Kara Shachav 12 Tammuz (5716)

The Alef Kabbala Group (22 June 2010) explored a non-edited discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe said in 1956 on the 12 Tammuz, the day the Previous Rebbe, Yosef Yitzhak, was miraculously released from captivity in the Soviet Union. He had been arrested because of his work to keep Judaism alive in the Communist state. In 1956 the date 12 Tammuz fell in the week of Sedra Balak, and the discourse focuses on the words "[Israel] lies down like a lion, who can make him rise up". The Talmud links this to the Shema prayer, which also speaks of lying down and getting up. This leads to a discussion of the 'sleep' of the Jewish people in Exile when they do not perceive the Divine source of existence (as in ordinary sleep one cannot see). Of course, the goal is to wake up and recognise the Divine.