What is Hayom Yom (History & Background)

In this episode we cover the history and backstory behind the Rebbe's most famous work, the Sefer of Hayom Yom.

Presented by Rabbi Yaakov Krasnianski.

Transcript

By far the Rebbe's most famous book, and the first book the Rebbe ever published, was the Sefer of Hayom Yom, or as it is more formally titled לוח אור זרוע לחסידי חב״ד, which contains a thought and an entry for every single day on the calendar.

So I'm going to go through with you here the history and the backstory of how Hayom Yom came to be, and various different things the Rebbe and the Frierdiker Rebbe said about it.

It all began on Achron Shel Pesach in the year 1940, which is a little over a month after the Frierdiker Rebbe had come to America on Tes Adar Beis of the same year, and the Frierdiker Rebbe was talking then about different Chabad customs, and he said that really someone has to undertake a project to collect, gather, and organize all Chabad customs, putting it all and arranging it all into a book, laying it out for day-to-day life—day-to-day use—and it should be a universal and authoritative book that all Chabad Chassidim worldwide consult, follow, and rely on. And besides for just having customs, it should also contain certain Pesgamim, and short and concise Chassidic thoughts and ideas.

And then the Frierdiker Rebbe said that a work of such precision, a book of such precision that he's envisioning, can only be made by someone who is a Tifa Pnimi, which means someone who is a deeply authentic human being, by someone who is a Gruntiker Mesudar, which means someone who is thoroughly organized, and by someone who has a Das Rechava Vamukha, which means someone with a deep and broad mind.

And then the Frierdiker Rebbe said that Baruch Hashem, Hashem has blessed him that anytime he has an idea or a project or an undertaking which he truly and deeply feels will be to the benefit of the Jewish world at large and to the Chasidic community in particular, whether it will benefit them in Torah, in Yiras Shemayim, or in Parnassah, Hashem always helps and arranges that sooner or later different things come together and different things fall into place and it always ends up happening.

And the Friediker Rebbe said that therefore, he's extremely hopeful that for this project as well, Hashem will arrange that everything will fall into place and come together, and it’s going to happen and this book will come out, something that will make him very happy and will be a great benefit to the Aash community as a whole. 

And that is what the Friediker Rebbe said on Achron Shel Pesach in the year 1940.

Then a little over a year later, on Chof Ches Sivan, 1941, the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin arrived safe and sound on the shores of America, having escaped from the inferno that was war-torn Europe. 

And then about a year and a half after that, on Chof Kislev 1942—two and a half years after laying out his original vision—the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote a letter to his son-in-law, the Rebbe, and the Frierdiker Rebbe set the Rebbe this task of creating this book, of making a Chabad calendar, of making a Chassidic Calendar. And he told him that the calendar should begin with the first entry being yesterday Yud Tes Kislev 1942, and it should go to Chai Kislev, 1943. And the calendar should have an entry for every single day, and the calendar should contain three things. So, first of all, every single day, the Rebbe should tell Chasidim and tell Jews what is that day's Chumash, Tehillim,and Tanya that needs to be studied and needs to be read—what is that day's Chitas.

Additionally, there should be universal Chabad customs throughout the calendar that all Chabad Chasidim need to know and live by. And lastly, all throughout the calendar, there should be various Pesgamim, short and concise thoughts and ideas.

Upon receiving these instructions, the Rebbe immediately got to work and started working on this project, and it took the Rebbe about four months to complete from start to finish, and so finally in the month of Nissan of 1943 Hayom Yom was published. 

Which means that at the age of forty years old—ארבעים לבינה—the Rebbe wrote and published his first book.

Now it is worth noting here, that while Hayom Yom is widely considered to be the Rebbe’s first published work, the Rebbe had actually already produced a similar sort of work under the guidance of the Frierdiker Rebbe and in partnership with Rabbi Nissan Mindel, which had come out a few months prior to Hayom Yom, which had come out for Rosh Hashanah Tof Shin Gimmel, which is almost three months before the Frierdiker Rebbe had even asked the Rebbe to begin working on Hayom Yom.

And that book was produced in English, targeting young American schoolchildren, and it was titled “the young scholar’s pocket calendar.”

