Parshat Shoftim we learn about the din of ערי מקלט, that means if there was a person who was a הורג נפש בשגגה, he killed a nefesh, he killed a life by mistake, so in order to protect himself he has to run to one of the cities of refuge called ערי מקלט. And the pasuk says, תכין לך הדרך, you should prepare the road, the way, to ערי מקלט. What does that mean? So Rashi says it means מקלט מקלט היה כתוב על פרשת דרכים, that by every crossroad there was a sign that said the word מקלט pointing to the way you have to turn to go to ערי מקלט. That's the simple peshat that this would help a person find the way when he's running away, and he's running to ערי מקלט, so it should be easy for him, so we prepare the way by putting up signs saying מקלט מקלט. But the Rebbe explains this idea in ruchniyus, and that is that we know what the Chazal tell us, דברי תורה קולטין, that words of Torah is like ערי מקלט. The words of Torah protect you, in ruchniyus it protects you. That just like bagashmiyus the ערי מקלט protect you if you're a הורג נפש, if you killed a nefesh, so too in ruchniyus, if you're a הורג נפש ברוחניות, Torah protects you.

What does that mean? הורג נפש means when you kill a nefesh, it means you're cutting off the person from his source of life. A person can do that to himself. הורג נפש means that a person who tore himself away, cut himself off from the source of his life, from Torah u'mitzvot. Because we know Torah is הם חיינו ואורך ימינו, Torah is our life, and therefore somebody who sins and he transgressed what it says in the Torah, he cut off his source of life, he cut off his paths of life that comes to his neshamah. A person might think if that happens, if he's a הורג נפש בשגגה, he kills his nefesh, he cuts off the life source of his nefesh, might think it's too late, so okay, that's how he is, and there's nothing else he could do. So the Torah says no, there is still hope. You could come back to the path through Torah. And that's what it means, Torah, דברי תורה קולטין, you're always able to turn back to Torah, and the Torah will take you back and hold you and protect you that you shouldn't be hurt, and it'll give you back your source of life. And

that's what it means ברוחניות, that there were signs saying מקלט מקלט on the פרשת דרכים, by the fork in the road. פרשת דרכים, a fork in the road means there's a crossroad that you could go either way. It means in רוחניות that in front of a Yid there's a lot of times two ways, two roads to take. You could take one road, the road of Torah u'mitzvot, and that's the road to that ערי מקלט. You could take the opposite road, God forbid, the road to go against Torah u'mitzvot. Now a Yid has free choice. If you have a free choice, it's possible chas veshalom a Yid will give in to his yetzer hara, and he will choose the road that's against Torah u'mitzvot. Therefore the Chazal, the chachamim tell us, יצרו של אדם מתגבר עליו בכל יום, the yetzer hara tries to overcome a Yid every day, ואלמלא הקדוש ברוך הוא עוזרו, if Hashem wouldn't help him, אין יכול לו, you wouldn't be able to overcome the yetzer hara. So basically Hashem helps you. So when you are in the crossroad and you don't know which way to go, you have a choice to go to the good side, to the bad side, so we just said that the Oibershter helps a Yid to overcome his yetzer hara. And in this case it means the Oibershter helps him to choose the right road. And that's the hint when it says that there were signs saying מקלט מקלט, the signs showing the direction. ברוחניות it means that the Oibershter Himself puts up these signs when a Yid is standing in a crossroad, and He helps a Yid choose the right way. He shows him, gives him direction, that he should go and choose the right way, the way of Torah u'mitzvot. And as the

pasuk says, ראה נתתי לפניך היום את החיים ואת הטוב ואת המות ואת הרע, the pasuk says in Nitzavim, Hashem says, look, I gave you, I showed you, I gave you today the way of life and good, and the way of death and bad, ובחרת בחיים, the Oibershter says, you shall choose the life, you should choose good. So it's not only the Oibershter tells us what to do, He helps us do it. And that's the lesson of the signs of ערי מקלט. ערי מקלט also represents Torah, and when you're standing in a crossroad you don't know where to go, sometimes you chas veshalom could go the wrong way, the Oibershter has a sign there, pointing, showing you, helping you to go that you should go back to the right way. And the Rebbe explained in different times that the month of Elul is, Elul is like ערי מקלט. Just like ערי מקלט was a place in the world, cities of ערי מקלט, in time, that was in space, this is in time, you have also ערי מקלט, and that's Elul. That Elul is a time when a person could run away from wherever he is in the negative way, and run into the concept of Elul, and Start learning more תורה ומצוות, and Elul is a special time when the Eibershter helps a Yid that should be able to choose the right way. It's part of the signs of מקלט מקלט pointing, the Eibershter points us, that the Alter

Rebbe says that in the month of אלול מלך בשדה, the Eibershter is like the king in the field, when everybody has access to him, not like when the king is in his palace, when only special people in a special way you can see him. Everybody has access, and the Eibershter makes himself ready for everybody, he makes himself available that people should get to him. So the Eibershter shows which way to go, makes it much easier for us to choose the right path and go to the דברי תורה, which דברי תורה קלט, and דברי תורה protect.