The Weekly Sedra – Yud Tes Kislev

The Rebbe says:

1. The Previous Rebbe, Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson , (our Rebbe’s father-in-law), once gave a parable to explain what Chassidus is, and these are his exact words:

“Pearls are found at the bottom of the ocean on the ocean’s floor. Coals, which make heat and give light, are found in the depths of the earth. The method to finding and unearthing coals in the depths of the earth is to have an instructor who tells the digger where to dig and where exactly he can find the coal. The digger can rely on the instructor’s smarts and he must follow the instructor’s guidance exactly to the tee if he wants to get the coals. However with regards to having the air of life from the atmosphere above ground, the digger cannot rely upon the air that the instructor has; the digger must have his own air or else he will be lifeless and fall unconscious. This also holds true for someone who is finding pearls at the bottom of the ocean; he must have his own air supply.

The lesson from this parable is easily understood: Chassidus gives light and warmth (like the coals) but we must dig deep to unearth it. Also, when we go deep into the earth we must be connected to an air supply above ground”.

2. The Rebbe now asks three questions on these words of the Previous Rebbe, which leads us to understand more about what Chassidus is:

A fundamental point that we must first know is that every single word used by the Previous Rebbe is exact and the parable must fit exactly with the lesson.

Question one: Why did the Previous Rebbe give two examples, one of the pearls on the ocean floor and one about the coals in the depths of the earth, and was not satisfied with just one example? Obviously the Previous Rebbe wanted to explain to us what Chassidus is through his parable, so every detail of the parable must fit perfectly with what Chassidus is. Therefore we must understand how each example is a different dimension in Chassidus.

Question two: Even though the Previous Rebbe started off discussing the pearls parable, he only went into detail with the second parable of the coals. Moreover, when the Previous Rebbe explained the lessons from the parables, he only explained the lessons from the parable of the coals. In other words, the Previous Rebbe stresses the parable of the coals and not that of the pearls. The reason for this must be that the parable of the coals resembles an element of Chassidus which is more important then the element of Chassidus which the parable of the pearls resembles.

Let us understand what level of Chassidus the parable of the coals corresponds to, and what level of Chassidus the parable of the pearls corresponds to.

Question three: Everything that is discussed in Torah is perfectly exact . Therefore, we must say that the connection between coals and the earth, and pearls and the ocean, have more of a connection then just being the places in which they are found; we must say that they have a deeper connection. What is this connection between coals and the earth, and pearls and the ocean?

3. The Rebbe now starts explaining everything:

To understand the difference between the earth and the ocean we must first analyze the creations dwelling on and in them:

With regards to the earth, even though everything was created from the earth and the creations continue to draw sustenance from the earth , we do not see this with our physical eyes.

On the other hand, you can clearly see how the creations in the ocean are connected to their source; as we see from the fact that the fish must constantly be kept in the water and if they are removed they die .

This explains why our Sages said that the ocean symbolizes the higher worlds in which the G-dly life force is clearly manifest and all the creations in those higher worlds feel the need to constantly be connected to their Creator or else they would revert to absolute nothingness (just like the fish who knows that if he would be removed from the water he would die) . This also explains why these higher worlds are referred to as the “Hidden Worlds”: Since the creations in those worlds do not feel as an entity for themselves and are totally enveloped in the G-dly life force in those worlds (just like a fish who is totally immersed in the water)- their individuality is “hidden”.

We can now also understand why our Sages have compared the earth to the worlds where the G-dly life force pulsating through them is not perceived by the creations and they do not feel the absolute need to be constantly connected to their Creator (just like creations on earth who do not see their life source as being the earth) . This also explains why these lower worlds are referred to as the “Revealed Worlds”: Being that the creations in these worlds feel themselves as being a distinct existence- their individuality is “revealed”.

4. The Rebbe now answers the first question as to why the Previous Rebbe felt the need to use two parables to communicate what Chassidus is:

Each of these two parables expresses a different area of influence that Chassidus has on a person. One area in which Chassidus affects a person is his outer, revealed side, and this is communicated to us through the parable of the coals in the earth which we just explained refers to the “Revealed Worlds”. The other area of affect that Chassidus has on a person is on his inner, hidden part, which is communicated to us through the parable of the pearls in the sea which we just explained refers to the “Hidden Worlds”.

5. The Rebbe now explains what he means when he says that Chassidus affects a person on an inner and outer level:

We will understand this by first discussing some of the explanations as to why Chassidus was only revealed recently , in the later generations of Jewish history:

First explanation: Since as our Sages tell us, “the darkness of exile gets worse with every passing day” , we need to have greater light to be able to overcome the darkness . Therefore, the “Soul of the Torah”, namely Chassidus, was revealed to the world to cause a reciprocating affect from the “Soul of our Soul” (the innermost depths of our Soul) to be revealed and give us the strength to overcome the greater darkness of exile.