This book was a pocket sized calendar that ran from Rosh Hashanah Tuf Shin Gimmel, that is Rosh Hashanah 1942, all the way to Chof Tes Elul 1943. And in a somewhat similar fashion to Hayom Yom, every day on the calendar contains either a short Torah thought, a question relating to Yiddishkeit, or just some interesting fact of Jewish trivia, and it’s really quite a fascinating book, whose purpose was essentially to introduce and familiarize secular Jewish kids with the basics of Judaism, to fill their minds with general Torah knowledge.

But although this work came out a few months before the Rebbe had even started working on Hayom Yom, being that the Rebbe never directly associated his name with the work, and just take for example the biography of the Rebbe printed at the start of Hayom Yom, this work is not even mentioned there at all, so because of that Hayom Yom is widely considered and accepted to be the Rebbe’s first officially published work.

But I did want to mention the existence of this book, and the obvious relationship this work shares with the Sefer of Hayom Yom. And it’s also worth mentioning here that the Rebbe then went on to help produce a second volume, a second year of unique entries for this pocket sized English calendar, which would run from Rosh Hashanah Taf Shin Daled, that is Rosh Hashanah 1943, all the way to Chof Tes Elul 1944. And though as mentioned the Rebbe did not put his name to any of these two books, he did write an English introduction to each one of them respectively.

And I’m going to take the liberty now of reading to you a brief excerpt from the Rebbe’s introduction to the first year’s calendar, dated Erev Rosh Hashanah Tof Shin Gimmel, that is Chof tes Elul 1942,which is closely related to and which can essentially be viewed by us as applying to and being written for Hayom Yom as well.

So the Rebbe says, “Make this Calendar your constant companion and take full advantage of the knowledge and wisdom it contains. This Calendar should not merely tell you the date of the month, but, what is more important, the significance of each day. Time is a very great treasure. A minute lost or wasted can never be restored. Time can be very valuable, but it can also be absolutely valueless—all dependent on how you use it. Therefore, you must not let your time pass by without making full use of it, giving it the fullest measure of meaning and worth—Jewish meaning and worth.”

And that is all we are going to say here today regarding this English calendar which the Rebbe helped to produce, now let us return to the matter at hand, the creation and history of Sefer Hayom Yom, the story behind the project of Hayom Yom.

In later years, the Rebbe repeated several times that the Frierdiker Rebbe closely oversaw and directed the project, that he reviewed everything very closely and gave his approval at every step of the process. And that in fact there had been multiple things which the Rebbe had initially put into the work, multiple customs and Minhagim the Rebbe had thought to include in the book, that the Frierdiker Rebbe actually took them out, saying that they are not meant for everyone.

Additionally, the Rebbe shared how the Frierdiker Rebbe had agreed to release and reveal and publicize certain customs for the first time ever, which until then had always been kept secret, had always been shrouded in mystery, but for the sake of this project the Frierdiker Rebbe consented to having them revealed to the world.

We have a letter from the Rebbe dated Yud Aleph Adar Sheni, 1943, only a couple of weeks before Hayom Yom was to be published, and there the Rebbe is writing to someone, apologizing for taking so long to get back to him, taking so long to respond to him. And the Rebbe says, “Nowadays I am so busy and occupied with this project, I'm so busy working on this project for my father-in-law that I don't really have time for anything else.

Now one very interesting thing about the way the Rebbe set up and layed out Hayom Yom, and I'm not sure why, I'm not sure what the deeper significance of this is, but the Rebbe formatted it in such a way that the entry of Thursday, Friday, and Shabbos is always positioned on the right page, the right side of the book, while the entry of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is always on the left page, the left side of the book. Which means to say that when selecting and assigning entries for various dates, the Rebbe had to be mindful of the word count of each entry to make it fit in this way. Now obviously the Rebbe did this intentionally for some very specific reason, I'm just personally not sure what that reason is or what’s the significance behind this.

And then Hayom Yom came out and was released in Nissan of 1943. Now something that is extremely interesting about this, is that when Hayom Yom came out in Nissan 1943, so the first third of the calendar—all of the entries between Yud Tes Kislev 1942 and Nissan 1943—had already gone by, had already passed.

