Hagahos on Sicha: Nasso, Chelek 13
A line-by-line look at how the Rebbe sharpened a sicha on Parshas Nasso โ from a passing edit to a fully rewritten closing paragraph.
Part of Likkutei Sichos: Volume 13 · 9:16
Working page by page through the printed sicha for Parshas Nasso in Likkutei Sichos, Chelek Yud-Gimmel, this class traces the Rebbe's own handwritten changes to the text โ clarifying that the Leviim's special count was for a specific task, sharpening the warning against falling into sadness and despair, and adding the demand to decide โwith all one's strengthโ to leave a place lacking good influences. The class closes by examining a paragraph the Rebbe crossed out entirely and rewrote from scratch, reshaping the distinction between sur mei'ra and aseh tov.
Audio Transcript
I want to go back a little bit just to make it more interesting, to see some things that the Rebbe changed or added. I'm just going to mention a few. So go back, if you're following the sichah inside, go back to this, I mean going to the second paragraph. But the second paragraph, the Rebbe said that v'chulei, the stories in this parshah, about the counting, veGershon, that's not eternal. Begashmiyus, the Rebbe said, \"No, it doesn't matter. Begashmiyus, it's not, but beruchniyus, it is.\" And the Rebbe says the lashon here, even though begashmiyus, it's not eternal, and he says, \"because there was a commandment to count them, and the counting itself was also only once.\" The way it was written originally, and the Rebbe changed it, it said that after all, the Eibershter told them to count once, one time. This whole counting was a one-time thing. The Rebbe changed it and made it into two things. Number one, the mere fact that they were counted, is something that's counting them, that itself shows it's not eternal. What's that got to do with me? They counted the Bnei Gershon. Plus, the Rebbe says, and even that counting was only a one-time thing. So the Rebbe changed it to make it into two things. Then we'll just go through a few more things here on the next column. And the Rebbe said that in the midbar, the reason they traveled in the midbar is to be machnia, to subdue the klipah. And not only that the Rebbe said that ืขื ืืื ืฉืืื ืืขื ืืช ืืืืฆืื ืื ืืืืืฉื ืืืกืชืืจ, that by them subduing the klipah and the darkness that covers up, they were mamshich Elokus. The way it was written originally, it's two things: they were machnia the chitzonim, and they took away the darkness. But the Rebbe took away took out the word \"took away\", and he writes that they were machnia the chitzonim and the darkness, they were machnia the darkness. Okay, let's go vaiter.
In the next page, on page 17, the Rebbe put in the words, in the second paragraph and the third paragraph, that the counting here that we're talking about is ืืืืืื ืืขื ืื ืื or counting ืืืืื from 30. The Rebbe is making it clear what I said when we learned the sichah, that he's not talking about the fact that they counted the Leviyim. Last week's parshah, they counted the Yidden also to make him chashuv, they counted the Leviyim to make him chashuv. We're talking here there was a special counting here. Counting who is going to, who are the ones that are going to do this job, or that job, or this job. And he wanted to make it specifically chashuv for specifically this job, because this job contains the inyan of mevarer the kelipah, and that you need a koach not to become a batel. So the Rebbe changed it a few places here in the here the paragraph, ืืื ืื ืืืขื ืืคื ืืืืืช ืืขื ืื ืื ืืืืืื ืืื ืฉืืืฉืื ืฉื ื, this he put in those words, here also ืื ืื ืืืืืื ืืขื ืื ืื, so the Rebbe put in these words here. In the next, down the page, in this ืกืขืืฃ ื', the Rebbe said that when a person starts thinking, that he's in a midbar. How is he in a midbar? He looks around the people around him, and he sees that most of the people don't know about Elokus. Then he says, and those that do know, and even those that get ื ืกืขืจ, but ืืื ืฆืืืง ืืืจืฅ ืืฉืจ ืืขืฉื ืืื ืืื ืืืื. Originally, it was written that most don't know, and those few that do know, they still the way it was written before, and they get ื ืกืขืจ only from time to time, but it's not a real thing. The Rebbe changed that. The Rebbe didn't like those words. The Rebbe changed it, not that the the few that that ืืืขืื that do know, ืืืื ืืืืืขืื, those that do know, and they get ื ืกืขืจ, so what's the problem with them? So the way it was written before, what's the problem with them? That even they they get ื ืกืขืจ, it's only very not often, etc., etc. And the Rebbe took that out. He says, that's not the problem. The problem is that ืืื ืฆืืืง ืืืจืฅ ืืฉืจ ืืขืฉื ืืื ืืื ืืืื. There's no ืฆืืืง that is a complete ืฆืืืง, certainly, al kol panim, all these words the Rebbe wrote, al kol panim somebody who is not missing, everybody is missing something. So he put in those words. And then what could a further on, what could a person think? So the Rebbe writes here, a person these are all the Rebbe's words. A person realizing this, ืืืื ืืขืืื ืืืคืื ืืขืฆืืืช ืืืืืืฉ ืืก ืืฉืืื. He could fall into sadness, depression, and give up hope. And what will he do? ืื ืืืฉ ืฉืืืืืชื, he will drop, he'll leave his ืฉืืืืืช ืืขื ืื ืขืืจื, working with the people in his city, ืืื ืืก ืืืงืื ืืืจ to run away. All these three lines the Rebbe put on, put in. In the next paragraph, where it says ืขื ืื ืืื ืืืืจืื, the ืืืจืื is ืื ืกืืข ืืืืืจ, you should travel in the midbar and to change it. Originally, it had said the ืืืจืื is from the traveling of the Bnei Yisrael in the midbar. The Rebbe added these words, the ืืืจืื is that you have to travel. He made it very clear that you have to travel. In other words, he made it clear that what he's telling you is not that, you know, learn from them, that's a that the ืืืจืื is ืื ืกืืข ืืืืืจ, go to the means the ืจืืื ืืืชืืืงืข ืืืืจ, go to these places. In ha'arah 19, the Rebbe actually, amongst many things that He wrote here, he said, if you machlit, ืงืฉืื was the Rambam says that if you live in a place where is no good people, then run away. Don't stay there. But the Rebbe said, if you machlit, that's at the farbrengen, if you make up your mind betokef, the Rebbe added the word ืืื ืืชืืงืฃ. Not enough to make up your mind just strong, with all the strength you have. And then this whole thing the Rebbe added here also that Chazal say haba l'taher mesayin oto, that you become, that it means haba l'taher and that it means to be ืืืืจ ืืืจืื, all the things we said before that you have to change. All that the Rebbe wrote here.
