The true way to draw closer to Hashem - the Gaon will perform the ritual on Saturday after the th...

2:51 Whoever wants to add Rashi to it as well — may blessing come upon him. And one can take a different commentator each year: one time the Ramban, the Ibn Ezra, the Sforno, the holy Ohr HaChaim. The holy Ohr HaChaim — there is a very great segulah in learning it on the parashah. The custom of Jerusalem was to hold a test for becoming a dayan, and, with no connection at all to the beis din, what they would do — they would also test on the holy Ohr HaChaim. What was the connection? To see that the dayan has fear of Heaven.

3:16 Because one who learns the Ohr HaChaim — it is tried and tested that he has fear of Heaven. So they would test on that, on the Ohr HaChaim. What is that? - There are many who missed a lot at the beginning of the year. If they start to make it up today, then let's learn — that is a lot to make up. - It is a great deal to make up, true. From next year it no longer helps — Simchas Torah. You can make it up; read every day, you can get through a lot. All right, it is not such a... it will take forty minutes each day, half an hour, [unclear]... Yes, it is important.

3:44 The learning of shnayim mikra v'echad targum — in the Beis Yosef, siman 285 — you see the importance of reading shnayim mikra v'echad targum. In Tractate Bava Kamma, page 82, you see that the reading of the Torah is an enactment for the public, and it is very important to complete the parashiyos together with the congregation, to fulfill the obligation. A person cannot do away with the reading of shnayim mikra v'echad targum; it comes before all other learning, and even a mourner and even a blind man must read shnayim mikra v'echad targum.

4:09 So do not treat this important mitzvah lightly. And also, according to the Maharil, if a person is not exact in the Targum, he does not fulfill the obligation. There are many laws in this, in shnayim mikra v'echad targum. One can do it according to the approach of the Gaon. One can read it together; one can read each day that day's portion. One can read by the aliyos. There is the Chok LeYisrael. One can read along with the ba'al korei — I mean, to fulfill it that way too: one reads aloud together with him, afterward you say it again, and afterward the Targum once, at the end.

4:36 One can do that too. The Maharam of Rothenburg — he would read between the aliyos. You can do what you are able to, according to your ability. I recommend to everyone who wants — simply — I know that maybe it is heavy and hard for people, because they have their other learning — simply to take the Chumash, every day — today is Sunday — after the tefillah, not the Chok LeYisrael, to take a regular Chumash, to read the first aliyah — twice the verse, once the Targum, Rashi. It comes to ten minutes each day.

5:03 Friday comes, you read the sixth and the seventh — you have finished. And then you can also read Midrash Tanchuma, you can read Midrash Rabbah, Yalkut Shimoni — very important. And then you merit that you fulfill the obligation, and you also rise and are uplifted — beyond its being a segulah for livelihood. And further, in the name of the kabbalists: one who does not say shnayim mikra v'echad targum that week — that whole coming week he goes through very great hardships. I do not even want to say the wording.

5:28 It is a very, very, very important thing. Our master the Arizal would do it on Erev Shabbos — that was the practice of our master the Arizal. Yes, but that is longer, it takes more time, it is harder. I recommend to everyone, whoever wants, simply — here, Sunday — look — not to read it from the time of Minchah of Shabbos; according to the Rema that is possible, for Ashkenazim, although according to the Kol Bo and Maran the Beis Yosef one has to read from Sunday.

5:56 We read from Sunday. It is better to read from Sunday. Whoever wants, following the Ashkenazim, following the Rema, to read from Minchah of Shabbos — from the time of Minchah of Shabbos to read shnayim mikra — he may begin. The right way is to read, following the Kol Bo and Maran the Beis Yosef, from Sunday — to read tomorrow the Torah reading: you can read the parashah from the first aliyah to the second, the second to the third — each day you read after Shacharis, and in that way you fulfill the obligation.

6:20 You read shnayim mikra v'echad targum; it took you five minutes, seven minutes, ten minutes each day. Erev Shabbos comes — the sixth, the seventh — you read it at ease and you have finished. And then, suddenly, on Shabbos you can read — you can sit for half an hour with the Ohr HaChaim, you can sit with Midrash Tanchuma, Midrash Rabbah. I am telling you, this is how I — bli neder — this was my practice for many years.