And another very interesting thing is that there are some Hayom Yom entries that are taken from Sichos and letters of the Friediker Rebbe which he said and wrote after Yud Tes Kislev 1942, after the project had already begun, after the first entry in the calendar.

Now, they say that when the Frierdiker Rebbe got his copy, he was extremely happy and while holding it he said “this is Mazon Ruchni for every single day,” which means this is spiritual food and spiritual sustenance for every single day of the year. 

Additionally, they say that when the Rebbe's younger brother, Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib, who was living in Israel at the time, so when he got a copy of Hayom Yom, he was elated and he was dancing with joy—but then he became very serious and grew sadly somber, and he said, “Chaval! that there's no one to appreciate this book, Chaval that there is no one to appreciate the treasures that are buried in this book.

And on another occasion, he commented about Hayom Yom that “I always knew that my brother had a Gute Kup, but Ad Kidei Kach!” which means I always knew my brother, the Rebbe, had a good head, he was a highly intelligent fellow, but this book of Hayom Yom is like totally next level.

Now, we have a letter from the Frierdiker Rebbe, from Chof Ches Nissan, 1943, which is only a couple of weeks after Hayom Yom was published, and the Frierdiker Rebbe was writing to a literary expert, and he says, “I'm sure you've seen the new incredible book of Hayom Yom.” And he said, דאס איז א קליין פארמאט ביכילע — ווי א חסיד בעדארף זיין קליין בא זיך, which means “It's a small book, small in format, the very same way a Chossid needs to be small in his own eyes.”

In other words, Chassidus teaches us how to be small in our own eyes, how to be small in our own estimation, how to be truly humble. And the book of Hayom Yom, which captures and embodies all of Chassidus and the spirit of Chassidus in concentrated form—it reflects that, it reflects and tangibly conveys its own message, by being a physically small book, mirroring, that the Chossid who studies it has to be and has to become a humble person. And the Friediker Rebbe continued that even though it's a small book, it is packed—it is jam-packed with the most precious and valuable pearls, diamonds, and gems. And he said further, עס איז אן אמת׳ר חסידישער קולטור ווערק, which means “It’s a work of true Chassidisher culture,” or “a truly Chassidic cultural work”, which is an extremely interesting expression. Then the Friedrich Rebbe said that “Hashem has blessed my son-in-law, the Rebbe, with the ability to construct and put up this beautiful and splendid Palace of 383 rooms”, meaning Hayom Yom, which has 383 entries.

And he said, what Hayom Yom has accomplished, is by giving and assigning a meaningful and powerful thought for every single day, it has shown us that every day is expressing something powerful, a powerful idea, a powerful message, a powerful energy. And that allows for true Hayom Yom, that every day in our life should truly be a day, that every day should be a powerful day, every day should be a meaningful day, that every day should be a Jewish day—that no day should be a lazy day, should be insignificant and unimportant—no, Hayom Yom, everyday is a day, every day is important, every day is meaningful, every day is powerful. And that is what the book has accomplished and that is what the title of the book is, that is what the title of the book speaks to, Hayom Yom, making every day count, making every day a day.

Now obviously that title, Hayom Yom, is inspired by and taken from our daily prayers from Shir Shel Yom, where every single day we say, Hayom Yom, today is this day, today is this prayer, today is this energy.

Additionally, the name Hayom Yom is presumably inspired by and a play on a phrase found in Psalms, found in the book of Tehillim, Kapittel Yud Tes, Possuk Gimmel, where it says the words י֣וֹם לְ֭יוֹם יַבִּ֣יעַֽ אֹ֑מֶר, every day that passes, every day that goes by is saying something, is expressing some sort of message.

And the Frierdiker Rebbe concluded that letter by quoting to his correspondent that day's Hayom Yom, the Hayom Yom of Chof Ches Nissan, which just shows you what Chashivas Hayom Yom had in the Frierdiker Rebbe's eyes.

Then we have a letter from the Rebbe, from Yud-Alef Menachem Av, 1943, several months after Hayom Yom was published, and in the letter the Rebbe mentions Hayom Yom, and he says, the recent publication of Hayom Yom has caused and sparked tremendous joy in the Chassidishe world—that's what the Rebbe wrote.

