Daily Guide for the 15th of Kislev

 

Kabbalah of Time: Daily Guide for the 15th of Kislev

Date: 15th of Kislev, 5786 (Thursday Night / Friday Day, December 4/5, 2025)

Day of Cycle: Day 78 of the 364-Day Yearly Cycle.

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15 Steps to the Sanctuary

1. Hayom Yom (Daily Lesson) 💡

   • The Alter Rebbe quoted the Baal Shem Tov: "One must have mesirat nefesh (total self-sacrifice and dedication) for ahavat Yisrael (love of one's fellow), even towards a Jew whom one has never seen."

2. Alef-Bet Combination (Hidden Good) 🔠

   • Combination: Tonight is Day 12 (Lamed) of 22-Day Cycle 4. The combination is Zayin with Lamed.

   • Acrostic Verse (Psalm 34:12): "לְכֽוּ־בָ֖נִים שִׁמְעוּ־לִ֑י יִרְאַ֥ת יְ֜הֹוָ֗ה אֲלַמֶּדְכֶֽם: / Come, children, hearken to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord."

   • Talmud: Tractate Beitzah (2a - 4a)

3. Sefirah (Inner Refinement) ✨

   • Sefirah: Day 1 of Week 12: Chesed shebeHod shebeGevurah (Loving-kindness within Acknowledgement within Discipline).

4. Kabbalah of Time Weekly Focus 📖

   • Song for the Day (Book 1, Week 12 - Perek Shirah): "The raven is saying, 'Who prepares food for the raven, when his young ones cry out to G-d?' (Job 38:41)."

5. Light and Fire of the Baal Shem Tov & Jewish Spiritual Practices 🔥

   • Light and Fire: Page 77 - The Besht in Tlust formed a separate minyan (prayer quorum) because in other synagogues the poor sat separately and rarely received any honors. The Besht understood how precious poor, simple people were in Hashem's eyes.

   • Spiritual Practices: Pages 154 and 155 - Visualizing oneself in the Temple; Visualizing oneself in Heaven.

6. Tanach Study (Daily Chapters) 👑

   • Book of Isaiah, Chapters 8 and 9: These chapters contain prophecies regarding the Assyrian threat, the birth of the future king, and the great light that will shine upon the land of Zebulun and Naphtali—messages of both judgment and ultimate salvation.

7. Mishnah: Tractate Pesachim, Chapters 2 and 3 ⚖️

   • Chapters 2 and 3: Discuss the laws of searching for and destroying chametz (leaven) before Passover, emphasizing the meticulous discipline required in preparation for G-d's ultimate act of deliverance (the Exodus).

8. 13 Attribute Combination (Divine Mercy) 📜

   • Tonight is Day 13 of 13-Day Cycle 6.

   • 13th Attribute: ... מִימֵי קֶדֶם / ...mimei kedem — from the earliest days.

   • Relevant Attribute (6th): כִּי חָפֵץ חֶסֶד הוּא/ ki chafetz chesed hu — for He desires kindness.

9. 41-Day Combination (Practical Purity) 🧼

   • Focus: Tonight is Day 37 of 41-Day Cycle 3.

   • Theme: Understanding the 10th Commandment (Not to Envy) on the first level - spiritually - connected to the attribute of Chayah and the world of Atzilus, all while keeping in mind the campaign of Kashrut (Cheshvan/Kislev).

10. Living Likutei Moharan: Torah 79 Summary (Moshe and Mashiach) 🔗

    • Torah 79, for the 15th of Kislev, is about how a person should see that the delay in the coming of Mashiach is not due to them; a person must do Teshuva and fix their deeds. Every Tzadik has a manifestation of Mashiach or at least an attribute of Mashiach, which is an aspect of Moshe. Moshe, the Faithful Shepherd (Raya Mehemna), had self-sacrifice for the Jewish people because he truly knew his lowliness, and also knew the importance and great qualities of Israel. A person can recognize their lowliness on Shabbat, when they do complete Teshuvah, which is Shabbat.

11. Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 155 and 156 🛐

    • Siman 155 - To go from the Synagogue to the House of Study: Deals with the importance of fixing a time for Torah study immediately after prayer, and the permission to eat a morning meal (pat shacharit) beforehand.

    • Siman 156 - The Arrangement of Buying and Selling: Instructs one to go to work after prayer and study, stressing that work should be secondary (arai) and Torah study permanent (kavua). It emphasizes honest business practices and caution regarding unnecessary oaths.

12. Zohar: Parashat Vayeshev - Folios 177 and 178 💎

    • The Power of Offerings and the Pain of Exile (Chapter 23): The primary cause of exile is identified as Israel's failure to serve God "with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart" when they had abundance.

    • King David's Midnight Devotion (Chapter 29): King David rose at midnight to sing praises, ensuring that God and the righteous listen to his prayers, earning him a "thread of grace" during the day.

13. M'Ein Ganim (Page 78) - The importance of realizing that “the world was created for me” and that one can and should always start anew.

14. Parasha Vayishlach (Parasha 8 of the Cycle) 🕊️

    • Cycle Day: Day 6 (Mem Sofit, Arizal (Mikvah), Eliyahu) of Parasha 2 (Vav, Aharon (Avodah)) of Cycle 2 (Vav, Aharon (Avodah)).

15. Parasha: Today we will learn from Mesilat Yesharim 🧘

    • Chapter 3: Vigilance (Zehirut) —Its Components and How to Acquire It:

      • Conclusion: A person must constantly use their intellect to contemplate the true path of the Torah, and then use that knowledge to reflect on their own deeds to ascertain if they are on that path. This is the surest way to purify oneself and correct one's ways.

      • Vayishlach Connection: Jacob, before meeting Esau, takes detailed precautions: he divides his camp (preparing for the worst), he prays (seeking divine counsel), and he sends gifts (seeking to appease).

      • The Link: Jacob's calculated preparation is an ancient, supreme example of Vigilance (Zehirut). He is not walking blindly; he is treating his encounter with the hostile Esau as a danger requiring counsel and strategy, exactly as the Ramchal urges us to treat our spiritual enemies. Jacob is, in effect, performing a spiritual accounting of his situation before confronting the "darkness" of his brother.