6:44 I am not saying that... ...one does not fulfill it. I always say shnayim mikra v'echad targum, baruch Hashem; I never missed, baruch Hashem — I merited it — I never left out shnayim mikra. - Rav, Rav, what [unclear] this whole year, right? - No — so, do not despair. And if a person — it happens many times that a person reads a verse and is in doubt whether he read it — then always move forward, do not go back.

7:08 Do not go back; always move forward. That is a very important thing. Now, reading the shnayim mikra v'echad targum — sometimes I do not manage to read it on the weekdays, so I do it on Friday. If I do not manage on Friday, then I, after Shacharis — today, for example, I did shnayim mikra v'echad targum after Shacharis, after I finished the shiur here. We finished, and I went and said the shnayim mikra v'echad targum. What can I do? It took me forty minutes, thirty-five minutes.

7:35 So I did shnayim mikra v'echad targum at home. - Rav, why did you tell the gabbaim of synagogues specifically about shnayim mikra v'echad targum? Two years ago I saw a video of the Rav — two years, three — and gabbaim of synagogues came, and they were told specifically: shnayim mikra v'echad targum. What is it specifically about shnayim mikra v'echad targum, specifically in regard to a synagogue? - In regard to a synagogue? - Yes. There were [unclear] two gabbaim, at the public reception, and you told them shnayim mikra. - Maybe they asked something connected to it. - No, [unclear] he told them specifically, the truth is that since then I [unclear] upon myself, [unclear] several years, thanks to [unclear]. So that everyone should take upon themselves shnayim mikra v'echad targum. [unclear] But Rav, what is it about shnayim mikra v'echad targum?

8:14 I do it every day, as I said. I have not managed to understand, but why, what... I don't know — I saw a video of the Rav, where gabbaim of a synagogue came and asked the Rav [unclear], and it was said: "You are gabbaim; gabbaim must — it is an obligation on them — shnayim mikra v'echad targum." I don't know why. [unclear] in the synagogue? It sort of made me... - Look, maybe because they are gabbaim — so that, this way, people should not talk. It could be that it was some... maybe — I don't remember. There was probably something before it. Whenever people come — I simply do not know what comes out of it. You know, people speak with me, and meanwhile they put out a video; people record and film, and they do not always film everything there is in the conversation with the gabbaim, or whatever.

8:55 They probably took out some part of it, or something, but apparently they spoke about something important, or some particular topic, for which I said that to them. Just like that, for no reason, to say this to gabbaim, say... [unclear]. Ah — "in what should one strengthen oneself," maybe; so I said, maybe in shnayim mikra v'echad targum. And of course also not to chat — in Tractate Megillah, page [unclear] — about synagogues, that [unclear] in them. That is very important. But if anything, for the gabbaim of a synagogue — if anything, they really need to be strict about lashon hara in the synagogue, that people behave well in the synagogue — the congregation, those who pray there — and to check that the synagogue is whitewashed every year, clean; to make repairs; to see that the lavatory is in good repair and decent;

9:36 to see whether something needs renovating, putting in order, that everything should be — what is it called? - General maintenance. - General maintenance. It is learned from Tractate Middos, chapter 3, Mishnah 4, which we do as well — as the Rambam wrote, Hilchos Beis HaBechirah, as it is written in Hilchos Issurei Mizbe'ach, chapter 7, halachah 11, in the Rambam — it is written about a synagogue that it should be more beautiful and finer than his own dwelling. A person has a fine house and dwelling, a large, splendid place, and everything is very, very splendid — the house of Hashem has to be more beautiful and finer than his own dwelling. So gabbaim need to know how to apportion the money wisely. Of course — to ask the rav of the synagogue.

10:15 Sometimes it is better to bring a ba'al korei, that there be a proper chazan, a shaliach tzibbur, who is careful about the halachos, to fulfill the obligation for the others. So it is better that they use the money to pay him, and that they have a rav of the synagogue who will teach them halachos and everything — and not only make it beautiful while there is no one to teach them. So one has to know how to divide and apportion the money, and first of all to appoint a chazan for them, to appoint a rav of the synagogue for them — and if he is also a chazan, then how good and how pleasant — who will teach them, the community, and teach them halachos, and teach them things.

