There is a saying that the day of Chai Elul brings a chayus into the service of the month of Elul. Since this is true, where has our chayus been until now during the first 17 days of Elul?
Chayus- life, is not just a nice addition, it’s something deeper. Just as there is an essential difference between life and its opposite ח"ו, so too, Chayus represents an essential difference, not just an incremental change.
In describing Moshiach, the Torah says, “He will be great and exalted Me’od”. Meod means far beyond anything before him. As is known, the Baal Shem Tov began the revelation of Moshiach. His Torah is here to prepare us for Moshiach. Throughout our history Jewish people have experienced Yetzias Mitzrayim, Matan Torah, and the Bais HaMikdash. We have received the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu, all the Tanaim and Amoraim etc. How can we say after all of this, that the coming of Moshiach is something so incomparable that we say “me’od”, and that the Torah of Moshiach is a Torah Chadasha? And all of this began with the Baal Shem Tov.
The Rebbe explains based on Chassidus, that the answer to these questions can be understood by understanding the difference between the levels of Pnimius and Chitzonius Atik. In general, the difference between pnimius and chitzonius is that pnimius is the person himself, while chitzonius is his external expression. As great as one’s chitzonius may be, it is completely incomparable to their pnimius, the person himself. For example, for people to live in this world, they need money. In order to get money, they look for a job. A job serves the objective of getting money while money serves the objective of being able to live. From this we see a clear and incomparable difference between chitzonius, the job, compared to the pnimius of the money. We also see the difference between the money which is chitzonius compared to the pnimius, one’s life. Moshiach will reveal the pnimius the essence of the Torah and the essence in the creation and everything in comparison to it is chitzonius.
The entire Elul we have been busy with our Avodah. We have been doing Teshuva. We have been giving more Tzedaka, Davening and learning more Torah. Until this point there have been two separate things; ourselves and our avoda. When we reach Chai Elul, we get so deeply involved in our avoda that the Teshuva, Tzedaka, Tefilla and Torah become unified in the person. They are both one and the very same thing; life itself. This is what Chassidus reveals, our connection to the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe, it is our very life. And this is the lesson of Parshas Ki Savo, which means to come into the land. That we too need to get into it, to become involved, to make it our lives, not something external.
This is also similar to the stages of life. As years go by and we look backwards we realize that the life we lived in the past is not the really the same life compared to how we view it in the present. As life goes on we go higher and higher into pnimius.
Once I saw two older Chassidim, Rav Perlov and Rav Vilshansky at a fabrengen. This occurred in the year 1973. They were speaking to each other about time they spent together in Lubavitch in the years 1911-1914. In the meanwhile, there had been two major world wars, but when they spoke you were able to see that the impact from the Rebbe Rashab was literally alive within them. Similarly, once at a Yud Beis Tammuz fabrengen in Los Angeles in 1995, my father was speaking to an old friend. They were discussing a Yud Tes Kislev farbrengen in Otvosk, that occurred in 1937 with the Friediker Rebbe. As they spoke it was easy to see the tremendous living impression that had been imparted to them at that time that was still with them so many years later in 1995. The Alter Rebbe had a friend called the Volpe, who was also a Talmid of the Maggid who visited the Alter Rebbe in Liozna. The Alter Rebbe’s Chassidim thought that perhaps he had writings of Chassidus in his bag. They went through his bag to investigate and he caught them. When he asked them why they were searching his bag they explained that they thought he might have some writings of Chassidus. He replied; “By the Maggid, the words of Torah were written on our hearts, we didn’t need to write them down.” When it comes to Chai Elul, we live with the Rebbe and with Chassidus.
ב"ה