In 1798, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi was imprisoned on charges, put forth by the opponents of Chassidism, that his teachings undermined the imperial authority of the czar. For fifty-two days he was held in the Peter-Paul Fortress in Petersburg.
Among the Rebbe’s interrogators was a government minister who possessed broad knowledge of the Bible and Jewish studies. On one occasion, he asked the Rebbe to explain the verse (Genesis 3:9), “And G‑d called out to the man and said to him: ‘Where are you?’” Did G‑d not know where Adam was?
Rabbi Schneur Zalman presented the explanation offered by several of the commentaries: the question “Where are you?” was merely a “conversation opener” on the part of G‑d, who did not wish to unnerve Adam by immediately confronting him with his wrongdoing.
“What Rashi says, I know,” said the minister. “I wish to hear how the Rebbe understands the verse.”
“Do you believe that the Torah is eternal?” asked the Rebbe. “Do you believe that its every word applies to every individual, under all conditions, at all times?”
“Yes,” replied the minister.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman was extremely gratified to hear this. The czar’s minister had affirmed a principle which lies at the basis of the teachings of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the very teachings and ideology for which he was standing trial!
“‘Where are you?’” explained the Rebbe, “is G‑d’s perpetual call to every man. Where are you in the world? What have you accomplished? You have been allotted a certain number of days, hours, and minutes in which to fulfill your mission in life. You have lived so many years and so many days,”—here Rabbi Schneur Zalman spelled out the exact age of the minister—“Where are you? What have you achieved?”
Told by the Lubavitcher Rebbe on 19 Kislev, 5718 (December 12, 1957), on the occasion of the 159th anniversary of Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s release from prison.
היום יום - ג' תשרי
בִּיחִידוּת הַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק אֵצֶל רַבֵּנוּ הַזָּקֵן ב' תֵצֵא בְּשִׁשִּׁי בֶּאֱלוּל תּקס"ד, סִפֵּר לוֹ רַבֵּנוּ: שַׁבָּת פָּרָשַׁת תָּבוֹא תּקכ"ח אָמַר מוֹרִי וְרַבִּי (הָרַב הַמַּגִּיד מִמּעֶזְרִיטְשׁ) — תּוֹרָה וְהַתְחָלָתָהּ וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד הוי' אֱלֹקֶיךָ, וּבִאֵר כִּי עֲבוֹדַת הַתְּשׁוּבָה צְרִיכָה לִהְיוֹת עַד אֲשֶׁר הוי', שֶׁהוּא לְמַעְלָה מֵהָעוֹלָמוֹת, יִהְיֶה אֱלֹקֶיךָ, אֱלֹקִים בְּגִימַטְרִיָּא הַטֶּבַע, בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים. כָּל הַחֶבְרַיָּא קַדִּישָׁא הָיוּ בְּהִתְעוֹרְרוּת גְּדוֹלָה מִתּוֹרָה הַהִיא. הָרַב הַצַּדִּיק ר' מְשׁוּלָּם זוּסְיָא מֵאַנִיפּאָלִי אָמַר, כִּי הוּא אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהַגִּיעַ לְמַעֲלַת תְּשׁוּבָה כָּזוֹ, וְעַל כֵּן יְחַלֵּק אֶת הַתְּשׁוּבָה לַחֲלָקִים, כִּי תְּשׁוּבָה רָאשֵׁי תֵּיבוֹת: ת, תָּמִים תִּהְיֶה עִם הוי' אֱלֹקֶיךָ. שׁ, שִׁוִּיתִי הוי' לְנֶגְדִּי תָמִיד. ו, וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ. ב, בְּכָל דְּרָכֶיךָ דָעֵהוּ. ה, הַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת עִם ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ.
כְּשֶׁסִּפֵּר לִי אַאַמוּ"ר אֶת הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל, סִיֵּם: תֵּיבַת תְּשׁוּבָה צְרוּפָה מֵחָמֵשׁ אוֹתִיּוֹת, אֲשֶׁר כָּל אוֹת הוּא דֶרֶךְ וְאוֹפֶן בַּעֲבוֹדַת הַתְּשׁוּבָה, — וּבִאֵר בַּאֲרִיכוּת חֲמִשָּׁה הָאוֹפַנִּים — וְכוּלָּם בָּאִים מִכֹּחַ אֶל הַפּוֹעַל עַל יְדֵי עֲבוֹדַת הַתְּפִלָּה.