10:45 So that with the rest of the money — whatever is possible — the walls are whitewashed, as in the Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, where the practice always was that everything be — everything as it should be. There is no such thing as suddenly having a lamp falling down here. It has to be fine — more than his own dwelling. That is very important. So that is what they need to be careful about. It could be, you know, all sorts of... - Rav, the First Temple and the Second Temple — created beings could still ruin them.

11:11 What is different about the Third Temple, that here created beings can no longer ruin it? [unclear] is slaughtered, and, like... - It is a fine question that you asked. A very fine question. In the First Temple we find that there was corruption: idolatry, forbidden relations and bloodshed. In the Second Temple there was baseless hatred — Tractate Yoma, page 9b. And in the time to come, with Hashem's help, the Third Temple — it will be the handiwork of the Holy One, blessed be He. So it will never be destroyed.

11:36 - What, there it was not the final purpose? What does that mean? The Temple there was the Temple — was that still not the purpose, so to speak? Was that still not the end? Because created beings would still ruin it? - I will explain something to you. Come, I will explain something. For the building of the Beis HaMikdash, or for the revelation of Hashem's kingship, we need to be united, all of us. Do you understand? What does "united" mean?

12:02 You, now — you would never cause pain to your father, or to your brother, or to your son, or to someone close to you. Why? You say: "He is my own kin, my own flesh." What, would I be hostile toward him? But toward your neighbor, toward the worker who works with you at the same job, you can be hostile. Why? You see him as separate from you. You don't see him as one. We — the moment we do not see ourselves as one, then we are not worthy of the Beis HaMikdash.

12:31 The Holy One, blessed be He, expects to see the Jewish people the way you love your son and your daughter. It was Rabbi David of Lelov who said: "Do not call me the tzaddik of the generation." In that generation — in every generation there is a tzaddik of the generation. The tzaddik of the generation is a tzaddik who rules over the generation. The power of his soul is the greatest, and through him is done everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, does in the world — it is through that soul of the tzaddik of the generation. Everyone is, to him, like a pen in a scribe's hand; he rules. That is called the tzaddik of the generation.

12:58 In Rabbi David of Lelov's time, he reached a very, very high level. So they say that people called him the tzaddik of the generation. So one time he cried out and said: "Do not call me the tzaddik of the generation." They said to him: "Why?" He said: "Because I love my grandson and my offspring more than I love any other Jew. So I cannot be the tzaddik of the generation." The tzaddik of the generation must love all the Jewish people with the same love. It cannot be that he loves his grandson... - In the generation, Rav, we already know... - One must seek Hashem, blessed be He, not seek the tzaddik.

13:26 To seek Hashem — that is the most important thing. - Rav, what is the secret of [unclear]? - Wait, one second. I'll explain something. Look — to seek the tzaddik of the generation... we need to seek Hashem, blessed be He. Seek Hashem and want Hashem, and you will arrive at the right place. What a person needs to seek in this world is the geulah — that is, Hashem, blessed be He; closeness to Hashem. Every time people seek all the things around it — that is "and she caught him by his garment."

13:54 Like with Yosef — Potiphar's wife. They wanted to seek all the things around it. They wanted to seek the messianism, those things, the tzaddik, everything. There is no need to seek the material. There is no need to seek that; that is not the point. It is not of interest who is Mashiach, when Mashiach will come. What interests us is who Hashem, blessed be He, is, how to draw close to Hashem, blessed be He. Closeness to Hashem, self-nullification before Hashem, the search for the Holy One, blessed be He, for the King Himself.

14:20 Even the request for Mashiach and geulah that we say — we are not looking for some king to come to us yet again and rule over us. The whole request is, in fact, that at long last we see Hashem as King, and not the other kings. That is the meaning of the intention. Therefore: "Behold, your king will come to you, righteous and saved, lowly, and riding on a donkey." All these concepts are concepts that come to tell a person that the geulah will come precisely from simple things.

