Say with me, I didn't know what to call it. So you just gave it the right name: the days post Shavuos. That's really the topic. Really, the Hebrew word word for it is the days of תשלומין after Shavuos, you make תשלומין. And the word תשלומין doesn't really mean post. תשלומין means when you're משלים, when you make up something that you missed out. So there are days after Shavuos that you could make up what you missed out during Shavuos. Now I'll explain what it means. We know that we don't say Tachanun till the 12th of Sivan. We don't say Tachanun from the beginning of Rosh Chodesh Sivan all through Shavuos, going through till the end of the 12th day of Sivan, 12 days in Sivan. The reason being, the days before Shavuos are very special days. First day of the month is Rosh Chodesh, so you don't say Tachanun. The second day of Sivan, we spoke about in last class, is the יום המיוחס, the special day when Hashem said to Klal Yisrael, \"ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, you will be to me a nation or a kingship kingdom of Kohanim and a holy nation.\" So since Hashem said it in that day, that day is a special day. Then, on the third day of Sivan starts the שלושת ימי הגבלה, the three days of preparation to Matan Torah, to Shavuos, which includes also the two days of פרישה. So anyway, the days before Shavuos are very special days. Then, we have the two days of Shavuos, and then we have the days after Shavuos. The two days of Shavuos are the sixth and seventh day of Sivan, then we have the eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th of Sivan when we also don't say Tachanun. Since we don't say Tachanun, that shows that they're special days, they're holidays. On a special holiday, we don't say Tachanun. Now, why are these days special days? Because in the time of the Beis Hamikdash, they were referred to as the ימי תשלומין. תשלומין means that you could make up something that you missed. What was it that you were able to make up? We know that in every Yom Tov, in the time of the Beis Hamikdash, there was a mitzvah of עליה לרגל. That means that every Yid, mainly the males, had to go up to Yerushalayim to be there for Yom Tov. When they came to Yerushalayim to be in the בית המקדש for Yom Tov, they were obligated to bring certain קרבנות, certain sacrifices, which were שלמים and עולה, anyway different קרבנות that they had to bring while they were there. There were seven days that they had the ability, the possibility of bringing these קרבנות. That means if a person didn't manage to bring the קרבנות on the first day, he would bring it on the second; not on the second, to bring it on the third; not on the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh. There are seven days of תשלומין, which means that it starts from by the Yom Tov of Shavuos, starts from the seventh day of סיון, which is the first day of Shavuos, the eighth, the ninth, the 10th, the 11th, and 12th the the seventh the sixth, I mean, I I made a mistake, the sixth, the seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th, which are seven days. So you could have brought the קרבנות in any one of these seven days. And being that these are days when they were able to bring the קרבנות of Yom Tov, they are holidays. You are able to make up the קרבנות that you missed out if you didn't bring it on the first day. Where do we know this דין that they were able to bring the קרבנות for seven days? That means where do we get this הלכה that there were שבעת ימי התשלומין we call it, seven days of תשלומין, seven days that you were able to make it up? So the Gemara says that we learn it out from a פסוק. The פסוק says בחג המצות—when it speaks about the קרבנות, it says בחג המצות ובחג השבועות ובחג הסוכות—that you bring the קרבנות in these three holidays: in the Yom Tov of Pesach, which is called בחג המצות, חג השבועות, in Shavuos, and Sukkos. And the Gemara says that since the פסוק puts all three together, it teaches us that just like Pesach you had seven days to bring the קרבנות, so too do you have on Shavuos. Now, Pesach you had seven days because Pesach was seven days. So if you didn't bring it on the first day, you were able to bring it on the second, third, all through Yom Tov. Nowadays, Pesach is eight days in חוץ לארץ because of the ספק, but originally in the time of the בית המקדש, and even in ארץ ישראל now, Pesach is seven days. So because Pesach has seven days and you were able to bring the קרבנות any one of the seven days, so the Gemara says we learn out from here that the קרבנות of Shavuos, which is written together with Pesach, also we have seven days when we are able to bring these קרבנות. And there were in the בית המקדש, you were able to bring the קרבנות on the first day, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, sixth, seventh, which comes up to י״ב סיון. So all the days after Shavuos through the twelfth of סיון are referred to as the ימי תשלומין, the days that you're able to make up the קרבנות, and that's why they're ימים טובים like a Yom Tov, and we don't say תחנון in these days. But it seems strange because when we talk about a Pesach and Sukkos, all the days that the Yidden were allowed to bring the קרבנות were all ימים טובים, days of Yom Tov. It includes the first day of Yom Tov, the last day of Yom Tov, and the days in between, which is חול המועד. And חול המועד is also Yom Tov. It's not the same level of Yom Tov as the other first and last days of Yom Tov, but it's also Yom Tov. There are certain things we don't do on חול המועד, certain things we're not allowed to do. It is basically a holiday. We don't even put on תפילין according to our custom and according to Zohar on חול המועד. It's a Yom Tov. So Pesach and Sukkos, the ימי התשלומין, the days that we brought the קרבנות, were able to bring the קרבנות, were days of Yom Tov. Shavuos, it seems very strange that we're able to bring the קרבנות during the weekdays, days which basically