6824 —עיבוד ניגוני חב"ד בשלמותם, ותודה על ספריו לספריה

B"H, 26 Nissan, 5719
Brooklyn.

Mr. Yitzchak Edel, may he live long^[1]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

After a very prolonged interruption your letter was received, and after it your books, which you sent through Rabbi Avraham Chanoch Glitzenstein, may he live long.^[2]

Many thanks^[3] for this gift of yours. Surely in the future too you will send here from your publications in this field, since the library here serves the public good.

As to what you write about arranging Chabad music in a manner that it remain whole in its inner and central [character].^[4]

I have asked Anash^[5] to be in contact with you^[6] regarding the above and its details. May it be G‑d's will that, in the style of our Sages, "from him and from them the Supreme Name will be praised."^[7] The great importance that Chabad Chassidus attaches to niggunim is well known, as is also cited from several places^[8] in the introduction to Sefer HaNiggunim, which you have.^[9]

Since we have just come from the festival of Pesach, the season of our freedom,^[10] and you mention in your letter, among the principal niggunim, also the niggun "Ufaratzta,"^[11] I enclose a copy of my general letter for that festival.^[12] May it be G‑d's will that this festival too bring about the intention: to carry its joy and its themes into the weeks and months that follow it.

With respect and blessing.

Publisher's notes

Mr. .. Edel (מר.. אדל): A further letter to him – above, letter 6657.

Notes

1. Mr. Yitzchak Edel (מר יצחק שי' אדל): שי' = שיחי', "may he live long". Edel, Tel Aviv (per the publisher's note on letter 6657). In his previous letter, which the Rebbe answered on 24 Teves 5719 (ibid.), he wrote of his interest "in the songs of the Jewish people in general, and in Chassidic and Chabad songs in particular," and of how rarely they now appear in choirs' programmes, and proposed arranging a number of Chabad niggunim for choirs. The Rebbe replied that in principle "the proposal seems very fitting," but there is good reason to fear "that the arrangement will change the form and the content," and asked for "a detailed proposal and plan that will rule out the said fear"; he also asked about his work with youth and his publications in these matters. The present letter answers his next letter, sent "after a very prolonged interruption." See also letter 6977 below (20 Menachem Av 5719), in which the Rebbe encouraged the forming of a choir of Chabad young men to sing Chabad niggunim.

2. Rabbi Avraham Chanoch Glitzenstein (הרב א. ח. שי' גליצנשטיין): ע"י = על ידי, "through". הרב א. ח. = Rabbi Avraham Chanoch Glitzenstein of Lod (per the publisher's note on a letter to him, vol. 19, letter 7404: מו"ה אברהם חנוך שי': גליצנשטיין, לוד), to whom the Rebbe wrote, among other things, about his work translating the book "Beis Rebbe" into Hebrew (vol. 7, letter 1889).

3. Many thanks (ת"ח): ת"ח = תשואות חן, "many thanks". הספרי' = הספריה, "the library".

4. Arranging Chabad music (עבוד נגינה חב"ד): במ"ש = במה שכתב, "as to what you write". That is, his proposal to arrange Chabad niggunim (see note 1); he now writes that the arrangement will be done so that the niggun remains whole.

5. Anash (אנ"ש): אנ"ש = אנשי שלומנו, "our fellow Chassidim".

6. You (כ'): כ' = כבודו, "your honor" (and so below).

7. "From him and from them the Supreme Name will be praised" (מני' ומנייהו יתקלס שם עילאה): The style of Rabbi Abbahu in Sotah 40a: the wife of Rabbi Abbahu's interpreter told Rabbi Abbahu's wife that her husband did not need hers; when she reported this to Rabbi Abbahu, he said: ומאי נפקא ליך מינה? מיני ומיניה יתקלס עילאה, "What difference does it make to you? From me or from him the One Above will be praised." The Rebbe changes it to "from him and from them": from the recipient and from Anash who will be in contact with him, the Supreme Name will be praised.

8. Also cited from several places (ג"כ מכ"מ): ג"כ = גם כן, "also"; מכ"מ = מכמה מקומות, "from several places".

9. Sefer HaNiggunim (ספר הנגונים): Its introduction gathers sayings of our Rebbeim on the importance of niggun. The Rebbe had already written to the recipient in letter 6657: וחלק חשוב מלוקט במבוא לספר הנגונים הוצאת קה"ת, אשר בטח ישנו אצל כב', "and an important part is collected in the introduction to Sefer HaNiggunim, published by Kehot, which you surely have."

10. Just come from the festival of Pesach (ז"ע באנו מחג הפסח): ז"ע = זה עתה, "just now". "The season of our freedom" is Pesach, which ended four days before this letter was written (Acharon shel Pesach, 22 Nissan).

11. The niggun "Ufaratzta" (נגון ופרצת): במכ' = במכתבו, "in your letter". The niggun is named after the verse Bereishis 28:14: והיה זרעך כעפר הארץ ופרצת ימה וקדמה וצפנה ונגבה, "And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south." "Ufaratzta" was the watchword of the year 5719, as the Rebbe writes in letter 6768: וכהסיסמא דשנה זו דופרצת ימה וקדמה וצפונה ונגבה ועד לנחלה בלי מצרים, "and as the watchword of this year, 'Ufaratzta' westward, eastward, northward and southward, up to an inheritance without bounds" (see also letter 6541 and the publisher's note there).

12. My general letter for that festival (מכתבי כללי למועד האמור): The general letter for Pesach 5719, of 11 Nissan, "To our brethren the Children of Israel everywhere," printed above as letter 6805. It teaches that one of the lessons of Pesach is that a Jew "has the powers and can actually, in a short time... transform himself – from one extreme to the other."

Summary

The Rebbe thanks the recipient for the books he sent to the library and asks him to keep sending his publications. On his plan to arrange Chabad niggunim so that they remain whole, the Rebbe has asked Chassidim to work with him, stressing the great value Chabad Chassidus places on niggun. Since he mentioned the niggun "Ufaratzta," the Rebbe encloses his general letter for Pesach, and blesses him that the festival's joy carry into the weeks and months that follow.