14:48 "And You desired praise from clods of earth, from those formed of clay" — the piyut that we say on Rosh Hashanah. It does not come from the side of "let him come now," of looking once again for some king to come. No. We are seeking the revelation of the Kingship. We want Hashem. We want the Holy One, blessed be He, as King. Now, all the searching after the tzaddik, and after the Mashiach, and after that — that is already "she caught him by his garment." That is already all the searching around it. One must seek Hashem, blessed be He. To seek what Hashem wants from me.

15:14 To seek the Holy One, blessed be He, at netz. To seek the Holy One, blessed be He, at Minchah and Arvis, to pray each prayer in its time, to learn Torah, to lift your eyes to Heaven, to pray. By the very fact that you are always with your gaze upward, seeking Hashem — Hashem will lead you, arrange things for you, send you to this Rebbe, to this tzaddik, everything. The main thing is that you not be people of strife. That is the most important thing. Not to listen to the voices of strife that there are in the world.

15:38 In our generation — I'll explain, I'll answer — in our generation, baruch Hashem, "there is one people, scattered and dispersed among the peoples." Do you know what is written at the end of Megillas Esther? "And Mordechai the Jew was accepted"...? "By most of his brothers." By most of his brothers. It does not say "and Mordechai the Jew was accepted by all his brothers." By most. Meaning, there were still those who did not accept Mordechai the Jew, you understand? So what will you say — that they did not say he was the tzaddik of the generation?

16:04 He did such a miracle for them; he saved them. And still they thought that he was not the tzaddik of the generation. It is written: "Mordechai the Jew was accepted by most of his brothers." Meaning, there was a part — you only had to ask them, "Tell me, is Mordechai the tzaddik of the generation?" and he tells you, "What are you talking about? He is [unclear]." Did you understand? So I'll explain to you: the search for Hashem must be for the Holy One, blessed be He. All the searching, the things beyond that — one must always know: we must always be people of peace.

16:30 "Torah scholars increase peace in the world." We need to increase peace, to reveal G-dliness, to hear the voice of Hashem, to see the revelation of G-dliness, to lift our eyes, to feel the kedushah, to cleave to Hashem, to sing to Hashem, to love Hashem, to feel the blessing, to serve Hashem out of joy, to feel the pure love for Hashem, to feel the joy, the awakening and the fervor in closeness to Hashem. Understand now — I'll give you a parable as an example, all right?

16:59 I'm not so good at parables, but I want to give you a parable. If right now a certain person were told — anyone who is here — I don't know how much you will be impressed by this, but maybe yes; there is someone who will have a bit of a feeling for it. Let's say that now — in an hour — each one of you is notified; someone is told: there is a very, very great king across the sea, one of the great presidents and kings, who wants to meet you and give you a great, endless gift, something that thought cannot contain.

17:31 In an hour. And now, suddenly, a person hears this — each one of you now receives this call; he says to you, "Come." And then each one now — I am speaking of one of you, not everyone, yes? Each one — each one, picture this for yourself. Like the "Anochi" — the Ten Commandments are in the singular, to teach that each and every one heard them and was hearing the Holy One, blessed be He, speaking to him. "I am Hashem your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

17:55 You shall have no other gods before Me." "You shall have no other god besides Me" — so Onkelos translates. You shall have no one else apart from Me, only Me, says Hashem, blessed be He. Always to look, to feel, to hear the Holy One, blessed be He. Now, a person says: in an hour he is going to meet the president and ruler. And he tells him — and they tell you: "Listen, you will meet him; whatever you want, whatever you need — a beis midrash, a house, everything — he will bring you whatever you want.

18:25 Everything; he will arrange everything for you, and he is bringing it to you now." They say: you are being given everything; he is giving you everything. Will the person go to this meeting — and from the very moment he goes to the meeting he is happy, he has joy, he feels happy, he is happy from the very moment he is told, he is happy the whole way there, he is happy at the meeting with him, and he is excited, and so on and so on and so on — right? I ask you: do you understand what it is at all to stand before Hashem?