have nothing to do with the holiday. They're not holy days. They're not special days. And nevertheless, we are able to bring then the קרבנות, the sacrifices of the Yom Tov. It seems very strange that during days which are חול, Tosafos actually uses this term, it's חול גמור. It's really weekday. There is no Yom Tov there, and nevertheless, we're able to bring the the korbanot there. Now, in simple, reason for it is, since Hashem wanted us to have many days where we were able to bring the korbanot, and practically speaking, it would have been impossible for all the Yidden to bring the korbanot in one day. So many Yidden came up to Yerushalayim, hundreds of thousands of Yidden, each one brought a korban, it was practically impossible. So Hashem wanted to give us more days. And since Shavuos is only one day, so automatically, it has to be that the days that you're able to complete what you miss have to be weekdays because there's no choice. See, Pesach and Sukkos, which are longer, Pesach is seven days, Sukkos is eight days, so there it comes out that you could bring the korbanot on Yom Tov. Shavuos, we have no choice. We need the days, Hashem wanted to give us the days, Shavuos is one day only, so there is no choice.

But as we know that there must be more to it. This is the very simple reason, but it doesn't just work that way. It's the whole idea of this class to explain the explain the different things not the way it seems superficially from the simple peshat, but the way we look at it from the deeper peshat, the way we look at it according to Chassidus, according to Kabbalah. So there must be a deeper reason why it is so that on Shavuos we are the mitzvah of bringing the korbanot also applies to days which are pure weekdays and are not Yom Tov whatsoever. There's something there. Besides, it gets even more interesting. And we'll get carried away a little bit to a different subject, not a different, but a little bit of halachah or a little bit of nigleh, let's put it this way, a little bit of pilpul in order to get back to what we're trying to say. It seems that every day when we're able to bring the korbanot is an obligation in its own right. It We would think that really you have to bring the korbanot on the first day, which is Yom Tov. If you didn't bring the first day, then you could make up and bring the second day, and then bring the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. But the truth is it is not so. The truth is that each one of these seven days has its own right, in other words, each one has its own chiyuv to bring the korbanot. Now, where do we see it? Let me explain where we see this. And again, it's not that the main chiyuv is on the first day, which is Yom Tov, and if you didn't bring the first day, then you have a choice, a chance, I mean, to make it up. The korban to begin with, you have seven days for the korbanot. Where do we see it? An interesting thing, the Gemara uses the term that we have שבעת ימי תשלומין, we have seven days that we could make up. And when we start thinking about it, what does that mean, seven days we could make up? It should have said six days that we could make up. One day is the day that you bring the korban. Then you have six more days where you have tashlumin, where you could be mashlim, you could fix up what you missed. What's the peshat that you have seven days? So the Rebbe has a peshat in this Gemara, and he says like this. We find in different cases where it says that if you missed out something, you could make it up later. The best example and the most famous example is Pesach Sheni. You didn't bring the קרבן פסח on ערב פסח, you have the choice to bring Pesach Sheni. So in those cases, similar to the case of Pesach Sheni, what it really means that the obligation is at the first time. You have to bring the קרבן פסח on ערב פסח. If for some reason you didn't bring it, then you have a second chance. But a person is not allowed to let leave it for the second chance. If he leaves it for a second chance, that means that this person did not fulfill his obligation. Basically, what we're saying is the time of the קרבן פסח is ערב פסח, not Pesach Sheni. If you didn't bring the קרבן פסח in its proper time, then you have a second chance later on. By the קרבנות, the Rebbe wants to learn the peshat differently. By the קרבנות of Yom Tov, it is not that the the real time of the קרבן is the first day, and if you happen to miss out, well then you have a second day or a third or a fourth. Lechatchilah, the Torah gave us seven days to bring the קרבן. The fact that it's important for a person to bring it as soon as possible, that has nothing to do with the time, that has to do with the person. The person should try to do it right away, not to postpone it. But as far as the zman of the קרבן, all seven days are equally the zman of the קרבן, the time of the קרבן. Not like by the קרבן פסח. The zman of the קרבן פסח is the first, you have a chance to do it later if you miss the zman. But by the קרבנות of Yom Tov, the zman is is all seven days. The person himself has to try to bring it as soon as possible, and because of that, the expression is there are seven days of תשלומין. Because even the first day is called תשלומין. Because the first day is not more the time of the קרבן than the second or the third. They're all the same, but you have to try to bring it as soon as possible, so even in the first day you should try to bring it in the morning. If a person doesn't bring it the first moment in the morning, already what he's doing now is being mashlim what he didn't do, and therefore, you could use the number seven to say that there are seven days תשלומין. And the Rebbe has a proof to it. The halachah is that one of the קרבנות that they had to bring on Yom Tov was a קרבן עולה. There was shelamim and olah. What's the difference between the קרבן שלמים and the קרבן עולה? קרבן שלמים was a korban that