6808 —תודה על מסירת מצה שמורה לכפר חב"ד, וימי ניסן כולם כראש חודש

B"H, 11 Nissan, 5719
Brooklyn.

The Rav and Gaon, the Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, "a basket full of books", whose work is the work of Heaven^[1], our teacher Rabbi Ben Tzion Moshe Yair, may he live long and happily^[2], and his son, the Rav and Gaon, the Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, our teacher Rabbi Yosef Menachem, may he live long and happily^[3]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I acknowledge receipt of your letter of 7 Nissan, which has just arrived, and many, many thanks^[4] for fulfilling my request to deliver the "food of faith" and the "food of healing"^[5] to Kfar Chabad in the Holy Land, may it be rebuilt and established, "for there G‑d has commanded the blessing"…^[6]

May it be G‑d's will that – as "merit is brought about on meritorious days" – good news be brought about, in good that is visible and revealed^[7]; for all the days of the month of Nissan are in the category of Rosh Chodesh (the Shelah, end of Parshas Bo)^[8]; and although work is permitted on it (the sefirah of Malchus), nevertheless it is not called "the days of work"^[9], since it receives from Above, unlike the days of work (as explained at length in the discourse beginning "Machar Chodesh" of the Tzemach Tzedek, printed in Or HaTorah, Bereishis)^[10]. So may there be added, below ten handbreadths^[11], from the very highest heights, down to the place of "for I am the L‑rd your healer", whose initial letters spell ארי"ך, as explained in the writings of the Arizal^[12]. And this too is akin to the theme of Pesach: a beginning from the expanded consciousness (mochin degadlus)^[13].

With respect, and with a double blessing for a kosher and happy Pesach in all the above^[14].

Publisher's notes

The Rav and Gaon… may he live long and happily (הרה"ג.. שליט"א): Weinstock, Jerusalem. Further letters to Rabbi Yosef Menachem: above, vol. 14, letter 4877; vol. 15, letter 5607.

Rabbi Ben Tzion Moshe Yair (מו"ה בן ציון משה יאיר): See also below, vol. 19, letter 7254 (to him, 11 Nissan 5720, with Pesach blessings and thanks for his book Kinor Ben David).

The "food of faith" and the "food of healing" (מיכלא דמהימנותא ומיכלא דאסוותא): See also above, letter 6786 (to the residents of Kfar Chabad, Motzaei Shabbos Parshas HaChodesh 5719, with Pesach blessings and a shipment of shmurah matzah).

Notes

1. The Rav and Gaon… whose work is the work of Heaven (הרה"ג הרה"ח אי"א נו"נ צנמ"ס מלאכתו מלאכת שמים): הרה"ג = הרב הגאון, "the Rav and Gaon"; הרה"ח = הרב החסיד, "the Chassid"; אי"א = איש ירא אלקים, "a G‑d-fearing man"; נו"נ = נעלה ונכבד, "distinguished and honored"; צנמ"ס = צנא מלא ספרי, "a basket full of books", a title for a scholar versed in many books. "Whose work is the work of Heaven" follows R. Yishmael's words to R. Meir, who was a scribe (Eruvin 13a): בני, הוי זהיר במלאכתך, שמלאכתך מלאכת שמים היא, "My son, be careful in your work, for your work is the work of Heaven."

2. Rabbi Ben Tzion Moshe Yair (מו"ה בן ציון משה יאיר שליט"א): Weinstock, Jerusalem (per the publisher's note). R. Moshe Yair Weinstock (1899–1982), a Jerusalem kabbalist and disciple of R. Yehuda Leib Ashlag, who wrote and published dozens of books on Kabbalah, halachah, Chassidus and mussar (Kedem auction catalogue). On 12 Tammuz 5717 he attended the Rebbe's farbrengen for the Festival of Redemption, as the Rebbe wrote to his son (vol. 15, letter 5607): "I was pleased to see your father, the Rav and Gaon, etc., at the farbrengen of the Festival of Redemption." The following year, before Pesach, the Rebbe wrote to him again (vol. 19, letter 7254, 11 Nissan 5720), thanking him for his book Kinor Ben David.

3. His son… Rabbi Yosef Menachem (ובנו... מו"ה יוסף מנחם שליט"א): R. Yosef Menachem Weinstock, his son. The Rebbe wrote to him on 28 Cheshvan 5717 (vol. 14, letter 4877), when he sent the Rebbe Seder Olam Rabbah HaShalem, vol. 1, and asked for his comments, to which the Rebbe responded with many notes; and on 13 Tammuz 5717 (vol. 15, letter 5607), answering his letter received on 12 Tammuz.

4. Which has just arrived… many, many thanks (שנתקבל ז"ע, ות"ח ת"ח): ז"ע = זה עתה, "just now"; ת"ח ת"ח = תשואות חן תשואות חן, "many, many thanks". Their letter of Wednesday, 7 Nissan, had just arrived.