18:54 Do you understand what it means that in a few minutes we will pray Arvis? We will stand before the King of kings of kings. Is there a joy greater than this — to stand and pray before Him? To merit to make a request before the King. Do you understand what a privilege this is, what a privilege it is at all to pray before the Holy One, blessed be He, to lift your eyes to Heaven at all, to say that He can — He can give us everything, give you whatever you want. He is all-powerful. Only remember, as I said yesterday — I'll stress it again, I'll sharpen it — at the Arvis prayer of Shabbos.

19:24 We said — yes, we said a very important thing that needs to be learned. I don't remember who was there, but I'll explain the point. What, Rav Yisrael the tzaddik? Do you want to ask? - No, no, to listen, to listen. How to listen? I said yesterday that there is something that is on the border of heresy and apikorsus among people. I'll explain what I mean. That because the Holy One, blessed be He, is all-powerful, and He is infinite, He can do everything, the created beings think that He is obligated to them.

19:57 And if a person prays a great deal to the Holy One, blessed be He, for a certain thing and he does not receive it, then he raises questions against the Holy One, blessed be He, asks whether He exists or does not exist. That is heresy. Because they do not understand that He is King. Meaning, the Holy One, blessed be He, is not obligated to give any created being anything. The fact that you pray to Him — that is the privilege, as the Ramban says. Your privilege to turn to Hashem, blessed be He, at all — that is the gift. Beyond that: if the Holy One, blessed be He, gives, He gives. If not, not.

20:22 But certainly Hashem, blessed be He, will have mercy and give. But the Holy One, blessed be He, has no obligation to answer you. And people always err, saying: "If He is all-powerful, then He is obligated to give to me." They "serve the Master in order to receive a reward" — and that is not right. He is King, and He is more important than everything, and this King is to be served alone, without attaching any thought or any obligation, nothing; it is all from the treasury of free gifts. Only to praise Him — and "the poor man speaks in supplications."

20:47 We pray with supplications, with a request, from the treasury of free gifts, not in order to receive reward — not in this world, not in the World to Come — from the treasury of free gifts, so that it not lessen my merits, so that they not take the World to Come from me as well. It may be that a person can even lose his entire World to Come through requesting and demanding. Therefore one must always pray to the Holy One, blessed be He, calmly, with joy; never to press, not to press and be pressing on the Holy One, blessed be He, over every thing.

21:12 But what was I saying before this? - About the meeting with the king. - Ah, about the meeting with the king. The meeting. So this is very, very important to know. And with Hashem's help, Hashem will give everything. But one must come to the Holy One, blessed be He, with da'as, with the da'as of the upright. That you understand what the King is — a King. You are praying before a King, King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. Do you understand that we have a King? There is a King Who rules and acts in the whole world.

21:38 What are those wicked ones that there are in the world? Why is the wicked one wicked? The wicked one says: "There is no King." Something looks not good in my eyes — I fight by myself. I do evil, I speak lashon hara. He goes and steals, goes and murders, goes and commits a crime, goes and does an injustice. The wicked one decides. That is why he is wicked. The wicked one does not believe that there is Someone Who puts the world in order. For if you see a wicked person, if you see some evil and falsehood, you say: there is a King; at times He brings low, at times He raises up.

22:06 What business is it of mine to carry out judgment and justice in the world? But because a person wants to take the law into his own hands, he always decides that he is the one to repair the world. And from here you get all the repairs that you see today in the generation. You see all the wickedness, and the strife, and baseless hatred, and this one says "It is all mine," and this one says "Half of it is mine," and this one says "I am the truth," and this one says "I am the truth," and all kinds of shouting and voices of deficiency. It is simply to seal your ears from this world and serve Hashem cleanly — to understand that you are only with the King, King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.

22:35 And then you will see that your prayer will be pure, you will be moved by praying to the Holy One, blessed be He, you will be moved by meeting the Holy One, blessed be He. To beware of false ulterior motives, of all kinds of false movements — closing the eyes, rolling the eyes, movements and all kinds of things like that, which are things that damage the soul very, very, very much — all the false movements, all the movements, right, left. I am not saying not to do it. "All my bones shall say: Hashem, who is like You?" Whoever wants to, let him do it.

