How to Merit the Crown of Torah | The Gaon Hinuka Pirkei Avot Chapter 4 Part 2

2:38 The Holy One, blessed be He, atones for a person with the grave. Only in the grave is the sin of chillul Hashem atoned for him, and other sins too. But even that is not enough. It may be that a person will be judged for this too, if that chillul Hashem remains in the world, standing against him right now — what he did. So it is important to be very, very careful with the sin of chillul Hashem. Mishnah 5. Rabbi Yishmael his son — he is the son of Rabbi Yochanan ben Beroka — says: "One who learns Torah in order to teach" — that this is his main goal, he learns Torah so that afterwards he will be able to teach — "he is given the means to learn and to teach." He will have merit from Heaven, he will have much siyata diShmaya,

3:14 so that he can always both learn and teach, as you will see from the Bartenura, for the Bartenura writes — a golden commentary, the Bartenura — "in order to be always engaged in Torah." Yes, he wants to be always engaged in Torah, "and he does not intend to do acts of kindness" — acts of kindness with people. That is, "one who learns in order to teach is given the means to learn and to teach." That is, the siyata diShmaya a person has at such a level of Torah — for there are several levels in Torah learning.

3:42 There is one who learns Torah, and he learns the Torah for himself. "I don't want to reveal what is mine. I learn for myself, I learn." There is one who learns and truly wants people to benefit. He wants them to learn too, he wants them to get there too, so he tries to teach them. The question is what kind of teaching. Does he teach them a Torah learning in which they will be dependent on him, or does he give them tools so that they too can blossom and grow on their own? And that is in fact the learning that is greater — the highest learning.

4:09 It is the highest learning there is. Yes, it is the highest thing. Here the Bartenura brings Rabbah, in Rosh Hashanah, page 18, who engaged in Torah and did not engage in acts of kindness. Though he should have engaged in acts of kindness, even so, nevertheless he is given the means to learn and to teach, so that his intention is carried out. That is, it is like the Yerushalmi, chapter 1, halachah 1: that He joins the thought to the deed, and it all comes into his hand — both these things and the other things.

4:34 So there is a very great virtue in this. And it is also like with Abaye, who engaged in Torah, and as I spoke on Shabbos about the sons of Eli, who learned Torah, and it was annulled from them — the death — in Tractate Yevamos, page 105, where it says the death was annulled from them, and all that. It is the same thing: in the merit of Torah learning. And "one who learns in order to do" — in order to fulfill the mitzvos of the Torah — that is the highest: to learn in order to do, to reach a state where he can do — and also to bring merit to others, so that they can do.

5:06 "He is given the means to learn and to teach, to keep and to do." That is, there is also a learning where a person — a person can learn Torah at a university. He has to study, he has to know the material of the Torah, but he does not actually come to fulfill it and do it. When a person learns in order to teach, and so that those people too will merit to do with this learning — and he too yearns and wants to do — that is the highest learning there is. And here too "he is given the means to learn and to teach, to keep and to do" — and to fulfill.

5:30 Rabbi Tzadok says: "Do not make them a crown to glorify yourself with." Do not use the Torah in order to seek to be some honored person, or to reach honor and greatness, because honor is the height of what is repulsive in this world. It is forbidden to make use of honor. Honor is the biggest lie there is. "And not a spade to dig with." Do not try to make a living from them. The Torah is not a place for gathering a livelihood.

5:55 The Torah must be the revelation of the honor of Heaven. One must use all the tools to reveal the glory of the kingship of the Holy One, blessed be He. And so Hillel used to say: "And one who makes use of the crown passes away." "Passes away." A person who makes use of the crown of the Torah, the "taga" of the Torah, the crown of the Torah, Heaven forbid — "passes away." He passes on and departs from the world. "So you have learned: whoever benefits from words of Torah" — meaning he wants to benefit from them, to get the pleasure of honor and so on, all the matters of this world — "takes his life from the world."