the fats and the blood went on the מזבח. The meat was eaten partially by the kohen, partially by the owner of the korban. A קרבן עולה, the whole korban went on the מזבח and was burnt, all the meat and all the fat, everything was burnt on the מזבח. So Beit Shammai holds that on Yom Tov you couldn't even bring that קרבן עולה, you were not allowed. On on Yom Tov, you were only allowed to do a melachah which is for the sake of food. Since the קרבן עולה was not eaten, so you weren't allowed to bring the קרבן עולה on Yom Tov. You had to postpone it and bring it, the first chance you had to bring it was on the day after Yom Tov. And the Alter Rebbe in Shulchan Aruch says that not only Beit Shammai held like that, and Beit Hillel argued, but even though Beit Hillel argued, most of Beit Hillel and most Yidden followed Beit Shammai's opinion in this case. And they all brought the korban on the day after Shavuot, which is, by the way, the reason why the day after Shavuot, the day right after Shavuot has a special name called יום טבוח, the day of shechting, because in the בית המקדש that was such a busy day of korbanot, because most of the Yidden did not bring the קרבן עולה on Yom Tov. They brought the קרבן עולה on the day later, and those who didn't manage the second day brought it later. But on the day of Yom Tov itself, they did not bring. And here it seems very strange. Here we're talking about a korban that belongs for the Yom Tov, and you can't bring it on Yom Tov? How's that possible? Obviously, this is a korban that doesn't have to be on Yom Tov. All days, Yom Tov or the other days, have the equal obligation. It's not that the obligation, the main obligation is on Yom Tov. They all have the same obligation. What I'm trying to get to is bring out that we see this by Shavuos that the obligation of bringing the korbanos in the Beis Hamikdash, not only if you didn't have a chance to bring it on Yom Tov, you had a chance to bring it on a weekday. To begin with, the obligation was to bring the korbanos on the weekdays. If you wanted, you could bring it, it's just for the person's sake, better to do it as early as possible. But for the sake of the zman, of the time of the korban, they were all equal. And therefore, it shows us that the korbanos of Shavuos are different than the korbanos of Pesach and Sukkos. Pesach and Sukkos, the korbanos that a Yid had to bring when he came to the Beis Hamikdash, only could have been done on Yom Tov or Chol Hamoed, which is also Yom Tov. Starts on the first day of Pesach, goes through the Yom Tov. Sukkos, it was from the first day of Sukkos through the end of Sukkos, all on Yom Tov. There was no such thing as bringing the korban of Yom Tov on a weekday. But here, by Shavuos, there was a special din, that you could bring the korban till the 12th day of Sivan, which are all weekdays. And the korban, the obligation of the korban, to begin with, is to bring it any one of these days. Why is it? And what we're going to look for is not just the simple reason because Shavuos is one day, and Hashem wanted to give us extra days, so therefore it had to turn out to be on the weekdays, but it's more than that.

So the explanation, the way it's explained in chassidus and the way the Rebbe explains it, is as follows: It is because of what Shavuos is. We're talking here about the korbanos of Shavuos. When we understand what Shavuos is, then we'll understand why the korbanos could be brought in the weekdays. So we have to look in the deeper understanding of Shavuos, which basically means a deeper understanding of Matan Torah. What took place by Matan Torah? Well, Hashem gave us the Torah, obviously, but one of the most important things that took place at מתן תורה is that that's when Hashem chose us as His nation. It says in the Magen Avraham, the Alter Rebbe brings it in the Shulchan Aruch, that before Keriat Shema every morning in Shacharit, when we say the words ובנו בחרת מכל עם ולשון that You chose us from all nations, we have to think about מתן תורה. Because by מתן תורה, השם chose us. When we say in דאווענען, אתה בחרתנו מכל העמים, You chose us of all nations, it refers to מתן תורה. At the time of מתן תורה, השם chose the Yidden out of all nations. But the question is, what does that mean? We know that before מתן תורה, the Yidden were also called a nation. The Yidden were already a special nation by Hashem. When Hashem sent Moshe Rabbeinu to Pharaoh to tell him to let the Yidden go, what did He say to tell him? Tell him: בני בכורי ישראל. My firstborn son ישראל, the בני ישראל, שלח את עמי, let them go. So Hashem already referred to the Yidden as His firstborn child, as the special nation. So we were a special nation before. We were already a nation of Klal Yisrael. So what does it mean that by מתן תורה השם chose us, when it happened much before? So the answer is, well, we were a nation before, but we were not the chosen nation. We were a special nation. We were the greatest nation, the best nation, all expressions we could use, but not a chosen nation. What is the pshat a chosen nation? So here we go into Chassidus, and Chassidus explains what is the concept of choice. Choice, when we talk about the real meaning of choice, which is bechirah chofshit, free choice, that means that you choose it out of your free will. The chooser chooses it out of his free will. Nothing forces him to choose it. If you use the word the real meaning of choice, not in a superficial way we call lashon hamosha'al, a borrowed term, then we could say when I have two things and I like one better than the other, well, I chose this one because I like this one. That's not real choice. I'm forced into it. If I'm looking for something like this and this is it, and the other one is not, then I don't have the choice. If I have two fruits, an apple and an orange, and I like an apple, I don't like the orange, and I choose the apple, that's not free choice. It's