001 - Din Hashkamas Haboker - א דין השכמת הבוקר

Siman 1: Laws of Rising in the Morning, containing nine seifim:

Introduction

This we found in the holy writings of our master, of blessed memory, who began to compose the Shulchan Aruch in a second edition^[1], as the good hand of Hashem was upon him.

He gained insight and added many new rulings.

And although many things here have already been said, we decided not to skip them, so that nothing should be lacking in it. And a teaching has not moved from its place^[2]:

Recording: Seifim 1–9

1. "Yehudah ben Teima says: 'Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer and mighty as a lion, to do the will of your Father in Heaven'"^[3].

"Bold as a leopard" means not to be ashamed before people who mock^[4].

And "mighty as a lion": the essence of might is in the heart^[5], to overcome one's inclination and defeat it, like a warrior who overcomes his enemy to defeat him and throw him to the ground.

So every person must, in the morning, overcome his inclination like a lion, to rise from his sleep before the morning light for the service of his Creator, so that he himself should awaken the dawn.

As it is written, "אעירה שחר" ("I will awaken the dawn") (Tehillim 57:9): I awaken the dawn, and the dawn does not awaken me.

And this is a middle level^[6]:

2. But it is fitting for every God-fearing person, and for all "החיל אשר נגע ה' בלבו" ("the company whose heart Hashem has touched")^[7], to rise at midnight and lament a little, with the psalm "על נהרות בבל" ("By the rivers of Babylon") (Tehillim 137:1) and the like (as printed in the siddurim)^[8], over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash and the exile of the Shechinah.

As it is written, "קומי רוני בלילה לראש אשמרות וגו'" ("Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches," etc.) (Eichah 2:19).

And as the Holy One, blessed be He, laments at that time and says: "Woe is Me, that I destroyed My house," etc.^[9].

And a little with kavanah is better^[10] than much without kavanah.

Afterward he should occupy himself with the Oral Torah until daylight:

3. The great praise of this level in the Zohar is already known^[11].

The Gemara too said that midnight is a time of favor^[12].

As it is written, "ויהי בחצי הלילה וה' הכה כל בכור וגו'" ("And it was at midnight, and Hashem struck every firstborn," etc.) (Shemos 12:29)^[13].

They also said: "Whoever occupies himself with Torah at night, the Shechinah is opposite him, as it says, 'קומי רוני בלילה לראש אשמרות, שפכי כמים לבך נוכח פני ה'' ('Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the presence of Hashem')", meaning that the Shechinah rests with you^[14].

And "the beginning of the watches" is midnight^[15].

(If he cannot rise at midnight, he should rise at the beginning of the third watch)^[16]

And whoever occupies himself with Torah at night, a thread of kindness is drawn over him by day^[17].

As it says: "יומם יצוה ה' חסדו ובלילה שירה עמי" ("By day Hashem commands His kindness, and at night His song is with me") (Tehillim 42:9).

This one is called "a servant of Hashem."

As it is written: "כל עבדי ה' העומדים בבית ה' בלילות" ("All servants of Hashem, who stand in the house of Hashem at night") (Tehillim 134:1)^[18].

It is proper to prepare a rooster to wake him from his sleep at midnight.

As Rabbi Akiva would do, who took a rooster with him even when traveling on the road, to wake him at midnight^[19].

And if the rooster does not wake him, he should hire a person to wake him:

4. As soon as he wakes from his sleep, so that he can overcome his inclination to rise with alacrity at midnight, or before dawn at the middle level, he should think in his heart: before Whom is he lying^[20]?

And he should know that the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, hovers over him. As it says: "מלא כל הארץ כבודו" ("The whole earth is full of His glory") (Yeshayahu 6:3).

If he were lying before a king of flesh and blood standing over him, he would forfeit his life; how much more so before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He:

5. This is a great principle in the Torah and in the level of the tzaddikim who walk before God. As it is written: "שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד" ("I have set Hashem before me always") (Tehillim 16:8)^[21].

For a person's sitting, movements and affairs when he is alone in his house are not like his sitting, movements and affairs when he is before a great king.

And his speech and free talk as he pleases when with the people of his household are not like his speech in the king's assembly^[22].

All the more when a person takes to heart that the great King, the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, stands over him and sees his deeds, as it is written: "אם יסתר איש במסתרים ואני לא אראנו נאם ה'?! הלא את השמים ואת הארץ אני מלא" ("Can a man hide in secret places and I not see him, says Hashem? Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?") (Yirmiyahu 23:24): at once awe and submission will come to him, in dread of Hashem, and shame before Him always.