Hayom Yom - 3 Tishrei
During a yechidus of the Tzemach Tzedek with the Alter Rebbe, on Monday of Parshas Ki Seitzei, 6 Elul, 5564 (1804), the Alter Rebbe told him: “On Shabbos Parshas Ki Savo, 5528 (1768), my mentor and master (the Maggid of Mezritch) delivered a teaching that opened with the verse, Veshavta ad HaShem Elokecha — ‘You shall return to Havayah (G‑d), Elokecha(your L‑rd).’
“The Maggid [understood this verse as implying that ‘You shall return until Havayah is Elokecha,’ and] explained that one must bring one’s Divine service of teshuvah to the point that Havayah, [the aspect of Divinity] that transcends all worlds, becomes Elokecha (your L‑rd). [He went on to say that] the Divine Name Elokim (א-להים) has the numerical equivalent of the word hateva (הטבע), meaning ‘nature.’ This [link is exemplified] in the verse, ‘In the beginning, Elokim created….’” [I.e, the natural world came into being through the Name Elokim. Thus the term Elokecha (your L‑rd) refers to the Divine power within us that endows us with life-energy.]
The entire holy brotherhood [of the Maggid’s disciples] was greatly aroused by this teaching. However, one of the disciples, the tzaddik R. Meshullam Zusya of Hanipoli, declared that he could not reach such a level of teshuvah, and therefore divided it into its components. Teshuvah(תשובה), he pointed out, is an acronym for the following five verses:
תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך — ת: “Trust G‑d your L‑rd with simple faith.”
שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד — ש: “I have placed G‑d before me at all times.”
ואהבת לרעך כמו — ו: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
בכל דרכיך דעהו — ב: “Know Him in all your ways.”
הצנע לכת עם ה' אלוקיך — ה: “Walk humbly with G‑d your L‑rd.”
[The Rebbe Rayatz added:] When my revered father [the Rebbe Rashab] told me the above, he concluded: “The word teshuvah comprises five letters, each representing a distinct path and approach to the labor of teshuvah.” He explained these five approaches at length and then said: ‘All of them are actualized through the service of prayer.’”
(א) [עג] כשהאדם מתקן מה שחטא אז הש"י מזמין לו אותו פרק ואותו מקום כדי שתהיה תשובת המשקל שהרי ודאי יש דברים שאסור האדם להביא עצמו לידי כך כמו באותה אשה באותו כו' יעבור על איסור יחוד רק הש"י מזמין לו זה או ענין כיוצא בו ואין הש"י מזמין לו זה אלא כשיודע שלא יכשל עוד. ולכך כאשר הש"י מזמין לו הוא סימן שכבר נתקן ונתקבלה תשובתו...
When we 'fix' or repair what we've unskillfully broken, G-d will bring the very same 'chapter' (scene, or gestalt) to 'check-in' or weigh our teshuvah. [G-d does this] as there are certainly situations we are forbidden to intentionally recreate and, if we find ourselves in those same situations it is a sign that our teshuvah has been received (as G-d would not put us in a situation expecting us to fail!).
א' אדם המתחיל בתשובה ואחר כך מסייעין לו מלמעלה, כמו שכתב הט"ז באורח חיים ריש סי' א', ב' שאינו מתחיל כי אם על ידי סיוע מלמעלה, וכמו שדרשו חכמינו ז"ל (בסוף מדרש איכה רבתי) שזה הוויכוח בין הקדוש ברוך הוא ובין כנסת ישראל, כי הקדוש ברוך הוא אומר (זכריה א') שובו אלי ואשובה אליכם, ר"ל שיהיה האדם המתחיל בתשובה ויי יגמור בעדו לטובה, והבא לטהר מסייעין לו (יומא דל"ח ע"ב) לכך נאמר שובו אתם תחלה, וכנסת ישראל משיבה אין בנו כח להתחיל, אלא (איכה ה') השיבנו יי אליך ונשובה...
Mekor Mayim Chayim on Baal Shem Tov:
There are 2 types of teshuvah - the first, a person cannot begin without help from Above...This is a conflict between the Holy One and the People of Israel, God says, "Return to me, and I'll return to you", this means the people begin in teshuvah and God helps them fulfill their teshuvah for the good, [as it says in the Talmud] 'The one who comes to be purified, they will help him.' - that is why God says 'Return' to them first, but the People of Israel respond, "We don't have the power to start [toward teshuvah], so they say 'Take us back and we will return!"