So we will discuss the significance of having an aliyah. Now, even though this might be a topic mainly for men and the women are maybe not so interested in it because they don't get aliyot, but nevertheless it's something that they should also know. What? Yeah, they get a chelek if they get their husband to get an aliyah, לכבוד תורה, yeah. So it's important to know what the aliyah is and what it's all about. Now, just to start off with the literal part of what an aliyah is, it means that you call up a person when the Torah is read. And the word aliyah actually means to go up, and the reason is because in the time, the Gemara, those times, the the bimah on which they read the Torah was on a platform, like many many shuls nowadays also. So you're really called up, you're called to come up to get the aliyah. That's why it's called an aliyah laTorah, you go up. Which is similar to why in Shulchan Aruch and in Gemara, when a person davens for the amud, when the chazan davens for the amud, they call him יורד לפני התיבה, goes down to daven for the amud. Why does he... what do we call him go down? Because in the shuls in those years, the amud where the chazan would daven was a little bit lower, a few steps lower, and he would have to go down in order to daven. So they said you're yored, you go down to the amud. And here you're עולה לתורה, you go up to the Torah. Originally, when קריאת התורה started, and for many many years after that, the person that was called up, he was the one that would read. And really he was called up to read the Torah. It was only because, as time passed and not everybody was able to read, and many people were embarrassed when they would be called up and not be able to read, so the minhag became that you always hire or get somebody that he reads for everybody. But really he is the shaliach for the person who gets the aliyah. The person who gets the aliyah is really the one that's supposed to read, and he reads for him. And therefore, if you're only able to, you have to read along with him. You read it quietly in order not to disturb, but you should read along with the baal keriah because really you're the one who's supposed to read. Even nowadays in some some Sefardishe communities they still have this custom, that the one that gets the aliyah, he's the one that reads from the Torah. And that's why by the many Sefardishe communities, the first thing they would teach the children was the whole Torah. They would teach them the whole Torah with the trop, with the tune, so whenever they would be called up, they should be able to read it. Nowadays we don't, because of people that don't know, so they get one baal keriah, which is similar to what we find in the Gemara concerning ביכורים. When they would bring the ביכורים in the בית המקדש, the first fruit, the basket of fruit, it says in the Chumash that they had to read a certain parasha, it was called מקרא ביכורים. And the Gemara says that those people that knew how to read, read it themselves. Those people that didn't know, they were dictated, someone else would read, and they would just follow along. But what happened was, many people stopped coming, they were embarrassed. Everyone would see right away who could read and who can't read. So they made a new תקנה, that anybody who brought ביכורים would have to say along with the one that was officially appointed to read, so no one knew the difference. It was שלא לבייש, in order not to embarrass. We find that concept in many different cases. It's another example, I'm not going to get into that subject, another example: under the chatanah you have a Rav who is מסדר קידושין, a Rav who is the one that says the bracha which we call סדר קידושין. Really, this bracha is supposed to be said by the chatan. You need the Rav just to make sure that things are done properly, according to halacha, but the actual bracha really is the bracha of the chatan. But why is it that they get the Rav to say it, the same Rav who is in charge of making sure everything is according to halacha, they get him to say the bracha? Because there was some that didn't know how to say the bracha. So the chatan, the chatan would be embarrassed. So they made a תקנה that the chatan should never say, even if the chatan wants to say, we don't allow, even though it's his bracha, not to make a difference. And the same here, they made that the person, even though the person who gets up, who gets the aliyah was supposed to be the one to read, it's not that way, but someone else reads. This is reading by Keriat haTorah, when they have the Keriat haTorah. Keriat haTorah was established by the חכמים. It's not from the Torah, it's not מדאורייתא, it was established by the רבנן, by the חכמים. But amongst the חכמים, amongst the מצוות which are מדרבנן, from the חכמים, there are different מצוות which which were established in different periods in history. What period in history was it established by the חכמים to have קריאת התורה? Very, very early, as early as it could get. Because the חכם that established the mitzvah of קריאת התורה was none other than Moshe Rabbeinu. So, it was right after מתן תורה, and Hashem said that besides the mitzvot that I give you, the חכמים should establish different things that they feel, for different reasons, it's proper to do. So Moshe Rabbeinu established right away that the Jews should read the Torah. They should read it on Shabbos and on Monday and on Thursday and on Yom Tov. Years later, the time of the building of the second בית המקדש, which was done by Ezra HaSofer, he added that the Torah should also be read שבת צו מנחה. He also added that you should have at least three people getting an aliyah, because before that you could have one person read the whole קריאה. But he established you should have at least, people never should be less than three, and you should never have less than 10 pesukim read. Before that, you could read a little bit, just you were yotzei the mitzvah of קריאת התורה that Moshe Rabbeinu established. But from that time, you had to read 10 pesukim. But it was established in such a way that only on Monday and Thursday and שבת צו מנחה we read a little bit. On Shabbos, we read the whole parashah, because the parashah, the Torah was divided in such a way that throughout the year you finish the whole Torah. Start from Bereishit and you finish Simchat Torah, and every Shabbos we read the whole parashah. At שבת צו מנחה, you read the parashah of the next week, a little bit, and Shabbos and Monday and Thursday at least 10 pesukim. Now if you always notice, you have to have at least 10 pesukim, and you have to have at least three people. And we all know that before you get an aliyah and after you get an aliyah, you make a berachah. You make the berachah which starts אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים. ברוך אתה ה' etc. אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים, that chose us from all the nations, ונתן לנו את... את תורתו, that You gave us His תורה, ברוך אתה ה' נותן התורה. And afterwards, you make another berachah. Even though every morning part of our berachot we say birkat haTorah, every morning we say the same ברכה, אשר בחר בנו, and that's because we learn throughout the day. So we make a berachah once and then we