the end heaven and earth are 1) actual, 2) infinite. This is...

The Zohar compares אברהם to the first of the עשרת הדברות which corresponds to all רמ”ח מצות עשה. This theme is consistent with the idea of לאתקנא רזא דשמי’ה to bring more light into the vessels of אצילות and to expand the vessels. This is the meaning of ואגדלה שמיך- of Hashem! It is achieved...

Class One. Simcha is explored in this class: Joy allows for complete Avodas Hashem; It involves great humility. It needs to be constrained so that it not result in something unholy. Class Two. The issue of Murgash (external and demonstrative passion) that was described as undesirable in the last class, is the Avoda of: Chava,...

ויאמר לו יהונתן מחר חודש ה’תשמ”א, Class One. Shabbos is higher than Rosh Chodesh and Rosh Hashana as it is completely above time (while Rosh Chodesh and Rosh Hashana are higher ideas IN time but not above it). The strength for מחר חודש always comes from Shabbos- what is completely above time. ויאמר לו יהונתן...

Class One. This (first of two) class on this Ma’amar explores the idea of Shalom. To have peace from war has two aspects: A. The evil is נתבטל בעצם מהותו altogether nullified. B. The weapon used to defeat the enemy has to be transcendent- above the struggle altogether. He explains three levels in this: A....

Class One. Two levels are extracted from this Possuk. The first is the Possuk by itself, that says that people who learn Torah are Hashem’s children and they have peace. The second is how this Possuk is understood by the חז”ל אל תקרי בניך אלא בוניך that their Torah is מברר the world. The peace...

This מאמר was said at the סיום ספר תורה for the בית הכנסת בית מנחם in כפר חב”ד. The בירור of תורה itself in four ideas: 1) פדה בשלום the redemption from the struggle of עולמות בפשיטות happens peaceably. 2) מקרב The struggle to redeem תורה happens with a battle from close up מקרב that...

For there to be a peaceful resolution to war, there must be war. But some victories are “peaceful”.

There are two lands in the land where Yaakov lives, higher and lower. These two are represented by two levels of Torah. This Ma’amar explores the great advantage of the lower level of Torah in and of itself. Through the laws there is Birurim. This is why it must also involve מרמה.

This Ma’amar is a Chanuka Ma’amar, because it has at its foundation the idea of ירידה צורך עלי’ה. In this class the Rebbe uses the language of פרצת כל הגדרים. The level of בת ציון is the lowest level and is connected to action, of Mitzvos, but it reaches higher than אחותי and אמי.

What does the snake miracle that precedes the ten מכות mean and represent? All the מכות are not only to get Yidden out of Egypt, but also for the elevation of sparks, עבודת הבירורים. The snake sets this all up, and particularly the fact that it goes from stick to snake and back again and...

Why one would think the Torah should begin with החודש- which is the directly holy involvement of the צדיק, ישכר, תורה ותפילה but in the end the תורה begins with בראשית because in the connection of the תורה to the נותן התורה action, בעל תשובה, זבולן is actually primary.

This Ma’amar discusses the idea of one being a seminal point which matures when it develops all ten aspects. It interprets the word בעשור (as opposed to בעשירי) as meaning all ten, meaning, that each later day includes all the preceding ones until ten. Ten is the completion of one’s personal wholeness; of קשוט עצמך....

Class One. This class deals with Perek 11 of the Previous Rebbe’s Ma’amar באתי לגני. The discussion centers around the עבודה of יראה, קבלת עול and מסירת נפש of the צבאות השם. When the King faces a מלחמת נצחון his מדת הנצח is aroused and he pulls out all the stops: Engaging in the war...

There are two מזבחות: 1) מזבח אדמה which is a reference to involvement in direct holiness, תורה ומצוות which is why it is a certainty. 2) מזבח אבנים which is a reference to the involvement in Klipa, and it is therefor written as a condition “If” one (needs) to involve himself in correcting this involvement,...

Class One. Introduction: The classic idea of this Possuk, that we do משפטים like חוקים rather than the other way around, because the משפטים are also from סיני. The Rebbe added in תשנ”ב that the very idea of משפטים where ideas of morality צדק ויושר are logical is a special gift from Hashem to bring...

Class One. The three תרומות in Avoda are: 1) 1) Torah, 2) Mesiras Nefesh (tefilla), 3) Mitzvos. This is connected to the עין יפה בינונית ורעה א’ ממ’ א’ מנו”ן וא’ מסמ”ך. 2) How in Torah itself there is 1) Torah, 2) The source of Mesiras Nefesh (Tefilla), 3) the source of Mitzvos. This second...

This is the מאמר given to us in Adar 5752, with which we live our lives; it is the מאמר of התקשרות Click here for a folder-full of classes and versions of classes on this מאמר. Below is a חזרה of this מאמר and below that a class on the בלתי מוגה (unedited version) of...