6:31 And in the end, as it were, Heaven forbid, he loses himself, because he is not doing it for its own sake. And there is another beautiful explanation. "Whoever benefits from words of Torah takes his life from the world." I've caught on to you already. Likutei Moharan, eh? That one who hears the Torah from the mouth of the tzaddik takes his life from the world. So this is the most important thing.

6:56 Rabbi Yosei says — that is Rabbi Yosei ben Chalafta. Rabbi Yosei says: "Whoever honors the Torah" — who fulfills the mitzvos, fulfills the Torah with joy, with eagerness — "his body is honored by people." People honor him. His body is honored. He honors the Torah, so his body too is honored by people. I also learn another thing from here: that a person who honors the Torah, "his body is honored by people" also means that he will not be disgraced — that is, he will not be ill.

7:23 His body being disgraced in people's eyes — he will not reach a state where his body is, Heaven forbid, wounded, or looks bad in a way that disgraces him. He honors the Torah, so his body too will be honored. He will not be sick with an illness that would disgrace him, an illness that would make him look strange. "And whoever desecrates the Torah" — he disgraces them, disgraces Torah scholars, disgraces their words — "his body is desecrated by people." As a result he too will be disgraced. But there is another explanation as well: he will also, Heaven forbid, be — in Tractate Shabbos, page 31: "Whoever disgraces a Torah scholar has no cure for his wound." So he will be sick with such an illness that he will be disgraced and strange in people's eyes.

8:00 Heaven forbid, he will have an illness that he is ashamed to be seen with. "His body is desecrated by people." Mishnah 7. Rabbi Yishmael his son — the son of Rabbi Yosei ben Chalafta — says: "One who withholds himself from judgment" — a person who says, "I don't need to be a dayan. Why should I conduct a din, a trial, every time, judge people, make use of din? Leave it. I have no business dealing with din. I am sparing myself from judgment.

8:25 I have no interest in it. No need for it." He doesn't want to deal with it. If there is someone greater than him. The Bartenura says: "in a place where there is someone greater than him." "Alternatively, he tells the litigants to compromise." That is, it is always possible to reach a compromise, because that is always what dayanim want to do. When there is a case, look at the dayanim — they say to make a compromise. But a person should not spare himself from being a dayan. If you have the chance to come and make a compromise between people, to come to something, to make peace — as much as possible. May blessing come upon you.

8:51 "One who withholds himself from judgment removes hatred from himself." He also, of course, saves himself from hatred. Why? Afterwards people would hate him: "No, leave it — look what kind of dayan that is. He said this to this one and that to that one." People always say, "What, he did this, he leaned toward this one, he leaned toward that one." "He removes from himself hatred and theft." But by mistake, Heaven forbid, if he rules a judgment that is not according to the law, then he, Heaven forbid, makes people liable for theft, makes people liable for a vain oath.

9:20 Because of him, the dayan will obligate the defendant to swear for nothing, and that oath will be a vain oath. He will not manage to get that thing out of him, and Heaven forbid it will come to false oaths. In Shevuos, page 39, Nedarim, page 7: when you utter the Name of Heaven, Heaven forbid, you find poverty and death, and so on — and the prohibition and the severity of an oath, which is very severe. It is the prohibition of Hashem's Name, just in an oath — the severity and the prohibition.

9:46 "And one whose heart is haughty in ruling" — Heaven forbid, a dayan who rules the law fast, fast, in a hurry, without looking into it. How careful the Rogatchover was about this, about "one whose heart is haughty in ruling is a fool, wicked and arrogant of spirit." Pay attention to the wording: "a fool" — he thinks he is wise, relying on his own wisdom, so quickly — so he is a fool. Such a person is also wicked. Why? He proves that he has no fear of Heaven, because he doesn't care about all the damage that will happen: that there will be theft, that there will be hatred, that there will be bad things, that there will be a needless vain oath, that there will be a desecration of the Name of Heaven — that he doesn't care. He is a fool, and he is also wicked, since he doesn't truly look into the law, he doesn't hear the sides,

10:26 he doesn't seek to know what the law really is, what is really so — he doesn't investigate after the truth, he doesn't examine the case in pursuit of the truth. So his status is that of a fool and a wicked man — also wicked, "and arrogant of spirit." This person is also a man of pride. Why? He doesn't try to judge truthfully, he doesn't try to hear things out with patience. And therefore it is an important and very grave matter, about such a person who doesn't act according to the law.

