6556 —הוספה בתורה ומצות כצינור לברכה, שמירת שיעורי חת"ת, והחתן בעת החופה

B"H, 14th of Marcheshvan, 5719

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In response to your letter, a pidyon nefesh, of the 9th of Cheshvan.

At a propitious time it will be read at the holy resting place of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, may the memory of the righteous and holy be a blessing for the life of the World to Come, whose soul is in the hidden treasuries on high, may his merit protect us; and may it be G‑d's will that you report good news in this.

And it is understood, and also simple, that the more the one who brings the request adds in Torah and mitzvos, in which there is of course also an influence on the surroundings to bring them closer to our Father in Heaven (see Tanya, ch. 32), which is the meaning of the command ואהבת לרעך כמוך "Love your fellow as yourself" (Vayikra 19:18), כלל גדול בתורה "a great principle of the Torah" (Rashi there), the more this adds to the blessings of G‑d, blessed be He, for the fulfillment of the wishes of his heart for good.

It seems to me that we spoke about keeping the three well-known daily study portions of Chitas (Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya); at any rate, he should keep them from now on.

With blessing for good news in all the above,

In the name of the Rebbe, shlita,

Secretary

P.S.

There was a saying current among the Chassidim of Poland that when a groom stands under his chuppah it is a time of favor Above for fulfilling the wishes of his heart. This can be grounded in a number of sayings of our Sages, among them that on the day of the chuppah all his sins are forgiven (see Rashi on Bereishis 36:3; Yerushalmi Bikkurim 3:3), that חתן דומה למלך "a groom is likened to a king" (Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer, ch. 16), and above all that at the time of the chuppah he is compared to כשמחך יצירך בגן עדן מקדם "as You gladdened Your creation in the Garden of Eden of old" (from the wedding blessings, Kesubos 8a), for that was before the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, when the world was in its fullness. (Whereas according to the first reasons, this is not necessarily at the time of standing under the chuppah, and this is easy to understand.)

Summary

This letter promises that the recipient's pidyon nefesh will be read at the Previous Rebbe's resting place, and teaches that adding in Torah and mitzvos and drawing others closer increases G‑d's blessings. It asks him to keep the daily Chitas study, and its postscript explains, from sayings of the Sages, why a groom under the chuppah stands at a time of Divine favor.