5855 —שיפור המקוה באלבאני בכל ההידור, וחיזוק הטהרה שפנימיותה הדעת

B"H, 18th of Marcheshvan, 5718

Brooklyn.

The Rabbi and Gaon, the veteran Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, honored and elevated, a man of energy, etc., our teacher Rabbi Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, may he live

Peace and blessing!

In reply to your letter of Sunday concerning the mikvah in Albany.

The day before yesterday I also spoke about this matter with the veteran Chassid, the G‑d-fearing Rabbi A., shochet and bodek, to urge them to improve the situation as far as possible; and once again they promised to put the question on the agenda and discuss it again. May it be G‑d's will that in the end the matter will actually come about, and in the manner required in matters of mikvaos, with every possible hiddur; and surely, when it is close to being carried out, they will be in touch with your honor.

The matter of the "building", and, as appears from your letter, the lack of consultation about it, is understandably distressing and even alarming. For in the end, something is lacking in a certain place, and in a matter of this kind. And even if you were to say that there was an unavoidable circumstance here, in such a case we do not say "it is as though he had done it." It is understood that I do not mean, G‑d forbid, merely to preach morals; the point is only to arouse special attention: since the above has become known, this is certainly a directive to all those who have learned of it to do something to correct and improve the situation; from which it is understood that, with the appropriate reflection, they will find the ways and means for it. This is founded on the saying of the Baal Shem Tov, which we heard several times from my father-in-law, the Rebbe, that in everything a Jew sees or hears there is a lesson for him in his service of his Maker (Hayom Yom, 9 Iyar); and this is easy to understand.

As to what you write about notes on your books, on the latest volumes and those to come: what can I do, when my time is not my own because of the many pressures? Still, as I wrote at the time, I have not despaired, G‑d forbid, that in the end I will be able to go through them, at least in haste, but to an extent that leaves room for at least some notes; and there are several degrees even in "haste"*. For the present, however, I do not know when that situation will come, and ולה' התשועה "deliverance is G‑d's" (Mishlei 21:31).

May G‑d, blessed be He, grant you success in strengthening taharah and spreading it wherever your honor's hand reaches. And may it be His will that the inner dimension within this be revealed as well, which is the inner dimension of the Torah, as all this is alluded to in the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, ודעת זה סדר טהרות "and knowledge** — this is the Order of Taharos" (Shabbos 31a), and is explained further in the Rambam at the end of the Laws of Mikvaos (11:12): how the inner dimension of taharah is daas (knowledge), דעה את ה' כמים לים מכסים "the knowledge of G‑d, as the waters cover the sea" (Yeshayahu 11:9). Although this will be in its fullness with the coming and revelation of our righteous Moshiach, a foretaste of it and a beginning of it must already be in the days of exile. This is the idea brought also in the works of Mussar, that the redemption began at the very moment of the destruction; and it is alluded to also in the well-known story in Eichah Rabbah (1:51), that the cow lowed the first time for the destruction, and immediately afterwards a second time for the birth of the righteous redeemer. And in the words of our master, the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya: תכלית השלימות של ימות המשיח ותחיית המתים תלוי במעשנו ועבודתנו כל זמן משך הגלות "This ultimate perfection of the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead ... depends on our actions and service throughout the duration of the exile"; see there, chapter 37.

With respect and with blessing.

*) See the Mechilta on Parshas Bo, on בחפזון "in haste" (Shemos 12:11).

**) See Likkutei Torah of our master, the Alter Rebbe, Chukas 60a; Rashi on Shemos 31:3.

Publisher's notes

Rabbi Chananya Yom Tov Lipa (מו"ה חנניא יו"ט ליפא): Deitsch, Cleveland, the Rav of Helmetz.

Rabbi A., shochet and bodek (מוהר"א שי' שו"ב): see above, vol. 10, letter 2972: "that he should be in touch there with the shochet, Rabbi Isser Brikman."

Summary

This letter answers a rav's concern over the mikvah in Albany: the Rebbe has pressed the local people to improve it with every hiddur, and teaches that whoever learns of such a lack is being shown that he must help repair it. He explains why he cannot yet annotate the recipient's books, and blesses his work for taharah, whose inner dimension is daas, a foretaste in exile of the knowledge of G‑d in the days of Moshiach.