22:59 [unclear] movement — that is good. But I say: to be truthful, when you... ...feel like moving, move; when you don't — let there be truth in your movement, in your turning to Heaven. That is how a person will see that the Holy One, blessed be He, answers him. Truly, the Holy One, blessed be He, answers. It is simple — it is very simple to pray to Hashem. One has to be truthful and pure. There is no need for all the muddle and all the... This is something very, very important: this cleanness. This cleanness brings the person.

23:27 Now, little by little you will see that, over the course of time, there will be unity and each one will love the other, and this will awaken the unity of the Jewish people, and that will be the second [unclear]. Suddenly we will feel this baseless love that rests upon us, and we will see everyone united; we will see Hashem's blessing upon us more, and suddenly we will merit that "the Master will come to His Sanctuary." But it depends on the unity among us. What will the Holy One, blessed be He, say now — "And now [unclear] geulah"? Well. He will come from Heaven — and what? The Beis HaMikdash will be built for a minute; after a minute the Kohanim immediately start to quarrel, one stabbing the other.

23:58 "You are the Mashiach," "You are this," "Come here, I'll show you, come here" — a mess. See what there would be. It does not work that way. First of all we must prepare ourselves, with all our strength and with all the tools, to be worthy of the honor of the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. One has to understand that there is a King of kings of kings. That the world should understand that there is a King of kings of kings at all — did you understand? Not some wind or some air.

24:24 People do not know how much apikorsus is up their sleeves; they do not understand. One has to shake the person — let him be shaken out — and you will see how much heresy and apikorsus is hidden in him. We must cleanse ourselves of all the heresy and apikorsus and be clean, clear and polished, and holy and pure. Cleanness. Here — it is work: another prayer and another prayer. What is that? - Look, He does not overlook, but He is a merciful King. I see here the merciful King, even though He does not overlook.

24:50 - It is not a contradiction. I know, I understand what you are saying, but the Holy One, blessed be He — He wants a person's heart. He is saying that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not overlook — that "whoever says the Holy One, blessed be He, overlooks, his innards will be forfeited," Heaven forbid. Yes — that the Holy One, blessed be He, takes vengeance, but on the one hand He is merciful — how does that fit together: on the one hand He is merciful, and on the other hand He does not overlook?

25:18 So, on the contrary: this is Hashem's mercy — that He is truth, and He comes in judgment over every thing that you do. He remembers everything that you do; He does not forget any of it. But His mercy is that although He does not overlook, He is merciful. That is the wonder: that although He remembers everything the person did and does not overlook it for him — with all that, He has mercy. Today, when does a person have mercy? When he forgets.

25:43 "I forgot what so-and-so did to me" — he has mercy on him; "never mind." You forgot — "never mind, a year has passed since the blow, since what happened." But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so. He does not overlook, but He is merciful. That is even more of a praise [unclear]. Although everything is before His eyes — everything the person did to Him — with all that, He can have mercy on him. So that is the greatest praise and acclaim: the Holy One, blessed be He — how full of mercy Hashem, blessed be He, is toward us.

26:08 Do you understand? So from here one must always awaken the mercy of the Holy One, blessed be He. What is that? - Will the person be judged for the apikorsus that, as the Tanya writes, [unclear]... that one remains an apikores, as the Rav just said. But we are not on that level, of [unclear] that everything is... - If you do not believe that everything is from the Creator of the world — an apikores. Not only this, that everything is from Hashem — one also has to know how to be clean with the Holy One, blessed be He. Do you understand? One has to know how to be very, very, very clean.

26:34 Very clean. I truly want us to understand something. Understand: we are speaking about the One Who created the world. Do you understand? Today, let us give a person a small snake to play with — some viper. Everyone would run a thousand kilometers from playing with a viper, right? "Come, play with a viper." "Come, take a toothbrush, brush a lion's teeth" — can you?