the object that I'm taking forces me to take it. The real choice is when they're two the same and I choose one. That's called free choice. Which means that the reason I chose it is nothing not because there's anything different in one over the other. It's purely my choice. Choice shows purely that it comes from the one that chooses rather than the one that chosen that is chosen. If you choose something because there is something better in this one over the other, then, basically, the one that you chose forced you to choose it. And you're doing it because of that. And you had no choice, because this is not what I want. Just like if I only have one fruit, I take that, I have no choice. If I have two, I also have no choice. If this is not the one I like, so I have no choice. So the real meaning of choice is that it's nothing in the thing that I chose that makes me choose it over the other. So why do I do it? It's something that's within me. That's what choice is. And that's what happened by מתן תורה. And that's the difference between מתן תורה and the way it was before. The Yidden before were a nation. Why were they a special nation? Because they were special people. They're children, descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov. They behaved in a very special way. So they were as a a nation, they were a group together, and a very special nation. But it all came because of them, because of things that they did. And therefore, they became special. By By מתן תורה, something different happened. Hashem chose us. That means that it is not as a result of what we did. It's Hashem's choice. It's all because of him. Hashem, on his own, because of his will, chose us over the other nations. And that is much different than what happened before. Because what happened before, we were special, it's all based on our behavior. If, God forbid, our behavior would change, which as I'll show in a moment it did, then we are not a special nation anymore. If there is a, we call it a milta beta'ama, there is a reason why we are special. And if that reason is not there, then we're not special anymore. What happened here was that Hashem chose us from his side, not as a result of us. And therefore, no matter how we are, if Hashem wants us, makes no difference if we are like this or like that, if we're equal to the goyim or not, Hashem chose us. And now, has nothing to do with how we behave. Actually, we see this in the Rambam. The Rambam, in the beginning of Hilchot Avodah Zarah, the laws of idol worship, the Rambam goes through a whole history, which he usually doesn't do. But here he goes through a whole history how Avodah Zarah started, and how people forgot about Hashem, till finally he comes to the point that Avraham Avinu, as a child yet, as a young man, realized the truth of Hashem and started spreading the understanding and the belief in Hashem throughout the whole world. And he had a lot of people come with him, and he taught it to his children, to his son Yitzchak, and Yitzchak to Yaakov, etc., etc. And then people forgot again. Anyway, he says, finally it was taught to Yaakov, taught it to his children, and his children taught it to their children, and the way the Rambam says here what happened was: והיה הדבר, I'm reading the end of the first perek of הלכות עבודה זרה, והיה הדבר הולך ומתגבר בבני יעקב ונלוים עליהם. And it went, it continued, it got more and more, the children of יעקב and all the people who were connected to them. ונעשית בעולם אומה! And they became in the world a nation. So, already here he refers to the Yidden as a nation. שהיא יודעת את השם. A nation that is knowledgeable of Hashem. But what happened? עד שארכו הימים לישראל במצרים, as time passed in מצרים, וחזרו ללמוד ממעשיהם ולעבוד עבודה זרה כמותם. The Yidden forgot, and slowly, slowly started worshipping idols like the מצרים. חוץ משבט לוי ששמר מצות אבות, except שבט לוי didn't. וכמעט קט היה, and the Rambam says almost, והעיקר ששתל אברהם נעקר, almost that this foundation, this philosophy that אברהם אבינו had established in the belief in one God, almost was forgotten. וחוזרין בני יעקב לטעות העמים ותעייתם. And the children of יעקב almost almost went back to the mistakes of the other nations. So, it was forgotten. ומאהבת השם אותנו, because Hashem loves us, ומשמרו את השבועה לאברהם אבינו, because he kept the promise to Avraham, עשה משה רבינו, it's an interesting, peculiar expression, he made Moshe Rabbeinu, Hashem made משה רבינו, רבן של כל הנביאים, the master, the leader of all of the prophets, ושלחו, and he sent him. כיון שנתנבא משה רבינו, soon as משה רבינו prophesied, ובחר השם בישראל לנחלה, follow the words, and Hashem chose the Yidden as his inheritance, והכתירם במצות, he crowned them with מצות, והודיעם דרך עבודתו, he notified them the derech of his service, ומה יהיה מיאוסה, he told them what to do with those that worship עבודה זרה, etc., etc. And that's how the Rambam goes into the halachot. So, what do we see here? That the Rambam says when the Yidden were in מצרים at the beginning, they already were a nation, he said. They became a nation that knows Hashem. Now, we know that in truth the birth of Klal Yisrael happened when the Yidden left מצרים. That's known as the birth of the nation. In Tanach, in Yechezkel, he describes the גלות and then the Yetzias Mitzrayim, the exodus of מצרים, as the beginning of the birth of the Jewish nation, leading up to Matan Torah, that's when it was completed. So we know that the Yidden did not become a nation till they left מצרים. But here the Rambam says that in the beginning when they came down to מצרים, they already were established, he says clearly, as a nation that knows Hashem. But we know it's not so. We know they were not considered a nation, the real nation, till they went out of מצרים. The answer is, as I said before, they were already a nation. But why were they a nation or a special nation? So it says they were a nation that