10:52 It is a very grave thing, and to our sorrow, today — how grave it is, very, very grave, very, very — about such people who don't behave as they should. It is a very, very grave thing. Many people are not careful about this, and everyone is a judge, rushing to judge. I'm not speaking about a dayan; I'm also speaking about any person who passes judgment and judges unfavorably. You learn from here about judging favorably too — that one must judge every person favorably.

11:18 One must judge favorably, hear both sides, know what the side is, and also know if there is a side where a Torah scholar stands against him — and a Torah scholar knows what he is doing. And people who rush to judge and pass judgment not according to the law commit a severe prohibition by this — all the more so a dayan whose heart is haughty in ruling and rules right away. So look how many things he is called — and he is also called wicked. Not for nothing did the Sages say "wicked" in the Mishnah — that such a person, Heaven forbid, does not act properly. For in the end, had he withheld himself from judgment, he would have saved himself from all these things. So it is always better to make a compromise.

11:52 But where it is a place that has no dayan, it is a mitzvah that they try to search, and that there be a person who will try — one the generation needs. This is very, very important. If a person sees that he is fitting, and has knowledge and everything, it is a mitzvah upon him — as the Choshen Mishpat brings in siman 10, from siman 3, the importance of this matter. "He used to say" — mishnah 8: "Do not judge alone" — even if you are such an expert dayan, "do not judge alone."

12:23 Always let there be an added opinion — someone else who will come and give you some insight, give you some support. Don't try to judge alone. "For none judges alone except One." Only the Holy One, blessed be He, can judge alone. You cannot judge alone. Always consult, consult in Torah. How careful the Rogatchover was — when they came to him for semichah, everyone who went in would fly out, leave the room. You would hear shouting — the Rogatchover shouting at him — and out he would go.

12:49 No one could get a certificate from him. Once, one man went in to him, and from the Rogatchover — a signature, in his own handwriting. Everyone ran to him, asking him questions. He doesn't answer them; he doesn't know. "Why? I don't know." They went to the Rogatchover and said to him: "Listen, there were geniuses here, and you don't give them a certificate — and this one you give a certificate?" "Look — all those before him, I asked them questions. They began answering me from here, they began answering me from there, they began speaking to me with pride. I see that their heart is haughty. I said: this is 'one whose heart is haughty in ruling.'

13:24 That person doesn't try to look into it, he doesn't say... This one I asked — I put a certain question to him. He said, 'A fine question. I need to look into it.' I asked him a second question. I said to him, 'What will you do if you don't know?' He said, 'I'll open a sefer, I'll look into it, or I'll come to his honor.' To this one I gave a certificate. Not to the one who jumped to tell me, 'I know, I know.' 'I'll look into it, I'll come to his honor, I'll listen' — that is a Torah scholar. Not the one who only knows the answer; the one who also doesn't know, and says, 'I'll look into it.'" That is the Rogatchover. So therefore, how much one needs to know how to judge, how to conduct a judgment.

13:56 "For none judges alone except One. And do not say: Accept my opinion." Don't force people to accept your opinion. "For they are permitted" — they can make you rule like them, because "follow the majority" — "and not you." You cannot compel them. Why? Because a person who is one alone cannot impose his opinion on the many. When there is another opinion with him, then it is like the opinion of the majority, and then the opinion can be imposed.