If it does not come to him at once, he should think deeply on this matter until it comes to him.

He should also return in complete teshuvah for all his sins, for they keep awe from reaching him. As it is written: "עונותיכם היו מבדילים וגו'" ("Your sins have separated," etc.) (Yeshayahu 59:2):

6. It is good to accustom oneself to say as soon as he wakes from his sleep ("I give thanks before You, living and enduring King, for You have returned my soul within me with compassion. Great is Your faithfulness")^[23]

Through this he will remember Hashem Who stands over him, and will rise with alacrity.

But he should not get up and stand suddenly; rather he should wait a little until he finishes this text while still lying or sitting, as will be explained in the Laws of Derech Eretz.

Since this text contains none of the seven Names that may not be erased^[24], there is no prohibition in saying it before he has washed his hands, even if he slept in his bed unclothed and his hands presumably touched soiled places on his body, as will be explained in Siman 4.

But it is forbidden to utter words of Torah with soiled hands.

But to think over words of Torah is permitted.

Even so, [he should not speak or even think] words of Torah while still lying in his bed, even if he has washed his hands; rather he should rise and stand, or sit, in awe.

As it says: "הכון לקראת אלקיך ישראל" ("Prepare to meet your God, O Israel") (Amos 4:12):

7. One who slept in his clothes, since his hands may not have touched soiled places on his body,

these unspecified hands are fit to mention Hashem's Name in berachos and to speak words of Torah, by the law of the Talmud and the poskim (as will be explained in Siman 4)^[25], and all the more to touch his clothes, before washing.

Even though an evil spirit rests upon them.

Only he should not touch food and drink, as will be explained there.

But the Zohar was very stringent^[26] not to bless or learn, not to touch his clothes, and not to walk four amos, while the spirit of impurity rests on the hands, before the morning washing.

And one who walks four amos is liable to death.

For with this impurity resting on his hands he has profaned the holiness of Hashem that is upon him, as upon all servants of Hashem who are sanctified with the holiness of the Omnipresent, blessed be He, and His holy Torah, in a holiness and purity beyond the purity of the common people, who have not reached this level.

Nevertheless, if it happens that he has no water to wash his hands three times properly, to remove the spirit of impurity, when he rises early at night, far be it from him to neglect words of Torah until it grows light and he washes his hands three times.

Rather he should wash a little, or clean them with anything that cleans, and bless and learn, according to the law of the Talmud and the poskim:

8. The time of midnight is the same in summer and in winter: always twelve hours after midday, which is the exact middle of the night.

And it is a time of favor Above at every time and in every place.

And although days and nights vary according to the climes^[27] and the distance of countries from one another from east to west, this does not matter at all.

It is like the time of Krias Shema and prayer and the time of the entry of Shabbos and Yom Tov, which also goes in each country according to the time of its days and nights.

(For the time of favor Above, the supernal unifications in Krias Shema and prayer, and the holiness of Shabbos and Yom Tov are above the bounds of place and time, only they shine below to each place at the time fitting for it. This too is why a supernal holiness rests outside Eretz Yisrael on the second day of Yom Tov of the Diaspora. Therefore even people of Eretz Yisrael who come outside Eretz Yisrael are obligated in the holiness of the day, though they intend to return^[28], as was explained in the Laws of Yom Tov):

9. It is good to say the section of the Akeidah every day, to remember the merit of the Patriarchs^[29].

And the section of the manna^[30], to trust in Hashem, Who gives bread each day for its day.

And the Ten Commandments^[31].

Beyond this, it is very good to say the sections of the korbanos^[32]: the olah, the shelamim, the todah, the chatas, the certain and the suspended asham, the sliding-scale korban, the section of the libations and all the other menachos, as written in the Maamados^[33].

To fulfill what is written: "ונשלמה פרים שפתינו" ("And we will render for bullocks the offering of our lips") (Hoshea 14:3).

And as the Sages said on the verse "זאת התורה לעולה למנחה ולחטאת וגו'" ("This is the Torah of the olah, of the minchah and of the chatas," etc.) (Vayikra 7:37): "Whoever occupies himself with the Torah of the olah," etc.^[34].

Nevertheless, one who has a heart to learn and understand should not say even the sections of the korbanos every day, only at times, and the saying of the chapter "איזהו מקומן" ("Which is the place") is enough for him^[35].