knew Hashem. Meaning to say, the reason they were a nation because they all had the same philosophy. It was all based on their behavior. And being that their philosophy was a good one, a philosophy was the best of the world in knowing Hashem, so they became the best nation. But it's all based on their behavior. And therefore, When it came to a point where they almost forgot, that they started worshipping idols, so they would have been not a special nation anymore, because the whole reason they were special is because of their behavior. Afterwards, he said, when Hashem sent משה רבינו and took them out of מצרים, and then Matan Torah, the Rambam says here something changed. כיון שנתנבא משה רבינו, when משה רבינו prophesied, ובחר השם בישראל, השם chose the יידן לנחלה as an inheritance. When He chose the Yidden, so something else happened, that it wasn't as a result of what the Yidden did. That came from Hashem. Free choice means it's purely from the chooser, nothing in the one that's chosen that forces you to do it. So here, the Yidden became a nation that could never be changed, because now it's not dependent on their behavior. And that's why he says they became they were chosen by השם לנחלה to be an inheritance. What's the concept of an inheritance? Inheritance can never be changed. When you inherit something, in theory, it goes from father to son, from father to son, from father to son, it goes on and on and on and it doesn't change. Now, certain things you could sell, so if you give it up, is one thing. But take in halacha, where you have land in Eretz Yisrael, not now, but the way it was and the way it will be again when Mashiach will come, if you sell your property, it goes back in yovel. There's no such thing as selling forever. A real inheritance cannot change. And that's what the Rambam says here, that when Yetzias Mitzrayim and basically it happened mostly by Matan Torah, it just started by Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Yidden were chosen by Hashem. Now, we said that what is so special that we were chosen by Hashem, that now it's not because of our behavior, but it comes from Hashem? So one thing is that this will last forever, can never be changed, fine. Besides that, there's another it gets a little bit philosophical. When you pick something because you like it better, the thing is has more in it of what you want, which means that the reason you're picking it is because it is pushing you to pick it, then it doesn't come from you completely. That means that not the whole עצם of the person is involved. It's not the essence of the person, it's not essential, because partially it comes because of an outside force, because of something outside of you, because of the object itself that you're choosing that's making you choose it. But if you choose it on your own, just because you chose it without anything else, then that is 100% you. It has 100% the chooser in it. So before that, when we were a nation of Hashem because of what we did, so as much as Hashem loved us, but it wasn't purely the עצם of Hashem, because partially it was us. By מתן תורה, when Hashem chose us, that means that it's purely from His side, so this is a 100% from Hashem. So that is a big difference. It's Hashem's involvement 100%. Just like I said בגשמיות, if you choose something that has no reason, then that choice is 100% you. There's nothing outside that's there. But if you choose it because the object has something, then there is something from the thing, so it's not 100% you. And that's what took place on מתן תורה. The Yidden's connection to Hashem now is to the עצם of Hashem. It's 100% from Hashem. Now, we know there's a pasuk that says, כמים הפנים לפנים, כן לב האדם לאדם. As a face reflects in the water, so does the heart of a person reflect to the other. And just like it's by two human beings, the same thing it is with Hashem and the Yidden. Hashem is sometimes referred to as אדם. The pasuk says Hashem is called אדם שעל הכסא. It says in Tanach that there was this chair, the כסא הכבוד, and there is an אדם, a person, sitting on it. Now, it doesn't mean a person, but that's the term we use for Hashem. It's called אדם העליון. So this verse, pasuk which it says that the heart of אדם to another means the heart of Hashem to us brings about that we have the same heart to Him. So just like by מתן תורה, what happened? That it was Hashem completely that chose us from His side completely and He was 100% involved, this brought about that we to Him are the same. Till מתן תורה, we also served Hashem. Obviously, we loved Hashem, we served Hashem, but it's all a lot because we felt that it's important to serve Hashem. There's something in the avodah, in Hashem so to speak, that makes us want to serve Him, because He's the God of our fathers, etc. etc., He did all kinds of things to us. So if you look at it that way, what happens? It's not that we 100% are involved in our closeness to Hashem. We, together with what we see on the other side, on Hashem's side. By מתן תורה, what Hashem made was cause that we chose Hashem. Just like He chose us, we chose Him. And choosing Him means that we on our own, a hundred percent, want Hashem. That means we got this power of serving Hashem just because it is right to serve Hashem, not because of He is so great and He will do to us and He will do that and He will do this, but that we, on our own side, a hundred percent, chose Hashem because this is what we want. We want Hashem, and that's it. Which, obviously, because He's Hashem, but it's something that comes purely from our side. And it's not because of other things that's there that it's good to serve Hashem, because Hashem will be good to us. It's from ourselves, a hundred percent. This, by the way, explains a pasuk. Chassidut brings this pasuk many times and asks a very strong question. The pasuk says, Hashem says, \"I give you good and, the choice of good and bad, life and death. Good is life. Good brings, if you behave properly it'll bring you life, if not, it says, God forbid, you'll have death.