learn, and then throughout the day the berachah that we made in the morning goes for everything that we learn. And if we learn later on, hours later, we don't have to make a berachah again. Nevertheless, by קריאת התורה, when you get an aliyah and you're called up basically to read a certain portion of the Torah, you make a berachah again, plus you also make the berachah after you finish. Why? Because even though this is included in the general concept of learning Torah, which you do the berachah in the morning, but nevertheless this is special, and because it's a special concept of learning Torah and doing the special mitzvah of קריאת התורה, as I will explain soon, you have a special berachah made for it. And the berachah is made by every person who gets the aliyah. And who can get an aliyah? Any Jew can get an aliyah. There are just There's just an order that a kohen has to get, gets the first aliyah, the levi gets the second aliyah, and then any Jew can get an aliyah. And even if it's a person that doesn't understand what he's reading, he doesn't understand what it says, you could even have a person that can't read Hebrew, certainly can't read without the vowels, without נקודות, and he gets an aliyah too, and he makes a berachah. Now, we know by Torah, if you don't understand what you're learning, then you really do not fulfill the mitzvah of learning Torah. And here we give an aliyah to a person who doesn't understand what he's saying. But the truth is, it's not so simple what I just said. When I said that not, that you don't understand what you're learning, you don't do the mitzvah, that's only by תורה שבעל פה, of the oral Torah. But in the written Torah, even if you don't understand what you're learning, you still fulfill the mitzvah. And therefore, the person who gets the aliyah, even if he doesn't understand, but as long as he's the one that's reading it, or there is a shaliach appointed by him, because the person is his shaliach and reads it for him, you get the mitzvah of limud, of learning Torah and doing the mitzvah of קריאת התורה, and therefore you're able to make a berachah.

Getting an aliyah is a very special thing, as I will explain a little later on, especially על פי חסידות. And therefore, it is always a good idea to get an aliyah. Besides everything else that I'm going to explain later, it says that getting an aliyah is one of the forms of a kaparah for certain aveirot. For certain aveirot, one of the things that a person should do that Hashem should forgive him the aveirah is getting an aliyah. And therefore, it says that it's important for a person to get an aliyah at least once a month. And when we talk about getting an aliyah, it makes no difference whether it's Shabbos, or or Monday, or or Thursday, or Rosh Chodesh, but he should try to get an aliyah once a month. And it says specifically for this inyan of because it is a kaparah for certain, and it mentions specific aveirot for which it's a תקנה, for which it's a תיקון, and therefore he should try to get an aliyah at least once a month. But then there are times when a person is obligated to get an aliyah according to the din, or according to minhagim, and that is basically a chatan before his chatunah, on the day of a Yahrzeit, if it's Shabbos, and if not, it should be the Shabbos before; a בר מצוה בחור, after the... the Shabbos after his בר מצוה, he has an obligation to get an aliyah; and then there are certain other times, like a בעל ברית, a person before his child gets a brit, the Shabbos before he should get an aliyah; then the Rebbe added that before your birthday, you should get an aliyah. And the reason for all this is, number one, because whenever we celebrate a special day, or not even a celebration, but an observance of a special day—like a Yahrzeit, it's not a celebration, but it's an observance of a special day—we always try to connect it with Torah. Since Torah is our life, and Torah is the most important thing that we have, so the observation of that day, to make that day special, so not only by eating some special food and making a party or whatever other things we're doing, we should connect it to Torah, and that's why getting an aliyah in connection to that special day is important. Besides that, since all these special days are days that we accomplish different things, or days that we want to accomplish different things, the best way to get a special koach, a special power that we get from Hashem, which we're asking for when it comes to special times, the best way to get it is through an aliyah in Torah. It says that everything that we have, its source is in Torah, so if you want to draw a special power, you have to draw it through Torah. And especially by a chatan, and a chatan when he gets married, this is going to be for life, and he really wants to have a special koach given to him by Hashem for life. Imagine, when you're starting your life, and you need special koach, you know you don't know what's going to happen throughout your lifetime, and you need a special koach. So when you get the aliyah the Shabbos before your chasunah, those words of Torah that you get, that aliyah is the koach, it says, that gives the person, it gives the chatan, that he will carry through the chuppah and then later on throughout his whole life, because there is something special in getting an aliyah, and therefore you could draw the power from that for all your life. And the same thing when it comes to a yahrzeit, because this is a time when you do things for the neshamah of the departed, and the neshamah should have an aliyah, should be elevated. And not only the neshamah of the person should be elevated, but your own neshamah, your own connection should also benefit. So the best place and way to get a certain power from Hashem, that you help the neshamah, help yourself, is through an aliyah, through getting an aliyah, which is the reading of the Torah, that you're called up at this point to read from the Torah. And the same is for a bar mitzvah, for his life. And the same is for a birthday, where the Rebbe established that to get it before... Shabbos before your birthday, is for the same reason. And maybe even more, because the birthday, the reason we celebrate the birthday is because that's the day you were given your mission in this world. That's the day your neshamah came down to this world, that's the day you were given your mission. And every year, when the day comes around again, it's like the end of the period, and it starts over again. So you're starting your mission over again. So when you start your mission, you need an extra koach. Just like it says that on the day of your birthday, your mazal is stronger, taken from the Yerushalmi, that a person's mazal is stronger on the day of his birthday. Why? Because the day you're born, that's your mazal. Every year, the day that you're born comes again, so your mazal starts shining again, and therefore it's a special day, and that's the day you start renewing your commitment to your mission. In order to have the koach to be able to fulfill what you're supposed to, the way to do it is through having an aliyah, through קריאת התורה. So that's the specialty of an aliyah. That's why we have aliyah... an aliyah in these special times.