Class One. This class is a brief חזרה of the מאמר רבי רש”ב from תרע”ח: There’s good חן and bad חן. Unearned חן is שקר החן and it was בדורו של משה before the Torah was given. Earned חן is very good, it is like אתעדל”ע שלמעלה מן אתעדל”ת אתעדל”ע or it is the level...

Moshe gathers the Jews and speaks first of Shabbos and then of the Mishkan; which is the opposite of how Hashem inspired him, where Shabbos was last. The Rebbe explains that these Pesukim are describing Hakhail; where the first step is Shabbos: Bittul followed by bringing Hashem into each aspect of life: The Bais HaMikdash.

כי תשא means raising Yidden up in Teshuva, lifting in a way that is infinitely higher than before (even above the head). It must be done through Moshe. תרומה להו’ה means lifting from the bottom up, Teshuva, תרומת הוי’ה is bringing the infinity of the בעל תשובה into the finitude of the צדיק because he...

Class One. There are a few different themes among the many מאמרי זכור. This one is about the idea of דרך. Why is the עמלק attack linked to these two clues: 1) on the דרך; and 2) after leaving מצרים. Answers: 1) In מצרים, they were out of עמלק’s reach because: A. there they had...

Why אורה is feminine: it is receiving inspiration from higher than אור/ תורה and therefore reaches lower. Like the ה’ה added to אברהם אבינו’s name raising him higher and bringing him lower. שמחה reveals this higher Torah. These two are חכמה ובינה and are secured through Davening with Ahava and followed by יפוצו מעינותיך חוצה....

This מאמר explores the Chassidus of the word שושן: like שושנה, a rose. The thirteen petals on the rose are the מדות both of תפילה: מדות הרחמים as well as תורה: שהתורה נדרשת בהם. Then there is the red rose which shows on sin that needs to be whitened. This is the idea that גלו...

(פרשת פרה) Class One. There is a relationship between פרה אדומה and גלות, as it is done outside all three camps, like Galus. It starts at the exit to גן עדן where the one river diverges into four, and it ends with no water at all: Klipa. But there is the possibility for correction. פרה...

(פרשת החודש) Class One. This class begins with a lengthy introduction about the Rebbe’s unique contribution to מאמרי חסידות. One of the Rebbe’s big new ideas is the idea of the אלקות of חושך וצמצום עצמו. This class explains the aforementioned idea by explaining why the Torah begins with (darkness) בראשית ברא אלוקים which must...

The source of צרעת is בינה without חכמה. Explanation: רצוא without שוב. Example: שבת vs. the weekdays.

Class One. יציאת מצרים actually and as it relates to the ירידת הנשמה למטה happens in stages: It goes from one step to another (downwards) going into the Galus and from one step to another going out of the Galus. Each Geula is a Galus compared to a later Geula, and it continues forever. Class...

Class One. This class introduces three ideas of Matza: 1) Matza Aniya in Mitzrayim, 2) Matza Aniya after they left Mitzrayim, 3) Matza Ashira. The three appear to be connected to the three אהבות that are three levels of ביטול in this מאמר in the following order: ואהבת את הוי’ אלוקיך בכל… 1)נפשך 2)לבבך 3)מאודיך...

We ask that what we do be sweet from above time until time on the lowest level. This מאמר explains how high the work of Yidden reach. It also speaks glowingly about the שרש of the Jewish people. A mystical connection between this Possuk and Erev Pesach.

Class One. In this class very little text was read, we explained three ideas: 1) השתלשלות הכתרים זה מזה there’s a special relationship between all כתר. This happens by each world ending in a point which is tiny compared to itself, but it is the basis for the infinity (כתר) of the next world. 2)...

This מאמר of קדושים is different than most מאמרים on this פסוק. In this version the greatest thing i what we Give Hashem on our own: תפילה which is explained as מסירת נפש. This is higher than our relationships with Hashem based on what He gives us: תורה ומצות. The third crown that He keeps...

This is primarily a ל”ג בעומר Ma’amar. בחוקותי means תורה that results in a physical change in the world as it says ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם the Torah that makes it rain is the level of רבי שמעון בר יוחאי. This is, of course, the story in זהר where through תורה ושבחים of רשב”י it rained....

This מאמר is about renewal. The counting of the Jewish people was a newness that requires: 1) שאו את ראש which means an opening of ביטול. 2) Then the actual עבודה consists of two steps: A. במדבר סיני which is תפילה climbing from the lowest to the highest level. B. באהל מועד which is תורה...

Class One. This מאמר discusses the relationship between 1) The Mishkan, 2) The work done in the Mishkan, 3) The journeys through the desert. This class wonders about the journeys that happened before the Mishkan was erected and teaches us something outstanding: the Yiddishkeit Jewish people received at Sinai existed within them inherently and shows...

Class One. This class introduces the essential point of this מאמר. The idea that the beginning and essence of everything is what we give Hashem entirely on our own, this is… 1) תפילה which radiates entirely from the person. 2) הקדימו נעשה לנשמע. The הקדימו, this is what we give Him; consequent of that there...