Let's go a little further. I wanted just say which lines the Rebbe put in. You see on the next page 18, where it says that you will if you want to be like the Levi'im, like the Rambam says, you will get the ืื ืืืืขืื. So here, this whole piece from the words you will get the ืื ืืืืขืื, ืืืืืช ืื and the chashivut, you won't become ืืื, ืืจืื ืืืจืื, ื ืฉืืช ืจืืฉ, ื ืฉืืืช ืจืืฉ ืืฆืืจืืฃ, all those till the words ืืขื ืืื ืื, the Rebbe wrote in here too. And that's why you have to figure out what exactly the words mean. The next part where the Rebbe said you could same applies not only ืืืื others, ืืืื yourself, the Rebbe said when a person makes a cheshbon tzedek with himself, he put in the word tzedek, that you have to make an honest, when you make an honest cheshbon, you have to then then you'll realize what you really are. And then when we go further, and the Rebbe says what could a person think if he makes a cheshbon that he's not the way he's supposed to? How could I change what I'm doing? And the Rebbe added these three lines, ืืืคืจื if you ืขืืจ ืืฉื ื ืื ื ืขืฉื ืื ืืืืชืจ, especially if you did it and did it again, and becomes like ืืืชืจ, ืืืคืจื if you're ืจืืื ืืื ืืืชืจ ืื' ืคืขืืื, if you did it more than twice, and the ha'arah here where the Rebbe brings that if you do it three times it's called ืจืืื, all that the Rebbe added here. And later on when it says ืืขืฉื ืจื, that we see from the Levi'im that they weren't working in the Mishkan and now they started and the Aibershter gave them the koach, so you could also start. So the Rebbe said added these words in the end of the second paragraph on this column, ืืืขืฉื ืจื ืฉื ืขืฉื ืื ืื ืืคืืขื, means the fact is that it happened, you see they could do that. Also on the next page, the end before ืกืขืืฃ ืืณ, the Rebbe says that it shows that if you're you look like yourself like a ืืืืจ, you nevertheless could change it, and you'll bring ืืืืื ืืืงืืช into yourself, ืืขืืื ืืืืจ ืืฉืื ืชื ืืชืืื, and the Aibershter will say on you ืืฉืื ืชื ืืชืืื.
And then I just want to mention that the end of the sicha, not the last two lines, but the paragraph before, the whole paragraph the Rebbe wrote, he changed from what it was written before when he's trying to explain the difference between ืกืืจ ืืจืข and ืขืฉื ืืื, that ืกืืจ ืืจืข only protects the person generally, ืขืฉื ืืื is mitzvot which each one is different. Originally, and the Rebbe said this by the farbrengen, but not these the way it says here, the Rebbe said a little different, and the way it was written when they gave it into the Rebbe had a whole piece here that the difference between ืกืืจ ืืจืข and ืขืฉื ืืื, and the Rebbe crossed it all out, and instead of that, mamash, actually I gave that part to somebody to print now. I showed them there's a whole big Actually, if you want to see, I want to show you here, this is no yeah, this is it. Here on this page, you see this is the page that was originally. This was written here, I don't know if you could see, I'll show you more. This is what was written. A whole page, a whole piece here that the Rebbe crossed out, and instead of that, the Rebbe wrote, that's how he used to write, he wrote on the side here, he wrote the whole thing of this of this paragraph here. So it's that's it's So the Rebbe, when he would write gantze paragraphs, he would write short, not oisgetaytsh, not explained. So here it's also like that. So here explains the difference between ืกืืจ ืืจืข and ืขืฉื ืืื in connection to ืืฉื and ืืืก. So the Rebbe wrote this whole thing. And there are many more things that the Rebbe wrote, but I didn't go into everything that the Rebbe added things in, but this is generally speaking. So this is the sicha of ืืืง ืืดื, and they're actually in the project Likkutei Sichot this year, next week this is going to be the sicha that are going to be. So we learned it ahead.