But what is an aliyah? What happens at the time you get an aliyah? So we just said before that is you're called up to read the Torah, and Torah is something very special, but concerning having an aliyah, it says some expressions that it doesn't say concerning other things. There is a sichah from the Frierdiker Rebbe, actually in תש\"ב, where the Frierdiker Rebbe says in the name of his father, the Rabbi Rashab, that when a person gets an aliyah to the Torah, every part of his נשמה is elevated, and he explains it. We all know that every person has five levels in the נשמה: נפש, רוח, נשמה, חיה, יחידה. When a person gets an aliyah down here, he says, in this world, which is an olam hazeh, in this world, really it's not only he that is elevated, but his נפש... that's in the world of עשיה הרוחנית is elevated. Because let me explain, when we have these five levels of the נשמה, this is already getting into chassidus, it says that these five levels of the נשמה, each one has a connection to a different world. The level of נפש is connected to the world called עשיה. The level of רוח is connected to the world called יצירה. נשמה to the world called בריאה. חיה is to the world called אצילות. And יחידה is to the עולמות האין סוף, which is infinite worlds that are even higher than אצילות. So he says when you get an aliyah in this world, you're standing by the Sefer Torah and you get an aliyah, you're elevated not only from the level that you're in now, but your נפש that's in the spiritual world of עשיה הרוחנית, and your רוח that's in the spiritual world of יצירה, and your נשמה, which in the spiritual world of בריאה, and your חיה, which is the spiritual world of אצילות, and your יחידה, which is in the spiritual worlds which are higher than אצילות, which is the highest, they each one gets an aliyah and each one is elevated. Because as I said before, the word aliyah, even though simply it means just to go up, to walk up to the stage, but it means biruchniyus that there is an aliyah, there is an elevation, and a person gets aliyah laTorah, he gets up. Just like the example I gave from the amud, that the chazzan goes to the amud, it's called יורד, because physically it was lower, but it speaks chassidus and in halacha that because spiritually, it says in a פסוק, ממעמקים קראתיך ה׳, you should call out to ה׳ from your depth, and depths are low, and a chazzan when he goes to the amud, he's supposed to feel that he's davening from the depths of his heart. That's why spiritually we call it יורד, you go down, you go into your depth. Because that's the spiritual meaning of going to the amud, so physically also was going down. And the same thing with an aliyah. Because an aliyah is a spiritual elevation, that's why physically it was also the place where you go up. Now the fact that you don't have a bimah like in this shul doesn't mean that you don't go up. It just that usually you would go up, but spiritually you go up. And who goes up? That's what the Frierdiker Rebbe says there. Who goes up? Every level of the neshamah, that's how he describes it. Every level of the neshamah gets an aliyah, goes up, because even though you're doing it down here, it affects every level. And in another place, the Frierdiker Rebbe even describes it even more. He uses the terminology of the Chumash in Parashat Noach where it speaks about the תיבה, and it says in the תיבה you had תחתיים, שניים, and שלישיים. תחתיים is the bottom floor, שניים are second, שלישיים are third. So he said in every person's neshamah you have תחתיים, שניים, שלישיים, רביעיים, and חמישיים. That's what he says. You have the bottom, second, the third floor, the fourth, and the fifth. And he says when a person gets an aliyah down here in this world, so he brings an elevation to his nefesh which is in the תחתיים, which is in עולם העשיה, and that nefesh, that part of his neshamah gets an aliyah. And then the second, the שניים gets an aliyah, that's the רוח, and then the neshamah, and then the חיה, and then יחידה. And he explains it even more. He says it's possible that a person who gets an aliyah doesn't have any idea what's going on in the higher worlds and he doesn't know that his neshamah is elevated and gets an aliyah. It happens anyway. When you say, he says like this, when you get up to the aliyah, and you say ברכו את ה׳ המבורך, ברוך ה׳ המבורך לעולם ועד, that's how you start off getting an aliyah, he says, דאס זאגט זיך. You think you're saying it with your mouth, that's it? No, דאס זאגט זיך אין די נשמה. It's being said by your neshamah. And by which part of your neshamah? By every part of your נשמה, זאגט זיך ארויס is being said ברכו את ה׳ המבורך. And he gives an example. He says just like when you have musical instruments, that's the example he uses. If you have musical instruments, so a person who's a מומחה, an expert, will be able to describe every time you move one of the lines there, what happens and how things and how the musical tune, tone comes out, the note comes out. And a person who doesn't know all these different things, it happens anyway, whether he knows how to explain it or not. And the same with us, whether we know how to explain it or not, whether a person who gets the aliyah knows or not, this is something that elevates him and his higher level of neshamah, and higher and higher to the higher worlds. Throughout all the worlds he gets elevated. And just to explain it a little more, even though in the sichah the Rebbe doesn't explain it, but just to explain it a little more, try to explain a little bit what is this inyan that through this getting an aliyah you're, you're elevated in all the levels.

