5820 —קביעות עתים לתורה, בזמן ובנפש, כצנור לברכות השנה

B"H, 3 MarCheshvan, 5718

Brooklyn.

To the chassidim of long standing, G‑d-fearing men, distinguished and exalted, the participants in the public Torah class, may they all stand firm upon the blessing

Greetings and blessing!

I received your pidyon nefesh in its time, and on Erev Rosh Hashanah just past I read it at the holy resting place of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, of sainted memory, may his merit protect us, the leader of Israel;

for of a leader in Israel the well-known saying of our Sages applies: מה להלן עומד ומשמש אף כאן עומד ומשמש "just as there he stands and serves, so here too he stands and serves" (Sotah 13b); and he arouses great mercy upon the flock he shepherds, for whatever they need, מנפש ועד בשר "from soul to flesh" (after Yeshayahu 10:18).

May it be the will of G‑d, blessed be He, in His abundant mercy, to bless this year so that all the blessings with which Jews blessed one another are fulfilled in full, from soul to flesh;

and especially for those who set fixed times for Torah (after קבעת עתים לתורה "did you set fixed times for Torah?" Shabbos 31a), for the Torah is the channel and the vessel for receiving the blessings of G‑d, blessed be He, in whatever a person and his household need; a fixedness in keeping with the saying of the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya (the authority who rules in the hidden part of the Torah) and of the Shulchan Aruch (the authority who rules in the revealed part of the Torah): fixedness in time and fixedness in the soul, and the latter is the main thing.

And it is known that what is fixed is not nullified. That is to say, this matter has great power to overcome the concealments and hiddenness of our world, and to draw down the blessing written in our Torah: בחקתי תלכו "if you walk in My statutes" (Vayikra 26:3), meaning, as Rashi explains, שתהיו עמלים בתורה "that you toil in the Torah," then ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם וגו' "I will give your rains in their season..." (Vayikra 26:4), all the things enumerated in the portion.

May it be G‑d's will that you always, all the days, each and every one of you, hear from one another only good, both materially and spiritually.

With respect and with blessing.

Publisher's notes

The participants in the public Torah class (משתתפי בשיעור תלמוד תורה דרבים): given by Rabbi Gluskin, Ramat HaSharon.

Summary

This letter tells the members of a Torah class that the Previous Rebbe, who still "stands and serves," was asked on Erev Rosh Hashanah to bless them. Fixed times for Torah, fixed in time and above all in the soul, are the vessel for G‑d's blessings, for what is fixed is never nullified, and they overcome the world's concealments to bring every blessing of "if you walk in My statutes."