CONQUEST

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well.

This time of year always has a bitter sweet taste in that it is our Anniversary (tonight - 2nd Tammuz) and the Yohrtzeit of our dear father ah and dear Rebbe is on 3rd Tammuz. Their neshamos should have an Aliyah.

An interesting theme came to my mind this week after learning the Maamer from the Rebbe called 'Vayishlach Yehoshua' together with Chava, on 28th Sivan a few days ago

The Rebbe said this Maamer on 28th Sivan 1976 in relation to his arrival in the USA on that day in 1941. (It only came to light many years later that this was the day that The Rebbe arrived with his wife in New York, coming out of war-torn Europe)

The theme of the Maamer is the CONQUEST of Eretz Yisrael by Yehoshuah, and how every individual can achieve conquest in our own personal lives.

The arrival of the Rebbe in US set off a huge transformation of Judaism in America and thereafter throughout the world. And on a smaller individual scale , the arrival of Dad and his brothers (Uncle Dave and Uncle Morris) together with their mother, to SA, set off the growth of our Family - all starting from an almost penniless situation in a foreign land. This is the ability that we as Jews have had to get used to over the centuries, and have achieved, with the help of Hashem, to a remarkable degree.

But more interestingly, is how the Maamer describes how we can CONQUER OUR OWN DIFFICULT NATURES. It was actually also interesting how this week's Tanya was so relevant to the Maamer.

The Maamer was short and I am going to try to only share its brief outline.

How did Yehoshuah conquer EY? He was commanded to send spies, (different to Moshe's spies) and he sent them only to Jericho! (again different to Mosheh)

Jericho was the key to unlock the conquest of the whole Land, and therefore all the 7 Nations living in the Land gathered there to fight (Tanchuma Behaalosechah).

Conquering the Land in a spiritual sense means that every Jew must conquer all the faculties of his body and animal soul (Canaan) and transform them to G-dliness (Eretz Yisrael) - Divine soul.

And so why Jericho?

The word Jericho derives from the root reiach, which means scent. And scent is alluded to in the Zohar as relating to GARMENTS (3:186a)

Jericho therefore represents the 3 garments of our soul - Thought, Speech and Action, and the 7 Nations represent man's 7 Emotional faculties. (The other 3 Nations Keni, Kenisi and Kadmoni represent man's 3 Intellectual faculties)

So Yehoshuah is saying, Go and spy out (investigate) what is going on with your thought, speech and actions (are they devoted to Hashem?). This is an area which is within the capability of every Jew to operate. We cannot deal with Emotions because this is mainly, only within the reach of Tzadikim.

(That is why, with Moshe, where the spies were sent to the whole Land, Hashem said 'I am not commanding you to do this')

Tanya showed this to us in perspective in this week shiur (Shaar Hayichud.. Chap 9) as follows:

The life force in Physicality is as nothing in comparison to the life force in the letters of Speech, which in turn is as nothing in comparison to the life force in the letters of Thought, which in turn is as nothing in comparison to the life force and level of the Emotions from which this Thought is derived, which in turn is as nothing to the life force and level and degree of the 3 Intellectual Attributes, (Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge), the source of the Emotive attributes. And the Holy One Blessed be He is elevated and exalted by infinite myriads of degrees more than Wisdom (the highest of the Intellectual faculties) in relation to the life force in Action (- which is a 5 degree elevation)

And yet the key to conquering this whole Land lies in our hands by conquering our Jericho, our thought, speech and action. This is because Torah and Mitzvos which we use in the process, are the GARMENTS of the Divine Soul. (as opp

GARMENTS AND CLOTHING BRING PRESTIGE TO A PERSON AND RAISE HIM TO AN EXALTED STATURE BEYOND HIS STATUS AND CHARACTER

An Example

One of the notes in the Maamer was as follows: 'The Alte Rebbe was once puzzled by the fact that a certain BUSINESSMAN who had passed away, was immediately ushered into Gan Eden. Later the matter became clear to him that this individual possessed lofty garments, since he was fluent in Torah and Mishneh which he would review in his mind whenever he was free of his business affairs day and night. He would also dispense large sums of money for charity secretly and with self-sacrifice, even to his enemies and antagonists....'

Gut Shabbos to all