A Sicha of the Rebbe – The Tenth of Shvat

The Rebbe says:

1. There is a famous letter of the Baal Shem Tov in which he describes his encounter with the soul of Moshiach (the Messiah) during one of his journeys throughout the heavenly spheres. “When will the Master come?” asked the Baal Shem Tov, “When your wellsprings (the wellsprings of Chassidus) are spread throughout, even to the outside” answered Moshiach.

2. The Rebbe points out that since our Sages tell us that everything can be found in the Torah, this idea that as the result of the wellsprings of Chassidus being spread throughout the world Moshiach will come must also be hinted at in the Torah:

In its description of the exodus from Egypt, the Torah says, “The children of Israel left triumphantly”. The Targum Onkelos (a major translator of the Torah into Aramaic) translates this verse into Aramaic and writes, “The children of Israel left with their heads held high”.

The Hebrew words that the Targum uses for, “their heads held high”, is, “B’Reish Gali”. Some commentaries tell us that the word “B’Reish”, which is spelled, “Beis, Reish, Yud, Shin”, is an acronym for, “Reb Yisroel Ben Sarah (Rabbi Yisroel the son of Sarah)”, or, “Reb Yisroel Baal Shem (Tov)”; in either case, the word “B’Reish” refers to the Baal Shem Tov.

Other commentaries tell us that the word, “B’Reish”, is an acronym for the Rashbi, “Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rabbi Shimon the son of Yochai)”, while still other commentaries tell us that the word, “B’Reish”, is an acronym for the Arizal, “Rabbi Yitzchok Ben Shlomo (Rabbi Isaac the son of Solomon)”.

The fact that the Rashbi, the Arizal, and the Baal Shem Tov, are all hinted at in the verse referring to redemption (“The children of Israel left triumphantly”) makes perfect sense because the teachings of the Rashbi and the Arizal will propel the Jewish people to the ultimate redemption; as the Rashbi is quoted in the Zohar as saying, “With this book (the Zohar, the inner part of Torah) the Jewish people will go out of exile with mercy”. However, the Rashbi and the Arizal only revealed the inner secrets of the Torah to a select few people, and even to these people the amount of inner teachings was limited. The job to bring Moshiach therefore was not completed because Moshiach will only come once the inner teachings of the Torah are spread throughout the world, even in the “outside”. This only began with the Baal Shem Tov when he taught the inner part of Torah to everyone and anyone, without any exceptions.

3. The Rebbe now adds that not only is it appropriate for the Rashbi, the Arizal, and the Baal Shem Tov, to be referred to in the Torah regarding redemption, it is especially fitting for this reference to be brought to light by the Targum Unkelos (when he says, “B’Reish Gali – with their heads held high”):

When one reads this verse in the Torah plainly (“The children of Israel left triumphantly”), it is simply referring to the exodus from Egypt. Only because our Sages tell us that the exile of Egypt is the source of all exiles, and the redemption from Egypt is the source for all redemptions, do we know that this verse is also referring to the complete and ultimate redemption with Moshiach (and therefore it is most proper for the Rashbi, the Arizal, and the Baal Shem Tov, to be hinted at in this verse).

However in the Targum the complete and ultimate redemption is more readily seen because the whole idea of the Targum is to translate the Torah from the Holy Tongue (Lashon Kodesh) into the language of the exile (Aramaic); in other words, to bring holiness into the mundane. Moreover, this is surely the proper preparation for the time of Moshiach when the mundane will be filled with holiness, as it says, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together”.

Therefore the Targum is specifically the one to hint at the Rashbi, the Arizal, and the Baal Shem Tov, who are the ones to pave the way and make this world ready for the revelation of Moshiach.

4. The Rebbe now begins the second part of this discussion which connects the Previous Rebbe, whose Yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) we commemorate on this day (the Tenth of Shvat), to this discussion:

Someone wrote me a letter, (says the Rebbe), and pointed out that the word, “B’Reish”, which we have just been discussing, is also an acronym for the Previous Rebbe; “Rabbi Yoseph Yitzchak Ben Shalom (Rabbi Joseph Isaac the son of Shalom (Dovber))”, or, “Rabbi Yoseph Yitzchak Ben Shterna Sarah (Rabbi Joseph Isaac the son of Shterna Sarah)”.

Even though it is not usually correct for us to make up our own acronyms and hints from the Torah, (says the Rebbe), in this case, being that the truth of the matter remains whether we have the acronym or not, we will explain how the context of this acronym fits perfectly with the Previous Rebbe.

An example of something that is true whether we have the hint from the Torah or not can be found in the Rambam in his introduction to his commentary on the Mishnayos: The Rambam writes that even though the Rabbis in the Talmud teach us by way of exposition from verses in the Torah what kind of species should be used on Succos (Sukkot), we would have known anyways what kind of species to use because the tradition was passed down from Moshe Rabbeinun (Moses our teacher) throughout the generations.
5. The Rebbe now begins to explain the immediate connection between the Previous Rebbe and the acronym fitting his name in the words, “B’Reish Gali – with their heads held high”:

As we said earlier, the Baal Shem Tov was the one to disseminate the inner teachings of the Torah, namely Chassidus, throughout the world. The Baal Shem Tov would go around from city to city, and from village to village, and speak to everyone, even the simplest of men, and teach them Chassidus. However, in order for these simple people to understand what the Baal Shem Tov was teaching them, he would tell them stories and short Torah sayings and within these seemingly simple stories he would imbue the deepest concepts of the Torah.

The successor of the Baal Shem Tov, the Mezritcher Magid, had a different approach. He would teach Chassidus without any limitation on the content; however this automatically limited the audience to the amazingly gifted and accomplished scholars. This is not to say that the ways of Chassidus (acting like a Chassid) was limited to a specific audience, however the teachings of Chassidus were limited to those who were elevated enough to handle it.

The Alter Rebbe, the successor of the Mezritcher Magid, began a new way of disseminating Chassidus which all the Chabad Rebbeim (leaders of Chabad) continued. The Alter Rebbe began explaining Chassidus in a way that was formed with a logical order so that the mind could grasp it. However even this was limited to deep intellectuals.

The Previous Rebbe, like the Baal Shem Tov, began disseminating Chassidus so that all could understand and appreciate it, even the simplest of men. The difference between the Previous Rebbe and the Baal Shem Tov is that when the simpletons walked away from the Baal Shem Tov they thought that they had merely heard a nice story; they didn’t appreciate that they had just heard the deepest secrets of the Torah. On the other hand when someone listened to the Previous Rebbe speak he knew that Chassidus was being taught and walked away with knowing at least a little of the secrets of Torah.

In other words, the Previous Rebbe took on the attitude of spreading Chassidus clearly throughout the globe which is the ideal preparation for the coming of Moshiach who will be revealed clearly throughout the globe.

Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos volume three.