5. The "food of faith" and the "food of healing" (מיכלא דמהימנותא ומיכלא דאסוותא): That is, shmurah matzah, called by these two names after the Zohar. In the Zohar (Parshas Tetzaveh) matzah is called "healing": כד נפקו ישראל ממצרים, לא הוי ידעי עקרא ורזא דמהימנותא... כיון דאכלו מצה, דאיהי אסוותא למיעל ולמנדע ברזא דמהימנותא, "When Israel left Egypt they did not know the root and secret of faith… once they ate matzah, which is a healing for entering and knowing the secret of faith." The Alter Rebbe said (Hayom Yom, 15 Nissan): "'The food of faith' – the first night; 'the food of healing' – the second night. When the healing brings the faith, one thanks G‑d for the cure – so one had been ill. But when the faith brings the healing, one is not ill in the first place." That year the Rebbe wrote to the residents of Kfar Chabad (letter 6786, Motzaei Shabbos Parshas HaChodesh): "I have sent shmurah matzah, and asked that the general council of Kfar Chabad and the spiritual council… distribute it to the residents of Kfar Chabad… May it have its effect, the effect of the 'food of faith' and the 'food of healing', in full."

6. "For there G‑d has commanded the blessing"… (אשר שם צוה ה' את הברכה...): באה"ק ת"ו = בארץ הקודש תבנה ותכונן, "in the Holy Land, may it be rebuilt and established". The quotation is from Tehillim 133:3: "for there G‑d has commanded the blessing, life forever." The dots in the original mark a part of the letter omitted by the publishers.

7. "Merit is brought about on a meritorious day" (מגלגלין זכות... ליומין זכאין): בשו"ט = בשורות טובות, "good news". After the Baraisa (Taanis 29a): מגלגלין זכות ליום זכאי, וחובה ליום חייב, "Merit is brought about on a meritorious day, and liability on a day of liability" (the Rebbe writes it in Aramaic and in the plural, ליומין זכאין). The days of Nissan are meritorious days, fitting for good news to come about.

8. The Shelah, end of Parshas Bo (של"ה סוף פ' בא): של"ה = שני לוחות הברית, Shnei Luchos HaBris. Its words (Torah SheBichsav, Parshas Bo, Derech Chaim), on Shemos 12:2 "This month shall be for you the head of the months": אמנם דרך רמז הודיע כי כל החודש כולו הוא כמו ראש חודש, "By way of allusion, however, it teaches that the whole month is like Rosh Chodesh – not like the other months, in which Rosh Chodesh is sanctified and the rest of the days of the month are ordinary; rather, this whole month is like Rosh Chodesh: every day is like Rosh Chodesh."

9. "The days of work" (ימי המעשה): ספי' = ספירת, "the sefirah of"; בכ"ז = בכל זה, "nevertheless". The phrase follows Yechezkel 46:1: "The gate of the inner courtyard that faces east shall be closed the six days of work, and on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened." Rosh Chodesh is thus not counted among "the six days of work", although work is permitted on it.

10. The discourse "Machar Chodesh" of the Tzemach Tzedek (ד"ה מחר חדש לכ"ק אדמו"ר הצ"צ): ד"ה = דיבור המתחיל, "the discourse beginning"; כ"ק אדמו"ר הצ"צ = the Tzemach Tzedek. The discourse is on Shmuel I 20:18: "And Yehonasan said to him: Tomorrow is the New Moon."

11. Below ten handbreadths (למטה מעשרה טפחים): After the Gemara (Sukkah 5a): "R. Yosi says: The Shechinah never descended below… But is it not written, 'And G‑d descended upon Mount Sinai'? – Above ten handbreadths." The blessing is to be drawn down even below ten handbreadths, and from the very highest heights.

12. "For I am the L‑rd your healer"… ארי"ך (כי אני ה' רפאך, ר"ת ארי"ך): ר"ת = ראשי תיבות, "initial letters". The verse ends Shemos 15:26: "all the sickness that I placed upon Egypt I will not place upon you, for I am the L‑rd your healer." The Rebbe wrote likewise in another letter (vol. 15, letter 5595, 9 Tammuz 5717), blessing a recovery: "as it is written, 'for I am the L‑rd your healer'… and it is known that its initials are ארי"ך, of which it is said, 'your healing (ארוכתך) shall speedily spring forth'" (Yeshayahu 58:8; there the Rebbe cites the sefer Kehillas Yaakov, entry "Refuah"). ארוכה means healing.

13. A beginning from the expanded consciousness (התחלה ממוחין דגדלות): ג"כ = גם כן, "also". In Likkutei Torah (Parshas Tzav, the discourse beginning "Sheshes Yamim Tochal Matzos"): והנה הגם שבלילות הראשונות של פסח נתגלה בחינת מוחין דגדלות כידוע – רק שזה היה לפי שעה בבחי' דילוג שלא כדרך הטבע. ולכן צ"ל ספירת העומר, "Although on the first nights of Pesach the level of mochin degadlus was revealed, as is known, this was only temporarily, by way of a leap, not in the natural order; therefore there must be the Counting of the Omer." Just as Rosh Chodesh – and the whole of Nissan – receives from Above, so Pesach begins with a revelation from Above, mochin degadlus, before man's own avodah.

14. In all the above (בכהנ"ל): בכהנ"ל = בכל הנזכר לעיל, "in all that was mentioned above".

Summary

The Rebbe thanks R. Moshe Yair Weinstock of Jerusalem and his son for delivering shmurah matzah – the "food of faith" and "food of healing" – to Kfar Chabad at his request. Since every day of Nissan is like Rosh Chodesh, which receives from Above, he blesses them that the blessing be drawn down even "below ten handbreadths", to "I am the L‑rd your healer"; this is akin to Pesach itself, which begins with a revelation from Above.