\" Why does the pasuk have to say, \"Choose life\"? Who won't choose life? The peshat is like this. First, Hashem tells us, you know, if you behave good, tov, you have life. If you don't, you have, chas veshalom, מוות. Then He says, \"But I don't want you to do good because it'll bring you life. I want you to choose life.\" And we said before, choice means not because the other side, that there is something there that will make it better for you, then that is forcing you. That's why Hashem uses the word ובחרת. It doesn't say ותעשה or תתנהג, behave according to the life. Choose life. That's a much deeper level. That the other thing also has to be, but Hashem wants us to go further. And that was given by Matan Torah. When Hashem chose us, He wants us to choose Him. And that's what, what took place by Matan Torah, and this is what, from Hashem's side, and also from our sides. This explains another thing. When it comes to Matan Torah, the main thing of Matan Torah was the עשרת הדברות. Hashem gave us the Ten Commandments. And it says that when Hashem spoke the Ten Commandments, after every commandment, פרחה נשמתן, the Yidden's neshamot flew out. They pashut died from great giluy, from great excitement and from great revelation that they had. Now, if we look at the עשרת הדברות, look at the first: אנכי השם אלקיך. We could imagine when Hashem said, \"I am your God,\" and they saw it, and they heard it, and they felt it, you could bet that their neshamot would leave. The second one, לא יהיה לך אלקים אחרים, will not have other gods, great inyanim, deep inyanim. But when Hashem said the last five: Do not murder, do not steal, why would the neshamot fly out from hearing such things? What's so special about it that פרחה נשמתן, the neshamot fell out? The answer is, the difference between the first and the second are only when you look at those each thing in its own. So you say, well, this is something so deep, this is not so deep. So this should bring a greater excitement in you, this should bring a less excitement in you. But if you look for bechirah, when you choose, you look at it not from the point of view of the thing. You look at the point of view of I want to serve Hashem. And therefore, what difference does it make whether it's this or that? The difference is only from the things. If you're looking at it from that, like you say you have an apple and an orange, well you say, well, I like this, I'll get excited, and I don't like this, I won't get excited. But if I'm getting excited on my own, because I know that I have to serve Hashem, and that's all, no matter what, not because of what the thing is, what I'm going to do is, if it, I have to do what I'm supposed to, but not because of that, in that case, what difference does it make whether it's אנכי השם אלקיך or לא תרצח? They're the same, because we're not looking at it from that point of view. And that's what took place at מתן תורה, that the Yidden felt that they chose Hashem. Hashem chose the Yidden, and the Yidden chose Hashem. Now, being that it's this way, we understand another thing. We see a difference between Shavuos and the other ימים טובים, like this: Every Yom Tov has a special mitzvah. When we see the other Yom Tovim, Pesach, Sukkos, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, every Yom Tov has a special mitzvah. Pesach, you have to eat matzah, Sukkos, you have to eat in the sukkah and you have to the ד' מינים, ראש השנה, you blow shofar. Shavuos has no mitzvah. Only thing we know is eating blintzes, but otherwise, there's no, no mitzvah in Shavuos. Which is the reason the Bardichever, R'' Levi Yitzchak Bardichever says, why in the Gemara, the Yom Tov Shavuos is not called Shavuos? I mean, sometimes, but many times it's called Atzeres. Atzeres is Shavuos. Why is it Atzeres? The word Atzeres just means to hold back. All you do on Shavuos is you hold yourself back from working, which is not something special on Shavuos, you don't work on any Yom Tov. So since there is, see Pesach we call it Pesach or חג המצות because there's a special mitzvah, Sukkos is the mitzvah Sukkah, Shavuos there's no special mitzvah. The only thing is it's a Yom Tov, you can't work, so we call it Atzeres. But why is it that there is no special mitzvah on Shavuos? All other yamim tovim have a special mitzvah, Shavuos doesn't. The pshat is like this, there על פי חסידות, the reason every Yom Tov has a mitzvah because the connection that we get to Hashem that's in connection to that Yom Tov has to do with a specific level, a specific inyan that we through this we get some connection. So every Yom Tov has a different way of connecting to Hashem, a different גילוי אור in the world, a different light that comes into the world in a different form, a different shape, and every Yom Tov, according to that, we have that special mitzvah. And Kabbalah always explains the special גילוי אור, the special light that comes on Pesach, how it's connected to matzah, how this connect to shofar, how this, everyone is different. Shavuos, being that Shavuos we said is the time when Hashem chose us and we chose Hashem, there can't be anything specific, because the moment you're saying something is specific, that means that you're looking at what this is. It's like we're saying we look at the apple or the orange. There are no apples and oranges, it's just from us. So it's very general, there is nothing specific here, it is just the fact that it is a Yom Tov. That's all it is. There are no details that are specific gonna limit to a specific thing, because we don't look at the limitations of what happens, but the general connection that we have to Hashem. That's what Shavuos is, and that's why Shavuos doesn't have any any any special mitzvah.

