True Life

This discourse was delivered by the Rebbe on Shabbat Parshat Vayechi, 5727 (1967). The Sedra tells us Jacob lived seventeen years in Egypt, and the Baal HaTurim says these were the best years of his life. The Tzemach Tzedek as a child asked his grandfather Rabbi Shneur Zalman how this is possible, since Egypt was considered the place of impurity. The discourse resolves this paradox by exploring what constitutes 'true life' in the Chassidic sense: life that is genuinely connected to its divine source.