27:00 These are slight creatures that He created in His world. Who can stand before Him? Do you understand? Now — the Holy One, blessed be He, will come in judgment with the holy Avos, with all the tzaddikim. And take all the tzaddikim, all the tzaddikim since the day the world was created. Take all the holy ones with all the tzaddikim and the Torah together — you will not manage to appease and conciliate even the smallest fraction of the Holy One, blessed be He. Do you understand? You are speaking before the One Who created the sea and the sun and the moon and the stars and everything that you see, and you are standing to pray before the King of kings of kings.

27:33 Before Him you stand, before Him you pray, before Him you bend the knee, before Him you bow down. Before Him you take care not to do what is forbidden. Before Him you take care to fulfill mitzvos. You — this is the Creator, blessed be He. So when a person does not contemplate the greatness of the One Who spoke and the world came to be — how can he truly be someone who really fears Hashem? You know, everyone is like this in their thinking: "There is Hashem" — they open a siddur, they pray, everything like that.

27:58 Everyone supposedly knows — anyone you speak with today — that is, he supposedly knows who Hashem is, who the tzaddik is, who is truth, who is falsehood. Everyone — we have plenty of philosophers today in our generation. Everyone already knows everything. You do not have anyone today who goes down into a true inquiry, toward the revelation of Hashem's kingship. Truly to understand who Hashem is, how to serve Him, how to be clean before Hashem, how to be truly pure before Hashem. All these things are the most important things.

28:24 These are the things "which a person shall do and live by them." I tell you truly: take with you these things that we learned today, and know — may you have [unclear] until 120 years. Amen. That all your lives you should remember what we learned today, which rises above all other learning. It will give you not only fear of Heaven — it will help you, so that you suddenly have miracles and you say "Give thanks to Hashem, for He is good." [unclear] you will suddenly have salvations and miracles from it. [unclear] - I wanted to know: there are many people who want advice from the Rav... - Yes? Yes, let's hear a last question, go on.

28:51 - Many people want advice from the Rav but do not manage to get to the Rav. How can they nevertheless receive it, in your view, and... - Look, you asked a fine question. He said: many want to receive advice from me, and we do not always get to meet, because of the crowding and the difficulty and so on. So I will tell you a few things that I do, a few important things. One: first of all, you know that the Alter Rebbe had many chassidim, and not all of them could meet with him. So what did he do? He wrote the Tanya.

29:18 Every week — the writings that I write, every week, all the works, everything. With Hashem's help, this week our sefer, Even Shlomo, comes out. Exactly on the parashah — it comes out exactly this week, on Thursday. Can this be announced? - Did the Rav write it? - All right. Why is it so constrained every time? Pray that we will soon have a spacious place, so that we can announce things like this without constraint.

29:48 - Did the Rav write it? Is it shiurim? - No, it is all mine. - The Rav wrote it. - Everything that you see, everything in the writings, it is all, all mine. It is all purely mine. But, baruch Hashem, the holy students who are engaged in the work change nothing, apart from opening brackets and explaining some word or something — but it is all really mine. So first of all, the advice, the words, the content, everything that I write, the chiddushim, everything — so first of all, there is a great deal of advice in it that can help everyone. Learn from it every week; it truly helps, and a person has siyata diShmaya and very, very great things.

30:24 The second thing: also, baruch Hashem, the niggunim, which truly help. The niggun — it has an effect: it refines the person, it takes the power of imagination out of him. For what is advice? You know that the most important thing in this world is advice. What is bad advice? When a person is given something not good to do, and he stumbles and falls. What is good advice? When a person is given something that is sound. And remember that everything began from the first advice. The sin of Adam HaRishon came from advice; everything began from advice.

30:53 When there is good advice, one reaches everything; when there is bad, corrupted advice, a person falls. "The serpent deceived me" — everything began from advice. What is good advice? Good advice means refined advice — advice that is clean, clean, clean, that has no power of imagination in it. How does one remove the power of imagination from advice? Through a niggun. The niggun — what it does is sift the imagination out of the advice. And then, when a person has clean advice, he has no imagination in his advice; his advice is good.