The change in the פסוק נר אלוקים נשמת אדם as opposed to נר הוי’ נשמת אדם as it appears in משלי כ”ז, כ is based on the ירושלמי שבת פ”ב ה”ו. All the Jewish people make up one body with seven branches and seven different types of service to Hashem. The seven רועים shepherds assist...

This מאמר explains the idea of רצוא ושוב as it relates to קרבנות (only) once Yidden go into and settle ארץ ישראל. קרבנות are רצוא and מנחה ונסכים are שוב. In עבודת האדם they are both in Davening: קריאת שמע וכו’ ואח”כ שמונה עשרה, are רצוא ושוב. In life they are: 1) Being in Shul...

Everything associated with כהונה and כהנים is marked by quickness and alacrity. It is based on their nature of חסד. It also comes down through all steps of השתלשלות, it just does it quickly. And it reaches the lowest levels. All Jews are spiritually כהנים.

חוקת means engraved חקיקה. The מאמר discusses the idea that תורה has two levels: תורה שבכתב ותורה שבעל פה and that the idea of three levels of תורה which are engraved חקיקה written כתיבה and spoken אמירה is what happens when the נשמה comes into this world: it reveals the source of the תורה on...

Class One. In this class the מאמר establishes the idea that each and every פסוק in פרשת בלק is about תשובה. Since the story of בלק and בלעם is about transforming a curse into a blessing, so too the lesson of the Parsha is in תשובה. Class Two. There are four levels of תשובה two...

Class One. This class has a lengthy introduction about Yud Bais Tamuz and the idea of Mesiras Nefesh. The part of the Ma’amar learned is the beginning and the end. The point is that the salvation of Dovid from his challenges and his receiving Divine help depends on actually seeing his enemies as a challenge...

קדש ישראל להוי’ה is Yidden in the good times, when they are on the level of קדש, the fourth level חכמה, השתלשלות. כל אוכליו יאשמו is Yidden in Galus with all kinds of challenge that reveals the fifth level: אשם שהוא וחומשו חמשה the financial aspect of the אשם (the fine) is a quarter on...

The difference between Yosef and his brothers (and -even- the Avos) highlights the reason why the בני גד ובני ראובן wanted land east of the Yarden to be pastoralists. This was due to their worldliness עובדי הוי’ בגופם which required them to choose a life far from the material world, as opposed to their brethren...

This Ma’amar explains that the Torah is an eternal practical lesson and in that spirit the 42 journeys are explained. The life of the person and the day of the person have 42 journeys from leaving the exile and constraint of the womb and the bed until one reaches the highest levels. Each higher level...

Class One. This מאמר is מוגה. This מאמר begins typically enough but then turns on its head. (in this class we learned the beginning and the end of the מאמר the middle we’ll do next time). The first explanation is: ציון are Yidden who stand out in Galus and deserve “משפט” redemption; while שבי’ה are...

נחמו is said twice for the two בתי מקדש though the first one was greater and should include whatever they lost in the second one; but the second one’s ירידה is greater and the נחמה is for the ירידה and the ultimate עלי’ה that will follow based on the principle that what falls lower rises...

This מאמר explains the ברכות of Bentching: 1) Why even in the מדבר they thought of the future לחם מן הארץ. 2) Why even after the מן stopped we continue saying הזן את הכל. 3) The meaning of the last ברכה that even the ירידה into גלות is part of what we are thankful for...

Class One. All the people from the city join the people in the field because by going out into the field, when the King returns to the city they go not only into the city but into the palace itself. Class Two. The desert and the people there are certainly also allowed to come into...

The basis for this מאמר is the ש”ך על התורה’s idea that it refers to the gates on the body of the person. There are two ideas what the gates are. 1) All seven are in the face and head. 2) The gates are in the entire body. The Rebbe wonders what is the reason...

This מאמר discuses the Bracha and thanksgiving associated with divine blessing especially in Eretz Yisroel. However, the darker the period prior to the entry into Eretz Yisroel the more uplifted is the blessing of Eretz Yisroel.

Class One. The part of the מאמר we learned first, deals with שמח תשמח רעים האהובים= חכמה ובינה and the spiritual unity they have. Though there is natural Joy in בינה and especially in חכמה- מקום התענוג שלמעלה משמחה but their Joy is מורכב and therefore finite. The unconditional infinite Joy which we ask Hashem...

Class One. There are three levels and ideas in אתם נצבים. 1) התחלקות 2) התכללות 3) התאחדות Class Two. The three levels of אחדות ישראל are linked to: 1) the three names of Yidden: יעקב, ישראל, ישרון. 2) The three blessings of Rosh Hashana Davening: מלכיות, זכרונות, שופרות. 3) The interpretations of אתם נצבים discussed...

Class One. This מאמר has three levels: 1) זה היום תחילת מעשיך this is the idea that when man was created the purpose of the world began. That the purpose is to reveal G-dliness into the world(s). 2) זכרון ליום ראשון is the idea of חפץ חסד which is Hashem’s delight above man’s access altogether....