14:23 It is important: the more people there are, the closer one gets to finding the truth. When there is a multiplicity of opinions, and there is a combining of lines of reasoning, then in the end they clarify, they get further to the bottom of the law. They truly arrive at the correct law. That is why a judgment is always conducted — they judge with three. Rabbi Yonasan says: "Whoever fulfills the Torah in poverty" — one who learns Torah despite everything that is hard for him, he has difficulty with livelihood, difficulty with the words, difficulty in everything he toils at, and it is hard for him, everything he goes through — "he will in the end fulfill it in wealth."

14:59 In the end he will have abundant livelihood, without worries. "And whoever neglects the Torah in wealth" — he has wealth, and all day long he is busy with work, all day long, more work and more money and more. He doesn't learn Torah — "he will in the end neglect it in poverty," Heaven forbid. In the end, from all the worries — in the end too, Heaven forbid. Oy va'avoy, that is dangerous. It isn't... Torah, it is fulfilled; this is a very important Torah — you fulfill everything.

15:31 Rabbi Shlomo, one does not raise difficulties against the darshan. Usually "to fulfill the Torah" means to learn Torah, that is right, but were you here before, when I spoke about the... about that, in the mishnah? For the mishnah — were you here? "One who learns in order to teach"... I don't think you were. "No, no. I didn't make it in time." So you didn't make it. So I explained earlier that the highest level of Torah learning is the fulfillment of the Torah.

16:00 There is one who learns Torah at a university — that is not considered learning Torah. He studies, but he doesn't study in order to fulfill it. Learning Torah — its most important level is in order to teach. And what the Bartenura brought was Rosh Hashanah, page 18, with Rabbah and Abaye: that he was learning even though he did not practice acts of kindness, rejoicing in the Torah learning, through which it is as if everything is fulfilled. And to reach a Torah learning where you, as it were — it is a learning that is the fulfillment of the entire Torah — that is the highest level.

16:28 So too a poor man, who has great worries, and he learns the Torah at a time when he truly wants to fulfill it, when he has no complaints against the Holy One, blessed be He, questions and questions — when he truly says, "I am not pained while I am learning." Because if, Heaven forbid, a person is learning Torah and says, "I could have been doing more business, more livelihood — what am I learning for?" — it is as if he is not really learning Torah. But when he learns in order to fulfill, and he is poor, it shows that his whole aim — he is so happy in Torah learning that this world doesn't interest him at all.

16:55 He learns for its sake. He learns as if to say, "For me, this is my existence." He learns it in order to fulfill it, even though he is in such a small, constricted state of mind. In constriction — that is the essence of his learning. He is so happy within the constriction; he is happy that he has the Torah and he fulfills it. "This is the greatest wealth for me. What do I care now about my poverty?" Because he learns it in order to fulfill, that gives him satisfaction. He lets the wealth, the good things, go — it doesn't interest him at all. "I have Torah learning — what do I care? What is all the abundance in the world to me now? I have the Torah, I have everything."

17:25 So that is the one who fulfills: "whoever fulfills the Torah in poverty" — so in the end he too "will in the end fulfill it in wealth." But the important thing is to fulfill. Now, one whose mind is on making more of a living — then he is not truly fulfilling the Torah, because his heart is somewhere else entirely. If a person understands that the moment he is in Torah is worth more than anything — there is no price for it. One moment of Torah learning, it's not...

17:52 it can't be explained. What is the difference between "to do" and "to fulfill"? What do you mean? When a person does, isn't he fulfilling? He is fulfilling? Then why "to do"? Why both "to do" and "to fulfill"? "To hear, to learn and to teach" I understand, but why "to do and to fulfill"? Let's say — me, certainly. Rabbi Shlomo. "To fulfill" is not only with me; it is also with the whole world. That the Torah should have a lasting existence in the world.