For great is study that brings to action and to knowledge of the Torah (as written in the Laws of Talmud Torah)^[36].

If he knows that he has become liable for some korban, such as an olah for neglecting a positive mitzvah or for a thought of the heart on a prohibition, or a todah for the four who must give thanks^[37],

he should say the section of that korban as soon as he becomes liable for it.

When he says the sections of the korbanos, he should say them by day, which is the time of their offering, and not at night.

But he need not say them standing, as the kohen served standing, since he is not the kohen who serves; rather, through his reading, Scripture regards him as if the kohen had offered for him^[38].

And it is good to say on Shabbos the section of the Lechem HaPanim^[39]:

1. A second edition: The first edition of this siman is Mahadura Kama, Siman 1, with nineteen seifim.

2. Has not moved from its place: A phrase of the Sages; here it means that the text was printed as it was found, without omission or change, even what the first edition already said.

3. Yehudah ben Teima: Avos 5:20. The Rebbe writes: "Like a teaching of the Mishnah, with which the Alter Rebbe begins his Shulchan Aruch in Orach Chaim: 'One should strengthen himself like a lion.' And explained in more detail in the second edition there (based on the Tur): 'Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer and mighty as a lion, to do the will of your Father in Heaven,' see there." A note there, following the Megaleh Amukos: "Bold as a leopard: Torah; light as an eagle, merciful: love; swift as a deer: mitzvos; and mighty as a lion: awe" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 17, no. 6290). The first edition opens "One should strengthen himself like a lion" (Mahadura Kama, seif 1).

4. Not to be ashamed: The Rebbe writes, to one mocked for learning in yeshivah: "The beginning of all four parts of the Shulchan Aruch and their foundation is the matter of not being ashamed before those who mock" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 18, no. 6550). See the editor's note, on this seif, about reading the Torah in public (Igros Kodesh, vol. 18, no. 6524, note 6).

5. Might is in the heart: That is, might here is conquering the inclination, along the lines of the Mishnah, "Who is mighty? One who conquers his inclination" (Avos 4:1).

6. A middle level: Rising before the morning light is the middle level; the higher level is rising at midnight, as below in seif 2. The first edition adds: "If he cannot rise before the morning light, he should still not delay past the time at which the congregation prays" (Mahadura Kama, seif 4); see note 9 there.

7. The company whose heart Hashem has touched: The wording of the verse: "And with him went the company whose heart God had touched" (I Shmuel 10:26).

8. As printed in the siddurim: That is, the order of Tikkun Chatzos. Hayom Yom: "In Tikkun Chatzos, 'Lamenatzeach... Bevo' is not said on days when Tachanun is not said" (Hayom Yom, 28 Adar I). The Rebbe writes to the compiler of a collection of Chabad customs: "A further point regarding section 1, based on what is explained in Kuntres HaTefillah on Tikkun Chatzos in chapter 11 (end of page 24 and on): although it needs study whether what Kuntres HaTefillah says should be publicized, on the other hand, in a collection of customs for practice the opposite should not be printed" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 14, no. 4870). Also: "Saying Tehillim before davening is a preparation for davening and belongs with Tikkun Chatzos" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 14, no. 4813).

9. Woe is Me: The Gemara: "The night has three watches, and over each watch the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and roars like a lion, and says: Woe to the children, for whose sins I destroyed My house" (Berachos 3a).

10. A little with kavanah: Along the lines of the teaching: "One may do much or little, as long as he directs his heart to Heaven" (Menachos 110a).

11. In the Zohar: In the Rebbe's words: "Torah study at midnight, when the Holy One comes to delight with the tzaddikim in Gan Eden (Zohar I, 72a, and further in the passages brought in the siddur at Tikkun Chatzos)" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 2, no. 238).

12. Midnight: See: "A harp hung above David's bed, and when midnight came, a north wind would blow on it and it would play by itself" (Berachos 3b).

13. At midnight: The plague of the firstborn and the redemption came specifically at midnight, which shows it to be a time of favor.

14. The Shechinah is opposite him: "Rabbi Chiya taught: Whoever occupies himself with Torah at night, the Shechinah is opposite him" (Tamid 32b). The proof is from "before the presence of Hashem": the Shechinah faces the one learning.

