A vort of the Rebbe for the Yom Tov of Shavuos. Shavuos is the day of מתן תורה. In Parshas Yisro we learn that Hashem said to the Yidden before מתן תורה that through מתן תורה, one of the things that will happen to the Yidden is והייתם לי סגולה, you will become to me a segulah. What does the word segulah mean? So Rashi explains, the word segulah means אוצר חביב, a beloved treasure. And Rashi adds, כמסגולת מלכים, like the segulah that we have by the kings, and he explains what it means: כלי יקר ואבנים טובות, a precious vessel and gems and diamonds, good special stones, precious stones, שהמלכים גונזים אותם, that the kings hide them. כך אתם תהיו לי סגולה. So you too, the Oybershter says, you, the Yidden, will become to me a segulah, so precious like the precious things that the king hides in his treasure. And the Rebbe asks an obvious question: Why would the Oybershter compare the Yidden to these precious stones that are hidden in the secrets places of the king, in the treasure of the king, and they bring seemingly no benefit? Why didn't he compare the Yidden to the stone in the crown, for instance, or similar things where everyone sees it, it brings a lot of kavod, honor to the king, it brings the king reveals the greatness of the king? So why would the Oybershter compare the Yidden to the hidden treasures rather than to treasures that are open and they bring more benefit, they bring benefit to the king?

And the Rebbe answers that this is exactly what the pasuk tries to say. The stones, the precious stones that are in the crown or in the other places where brings great kavod to the king is something that is used for an outside benefit. It's not for the benefit of the king essentially. It's to bring the honor and the beauty in the eyes of the people, like there's a pasuk that says, מלך ביפיו תחזינה עיניך, that the eyes of the people should see the king in his great glory. So it brings out the glory of the king, which is something outside of the king. It's a benefit, chitzoni we call it, a superficial benefit in the eyes of others. But the stones, the precious stones that the king hides in his treasury, they're not used for any outside benefit, superficial benefit, so to speak. Their purpose is the mere fact that they exist. The king knows in his mind that this exists, and the mere existence of these stones brings the king pleasure. That's the whole idea. He hides them special, no one should see it, it's something that he feels special and he feels proud about, it's something that has to do with the essence of the king, not in what the king will be in connection to what goes outside of the king. And that's exactly what the Oybershter wanted to tell the Yidden, that through מתן תורה you will become not just something that will be because you will do something and there'll be a benefit in what you do, but what he's trying to say is you, the Hashem says I love you and I will love you, not like a something, a means to an end to bring something out, just the mere fact that you, your existence is something that is pleasure to me, that's something that makes me, so to speak, just to use the word kivayachol, makes me feel good. The the essential existence of a Yid is beloved by Hashem, and Hashem has pleasure from that. And that happened by מתן תורה. By מתן תורה, the Oibershter connected to the Yidden, and the Yidden to him, that brought out the idea that the existence of a Yid, certainly when a Yid does תורה ומצוות it brings, even enhances it all, but those are side benefits that are there, that important. But the mere fact that a Yid is a Yid, that is already the pleasure of Hashem, and that is what took place at מתן תורה.

In other words, like it says Hashem chose us by מתן תורה. It says, in davenen we say, בנו בחרת מכל עם ולשון. Before Kriat Shema we say You chose us. And the Magen Avraham says, and the Alter Rebbe brings it in Shulchan Aruch, when did Hashem choose us? By מתן תורה. And the choice was not only that he gave us the obligation of doing תורה ומצוות, he chose us as the essence of him. Like it says in Tanya, a Yid has a neshamah which is a חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש, part of Hashem. So we are one, our existence is one with Hashem. And that's the idea of והייתם לי סגולה, you will be to me like a hidden treasure that the kings hide, that is an essential thing in the king, and that's what the Yidden are with the Oibershter.