Basically, getting an aliyah, be'emes, is the ultimate level of learning Torah, of being connected to the Torah. We know that the first thing and the most important thing is Torah. Torah created the world. Hashem looked into the Torah, created the world. Torah is the baal habayit, Torah is the main thing. And therefore, every time you learn, you accomplish great things. Every time you learn any shiur, any time you learn Torah, you accomplish all kinds of things, and you connect yourself to higher worlds, always. But we have to think, that's when you learn yourself. Imagine when you learn in public, then it's so much more. Now, getting an aliyah by Kriat HaTorah, that's not just learning in public, that's the ultimate level of Kriat HaTorah because that's set aside by Moshe Rabbeinu to be the epitome of the concept of Torah is by Kriat HaTorah when you when they you layn the Torah. And when you layn the Torah, in truth, what happens really is, it's basically Hashem saying those words of Torah. The Torah is written, and the words are talking from the Torah by themselves. We know that words, the written word always talks. I don't know how it's in the secular world, but according to the Ragatshover, it always talks. It's there, it always says. And the one that's reading the Torah, which really is the one that got the aliyah, but the other person is reading it for him, is really just reading the words out of the Torah. So, it's the Torah talking. So, it's really basically Hashem talking those words. That's really what קריאת התורה is, Hashem is talking those words. So, as important as it is to learn Torah, and the great accomplishments we gain by learning Torah, by getting an aliyah and reading from the Torah itself, this is mamash like Hashem is reading it. In truth, it says every time a person learns Torah, Hashem learns with him, and Hashem is saying the words. The Midrash says, כל הקורא ושונה בתורה, הקדוש ברוך הוא קורא ושונה כנגדו. Anybody who learns Torah, and it says קורא means reads, מקרא, חומש is called קורא, שונה is learning Mishnah, whenever you learn מקרא, חומש, or Mishnah, Hashem is learning with you. And by the way, no one could say, \"I can't learn today, I don't have a chavruta, I don't have a partner.\" Hashem is your partner, He's always with you, He's always reading the words with you. But as much as we say that by a regular shiur or by regular learning, by קריאת התורה, that's special. As we see, the same person that made a ברכת התורה in the morning, אשר בחר בנו, and all day long he doesn't make another beracha, and he can learn hours. When it comes to קריאת התורה, he makes another beracha because that's, within the learning itself, the most the ultimate level of being mekayem the mitzvah of learning Torah is when you get an aliyah and you're reading. So, when we say by every time you learn that Hashem is learning really, it's really Hashem learning with you, by קריאת התורה it's really Hashem speaking. And that's why by קריאת התורה we say, ברוך אתה השם, נותן התורה, which means we thank Hashem not that gave us the Torah, who's giving us the Torah. When is He giving us the Torah? Right now! Every time we learn, it's Hashem giving the Torah. But here we make a special bracha, and you have different people going up, everyone makes the bracha again and the same bracha. Why? Because every time you go up, it's Hashem giving the Torah. Which is, to a certain degree, similar to the mitzvah of הקהל. By the mitzvah of הקהל, it was a mitzvah that after Sukkot this after Shemitah on Sukkot they would go to the בית המקדש, and it says the king was supposed to read certain portions of the Torah. And the Rambam describes what it looked like, and the Rambam says that everyone had to concentrate and listen, and he says, you know why? Because when the king read it, you had to feel, because this was true, כאילו שומע מפי הגבורה, as if you're hearing actually Hashem saying those words. That's how you have to feel. Now, that was in a very big scale. The same is every time you get an aliyah. To prove to just bring out that it's certain we see it, it says when it came Shavuot, it says in a Midrash that on Shavuot when you have קריאת התורה and they read the עשרת הדברות, Shavuot you read the Ten Commandments, you have to know that this is like Hashem is repeating the Ten Commandments. But it's not only concerning Shavuot. Shavuot is just because it's the Ten Commandments, and that's on the day that it was given. But this is Why is on Shavuot as if Hashem says it? Because every time there's קריאת התורה, it's as if Hashem says the words. And Shavuot, because it's עשרת הדברות, the day Hashem gave, so we make a big fuss. This was the source that the Rebbe had for asking everybody to come to קריאת התורה, and even little children to come to קריאת התורה, because imagine, you're coming to hear Hashem. But the truth is, it's not only Shavuot that Hashem reads the Torah. Shavuot, you make a bigger fuss because it's עשרת הדברות, but it's every time you read. And who's the one that reads it? Who's the one that represents Hashem? The one that gets the aliyah. Because the other person that's reading it is reading it for him, so he's the one that gets the aliyah, so he is the one that's bringing this out. And then there's another thing we see here. We call it קריאת התורה. קריאת התורה means the reading of the Torah. Now every time we learn Chumash, we learn מקרא, and the word קריאה would fit to Chumash. Nevertheless, we never refer to it, \"Oh, you're going to sit down for קריאת התורה? You want to sit down to learn a פסוק חומש, you're going to have קריאת התורה?\" We don't refer to it. Even though you could theoretically you could, because you are doing קריאת התורה. But we see it's not so. קריאת התורה is referred to that time when you stand, when the minyan is there and we stand and we take out the Sefer Torah and we read it. You know why? Because the word קריאת התורה has another meaning: קריאה means to read, and קריאה means to call. When you call your friend, in Hebrew, the word is you're קורא לחבירו. And the Alter Rebbe in Tanya says that the word קריאה, מקרא or קריאה, he says כאדם הקורא לבנו, someone calls his son. You call, when you call somebody, you're attracting his attention. You're asking him to look at you, you want him to come to you. קריאת התורה is a time when you are calling the Torah. You're not just reading the Torah, you're calling the Torah, which means this is being mamshich, you're bringing down the Torah. And the Torah is one with Hashem, so really you're bringing down Hashem. And that happens by קריאת התורה much more than any other time that you sit down and learn