298 —טעם הרמב"ם לדחיית ראש השנה בימים מסוימים

B"H, 7th of the Ten Days of Teshuvah, 5708.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In these days I wish to express my wishes for a sealing in the Book of Life and a good inscription and sealing for him and all his family.

Regarding these days: The Rambam writes (Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh 7:7), "And why do we not establish Rosh Chodesh Tishrei on days Alef, Dalet, or Vav (Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday)?... They made one day for establishing and one day for postponement." But he does not explain "What is the fault of Alef, Dalet, or Vav that it should not be included... and what merit does Gimmel, Hei, or Zayin have?" as is asked in the Hasagot there. It can be explained as follows: The first day of Rosh Hashanah, which is Rosh Chodesh Tishrei, is a strict judgment. Therefore it is postponed from falling on Sunday from among the seven days of creation (which corresponds to Chesed), and from Wednesday (which corresponds to Netzach—also from the right side). Since it is impossible to have two consecutive postponed days, only Vav remains as a third possible postponed day. It seems more likely that Vav is postponed because Yesod (the sixth Sefirah) represents sweetening of judgments. As hinted by our Sages (Pesachim 54a): Why was "ki tov" not said on Monday? Because on that day the light of Gehinnom was created... but it was included again on Friday. See also Maharsha's glosses there.

This further clarifies: Since surely Rambam had a reason for specifically postponing Alef, Dalet, and Vav—as Raavad notes—why did he not explain it? If the reason is as above, it makes sense; and as explained in Sefer HaSichos (Summer 5700 p.41) in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that Rambam was an initiate in Kabbalah (see my note there), but he was careful not to reveal even hints because there was danger in doing so at his time.

With blessings for a good inscription and sealing,
Rabbi Menachem Schneerson
From a copy by secretariat.

Summary

The Rebbe explains why Rambam did not reveal mystical reasons behind calendar rules regarding Rosh Hashanah’s placement. He teaches that sometimes deep spiritual truths must remain hidden due to their sensitive nature in certain eras.