Now this explains על פי חסידות why Shavuos is special, different, that the korbanot of the Yom Tov are brought in the weekdays. On every other Yom Tov, the korbanot which have a connection to what takes place spiritually on that Yom Tov are connected to a specific thing, a specific level. So it has to be a specific day, it has to be a special day. Only on special days, Yom Tov days, can you connect yourself to Hashem in different ways. So the korbanot which bring out this idea of what Yom Tov is have to be a Yom Tov. Because if it's not Yom Tov, there is something missing there. We're missing the specialty of the day, and therefore how can we connect? Shavuos, being that this is the day of bechira, the day Hashem chose us and we chose him, which means that this is a day that we can are connected not because of any specific detailed thing, no matter better or worse, we're all the same. So then makes no difference whether it's Yom Tov or the weekdays. So s'farkert, especially Hashem made us bring the korbanot in the weekdays to bring out this point, to show us that you should know that what Yom Tov Shavuos stands for is not limited to Yom Tov, because it's something that's beyond it, something that comes from the essence of a Yid, and your connection is essentially not limited to a Yom Tov or a weekday or anything else. And as a matter of fact, most of the days are weekdays to show that could be a Sunday, a Monday, and generally anyway when you have seven days, you have all days of the week. So whether Sunday, or Monday, or Shabbos, or whatever it is, all the same. Yom Tov, weekdays, it's all the same, because it's not a connection that we get that is limited to something specific that has to be in a specific way holy. Now we go a step further here. In the simple peshat, we said why are the days of תשלומין in the weekdays? Because Shavuos is one day, and if we need more days, automatically has to be the weekdays. See, Pesach is Yom Tov, so we have the seven days in Yom Tov. Shavuos, because it's one day, so automatically we have to have in the weekdays. But we say there has to be a deeper peshat, so we said the deeper peshat. But even the deeper peshat is also connected to the fact that Shavuos is one day. See, in the simple peshat, the reason it's in the weekdays because Shavuos is only one day. In the deeper peshat also. What is the deeper reason why taka Shavuos is one day? Why is it that Pesach is seven days, Sukkos is eight days, and Shavuos, which is the third of the shalosh regalim, is only one day? What is the reason? Is מתן, no, two days is now mi'derabbanan, but originally it's, now Pesach is eight days, and Sukkos is nine days, Shavuos is two days, but the reason it's one day, why one day? Is the celebration of Matan Torah less important than Yetziat Mitzrayim? Matan Torah was the most important event that took place ever and will ever took place take place in the history of the world. So for that, one day, and for Yetziat Mitzrayim, seven days. For Sukkos, what happened Sukkos? We celebrate the fact that we were in Sukkos when we were in the midbar, Hashem protected us from the sun. For that we need eight days, and for Matan Torah is one day? Why only so little? The answer is not because it's less, because it's more. When you have seven days, it says why is there seven days Yom Tov? Because if there are seven middot, seven emotions, seven attributes, so therefore we have every day we have to connect ourselves to Hashem through its different way. So we have seven days, sometimes we have eight, different forms and shapes. Matan Torah has nothing to do with forms or shapes, it's nothing to do with specific things. It's the general bechirah. And because it's that, it's one day. In theory, it should have been one second. In other words, in theory, it's a nekudah, it's a point where it does not limit to different things, and therefore it can't be a second, so it's at least one day. In other places, it says the same explanation on Yom Kippur, because it does explain the same thing. And the way Chassidus says it is that there are seven middot. Pesach we connect ourselves to Hashem through our seven middot. Shavuos the connection is, it says, through the יחידה שבנפש, through the essence of the neshamah which is called יחידה שבנפש. And that's why it's one day. So here we see that the fact that Shavuos is one day is because of this idea of bechirah, because we essentially are connected to Hashem because we chose Hashem. The reason the korbanot are in the weekdays is for the same reason it's not limited to a Yom Tov. It could be in the weekdays. So we see that the connect, the connection between the two things, the fact that it's in the weekdays and the fact that Shavuos is one day, go together. Just like in the simple peshat, the reason why it's in the weekdays is because of one day, but this is a much deeper meaning. So basically what we're saying is here that Shavuos, you celebrate the holiday of Shavuos and it's that day of Shavuos, now it's two days, but we continued the korbanot into the days after Shavuos, and that brings out the days after Shavuos, up to the 12th day of Sivan, brings out what really Shavuos is. In other words, the weekdays bring out what really Shavuos is. And if so, even though it goes only to the 12th day because it can't go on all year, in theory, it's a nekudah that's not limited to any day, and therefore it's supposed to go on to every day. And the truth is, we takeh see that this is something that goes on throughout the whole year. The truth is Pesach goes on throughout the whole year, we have to keep in mind Yetziat Mitzrayim always. That's why the Alter Rebbe didn't put in חסל סידור פסח in the Haggadah. When you finish the seder, everyone finishes off with the words חסל סידור פסח, etc., which means the seder is finished. The Alter Rebbe didn't put it in because he said the seder is not finished, Pesach continues for the whole year. And the