Now what's very interesting, is that by us Chabad Chassidim, the real start of the year is Yud Tes Kislev. Yud Tes Kislev is the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. And the two Chassidisha books which reflect that practically are the Tanya and Hayom Yom, which are both structured in such a way, and are designed in such a way that we begin learning them on Yud Tes Kislev.

But what people don't realize is that the Frierdiker Rebbe only revealed the annual cycle of Tanya, the Frierdiker Rebbe only revealed to the world how Tanya is meant to be learned on an annual cycle, in Hayom Yom for the first time. And therefore Hayom Yom was practically the first book created to follow and reflect this idea that Yud Tes Kislev is the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. It was structured in such a way that you start learning it on Yud Tes Kislev. And it's Hayom Yom that taught us, and Hayom Yom that taught Chassidim, that that's the way we're meant to approach Tanya as well, that's the way Tanya is meant to be studied, you're also meant to start from the beginning of Tanya on Yud Tes Kislev. And it’s because of this, that throughout 1943 and beyond, often when the Frierdiker Rebbe was talking about studying Tanya, he wouldn't refer to it as learning the Shiurei Tanya, but rather he would refer to it as learning the Shiurei hayom Yom.

And on Shavuos 1943, a very short while after Hayom Yom was published, the Frierdiker Rebbe actually said that those here who have been careful to keep the Shiurei Hayom Yom will be able to experience Matan Torah this year in a much deeper more powerful way.

Now, we do know that the Rebbe started working on what seems to have been another Hayom Yom project that would have gone from Yud Tes Kislev 1943 to Chai Kislev 1944. And the Rebbe started working on that, and drew up several tens of entries, but for whatever reason, that project was shelved, and it never came to fruition. But the entries the Rebbe started working on and started to draw up have since been printed and included in the back of the Hayom Yom.

Now, in the year Taf Shin Yud Zayin, that’s 1956 slash 1957, the Rebbe had them reprint Hayom Yom, and the Rebbe made some very significant changes to the book, especially to the customs and Minhagim included in Sefer Hayom Yom. And some very, very, very significant changes from the original edition. Additionally, the Rebbe updated the Frierdiker Rebbe's biography included at the beginning of the Hayom Yom, bringing it up to date, and the Rebbe put in his own biography. 

And what's very cool to realize, is that the most accurate biography we have of the Rebbe, the most accurate summary we have of his years, is in at the beginning of Hayom Yom, because the Rebbe himself oversaw it and edited it.

And although the Rebbe wouldn’t himself officially come out and publicly declare that every person has to be studying Hayom Yom every single day, until the late 1980s, there are two highly interesting and significant incidents recorded in the duology set of Hamelech Bimisiboy. 

The first said incident took place in the Rebbe’s Sukkah, on the first night of Sukkos Tuf Shin Chof Beis, that is Sukkos 1961. And the Rebbe was making reference then to a certain teaching of the Frierdiker Rebbe found in Hayom Yom, and he asked if anyone present could repeat the specifics of what was stated there, and then the Rebbe smiled and said, “It was printed many years ago, long enough for me to forget.”

There was one Bochur there who started to mumble out the information, and the Rebbe turned to him and said, “Don’t be embarrassed, if you know it well then speak up.” It then fell silent, and all the Bochurim were leaning in and pushing to try and get closer to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe said,  “אז מ׳ווייסט ניט — וואס שטופעט מען זאך?!”, which means, “If you don’t know, then why on earth are you pushing yourself closer!” Which is obviously a pretty sharp comment. Someone then brought a physical copy of Hayom Yom out into the Sukkah, and it was read aloud for all to hear.

And then the second such incident took place on the second night of Sukkos Tuf Shin Lamed Aleph, that is Sukkos 1970, and the Rebbe was actually discussing then the very same teaching in Hayom Yom as in the previously mentioned incident, and the Rebbe paused and said, “Maybe there is someone here who can repeat the teaching as it is recorded in Hayom Yom, מען מעג דאך וויסן וואס עס שטייט געדרוקט, which means, one should know the things which have been already printed and put down on paper for us by our holy Rebbeim.