Second explanation: Since we are standing now at the end of exile, we must prepare for the Redemption. Moreover, being that our preparation must be in accordance with what we are preparing for , a foretaste of the Redemption was given to us now, and this is Chassidus.

The difference between these two reasons for the recent revelation of Chassidus is:

According to the first reason (that Chassidus came to give us strength to fight the battle against our Yetzer Horah (evil inclination)) Chassidus is connected to the revealed part of a person, the part which is waging war. On the other hand, according to the second reason (that Chassidus came as a foretaste of the final and complete Redemption) Chassidus did not just come to protect us from the darkness; it came to attach us to Hashem and become one with Him, and this is connected to the inner part of a person, the “Soul of our Soul”.

This is what we meant when we said that Chassidus affects both the outer (revealed) and inner (hidden) areas of a person.

6. The Rebbe now answers the second question as to why the Previous Rebbe explained the parable of the coals in the earth at length, and he did not stress the other parable of the pearls in the ocean:

Even though both parables express a different part of what Chassidus is (as we explained above), the parable about the coals in the earth expresses the part of Chassidus which is an absolute must, while the parable of the pearls in the ocean expresses the part of Chassidus which is not an absolute must:

To connect to Hashem in deep ways is beautiful but it is not an absolute necessity to be able to survive the darkness of this exile. However to have the tools to wage a successful battle against the darkness of exile is an absolute must. Therefore the Previous Rebbe focused on the parable about the coals in the earth which stresses that Chassidus is a tool which is an absolute must to be able to overcome the strong darkness of this world, and he did not focus on the parable of the pearls in the ocean which stresses that Chassidus does a job which is a luxury.

7. The Rebbe now answers the third question as to what the inner connection between pearls and the ocean is, and what the connection between coals and the earth is:

As the Previous Rebbe said, “coals make a person warm and give him light”. In other words, coals are a thing of necessity. On the other hand, pearls, which only beautify the person, are obviously a thing of luxury.

Therefore, the parable of the earth, which we explained symbolizes a person’s outer character and the way Chassidus affects it to be able to overcome the darkness of exile, which is an absolute must, has in it and is connected to coals which are also a necessity.

However the parable of the ocean, which we explained represents a person’s inner Soul and the way Chassidus connects that to Hashem, which is a luxury, has in it and is connected to pearls which are a luxury.

8. The Rebbe now explains some of the Previous Rebbe’s ideas in his parables:

1) When the Previous Rebbe said that, “Chassidus gives light and warmth”, he was pointing out that just like warmth and light do not change the person, they just make it more comfortable for him, so-too Chassidus did not change the Torah, Chassidus did not add or subtract any Mitzvos (Commandments) Heaven Forbid; it just gave a warmth and clarity to the fulfillment of the Mitzvos.

Incidentally, this answers those who say, “My ancestors did not need Chassidus, why do I need Chassidus?”: Yes it is true they didn’t need it, but that is because it wasn’t as cold and dark then.

2) When the Previous Rebbe said that, “The method…is to have an instructor who tells the digger where to dig… The digger can rely on the instructors smarts and he must follow the instructor’s guidance exactly to the tee if he wants to get the coals”, he was saying that the way to have the warmth and light of Chassidus in your life is through listening to the Rebbe (leader) of your generation exactly to the tee.

However the Previous Rebbe also added, “However with regards to having the air of life from the atmosphere above ground, the digger cannot rely upon the air that the instructor has; the digger must have his own air or else he will be lifeless and fall unconscious”. The Previous Rebbe was telling us that we cannot rely on the Rebbe’s “air” for life; we must have our own “air”. What does this mean? We must have set times to learn Chassidus every single day.

9. The Rebbe now finishes off by adding something innovative:

When the Previous Rebbe said that pearls are a thing of luxury, and so-too the part of Chassidus which reveals our inner connection with Hashem in the deepest ways is a luxury, he was referring to his generation. However in our times, when the time of our Redemption is literally here and we are about to meet the King of all Kings, we must also involve ourselves with acquiring pearls.

Just like a person who comes before a king of flesh and blood without looking respectful enough by having beautiful ornaments and jewelry will be insulting the king’s honor, how much more so when we come before the King of all Kings, we must we look respectful by having beautiful pearls and jewelry.

We get these gorgeous pearls by learning an abundance of Chassidus.

Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos volume twenty, first Sicha on Yud Tes Kislev.