18:18 Bringing merit to the many... that one who took it upon himself "to keep and to do" — that, as it were, a mark should remain after him, to engrave some mark here, to engrave something here, to engrave something eternal here — like Chabad. To this day, look how many chassidim are toiling to reveal G-dliness. Give them a hand, the Chabad chassidim. That is what the Rebbe did: "to learn, to keep, to do and to fulfill" — so that even after his passing they would continue his revelation of awareness in the world.

18:51 So that is the meaning: "to keep, to do and to fulfill." And one can also say: that it should open for people the possibility of how to fulfill. That people have the possibility — make the Torah accessible to them, so that they can fulfill it. "To do it" I understand, but how will people be able to fulfill? Make the Torah accessible to them in such a way that they can also fulfill the Torah. And that means tools, and that means work, and that means commentaries, explanations — things through which people will also be able to fulfill the Torah. Mishnah 10.

19:20 Rabbi Meir says: "Minimize your business" — don't invest your time in matters of livelihood, in matters of this world; lessen yourself in business, "and engage in Torah" — as much as possible. Engage in Torah. "And be humble of spirit before every person" — always. Receive people with a pleasant face, and always be — honor one who is greater than you, and also one who is not greater than you. Be humble of spirit before every person, be humble. It is very, very important to be humble of spirit.

19:48 It is like Rabbi Levitas here. But Rabbi Levitas said: "Be very, very humble of spirit." That is, he didn't say "Be humble of spirit"; he said "Be very, very humble of spirit." And he too takes up this trait, but notice that there is a big difference between them here. See what the difference is. Rabbi Levitas says: "Be very, very humble of spirit," and Rabbi Meir says "very"... Rabbi Meir says: "And be humble of spirit before every person."

20:18 That is, Rabbi Meir says "before every person," whereas Rabbi Levitas does not say before whom. That is, he says a person must be, in his very essence, very, very humble of spirit — that he be truly humble of spirit before everything in the world. He does not say "before every person." Rabbi Meir says "before every person." That is, if you see a worm, you don't have to be humble of spirit. Rabbi Levitas, by his approach — one must be humble of spirit; he did not define before what.

20:42 He left it open for you — so that lowliness be truly ingrained within you. And so the view of Rabbi Levitas, in this respect, is much more important and greater. Rabbi Meir, it seems to me, says it in a way... that a person perhaps cannot hold to the measure of Rabbi Levitas, because it is very high. He says: at least be humble of spirit before every person. Before every person be humble of spirit; even if you can't — at least before every person be humble of spirit.

21:07 "And if you have neglected the Torah" — if you don't learn Torah, I don't know for what reason, you have your reasons why you don't learn Torah — "you will have many causes for idleness standing against you." From Heaven too you will have obstacles, and you will give an accounting for it. "And if you have toiled in Torah" — you invest all your strength in Torah, toil, exertion, you invest — "He has much reward to give you." The Holy One, blessed be He — He will give you, He will save you, He will give you much, much, much reward, because you learn Torah and occupy yourself with Torah and exert yourself in order to engage in Torah. You will have great reward for this.

21:41 Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: "One who does a single mitzvah acquires for himself one advocate." The Bartenura says: an advocate is an angel who pleads in your favor; an advocate is an angel who pleads in your favor, who does you much good and bestows upon you much good. "And one who commits a single transgression acquires for himself one accuser" — an angel who prosecutes against him.

22:11 Now, if a person wants to be saved from this accuser, what does he do? Here is the answer: "Teshuvah and good deeds" — teshuvah and good deeds. This causes a person to break down walls over that accuser and to awaken the defenders, and then it becomes for him like "a shield against punishment." All the bad things that there are in the world, all kinds of decrees, if there are any, all kinds of bad things that can come down into the world — this protects him, so that it will not harm him.

22:42 When a person does teshuvah and good deeds — the moment a person has done teshuvah and good deeds, and suddenly something bad is decreed upon him, the teshuvah and good deeds immediately form a shield, a guarding and protection against all kinds of arrows that come. How important it is to do teshuvah and good deeds. It is a kind of protection; it is "a shield against punishment." What a gift this is, what a privilege it is at all to do teshuvah. See what a privilege there is in this. No — here, here.