15. The beginning of the watches: Although the wording of the verse (Eichah 2:19) implies the start of a watch, and with three watches (as Rashi there says, "the night is divided into three parts") midnight is not the start of any watch but the middle of the second, the Alter Rebbe nevertheless reads the verse as speaking of midnight; the proof for midnight does not come from the words "the beginning of the watches." See the Gemara, which gives the sign of the middle watch at its middle: "Rather, it counts the end of the first watch, the start of the last watch, and the middle of the middle one" (Berachos 3a), and the Magen Avraham: "and that is midnight" (1:4). And on "My eyes preceded the watches" and rising at midnight: "Rav Ashi said: A watch and a half are also called watches" (Berachos 3b). In the first edition he brings this verse for the hours at which the watches change: "at the end of a third of the night, at the end of two thirds of the night, and at the end of the night" (Mahadura Kama, seif 8); see note 15 there.

16. The third watch: That is, the last third of the night, for "the night has three watches" (Berachos 3a). In the Alter Rebbe's Siddur: "One who cannot rise at midnight every night should at least make the effort to rise at midnight on whichever night he can, and so be among the servants of Hashem, as it is written, 'All servants of Hashem, who stand in the house of Hashem at night': specifically. And on a night when he cannot, he should at least make the effort to rise some time before dawn" (Piskei HaSiddur, Rising in the Morning). In Iggeres HaTeshuvah, on Tikkun Chatzos: "One for whom it is impossible every night should at least do it no less than once a week, before Shabbos" (Iggeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 10).

17. A thread of kindness: "Whoever occupies himself with Torah at night, the Holy One, blessed be He, draws a thread of kindness over him by day" (Chagigah 12b).

18. Servants of Hashem: "What is 'at night'? Rabbi Yochanan said: These are Torah scholars who occupy themselves with Torah at night" (Menachos 110a).

19. Rabbi Akiva: "As in the story of Rabbi Akiva, who was traveling on the road... and he had a rooster with him," and Rashi explains: "to wake him from his sleep" (Berachos 60b).

20. Before Whom: This thought comes before any act, while he is still in bed, and from it follows the saying of Modeh Ani, below in seif 6.

21. I have set Hashem: The Rebbe writes: "The service of Hashem must be constant (as it says, 'I have set Hashem before me always,' and this is the beginning of the four parts of the Tur and Shulchan Aruch)" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 10, no. 3336). In a letter written in the Rebbe's name, on contemplating Divine Providence: "Even though its time is really always, as at the beginning of the Tur and the Rema in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim: 'I have set Hashem before me always' is a great principle, see there... My intention was not to insist that you always contemplate only this in your actual thoughts (for it is impossible during study, when one must focus on the sugya and halachah being learned, etc.)... My intent was that this matter should be properly understood by you and engraved in your memory, so that even at times when it is not actively on your mind, these matters are still engraved in the faculty of memory" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 14, no. 5038); see Shulchan Menachem, I Place Hashem Before Me Always.

22. The king's assembly: These words are in the Rema at the opening of Orach Chaim, from Moreh Nevuchim III:52.

23. Modeh Ani: Hayom Yom: "The order of the day begins with Modeh Ani, and it is said before washing the hands, even with impure hands, for all the impurities in the world do not defile a Jew's Modeh Ani" (Hayom Yom, 11 Shevat). The Rebbe writes: "Since the Alter Rebbe in his Siddur places this before the matter and order of washing, his opinion is clear: to say it before washing" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 10, no. 2986). Likkutei Sichos brings the saying of the Rebbe Rashab that the period (after the word "בחמלה") in Modeh Ani must be spread over the entire day (Likkutei Sichos, vol. 39, general letters for Rosh Hashanah, note 343).

24. None of the seven Names: So too in the siddur Kol Yaakov of R. Yaakov Koppel: "As soon as he wakes he should say this at once, even without washing, since it contains none of the holy Names" (brought in a note to Igros Kodesh, no. 2986).

25. In Siman 4: Siman 4 in this edition, which has only two seifim, does not explain this law; it is in the first edition: "Unspecified hands, on which he knows of no impurity, are not disqualified for a berachah" (Mahadura Kama, Siman 4, seif 3).

26. The Zohar: See below, Siman 4, seif 1: "For the reason stated in the Zohar (Parshas Vayeishev) and also mentioned in the Gemara: to remove the spirit of impurity that rests on the hands." The first edition: "Everyone who fears Heaven should be stringent with himself according to the words of the Zohar" (Mahadura Kama, seif 7); see note 13 there.

27. Climes: The zones of the inhabited world by latitude. Midnight falls in each place at its own hour; it has no one time for the whole world.

