6042 - Milah, Shabbos, and Parshas HaMan

Holy Letters of the Rebbe, Volume 16, Letter number 6042. Baruch Hashem, the 8th of Shevat 5718, Brooklyn, New York.

We have many letters addressed to Rabbi Yolis of Philadelphia. He was probably one of the recipients who received the greatest number of letters from the Rebbe, and the Rebbe would often weave into them scholarly and sometimes mystical ideas. Let’s see what the Rebbe says in this letter.

Baruch Hashem, the 8th of Shevat 5718, Brooklyn, New York. [Hebrew reading…]

Rabbi Yolis would sit at the Rebbe’s farbrengen right next to the Rebbe. He had a very angelic appearance, with a completely white, full beard and a very red face, creating a striking contrast of red and white. He truly looked angelic. He would sit very close to the Rebbe, sometimes handing the Rebbe a pen when the Rebbe would write, such as when completing a tractate for learning on Yud-Tes Kislev. At times, he would speak with the Rebbe there as well. The Rebbe reached out to him very strongly and was mekarev him greatly.

Because this letter contains ellipses (“dot dot dot”), it is difficult to determine the exact connection. I am going to take a bit of a wild guess here. It seems likely that a baby boy was born on a Friday, the Friday of the week before the Rebbe wrote this letter. That week, the 8th of Shevat, was Parshas Beshalach. The Friday before would therefore have been Parshas Bo. The bris, which takes place eight days later, would then fall on the following Friday, Parshas Beshalach. The Rebbe wrote this letter on Monday, Ches Shevat, which was Monday of Parshas Beshalach, and appears to be responding to something related to the bris.

The Rebbe points out that there is a connection and a specific order linking the day the baby was born, the bris milah, and the parshas hayom. The bris would take place on Friday of Parshas Beshalach, which is the day when Parshas HaMan is read. Thus, there is a structured progression, which the Rebbe describes as moving from below to above.

First, the baby is born on Erev Shabbos Kodesh—Friday, which is not yet Shabbos. That is the first stage. Then, the bris takes place on the eighth day, in accordance with the Zohar and Midrash, so that at least one Shabbos passes over the child—ta’avor alav Shabbos achas. This means that one full Shabbos must intervene.

Then comes the bris itself, together with the parshas hayom of Friday. As instituted by the Previous Rebbe, the daily Chitas study includes the Chumash portion of Parshas HaMan. Thus, the bris coincides with the reading of the Man, which itself highlights the sanctity of Shabbos, since the Man did not fall on Shabbos.

The Rebbe then brings teachings from the Zohar and Likutei Torah regarding the concept of Matronisa, referring to Malchus. There is a “small” level of Malchus and a “greater” level of Malchus. Through circumcision—which corresponds to the sefirah of Yesod—the union is effected, allowing the higher level of Malchus to rest upon the lower level. The smaller Matronisa refers to Malchus as it descends into the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah, while the Matronisa Gedolah refers to Malchus as it exists in Atzilus. I admit that these are complex ideas, and I do not yet have the full clarity of their exact connection, but this is the general direction.

The Rebbe further explains that milah is called yafeh—beautiful. The Gemara in Nedarim (31b) states that the uncircumcised are called ma’us (repugnant). From the principle of michlal lav ata shomea hen, since the orlah is considered repugnant, removing it through milah renders the person yafeh.

This also connects to the teaching that Bnos Yisrael na’os—the daughters of Israel are beautiful. The Gemara explains this by saying that isha k’ma’an d’mehilah damya—a woman is considered as if she is circumcised (Avodah Zarah 27a). Since there is no orlah, there is no repugnance, and therefore there is beauty.

I am aware that I am still working through these ideas and do not yet have a complete grasp of all the connections. Nevertheless, I did not want to leave this letter without any explanation at all. This is the best I can offer for now, and I will need to revisit it and work through it again.