23:17 Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar says: "Every gathering" — any people who gather; a "knesiyah" is an assembly, a group of people who hold a gathering — that is not for the sake of Heaven, where they don't come with a clean heart. Each one, you know, has his... he — each one comes for his own interest. They don't do it for its own sake. Not for the sake of Heaven. This one comes because it is convenient for him, that one comes because he wants this.

23:42 This one wants to get a salary, that one wants to get... They don't truly come for the Name, as one assembly. That isn't there. Yes? Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar says: "Every gathering that is for the sake of Heaven" — where each one comes for the honor of Hashem, and so on — "will in the end endure." "And one that is not for the sake of Heaven" — as I explained, where each one is there for all sorts of aims and things that are not right — "will not in the end endure."

24:12 Because in the end there is no blessing in all their gathering; they have no blessing in what the Holy One, blessed be He, directs for them. When they gather truly in order to... You know that in the time of the holy Or HaChaim, he had two gatherings. One simple gathering, for the unlearned, for all the people, and, you should see, one gathering for the sake of Heaven — it was all for the sake of Heaven, both this one and that one. But he had very great Torah scholars. When Rabbi Gershon of Kitov, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov — he came to the Land of Israel, and the Baal Shem Tov had told him: "Go to the Or HaChaim, to Rabbi Chaim ben Attar, and tell him to bring you into the gathering, to the place where the lions learn, where the holy fellowship is."

24:52 When Rabbi Gershon of Kitov came to the Or HaChaim, the Or HaChaim said to him: "Here is my beis midrash. Go in, learn there." So Rabbi Gershon said to him: "Not I. I mean — where does the holy fellowship learn? Where is your other gathering, your second one?" He heard this and was alarmed. He said to him, "How do you know about that?" And then he told him about his brother-in-law, who saw with ruach hakodesh and sent him. So he took him there, and he saw a place, a kind of cave, all candles, where Torah scholars sit and pray, each one absorbed in his own sefer.

25:21 Each one is occupied with his own learning; no one looks at the other — what is he doing, what is that one doing, what is this. Each one is occupied with himself. And he was amazed. So he said that this is how it ought to be. That is: everyone who comes to the house of Hashem comes for the sake of Heaven. He comes to shul to pray — that Hashem should save me, help me know how to do good to another, to do good to one's fellow. They don't come to quarrel, they don't come to compete, they don't come to speak lashon hara, nor to talk about the news. They come to pray in the house of Hashem, and to connect with good company and good people, in order to draw close to the Holy One, blessed be He.

25:51 That is the purpose of being received into a gathering for the sake of Heaven. For example, to absorb. What? Yes — good deeds are a sponge; that is what I said: that middos — when a person has good middos and good deeds, it is like a sponge. The water is absorbed and kept. When a person has no good middos, no good deeds, the water evaporates. In a vessel it evaporates. When there is a sponge, it absorbs; it keeps the Torah, it keeps the kedushah.

26:19 That is middos and good deeds. Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar says: "Every gathering that is for the sake of Heaven will in the end endure." Mishnah 12. Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua says: "Let the honor of your student be as dear to you as your own." Of course, a rav must honor his student the way he wants to be honored himself. That is: to honor the student, to honor him. "And the honor of your friend like the reverence for your rav."

26:46 This is something I said last year — there was a question here that Rabbi Shalom asked, and I answered it, if you remember. And of course, one must honor a friend the way you take care to honor the rav. It won't do to honor the rav but trample on everyone along the way. You honor the student, you honor the rav — let there be honor, equal and mutual. But — "the reverence for your rav like the reverence for Heaven." But to honor the rav more than everyone — as was said to Moshe: "My master Moshe, restrain them" — from Yehoshua to Moshe. That is the highest there is: to honor the rav — that is the very, very highest thing.

