Yud-Gimmel Tishrei
[The opening of this Sicha is not in the source text; it begins mid-story.]
[OCR unclear] ... And he began to count the volumes of the writings of Chassidus that were lying on one of the shelves, and counted more than thirty volumes. He then turned to his father with a question: "Would you have written so many maamarim even if you had not been receiving people for yechidus?" The Tzemach Tzedek answered: "Yes. You are right."
When my father-in-law, the Rebbe [the Previous Rebbe], told this story, he added: There were three kinds of writings of the Tzemach Tzedek: a) notes, "hanachos," of maamarim that he had heard; b) explanations on maamarim; c) maamarim that he wrote in his capacity as Rebbe. And most of the volumes on that shelf were of the third kind.
It is understood that the Tzemach Tzedek, in his question, "I could study during this time," did not intend to withhold (or even merely to diminish) the influence that he would impart through yechidus in order to be able to study more for himself. For the law is that Torah study is interrupted for a mitzvah that cannot be performed by others (and the influence he imparted through "yechidus" could not possibly be imparted by others). Moreover, we have been assured that through the act of tzedakah one's mind and heart become refined a thousand times over [OCR unclear]. Rather, he meant to say that through his study, too, he could impart the very same influence that he imparted through yechidus. (This is similar to the rains that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai drew down by saying Torah.)
To this the Rebbe Maharash answered that the power to write maamarim (of the third kind, as Nasi), whose purpose is to draw the hidden matters of the Torah into revelation, comes through imparting influence specifically in a manner of enclothement, that is, yechidus (as is known, "yechidus" is the revelation of the yechidah of the soul). It is from this level that the power to say and to write maamarim is drawn.
This answer had to come from his son, who afterwards became his successor; it was specifically he [OCR unclear] ... the Tzemach Tzedek. This is also seen in the manner of his answer: his answer was not given directly, but rather by way of a question, out of honor for his father.
The lesson for our service of G‑d:
Although through every good deed that a person does, even a deed that concerns only himself, he tips the whole world to the side of merit and brings about refinement in the world as a whole, one must not be content with this. The refinement of the world must be specifically by way of enclothement. And through his influence on another in a manner of enclothement, additional light is drawn into the one who imparts the influence as well, as our Sages expounded on the verse "מאיר" ("Enlightens") ...
[Continued on the next page]
Notes
[The source marks seven footnote references on this page, but the OCR lost their numbers and the footnote texts are not in the source, so they cannot be given here.]
Key Lesson
Doing good for oneself already brings merit and refinement to the whole world, but that is not enough: we must reach out and influence others personally, enclothing ourselves in their situation. Just as the Rebbe Maharash showed that the Tzemach Tzedek's maamarim flowed from his yechidus with others, influencing others also brings added light to the one who gives.