06 Oct BEREISHIS: HOW TO MAINTAIN THE YOMIM TOVIM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

There’s a counsel of
making a kabbalah
tovah that draws
the holiness of the
yomim tovim for
the entire year.
There are some
other counsels to
hold onto the light
and influence of
the yomim tovim,
which we will

discuss here:
The Arugas HaBosem zt’l writes, “On
Rosh Hashanah, Hashem shines to
people the attribute of fear. A person can
draw yiras Shamayim from this day for
the entire year. During Aseres Yemei
Teshuvah, a light of teshuvah shines,
and especially on the holy day [of Yom
Kippur]. Then it is Succos, the time of
our happiness and Hashem shines to the
hearts of His nation to be happy when
they serve Hashem, and when they study
Torah and perform good deeds, and this

influence can remain for the entire year.
“However, Hashem looked at the
final generation, the poor and weak
generation, and he saw that these holy
days will come and no one considers, in
a sincere manner, to be aroused. When
the holiday passes, the person makes a
cheshbon hanefesh, and he thinks about
how the holy days passed, and he didn’t
attain anything. What should he do now,
that these days have already passed? It
is impossible to bring the days back…
But [Yaakov Avinu] established for
generations that even after the days pass,
when a person thinks that he wants to
come back to these days, he receives the
light of those days in his thoughts.”
This is what happened to Yaakov Avinu.
He passed Har HaMoriah, and then he
asked himself, “How did I pass the place
where my parents prayed, and I didn’t
pray there?” He turned to go back, and
the place of Har HaMoriah came to
him, as Chazal (Sanhedrin 95b) tell us.
So, too, when a person desires the days
that passed, they come to him. This can
happen any day, throughout the year.

This can explain the minhag of several
communities to continue the customs of
Tishrei until Shabbos Berieshis. On this
Shabbos, they still dip challah in honey,
and they keep the white parochos hanging
over the aron kodesh. This is to show that
we can still draw back the holidays, even
after the yomim tovim passed.
Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Riminov
zt’l had another counsel to connect the
spirituality of the yomim tovim to the
entire year, and he would often say it to
his chasidim:
During the yomim tovim, Hakadosh
Baruch Hu shines a great light on all
Yidden. This light sharpens their minds
to understand Torah and to succeed in
avodas Hashem. But when the yom tov
passes, the light leaves them. But if the
person is wise, he will learn a lot of Torah
the moment the yom tov passes. This
will help that the great light will remain
with him, and he can benefit from it the
entire year to come close to Hashem (Kol
Yaakov, Emor).
If he didn’t benefit from this counsel at
the moment the yom tov passed, it still
isn’t too late. Reb Chaim Palagi (sefer
Chaim 36) writes, “We have a kabbalah
that the way you serve Hashem on the
twelve days after yom tov, that is how
it will be always throughout the year.
Therefore, there is an old custom to
be holy on these days. People gather
in their homes on these twelve days
to review what they learned – each
person, according to what he studies
– and this is a wonderful segulah
that Hashem will help him the entire
year. Wherever he turns, in Torah, in
chassidus, and also in business, he will
succeed.”
The Chida (Moreh b’Ezba 298)
writes, “After the yom tov, and it is
Cheshvon, one should be strong with
yiras Shamayim and with learning
Torah l’shmah, because it is the
beginning of the year. This is a good
sign for the entire year. Now, it is close
to the Aseres Yemei teshuvah, and a
person has to show that his teshuvah
was sincere, and it wasn’t just a show,
chas ve’shalom. If he will throw off
the yoke of heaven now, and be lax in
avodas Hashem, it won’t be good, chas
v’shalom. Therefore, do the opposite
and make a good sign for the entire
year. Run like the mighty to study
Torah and to perform the mitzvos…”
One night, Reb Eizek Reb Yekel’s of

Krakow (niftar 370 years ago) dreamed
that there was a large treasure under a
bridge. So, he went to the bridge, and a
police officer stopped him and asked him
what he was doing. Reb Eizik told him
the truth. “I dreamed that there’s a great
treasure under this bridge.”
The officer replied, “Why do you take
dreams seriously? I also had a dream.
I dreamt there’s a great treasure under
the oven of a Yid called Reb Eizik Reb
Yekel’s of Krakow. I’m not crazy. I didn’t
go seeking a Reb Eizik Reb Yekel’s in
Krakow. It was a dream, and dreams
don’t mean anything.”
Reb Eizik heard what the policeman said
and was shocked. The police dreamed
that there was a treasure in his home! He
had mentioned his name. He didn’t tell
the goy that he was Eizik Reb Yekel’s.
He immediately went home, dug under
his oven, found a great treasure there, and
became very wealthy.
With a portion of the money, he built a
beautiful shul in Krakow called “Reb
Eizik Reb Yekel’s Shul.”
Tzaddikim tell this story, and they teach
various lessons from it.
One year, after Yom Kippur, the Imrei
Chaim of Viznitz zt’l (Likutei Imrei
Chaim, Motzei Yom Kippur) repeated this
story and explained that people think that
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the
treasure because on these days we reach
high spiritual levels. But when these
awesome days arrive, they discover that
they have the treasure within themselves.
They have so much potential. They have
so much talent. There is so much that
they can do.
This is the avodah after the yomim tovim
pass, to find the treasures that are within
you.