Torah. The truth is every time you learn, you're calling Hashem, because it says the whole Torah is Hashem's name, and every time you say a word of Torah you're using Hashem's name, and when you use a person's name, you call him. But nothing comes to the way it is by the קריאת התורה when you have the aliyah. And because this is the special connection a person has to Torah, therefore it affects all the worlds, because the Torah, it says, is throughout all the worlds. All the spiritual worlds is the same Torah, even though the Torah we have it down here deals with physical matters. Torah says an ox will gore, physical matters. And the Torah, the way it's in the higher worlds, in אצילות, obviously doesn't speak about an ox, but it's the same Torah. It's just a different levush. I don't want to explain it again because we had a shiur on that, to explain that even though it seems like it's a different thing, but it's the same Torah just put in a different garment, like a mashal. When you want to explain something, so the way to explain it is you use a mashal, a parable, tell a story. So the story sounds like a story, that's a certain idea. But the idea is in the story, the story is only the cover, but it's there. And when you have something in a levush, it doesn't take away from what it really is. It's like a person. A person is dressed in a cover, and it's still the same person. And in Tanya it says a mashal, if you want to hug the king, what difference does it make if the king wears one coat or two coats and five coats? You're still not hugging the king, because you hug what's inside the coat, not the coat. The same thing here, the Torah has in it all the levels of Torah the way it's in all the levels. It's only a levush the way it's put into the way we take it. So when we get an aliyah, which is the epitome of learning Torah, the mitzvah, the real, real mitzvah established by Moshe Rabbeinu that we should have at least a few times a week when the highest level of connecting to Torah, to learning Torah is there in public and as a mitzvah. By the way, takeh says why did he make we should read a תורה שבת, Monday, and Thursday? So you shouldn't have three days pass without Torah. Because this is the Torah. So if you have that and you connect yourself to the Torah, automatically it affects all the worlds. Because the Torah, the same Torah we have here is in all the worlds, automatically when you get an aliyah in this world down here and you connect to Torah in its highest level, automatically, since this is connected to all the levels in the higher worlds, it gives you an aliyah to all the higher worlds. And because this is the special concept of Torah that a person can have, and we know everything is by השגחה פרטית, so if you get an aliyah, there is a special connection between the part of the aliyah that you get, part of the parashah that you get as an aliyah, to the person. The Mezeritcher Maggid once told the Alter Rebbe that he only allow him to read the Torah, he gave him a few conditions. One of the conditions is if you are able to see the connection between the pesukim that you're going to read to the person who gets the aliyah. Because there is a connection between the person who gets השגחה פרטית, and since the Torah is the truth and the essence of everything, and it's השגחה פרטית that you got the aliyah and this and this pesukim, and this is the highest form of kedushah of Torah, then obviously there is some connection to this. And it says that that's what it is. There were tzadikim, it says in ספרים, פוילישע צדיקים, they said that they could tell what the person does and the level of the person, the person's behavior by the aliyah he gets at the time of קריאת התורה. They would say, and they said sometimes you could see it clear, sometimes not so clear. But you have to be a מבין, obviously, and we're not. But if a tzaddik would see you get an aliyah, it's through the aliyah. Some tzaddikim could see, just look at you and see, but especially when you get the aliyah, they would say, it says that they would look and say we could tell besides your שורש נשמה, your neshama, what where you're connected to, but they could see with a person's behavior through getting the aliyah. So all this just to bring out that when you get an aliyah by קריאת התורה, you connect yourself to the ultimate level of Torah, and Torah is the source of everything. And therefore, you connect to the highest levels possible. And that's why in all these auspicious times you should get an aliyah, because you draw down special power. Imagine you connect yourself to the Torah in the highest form possible, and not the Torah the way down here, the way we learn it superficially, we don't see the specialty of it, but our neshama connects to the Torah in the highest worlds, higher than אצילות. So we draw from that level the highest powers. And therefore, it's very important that before the guy gets married, and he needs the special koach for his life, he should draw it from the Torah. Before a yahrzeit, you should draw it from the Torah for yourself and for the neshama. A Bar Mitzvah, it's not before the Bar Mitzvah because he's still a קטן, you can't get an aliyah, but the it's it's after. But in any, a birthday, any type of thing. Some people even like, it's no halacha, that before they take a trip someplace they get an aliyah. Before you go on a trip you get an aliyah. When you come back from a trip, you get an aliyah. And it's not only because you want to bentsch gomel and it's better if you do it by an aliyah, but you're not you don't have to, but it's just any auspicious time, any special time to connect yourself to Torah. And Torah is in the the same Torah here in the highest So and we connect in the highest form of connection, so we draw down the greatest powers. And that's why it's known that one of the ways you could be פועל ישועות, פועל ישועות means bring salvation or people who are in trouble to be helped is through an aliyah. First of all, we see that even a מי שברך for a sick person we make by the קריאת התורה, because that's the most special time. But if you're the one that gets the aliyah, so certainly you could, through the Torah, bring down changes in things which you want, because everything in its essence is good, we just don't see it. But the way the Torah sees it, the Torah really sees the good of it. And therefore, when we have an aliyah and we connect to the Torah in a form of an aliyah, what it does is it is able to transform all things which seem to be negative, that they should turn into positive because Torah is always positive, Torah is always good, so it turns into positive.

