Chelek 33, Chukas 1 - Mrs. Rivky Slonim

So in Sif Zayin, the Rebbe says, "V'tosefes nesinas koach al zeh hu yada'y hishtadlus.

Nishtateach al kivrei avos." Um, so the Rebbe speaks about, uh, avoda that has to be done, and he says that extra strength will come through hishtadlus.

Literally, hishtadlus means to prostrate oneself, uh, but it is the term we use for going to the ayal.

Be- b'chlal, going to kvarim of tzadikim, and specifically for us, hishtadlus is going to the Rebbe's ayal.

And the Rebbe says, "Inyan hishtadlus hu hahalichah al kivrei mitah yediya az dah iz zer." That the idea of hishtadlus is about going to the cave of the tzadik from a perspective or a place where you know that's where the tzadik is found.

"Umitzary mesturas d'mot panav," and you, um, elicit in your imagination the, the... his face.

"V'idei zeh nitosef koach v'oz b'hiskashrus." And through this, you add strength, um, to your bond to the tzadik.

"Ubekiyum shlichuso l'lo shinuim v'chesbon et sklal." And you also add strength to your being able to fulfill the shlichas from the tzadik without any changes and without mixing in your own calculations, et cetera.

"Ukesh shshomeim mimoshhe, moshe sh'b'dor- b'dorenu, tzivui v'herah pa'am echad." When you hear from the Moshe in our generation a command, a, a- an instruction once.

"Harbeh meshe chazman yecha li oz bezech halichos ukras." So it could happen that after some time, um, your, your resolve to keep that instruction becomes weaker.

You get a little bit, uh, more ambivalent, a little, uh, colder.

"Yiruv cheshbon zichli." You start to mix in your own calculations.

"Ukeyatz bezech k'becheit hamaraglim," et cetera, et cetera, as what's happened with the cheit hamaraglim.

"V'lachein ha'eitza hi l'chazeik hiskashrus a yedei hishtadlus." And therefore, the solution the Rebbe says is to strengthen one's hiskashrus through hishtadlus.

Okay.

Now, here comes the, the reason why we're doing this.

[coughs] "Uba'ze nichlol gam inyan hishtadlus beruchniyus." And hishtadlus includes spirio- spiritual hishtadlus.

"Kdeisa besefer Maareh Einayim beshem HaBaal Shem Tov," like it's written in the Sefer Maareh Einayim in the name of the Baal Shem Tov.

"She'inyan hishtadlus beruchniyus hu al yedei limud Torasai shel haTzadik." That how do you prostrate yourself? How do you connect yourself to where the tzadik lies eternally? Through learning his Torah.

"Sheba'hichnis es kol atzmuso." Because the tzadik puts his enti- entire atzmus into his Torah.

In, in the parentheses in Yiddish, "Oydem hatezich abgegemen un indem hatezich avekgegemen." This is what he focused on, and this is what he, um, this is what he, he gave his life away for.

"V'al der shematzin b'zoyah b'negel haMoshe shet furasa delei Mishnah." Like the Zohar says about Moshe Rabbeinu that what's his burial? Where is his kever? It's in the Mishnah.

So when I learnt this, I just, um...

I thought to myself, "This is something that we need to just look at as a class and realize how fortunate we are that there are so many layers to learning the Rebbe's Torah, among them the ability to have hishtadlus." And not everybody lives close by.

Not everybody could go to the ayal regularly.