Communication Sciences Department of the Torah Science Foundation

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On the 23^rd Day of Elul God Was Studying Hassidism

According to this new interpretation, the twenty-third day of Elul, the day on which the Twin Towers were destroyed, is the first of these two days, which corresponds to the origin of the lights of the Torah.

The “lights” are the inner dimensions of the Torah, meaning Kabbalah and Hassidism, the inner soul of the Torah, whilst the origin of vessels is the origin of the nigleh of the Torah. The nigleh of the Torah, referred to as the legal body, actually deals with the objects of creation. At this point the Torah has already descended into the realm of the heart, corresponding to the seven sefirot which are the days of creation, from chesed down.

Thus we can see that this day is the day on which God took delight in the inner soul of the Torah. At this stage, God was studying Hassidism, as it were.

We can now see how the two interpretations relate to one another. The first interpretation gives the diagnosis of the problem, “pegam habrit,” whilst the second interpretation, offers the antidote to this problem according to Hassidism. This brings us back to the beginning of the article in which we stated that, according to the Rebbe Rashab, tikun habrit is learning in depth the deepest Hassidism and with that inspiration, meditating, praying and helping other Jews.

Reconnecting with the Divine Source of Energy

Brit is a covenant and covenant means to be connected, however, since the covenant has not yet been rectified, we are disconnected, severed. In other words, by saying that the problem of the world is pegam habrit, we are saying that the world is severed from its source. Since everything begins with the Jewish people and since we have not yet rectified this flaw, the opportunity exists for the Islamic misconception of their illusionary image of paradise. As we can see, this results in the most extremely negative phenomena of world-wide terror for the sake of religion. As we have said, it is only through the rectification of the brit that true peace can be achieved, and war entails as long as the rectification has not been completed.

When speaking of rectifying the covenant, we are referring to two levels of rectification. They are the rectification of the covenant between husband and wife and also rectification of the covenant between the Jewish nation and our God. These are the two covenants that have been defiled since the beginning of the current millenium but certainly the situation has been getting worse as time goes on. The correction of this flaw, the problem of the covenant, the connection, is by the increased concentration of each one on his partner, whether it is his partner in marriage, or his Divine partner.¹⁴

The whole Jewish nation is considered God’s bride and if, God forbid, we are unfaithful to that bond or we sever that bond then we have defiled the covenant and caused “pegam habrit.” The way to reenact that bond, as the Rebbe Rashab explained in length in a famous lecture, is by studying Hassidism in depth. The rectification of pegam habrit is the whole purpose and the whole reason why Hassidism was revealed in the world, the reason why the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe came to the world.

14. The Jewish nation manifests their connection to God, in practice, by keeping His commandments. One of the principles innovated by Hassidism is the idea expressed by the relationship between the word mitzvah (commandment) and tzavta, “together” or “bonding”. According to this idea, observing a mitzvah is not merely carrying out a distant commandment, it also contains a certain dimension of bonding and the opportunity of creating a closer connection. Observing the commandments brings about a connection between the soul of the observer and the Holy One, blessed be He, Who commanded them.

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