28. Though they intend to return: This law is explained in Siman 496, seif 7. The Rebbe writes of a person from Eretz Yisrael who traveled abroad: "Our custom in practice, and plainly, is that he follows the custom of the place he has come to, especially if he came with his household; and likewise the reverse, a person from outside Eretz Yisrael who traveled with his household to the Holy Land follows the custom of Eretz Yisrael; and this is so even if he intends to return later to the place he came from" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 17, no. 6193).

29. The Akeidah: The Rebbe writes: "The merit of the Akeidah, whose importance is not the Akeidah itself but the alacrity of Avraham Avinu (as explained in Iggeres HaKodesh, ch. 21; and thereby one can appreciate why in the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, although in the first edition, Siman 1, seif 10, he also gave as a reason for saying the Akeidah that one should subdue his inclination, etc., at the end of Siman 1 in the second edition he omitted this and brought only the reason of remembering the merit of the Patriarchs)" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 3, no. 578); see Mahadura Kama, seif 10. On how it is said: "The section of the Akeidah is said every day before davening, and before the section of the Akeidah and after it a prayer is said" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 9, no. 2827). These are the two prayers in the Siddur: "Our God and God of our fathers, remember us with a good remembrance before You" before the Akeidah, and "Master of the world, just as Avraham our father suppressed his compassion" after it. On Yom Kippur: "It is not our custom on Yom Kippur to say the 'Our God' and the 'Master of the World' before and after the section of the Akeidah and the like" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 3, no. 413).

30. The manna: The first edition gives the reason: "so that he should believe that all his sustenance comes to him by Divine providence" (Mahadura Kama, seif 10); see note 20 there. On what is brought in the name of R. Pinchas of Koretz, "that it is a segulah for livelihood to say every day, on rising early, the section of the manna and the thirteen principles," the Rebbe writes: "It is plain that matters of segulah stated for a certain place and time have nothing to do with the prayer text of the Jewish people as a whole" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 12, no. 3823).

31. The Ten Commandments: The first edition gives their reason and their law: "And the Ten Commandments, for through this he will recall the standing at Mount Sinai every day, and his faith will be strengthened. The Sages sought to establish the Ten Commandments in the Reading of Shema, and they abolished this because of the heretics... Therefore it is forbidden to say them in public as a fixed practice every day, even not within the blessings of the Reading of Shema but before Baruch She'amar. Only each individual may read them for himself" (Mahadura Kama, seif 10); see note 21 there.

32. The korbanos: Hayom Yom, in the name of the Alter Rebbe: "'When a person offers': for a person to become closer to Hashem, 'from you is the offering to Hashem': from you yourselves must the offering come, to offer up one's own animal, the evil inclination, which is called the animal soul" (Hayom Yom, 12 Adar II).

33. The Maamados: That is, the order of the Maamados printed in siddurim.

34. Whoever occupies himself: "Whoever occupies himself with Torah, it is as if he offered an olah, a minchah, a chatas and an asham" (Menachos 110a). The Rebbe writes: "Thereby one can appreciate why the Alter Rebbe (in the second edition, end of Siman 1) adds that the teaching 'whoever occupies himself' is on the verse 'This is the Torah of the olah' (for apparently, what difference does it make?): it is to resolve and establish that 'occupies himself' is not exact, but that 'the Torah be an olah'" (Likkutei Sichos, vol. 39, supplements, on Iggeres HaTeshuvah, note 53).

35. Eizehu Mekoman: The fifth chapter of tractate Zevachim, on the places of the korbanos.

36. Study that brings to action: There: "For study brings to action" (Laws of Talmud Torah 4:2).

37. The four: "Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Four must give thanks" (Berachos 54b).

38. Need not say them standing: The first edition says the opposite: "The section of the korbanos must be said standing. And so too 'A psalm of thanksgiving.' Like their offering, which was done standing" (Mahadura Kama, seif 14). On this change the Rebbe writes: "There are a number of changes in the second edition of the Shulchan Aruch (compared with the first edition), and in Sha'ar HaKollel, at its beginning, he writes that the second edition leans more toward the Kabbalists. And so it is in the matter at hand. See the opinions on this in the commentaries on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, Siman 48" (Igros Kodesh, vol. 11, no. 3710).

39. The section of the day: The first edition: "Even so, if he is not unlearned, it is better that he occupy himself with the section of the day" (Mahadura Kama, seif 16); see note 27 there. These matters are also explained in the Alter Rebbe's Siddur, in the Rulings of the Siddur, Rising in the Morning.