31:22 And for that, music is needed. Without music of kedushah, a person has no refining of the imagination; he is a person gripped by imaginings. He can suddenly see some — look now at these pillars and get into a conspiracy theory that it is a giant spider. Yes, that is how it happens today; that is the generation. People get into imaginings and get into all kinds of conspiracy theories and madness, which are truly [unclear] — because they reached the power of imagination and had no refining, so they came to have very great imaginings, so that they simply magnify every thing, not to its true proportions.

31:59 Now, so music of kedushah can help very much. Any music — not necessarily mine — any music can help. Niggunim — I [unclear] in my niggunim. - Baruch Hashem, blessed be He. May He lengthen the Rav's days in goodness, his years in pleasantness.

32:25 May He give the Rav siyata diShmaya, may He give the Rav length of days and years, the Rav — protection and defense. "May You add days to the days of the king; may his years be like generation after generation." - May you be blessed [unclear], tzaddikim. So that is what I say; that is what I said to conclude. One moment. And also one more very important thing, one more thing as well: you should always, always, always know — I go to immerse, always, every week, after the public reception, and I always immerse for all those who brought notes, all those who were on the way, all those who wanted to come and did not come [unclear]. I have a special prayer text for everyone who wanted to speak, did not get here, or the like. And we pray to the Holy One, blessed be He, that He direct [unclear] from Heaven, with siyata diShmaya,

33:12 that salvation and a miracle rest upon the person, and whatever else is needed. A miracle. That the person should have advice from Heaven. I will tell you something. The Holy One, blessed be He, knows the lack of us all. He knows what each one is lacking. And the Holy One, blessed be He, makes up what is lacking. This is in Birkas Kohanim, the Priestly Blessing: "the people who are in the fields" are blessed. Tractate Chullin, page 49 — the Gemara says: the Holy One, blessed be He, blesses the Kohanim; the Kohanim bless Israel.

33:38 The Holy One, blessed be He, gives the blessing to the Kohanim. They receive the blessing. "And they shall place My Name upon the Children of Israel, and I will bless them." The Holy One, blessed be He, blesses the Kohanim, but the Kohanim bless us; we are blessed — but where does the root of the blessing come from? From the Holy One, blessed be He. But lest you say: since the Kohanim bless the Jewish people, then who blesses them? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "I bless them." What do you learn from here? A few things that you can learn from here: that everyone is included in the blessing.

34:03 The Holy One, blessed be He, blesses everyone. It does not mean that if you did not get here — that is "and she caught him by his garment." There is no need for the material. One needs only the Holy One, blessed be He. One needs the da'as; one needs the Torah. That is — I say to everyone — whoever wants to draw close to my path: we are not looking for the talking and the meeting. We learn Torah. Baruch Hashem, [unclear] a great, great many holy writings in the world, a great many holy works in the world. Learn from them, delve into them — into the upright da'as, into all the shiurim. And with Hashem's help, I tell you, there are thousands and tens of thousands more shiurim from all the 17 years, which, with Hashem's help, are about to come out.

34:35 And the institute — there is a holy institute that truly does holy work, the institute of our Torah scholars — these are outstanding Torah scholars, truly geonim and tzaddikim. And with Hashem's help, this week Part One comes out — it is a series of several volumes; some eight volumes of it are due to come out — of the Even Shlomo. And with Hashem's help it will be of benefit to every one of the Jewish people, and salvations. And with Hashem's help, in a few more months the responsa are also due to come out — the Da'as Shlomo, that too is coming out — and a few more Mat'amei Shabbos will come out, responsa, and a few good things that will come out; they will come out for benefit. A part came out as a booklet, if you all already know it,

35:13 but the rest of the sefarim will come out bound, with Hashem's help, and it will be of benefit. We bless everyone: may you have siyata diShmaya, may you have a good life, may the Holy One, blessed be He, fill what you lack from Heaven, may you have all the blessings and good bounty — to be joyful, to think good — and all the blessings and good bounty. - Wait, wait — good news. Half a year [unclear] the Rav [unclear] and told me [unclear], and this week, on Wednesday, he [unclear], and [unclear] a Shabbos chassan [unclear].

35:42 [unclear] there was a Shabbos chassan; [unclear] I must come to bring the Rav good news. - "Give thanks to Hashem, for He is good!" "Give thanks to Hashem, for He is good!"