And that is that.

Then in 1988, Hayom Yom was translated into English for the first time, which was obviously a very significant event.

And then finally, on Yud Tes Kislev Taf Shin Mem Tes, Yud Tes Kislev 1988, so the Rebbe was talking publicly about Hayom Yom, calling it a Sefer’l, referring to it as a small little book, a pocket-sized compendium, and he mentioned how the Frierdiker Rebbe had overseen the project very, very closely, and approved of everything, and overseen everything.

And then he said it was Bihashgacha Protis, it was by divine providence, that the Frierdiker Rebbe had him write it in a year that was a leap year. And that way, there was a relevant Hayom Yom entry for every single day of the year, forever, for all the years to come. And he said, even though it doesn't always fall out on the same Kvias as the original year, even though it doesn't always fall out on the same day of the week, or on the same Parasha as the year that it was originally written for, he said there is a connection between every Hayom Yom entry and today—the day it’s being read—between what’s written in Hayom Yom and what's happening today in your life, what's happening today in the world. And there's always a relevance, there's always a message, there's always a connection. And he said, Hashem should help that we should Areinleigen In Dem, which means we should put our heads to it, to finding the connection, to finding the meaning, to finding the message. 

And he said if we indeed Areinleigen Zich In Dem, if we put our heads to it, we will be able to find the meaning, and find the message, and find the connection a lot easier than we would have imagined, a lot easier than we would have thought possible. 

And he said, if we do this, if we truly live with Hayom Yom every day, if we internalize the message of Hayom Yom every day, in a manner of Torah Milashon Horah, viewing it and learning it as something which speaks to our actually life experience, he said, then all of us will be able to בָּאִ֖ים בַּיָּמִ֑ים come with our days, which is an expression borrowed from the Chumash. And the Chumash is describing Tzaddikim, who have grown very old, who have reached a ripe old age. And it says regarding these righteous Jews that they were בָּאִ֖ים בַּיָּמִ֑ים, which means to say they were well on in days. But translated literally, the words mean they came with their days.

Which means—it's a way of saying—that they lived a full life, they lived life to the fullest, they utilized their time here on earth, they utilized their days here on earth. Every day was a meaningful, powerful, productive Jewish day. And the Rebbe concludes there that if we live with the message of Hayom Yom every day, we too will be able to come at the end of a year in a state of בָּאִ֖ים בַּיָּמִ֑ים, to come with all of our days, to come with a full life, a full year, full of days, full of powerful, meaningful Jewish days, a life well lived filled to the hilt with meaning and purpose.

And he said that that’s the way we will arrive at the Geulah H’amitis Vihashleima—Moshiach.

And that is what the Rebbe said. 

And what's very interesting about this Sicha is that there are two months on the Hebrew calendar, the months of Cheshvan and Kislev, which fluctuate in their length, some years they are 29 days long, and some years they're able to be 30 days long. And in the year that Hayom Yom was written, Tuf Shin Gimmel 1942–1943, so both Cheshvan and Kislev were both only 29 days long. Which means that anyone who has a birthday on Lamed Cheshvan, the rarest birthday on the calendar, or anyone who has a birthday on Lamed Kislev, there is actually no Hayom Yom entry for either of those birthdays, which obviously, based on what the Rebbe is, is in and of itself some sort of powerful message.

And it is because of this Sicha, that in the previously mentioned biography of the Rebbe printed at the start of Hayom Yom, so as it’s going through there the Rebbe’s Nesius year by year, and is outlining what he accomplished, innovated, and campaigned for during each year of his leadership, so when it comes to the year Tuf Shin Mem Tes, that is 1988/1989, it says מעורר (בי״ט כסלו) ע״ד לימוד לוח ״היום יום״ בכל יום ויום, on Yud Tes Kislev of this year, the Rebbe spoke strongly about the importance of studying the book of Hayom Yom every single day,

And with that we conclude this brief history of Sefer Hayom Yom. 

Thank you for being here and for tuning in to the end. May we take these messages to heart, and may today be the day that we merit to welcome our most righteous Moshiach.