There are stories of tzadikim in different cases that the way they caused the yeshuah, they brought about the the miracle that they did was through an aliyah. Famous story of the Alter Rebbe with this person who rented a, long story, rented the קרעטשמע, rented a an inn, and there was a machshef, there was a magician that lived not far and anybody who rented the that inn, he was, through his magic would get, make the person die, no one lived through the year. Anyway, and this happened, started happening to this person too. He came to the Alter Rebbe for Shabbos. And anyways, the Alter Rebbe, when it came to, it was פרשת בלק, and it came to קריאת התורה, he asked the gabbai that they should give this man an aliyah. Which the Alter Rebbe never did, he didn't mix into the gabbaim who to give aliyot, but this time he asked. And when they gave him the aliyah, they he read the פסוק, כי לא נחש ביעקב, that there is no magician among the Jews, and he said it with great deveikut. And later on they found out that at that moment the Alter Rebbe said it, that magician wherever that city he was, he stopped, he died, he פגר'ט. And he came back and everything was okay. But it was all done through the aliyah that this person had. So the aliyah, because you connect yourself to Torah in the highest form, that's why you're able to draw great, special kochos from the Torah in its highest levels, and the Torah is only good. So only good could come from the Torah, if it is from the way it's in the Torah. Now we could see from this that the importance of an aliyah, the importance of קריאת התורה, how terrible it is not to listen to קריאת התורה, how terrible it is to talk in middle of קריאת התורה, which unfortunately there are some people who don't realize it, unfortunately, and it's an interesting thing because it's strange, because these are some people who are learned, and some people who know, and nevertheless, it doesn't mean anything to them. So which is besides the idea of כבוד התורה, תורה is being read, should just have respect for the Torah, that's just a very technical thing. But besides that, what happening, what takes place in the higher worlds when the Torah is read, specifically to the person who's getting the aliyah, what takes place, the the neshamah it goes up and higher and all these different things that that happen by the קריאת התורה. There is no need really to fight over which aliyah, because any aliyah you get, every word of Torah is just as holy. It's just that some of them are like a bigger honor, so it's not as far as the importance of the keriah, but it's just as far as the honor of the person. The first aliyah is the greatest honor because you're number one, not because the first parsha of the of the of the Torah is a better parsha and you gain more spiritual benefit because you got the first aliyah, it's just because you know, this the person you give the first, the Levi gets the second, and then על פי הלכה, שלישי is the next best because it's the third. For some reason, על פי קבלה or something, ששי is the best, some place in the middle, but all these differences, one aliyah and the other, רביעי, some people are embarrassed or insulted when you give them רביעי. What's wrong with רביעי? It's the same Torah, the same kedushah, the same thing happens. We even have this famous joke that once a stranger came to a city and they gave him רביעי. So he came over to the gabbai, he said, \"Why did you give me רביעי? In my town רביעי they give to a nobody.\" So they answered him, \"In our town too.\" But so there is this is not a שריי. This fight over aliyot was always by the בעל-בתישע people meaning the ignorant people who were not learned. By chasidim, especially, this was never an issue. Maftir was something also not to fight because maftir is the aliyah the Rebbe gets, and maftir besides reading the Torah you read the haftorah, and there is a special significance of reading the haftorah, so therefore maftir is the best aliyah. But also, not that another aliyah is not good. So whenever you have a chiyuv to get an aliyah, you can get any aliyah and you're just as yotzei. As a matter of fact, it says that the best aliyah of the week, if we are looking at differences, is Shabbos to Mincha. Shabbos to Mincha is the greatest aliyah. The Mitteler Rebbe, when he became bar mitzvah, the Alter Rebbe made sure that his first aliyah should be Shabbos to Mincha. And some people up to date are makpid that the first aliyah of a Bar Mitzvah bochur should be Shabbos to Mincha. But I don't know על פי הלכה if that's the right thing to do if you have a chance earlier, because he has to get an aliyah the first chance he gets. For the same reason as I said before, because since it is a בר... he is a Bar Mitzvah and this is נוגע to life, the first chance you're able to draw down a special chayus should be the first chance you have. The aliyah, that going up, ברוחניות elevation should be the first chance you have. But otherwise it's, there's no difference between one aliyah and the other. As a matter of fact, the Gemara says that hagbahah... the Gemara doesn't use the word hagbahah, let me explain, the Gemara says הגוללו נוטל שכר כנגד כולם, the one that gets to roll up the Torah, he gets the reward more than everybody else. He gets the reward as much as all the people put together, because this is the culmination. So, just like in everything else, when you finish, הכל הולך אחר החיתום, everything goes after the end. This is the end. Now, what does that mean? Which person does that refer to? Well, that's big difference between our minhag and the minhag of the world. The minhag of the world is that the one that gets hagbahah sits down with the Sefer Torah open, and then the one that gets gelilah walks over and closes it, and puts the