27:24 And for this: Moshe Rabbeinu said to Yehoshua, "Choose men for us." He spoke to him in the language of friends. "Choose men for us" — as if we are together. What is this? We are friends, study partners — "choose men for us." "Choose for us" — as if he and he are together, everything is fine. Do you understand the humility? When they wanted to fight Amalek, he said, "Choose men for us." See what lowliness, see what humility. He did not come to him and say... See what a description — how much one can learn from the Torah.

27:52 "Choose men for us." Therefore: "the reverence for your rav is like the reverence for Heaven." We are at mishnah 13. Mishnah 13. What happened? They are asking here about the editions. Go by mine. Rabbi Yehudah says — this is the last one and we finish.

28:21 Rabbi Yehudah says: "Be careful in study" — be careful in study: when you learn Torah, learn it well, in order to practice everything. All that you learn, you must know it well, well, well, well. "For an error in study" — when a person errs, Heaven forbid, in some halachah, in some matter — "counts as intentional."

28:45 Heaven forbid, it is considered for a person as if it were intentional. "An error in study" — "talmud" here means study; it does not mean learning the Talmud Bavli. "An error in study" — that is any learning a person learns. Any learning a person learns has the status of "talmud"; it is called talmud. Why is the Talmud Bavli called "Talmud Bavli," or "Talmud Yerushalmi"? Because it is a learning that includes all kinds of learning within it, so it is called Talmud. Talmud is a general name for all kinds of learning; that is called talmud.

29:14 So here the mishnah says, "Be careful in study" — you learn Torah, that is called talmud. Everything you learned today is talmud. All the halachos you learned are talmud. You learned talmud — be careful with that talmud. Why? "For an error in study counts as intentional." You acted incorrectly in something — it counts for you as intentional. Be careful with this. Because it is reckoned to you as a sin. Rabbi Shimon says: "Three crowns" — a crown that a person has.

29:39 "There are three crowns." How many groups of people there are whom one must honor very, very much, who have crowns. Picture some people who have crowns, and they are given honor. One is he who has the crown of Torah. Who is "the crown of Torah"? Torah scholars — they have Torah in their head, they have a crown. One must honor them; one must picture them with a crown, a crown on their heads — all the Torah scholars. One must give them honor, out of derech eretz. Why?

30:05 Torah scholars — one must treat them with honor; they have Torah. Give them honor. "And the crown of priesthood" — there are Kohanim; they too are honored. "And you shall sanctify him" — you see a Kohen, you let him go ahead. You are at the supermarket — you are not obligated, but as a matter of piety it is a mitzvah: let the Kohen go first, even in the line at the supermarket. Everywhere, give way to the Kohen. Look — "You are a Kohen? Please, go ahead." Give him distinction, hurry him ahead, give him honor, give him — give him distinction. Two are entering the beis midrash, one is a Kohen — let him go in before you.

30:36 There is a person crowned with tefillin — he goes in before one without tefillin. Two are about to enter the shul, one with tefillin, one without — let him go in, put him first. "And you shall sanctify him" — he has the crown of Torah on his head. Those are the crowns. One needs to know how to honor them and to treat this with honor — to know how to honor people who have a crown upon them. One needs to know and understand this. "And the crown of kingship" — one who was appointed to be king, who has it in him to be king, who was appointed to be king over the Jewish people, or a king — or any king: he has a crown of kingship; he is honored.

31:09 And there is one who has a crown on his teeth, so... does he go in first? Nice. He comes first — it is always worth giving precedence to one who has... one who is a Torah scholar, one who has tefillin, or one who is a Kohen — he comes first. "And the crown of a good name" — a person whom people praise and commend — "rises above them."

31:40 The most important thing is for a person to have a good name. For the crown of a good name is the most important. That a person should have a good name, that he behaves well toward people, and does not do bad deeds. All these things are the most, most, most important things. Good, so we will stop here in the mishnah, with Hashem's help. Let's honor the Chabad chassidim — please.

