Spiritual Guide for the 19th of Teveth

The gateway to the first week of Shovavim (Parashat Shemot)

💡 Hayom Yom (Keter)

• Chabad Tradition: Chassidim have a tradition from generations, instituted by the Alter Rebbe, that every day we study a parsha of Chumash of that week's sedra with Rashi. This was done by the Rebbe'im, too.

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🪜 The 15 Steps to the Sanctuary

🧠 Chochma & Bina (Wisdom & Integration)

1. Alef-Bet Combination: Tonight is Day 2 (Bet) of 22-Day Cycle 6 (Kaf and Lamed). The combination is Bet with Lamed (forming the word Lev, heart).

Acrostic Verse (Psalm 112): בְּ֜מִצְו‍ֹתָ֗יו חָפֵ֥ץ מְאֹֽד ("who greatly desires His commandments").

2. Sefirah (Inner Refinement): Day 7 of Week 16 (Malchut shebeGevurah [shebeTiferet]).

❤️ Chesed (Expansive Love)

3. Light and Fire of the Baal Shem Tov: The Besht often concealed his knowledge of Kabbalah, even feigning ignorance to hide his custom of not wearing tefillin on intermediate days. In one instance, he refused to kiss a mezuzah that was later found to be defective. When privately confronted by Rabbi Moshe of Kitov, the Besht revealed he was a hidden mystic but swore the Rabbi to secrecy.

4. Jewish Spiritual Practices: * Kindness: Rabbi Israel Salanter taught that "deed erases thought"—to remove a trace of resentment against someone, one should do them a significant favor.

• Prayer: Loving one's neighbor includes praying for the sick or those in need even if not asked. A sudden, unprompted thought of a relative is often a sign to pray for them immediately.

⚔️ Gevurah (Strength & Discipline)

5. Talmud (33 Tractates): Megillah (5a - 8a)

• Communal Prayer: A "large city" is defined by ten batlanim—men dedicated to the synagogue.

• Geopolitics: Jerusalem and Rome represent a zero-sum relationship; they cannot both be at their peak simultaneously.

• Effort: Labor is required for the understanding of Torah, though retention of knowledge is a gift from Heaven.

• Leap Years: Purim is celebrated in Adar II to keep the redemption of Purim close to the redemption of Passover.

6. Tanach Study: Jeremiah 10 & 11 Jeremiah contrasts the vanity of idols (wood and silver) with the Living God who made the earth by His wisdom. In Chapter 11, God warns of a conspiracy in Judah and tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people because they have broken the covenant and returned to the iniquities of their forefathers.

⚖️ Tiferet (Harmony & Beauty)

7. Tosefta: Yevamos (Chapters 8 - 11)

• Procreation: A man must not desist from "being fruitful" until he has at least two children (Beit Hillel: a son and a daughter; Beit Shammai: two sons). Ben Azzai argues that avoiding this is like "spilling blood," though he himself remained single to focus on Torah.

• Property: Distinguishes between Melog slaves (wife's property/risk) and Tzon Barzel (husband's responsibility/guarantee).

• Prioritizing Life: In a difficult labor, the mother's life takes priority over the fetus until the head emerges.

• Yibbum: Details the power of the Yavam (Levir) to provide Terumah to a woman and the laws of physical defects (e.g., eunuchs by nature vs. by man) that affect marriage eligibility.

8. 13 Attribute Combination (Divine Mercy): Day 8 of 13-Day Cycle 9.

• יִכְבֹּשׁ עֲו‍ֹנֹתֵינוּ / yichbosh avonoteinu — and suppresses our iniquities;

• וְתַשְׁלִיךְ בִּמְצֻלוֹת יָם כָּל חַטֹּאותָם / vetashlich bimtzolet yam kol chatotam — Casts our sins into the depths of the sea.

🏹 Netzach (Victory & Ambition)

9. 41-Day Combination: Day 30 of 41-Day Cycle 3. Understanding the 8th Commandment (Against Stealing) on the Intellectual level (Neshama, World of Beriah).

10. Living Likutei Moharan (Torah 112): Focuses on the Tzohar (Precious stone/Window) of the Ark. Truth is "Hashem’s Seal" (Chotem). By connecting to truth, a person finds openings (Petachim) out of darkness. The lesson connects the three worlds of the Rambam (Angels, Spheres, Physical) and the Abir Yaakov’s work, Pituchei Chotem. Truth shines like a stone (from within) or a window (from without) to guide the perplexed through the exile of Teveth.

🕯️ Hod (Submission & Sincerity)

11. M’Ein Ganim:

• Prayer: One who claims they have "no time" for prayer is like a rich man's son who remains in rags rather than asking his father for help.

• Faith: Spend time in Hitbodedut asking for perfect Emunah—to believe that everything is for the good and that God loves you as you are.

• The Cow and the Calf: God desires to give more than we desire to receive; withholding our requests prevents Divine delight.

12. Shulchan Arukh (Orach HaChayim 223 & 224): Laws of blessings for life events (birth of a son, deaths, inheritance) and sightings (new clothes, ruins of Babylon, 600,000 Jews, kings, and sages). It highlights that one should make an effort to see kings and scholars to acknowledge God's distribution of honor and wisdom.

🤝 Yesod (Foundation & Connection)

13. Zohar Study: Vayechi, Folios 247 and 248

• The Union: Spiritual completion requires the union of the Upper (Binah) and Lower (Malchut) worlds—the "Fourteen Days."

• Joseph: As the guardian of the Covenant (Yesod), Joseph’s sexual purity allowed him to funnel divine energy into the "Stone of Israel."

• The River: Blessings flow from Eden (Wisdom) through Joseph to the world.

• Benjamin: Represents the Altar (the "wolf") that transforms physical offerings into spiritual grace, sweetening Judgment with Mercy.

• Jacob: "Jacob did not die"—he represents the Sun entering the Moon, transitioning from external action to internal union.

14. Shovavim (Parasha Shemot): Day 5 (Rashbi / Tikkun) of Parasha 1 (Moshe / Torah) of Cycle 3 (Mordechai / Tzedakah-Mesirat Nefesh).

🌍 Malchut (Actualization)

15. The Parasha Study (Shemot): Culminating with the study of the new book and the teachings of the Likutei Moharan (Torah 61).