gartel on and then puts the mantel or the cover on. Our minhag is that the one that gets hagbahah puts it down, closes it, and then takes and sits down. Now who gets the greatest schar is the one that rolls up the Sefer Torah at the end. So the world, it's the גוללו is the one that gets gelilah, because that's the one that rolls it up, because the one that makes hagbahah just sits down with it open. In our minhag, is the one that gets hagbahah gets the greatest schar. There is something special in gelilah in... Gelilah also, because after all, he is the one that wraps it up, the one that closes it, which also is a certain form of finishing off the whole idea of Kriat HaTorah. So it's also special, but it's already after it's closed, so it's not as great as the one that closes it. The one that gets petichah, opens the Aron Kodesh, is also something special, because he starts it off, he takes it out of the Aron Kodesh and makes it ready to be read, and to accomplish all these these great המשכות that you're supposed to accomplish. But it's all around this idea of what קריאת התורה is, and what getting an aliyah is, elevation. But this is the bottom line of everything, that getting an aliyah is a very, very spiritual thing. It's not just an honor. Some people think it's an honor. You can give an honor somebody lehavdil to blow out the candle in the birthday cake. It's also an honor. You call up somebody to give him an honor by a simchah, he should say the hamotzi, it's an honor. Here you give him an honor, you call him up, you announce his name to get an aliyah. That's not it, it's not an honor. It's a great, great spiritual elevation, and it's a great honor to get a spiritual elevation, so it's a great zechut. And therefore, people would pay a lot of money for getting aliyot, because it's worth all the money in the world. Because ברוחניות it's great, and בגשמיות it brings down all the berachot. It is through Torah that we get all the berachot, and a person who is in need, the best time to pray to Hashem, when Hashem will listen, and it's the most auspicious time, is at the time when you get an aliyah. Because when you get an aliyah, that's your connection to the highest form of קריאת of Torah, and Torah is and and not down here only, but in higher worlds, so you're able to draw draw down the berachot. And that's why it is very important for everybody to get an aliyah, but it's also very important for everybody around to hear the קריאה, because we're all part. It's through the one that gets the aliyah, who is the one that reads the Torah in theory, but everybody else also benefits, because when there is קריאה, everybody benefits. So it's very important to be quiet, very important to listen and pay attention, and it's one thing that, say in Lubavitch, you notice sometimes, for some reason, To daven with a minyan is not the highest thing, because there used to be chasidim used to daven long, and they didn't manage to daven with the minyan, because they daven with kavanah, and they thought ענינים in חסידות, and it took them very long. So many times they would miss a minyan. But one thing Lubavitch was always, always מקפיד and careful is to hear קריאת התורה. Always. There was no such thing. The Rebbe, till the Rebbetzin passed away, didn't daven שחרית with the minyan. But always he came out to קריאת התורה. Whatever happened, for some reason things came up, he didn't come out, he made a minyan of Kriat HaTorah next to his room. There's no such thing as not hearing Kriat HaTorah. Why? Because Kriat HaTorah, this is the Torah of the week, this is the connection that we have to the Torah. And it's through this that we're ממשיך all the berachot, and we hope that the berachot will come to all of us very soon. Yes. Rabbi, is that comment when they decide they have somebody reading for them, so it wasn't That wasn't the order of Kohen, Levi. Is that when it started? No, no, no. Kohen and Levi started right in the beginning when they established it, not in the beginning by Moshe, when they established that you have to have three people, so they established that you call up to read, first the Kohen reads, then the Levi reads, then you call up Yisrael to read. And then when it changed that there was one person that that read, you still call up because they are to say that you all read. Yes. What happens if there's a minyan of ten men, five is a Kohen and five a Levi, and in Shabbos, and we have to make Well, there are different opinions in this. It's not so clear. One of the opinions is that you should have give all the aliyot to Kohanim, and you'll have to have the same person have more than one aliyah. You see, if you have a minyan of Kohanim only, they can have all the aliyot, any aliyah, or Leviim only. So in this case where you don't have Yisraelim and you can't give, let's say, five Kohanim then two Leviim, there's no such thing as a Levi getting shishi. Only time is only Leviim. So what you would do according to one opinion, you would give them all to Kohanim. There are different ways of doing it, but it's very seldom that this should happen, but it's Twice the berachah? Yeah, yeah, twice the berachah, like you do when you don't have a Levi. The Kohen gets an aliyah twice, and he says the berachah a second time. Like now, if you have Kohen without a Levi, so the Kohen gets both aliyot, and he makes another berachah, because each aliyah is a separate din for itself. Yes. Just think how important this is. Which were in the small community, there was no problem. There was only on Shabbos it was 50 to 60. But here it sounds like you have 30 people, you should have three different קריאות. No, we don't do that. The minyan has to have a קריאה, and that קריאה is for the whole for the whole minyan. There's no din or anything