32:06 Come, tell us the dvar Torah from the Rebbe, that we may merit the crown of Torah. — I want to say thank you very much for this Shabbos, and for this whole Shabbos. What crown, what crown — I deserve nothing.

32:33 The main thing is that, with Hashem's help, it will be good. Remember all the learning you learned all Shabbos. You learned a great deal this Shabbos. Ah, Rav, may I ask a question? Yes. We said that to learn, when one wants to learn, one must review at least four times? — Four times, for it to be Torah learning. For it to count as Torah learning, one must review the learning several times, so that it is called Torah learning. If one reads it aloud once, and it enters through the ear, it counts as twice.

32:57 Correct. Now, when one puts plugs in the ears, one hears the sound of the speech — there is a person who wants to learn in a whisper, he doesn't want to disturb. — And he hears himself? — He hears himself. — You hear yourself; that counts as hearing. No problem. No problem, excellent. The question is whether the voice has to go outward and enter the ear through the ear. It is written: "For they are life to those who find them" — to those who utter them, with the mouth.

33:26 When you utter it with the mouth — as long as you utter it out of your mouth, it is heard. Because also when you utter it aloud, in the end the ears hear. Even that weak frequency, those low decibels, are heard in the ears. And the plug — the plug does not block your own voice; it blocks the outside noise. Whatever is within your own radius, you do hear. It simply seals, and it echoes the sound back to you — it echoes the sound, right? Because the voice does not come from outside; your voice comes from within. — So it is fine if it's not from outside?

33:56 You utter it with the mouth — but you utter it with the mouth and aloud, and you hear. "One who turns his ear away from hearing Torah — even his prayer is an abomination." Rabbi Yirmiyah expounded this about Rabbi Zeira. "One who turns his ear away from hearing Torah — even his prayer..." No — Rabbi Zeira about Rabbi Yirmiyah. In Berachos, page 20 — and he expounded it about him.

34:22 Dear Chabad chassidim, please — tell us the chiddush. Give them a hand. After they finish — please, come tell us a chiddush. With the Rav's permission, with your permission, we would like to say something short, with Hashem's permission. Everyone is waiting for the geulah. The whole purpose for which we came into the world is for the geulah.

34:48 The world was created for the geulah. And there is a question: what is the content of the work that must be done in order to bring the geulah? So the Rebbe shlita, King Mashiach, explains that the geulah — we can understand its content from its name, for the name of every thing points to its content. "Geulah" (redemption) is made up of the word "golah" (exile), and there is one difference: the addition of an alef. The question arises: how can that be? Geulah is the exact opposite of golah.

35:14 How can it be that it is the same thing, the very same word, with the addition of an alef? The Rebbe explains that there are those who think that geulah is a different world, a new world, a different life. But the truth is that geulah is really exactly the present life that there is in exile, but with the addition of an alef. What is this alef? The Master of the world (Alufo shel olam) — the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the Leader of the world; "aluf" means leader.

35:40 That is, in the geulah everything will remain exactly the same — but, and it is a big "but," we will see in every thing the G-dliness within it. And so everything will be good: there will be no illnesses, and there will be all the good things that will be in the geulah. That is why we say to every Jew: you want to bring the geulah, you want to live geulah — even now, in the time of exile, a Jew can live with the Holy One, blessed be He, and bring the Holy One, blessed be He, into his life, and he lives a personal geulah.

36:04 And through every Jew doing his work to perfection, through this he brings the general geulah to the whole world, through King Mashiach, the Lubavitcher Rebbe — immediately, right now, mamash. Thank you very much. I just want to say — see how beautiful: these holy young men, holy and pure young men, that at such an age they go, trekking on foot, and speak in every shul in order to instill in them the matter of the geulah and the matter of the Rebbe.

36:35 May the Holy One, blessed be He, strengthen you. We encourage you — keep on doing good, and bringing the geulah. And you will bring the geulah.