More on the two levels of לשמה. 1) to bring us closer to him. The discussion from the רמב”ם’s introduction to פרק חלק about reward and punishment and serving Hashem for a higher purpose, culminating in לשמה. See also הלכות תשובה פרק י. The idea is that even the לשמה is to connect me with…

Continued Perek 5. More on the advantage of Torah over Mitzvos as Torah is both “food” and a garment. But there are two ideas in this itself: 1) as it brings the person closer to Hashem ולשמה היינו לקשר נפשו ודעתו בהוי’ה 2) It fulfills the divine purpose לשם התורה עצמה as will be explained…

This class deals with end of perek 5.

Review of last week. The idea of מקיף ומוקף in the שכל of תורה and on a higher level, in the אלקות of תורה. In exploring this we visited the idea of תורה being מזון וגם לבוש. Two ideas in מזון: A)You become (one with) it. B) It (the Torah) becomes one with you, it…

The word Tfisa bothers us. Because having Atzmus through Mitzvos is Him draping us and not the other way around. He introduces the answer by discussing ideas, that they are simultaneously holding the ideas and the ideas are holding them. He will argue that Torah (as opposed to Mitzvos) are “Makif AND Mukaf”.

Letter to Yeshivas Bochurim inspiring renewed dedication after the Summer break. Page 292.

Para Aduma is the חוקת כל התורה כולה the ideal way for a yid to live is on the levels of oneness with Hashem called חקיקה engraved. The aspects of Para Aduma develop this philosophy further: 1) Aish and (living) Water are a Keili when all else is purged and the essence alone remains you’re…

Version One. (the page numbers and layout are a bit different than the text i used, so you must adopt a little). The idea of חידוש was discussed at length in this class. The point the Rebbe is making is that the idea of חידוש is by a בעל תשובה. The Rebbe links this to…

Class One. Two teachings: the Ba’al Shem Tov and the Tzemach Tzedek. The Ba’al Shem Tov: Breishis etc. to reveal the reason for the concealment of Elokim. The Tzemach Tzedek: three ideas to Breishis: 1) Kesser, 2) Chochma, 3) Midos. To bring it all down. Class Two. The classic idea of renewal after departure (associated…

Class One. The story of Mesiras Nefesh (Reb Dovid Okinov O”H). The Korbanos of Mesiras Nefesh are greater than the Korbanos in the Beis Hamikdash. When people go through so much and still stand unbending and unchanging (altogether) in their connection to Hashem, this is the highest Inyan. זה דור דורשיו מבקשי פניך יעקב סלה…