that you should have extra It sounds so important because Well, when there are times that we do that. When the time when everyone wants an aliyah, we do that. Like for י׳ שבט and for ג׳ תמוז, when everyone wants an aliyah, because everyone is a chiyuv. But to make it, it will make a whole confusion, we can't make five minyanim. So it's one קריאה, and that's for everybody. Because the truth is, when a person gets an aliyah, everybody else benefits from him, because he's the main person. He's the one that gets the main, and everyone gets. So whatever the aliyah is supposed to help, helps us anyway. But if you're the one that's called up, you're the one that has the first connection. You talked about the fact that having an aliyah will rectify certain But you didn't mention what those things were. certain aveirot. what those things were. When I'll tell you why, you'll see why. It's aveirot in connection to the private matters of a of a person. Especially for those, it says, that's a kaparah from getting an aliyah at least once a month. Who's doing the Mi Sheberach You mean for a choleh? Or you mean a person gets an aliyah? Just to give him a brachah for getting an aliyah, and by the Rebbe there was a minhag not to do it. The Rebbe's minyan, they didn't have a Mi Sheberach. And it's just not thanking the person, and you give him a brachah for getting an aliyah. It's not a halachah or anything, it's just a custom. Plus, it was a certain way of getting money for the aliyah, and this for making a Mi Sheberach, and they say, \"How much will you pay for it?\" So it turned into it, it's not any halachah or anything. It's just a brachah for Mi Sheberach, Hashem should bless you. And then it's an opportunity that the person who had an aliyah should bless other Yidden. But all of because this is the opportune this is the opportune time, this is a special time when the tefillot are heard more than others. By us by the Rebbe they didn't even have a Mi Sheberach at all. So those that do I know some people every time they get an aliyah, they mention everyone's name because the truth is when you're מתפלל, the more you specify, the better it is, it says. So if you want to מתפלל and ask for a brachah for this person, it's better. But, you know, first of all, there's a concept called טרחא דציבורא, not to have the people wait, and it takes a long time. And even concerning קריאת התורה, why do we read so little? Why can't you read every Monday a lot? So just for טרחא דציבורא, not to have the people... So here also, therefore, if you go into all the names, even though it's better, it's not kedai. And besides, you know, you say the whole mishpachah, it's good enough. I mean, but it's, you know, neither way. No, no, no, every time. At least that, sometimes more. Sure, it's always. Not around, three people getting an aliyah. No, it says after when you finish with the aliyah, you should not run away. Looks like you're running away from the Torah. So really it says that as soon as the second person gets his aliyah and starts saying the berachah, you can leave. The custom is that you finish, you stay there till the person finishes. And also, why do we have people standing around the בימה? So it says, just like by מתן תורה, exactly. Just like I said before, that reading the Torah is like מתן תורה, like השם, עשרת הדברות by הר סיני. By הר סיני השם had, Hashem said the עשרת הדברות, and then it was through, connected to somebody else, which is Moshe Rabbeinu. So really, it's somebody else plus the one that reads. And the one that gets the aliyah is really the one that's supposed to read. So these two are standing, and then you have to have another one. So really the din is that you have to have three people. Custom is you have another one, you have two people on both sides, but really you have to have one person, it's called a sarsur, just like the Torah was given through a sarsur. A sarsur means through an agent, through Moshe Rabbeinu. You have to have an agent here, too. So you have to have another person. So you have the one that reads and the one that gets the aliyah, they're both like one, and then the one that stands, there's three. The reason you walk around is because when you leave from the aliyah, you should leave the longer way. It says when you go to the aliyah, you should go the shortest way, and when you leave you should go the longest way, just to show that I want to run to the Torah, but to leave, I'd rather not leave so fast, so you go the longer way. That's why if you come this way, you go around the other way, to make it longer. It says when you go to shul you should run, and when you go back from shul you should go very slow, for the same reason, to show that you want to go to shul, but you hate leaving shul. Yes. It says in the sefarim, it says there are certain עליות סגולות, like מפטיר יונה is a segulah to become rich. Okay, because a lot of things have different, this is in Kabbalah, things. Open the door. That says in the sefarim, right, that when a wife is expectant, you should open the aron, and the reason is that by you opening the aron kodesh, it should make the opening of the birth easier. It says that opening for ne'ilah, we can understand, opening the aron kodesh for ne'ilah is like opening the gates of heaven. It says buying the ספר תורה by כל נדרי, but that's nothing to do with קריאת התורה, you see. That's having the Sefer Torah by Ne'ilah by Kol Nidrei is not the same idea of a of קריאה, that's not קריאה. We don't read the Torah by Ne'ilah. But that's a big zechut, but for a different reason, that's a... During the week, yes, it's very it's very special. Opening the Aron Kodesh is you're opening the gates of heaven basically, and that's your chance to ask Hashem for what you want, and during the aliyah.