truth is we have to every day, one of the things we have to remember is Yetziat Mitzrayim. But Matan Torah is even more. We say in the berachot every day, ברוך אתה השם, נותן התורה. We don't say נתן התורה. נתן התורה would mean He gave the Torah. נותן התורה means He gives the Torah, because Matan Torah is constantly happening. So this idea of what took place at Matan Torah, our choice, Hashem choosing us and our choice choosing Hashem, is something that goes on for the whole year, that means we have to keep in mind what Shavuos is for the whole year. But where do we see the fact that Shavuos continues? Not in Shavuos itself, but in the days after Shavuos, in the ימי תשלומין of Shavuos, which we are now, up to the 12th day. Any questions? Yes. עולה, עולת ראיה only, yeah. Huh? They also brought it the day after Yom Tov, Chol Hamoed. They always, they never brought it on Yom Tov. The first day of Yom Tov you couldn't bring it, they claim. Shabbos certainly not. שבת אוודאי, שבת everyone agrees, even Beis Hillel. But Yom Tov you could bring, you could cook on Yom Tov, so why can't you bring the korban? But since there is no food involved, you can't bring it. And this happens to be interesting. Usually when there's a machloket between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel, halacha is like Beis Hillel. And in this case also halacha is like Beis Hillel. But the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch says something that he has his sources, the Rebbe explains where his source is, no one else says this, no one, that in this thing, Beis Hillel followed Beis Shammai and הרבה מישראל, it says many Yidden did like that, did like Beis Shammai, even though the halacha was not like that. And that's the reason it's called יום טבוח. The day after was such a busy day, a day of shechita. But the, but the point here is that on the day, the first day, we can't even bring it. How is it possible? So obviously every day is is one of the special days, one of the days that you can bring it. Yes. So we could. Hashem loves us even though He knows we're good and He still chooses us. We are able to have both levels. We're able to love Hashem because of all the good things He does, and we have this koach to love Hashem just because we have to love Hashem. We have it within us. Basically, it's the neshama. When we say Hashem chose it, what does that mean? He put a neshamah into us, and a Yid's neshamah is connected to Hashem whether He helps us or not. He does help us, and whether we know that we gain by it or not, we serve Hashem just like that. It just reminds, this is not connected, it just reminds you of a mashal, the famous story that there were chasidim of different Rebbes sitting around and everyone was telling miracles of his Rebbe. One guy says, He was sick, he became healthy. The Rebbe gave him a brachah, he made a lot of money. Finally, it came, one of the chasidim was a Lubavitcher chasid. It was a chasid of the Rebbe Rashab, his name was R'' Shmuel Grari. He was a very rich man. So when came his turn, he said, \"I'll tell you my mofet. I once asked the Rebbe about investing in the business, had to invest a lot of money, and if I would make it, if I would be good, if I would be successful, make a lot of money, if not, I'd lose all my money. And I asked the Rebbe if I should do it, and the Rebbe said I should. And I did. I invested it and I lost all my money. Didn't work and I lost.\" So they looked, says, \"So what's the miracle?\" \"The miracle is I'm still a chasid.\" In other words, my chasidus is not dependent because he's going to help me or not, I'm still a... \"Ah, you know that the Rebbe's brachos ois, but I'm still a chasid.\" In other words, there is a connection that we have, in this case of Rebbe chasid, but the same thing, this is just a mashal to the way is an Yid and the Eibershter. Yes? Well, the seven days, they're related, but see, but we don't want to do that. The moment you explain in connection with the Sefiros, we lose the point. No, no, but because we're trying to show that this is not in connect- not connected to the Sefiros or to different specific things. It's the weekday, because it's not Sefiros, because it's nothing, and still we have the korbanot, because as far as we're concerned, that has nothing to do with what it accomplishes. Because we're connected to Hashem whichever no matter what. It's through the neshamah, and I didn't want to go into that because choice is with the guf really, the Alter Rebbe says, that they're both equal, but usually we learn that the choice is the pshat in neshamah. We are מושרש in עצמות, we are בעצם connected to Hashem, that's such a neshamah. Neshamah means that we are בעצם connected. Well, that's the that's the true meaning of choice. The true meaning of choice is that He has no choice. That's what choice means, that it's not It's because בעצם He is involved. See, we once had a discussion on this, I had a shiur on this on the concept of free choice. The real All we're trying to bring out when we use the term free choice, that it's not limited to the one you're choosing. That's what we're trying to bring out. So by a human being, when you have two the same, why do you choose one over the other? Let's say you choose, you have two apples, they look alike, they taste alike, everything, why did you choose one? Nothing because of the apples, so why do you do it? Because I, m'hot gechapt a meshugas, I took this one, I just closed my eyes, I picked one, no reason. By Hashem, you can't say that. So by Hashem what it means is is that it comes from His atzmut. So it's not because of the sechel and the midot and the things that happen, and not because of any limitations, but because of the atzmut. That's what real choice means. But this needs an explanation which I once explained it. But what it means is that it comes purely from the chooser, not from the one that is chosen.