5871 —פרסום קצירת העומר ושמחת בית השואבה, ובחירה ושכר ועונש באומות העולם

B"H, 25 Marcheshvan, 5718

Brooklyn.

The Rabbi and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and esteemed, engaged in communal needs, our teacher Rabbi Avraham Chanoch, may he live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letters: I have also received the copy of the second edition of the sichos of Tishrei 5717, material for the forthcoming journal, may it come upon us for good (the Omer issue, which I believe has already been approved), and a clipping from a periodical. It is understood that the month of Tishrei, with the days before and after it, was not a time that allowed for going over the copy of the above sichos, nor even the material for the journal. At the nearest opportunity this will be done, and the corrections, if there are any, will be sent to you.

As for your question on what was explained: that at the harvesting of the Omer the publicity was smaller than at Simchas Beis HaShoevah, because that was the period of the service of tzaddikim, whereas the month of Tishrei is the service of baalei teshuvah; and you ask what difference this makes, since the publicity was done to remove the error from the hearts of the Sadducees.

Now, there was publicity at the harvesting of the Omer as well; that is why every step was done and said three times, etc. See there, Menachos, beginning of chapter 6 (Menachos 65a, in the Mishnah: שלש פעמים על כל דבר ודבר "three times for each and every thing"). The difference, rather, lay in the joy of those engaged in it. For it is understood that the joy of a king's son who returns from captivity is greater than the joy of a king's son who was never in captivity (if there is any matter of joy there at all), since constant pleasure is no pleasure. Moreover, even as regards the Sadducees, they have a lighter and smaller hold, and much less of one, in the four cubits of the "Sadducees" (apparently to be read "tzaddikim", the righteous) who never sinned, than in the four cubits of baalei teshuvah.

As to what you write about free choice among the nations of the world: according to what is explained in many places in Chassidus, among them Likkutei Torah, Parshas Emor (35b), and the maamar beginning "Kevod Malchuscha," 5660, by his holiness the Rebbe (Rashab), whose soul is in Eden, there is no free choice, entirely free, except in the Essence and Being [of G‑d], which has no cause or reason, G‑d forbid, etc.; and consequently also in the Jewish people, who are like a son, who is of the very essence and being of the father (cf. Tanya, chapter 2). The matter of reward and punishment among the nations can be explained in two ways: (a) Reward and punishment in their case is only a term borrowed from the reward and punishment of Israel, but in truth it is a matter of cause and effect, like a small child who thrusts his finger into boiling water (and this needs some further study in light of Rambam, Laws of Teshuvah, end of chapter 5). (b) In those matters about which they were commanded, that is, the Noahide commandments, (together with) the command itself grants the possibility of both paths; that is, it lifts them above their nature and places them where there is room for choice. This is understood from the statement of the Mishnah, שכר מצוה מצוה "the reward of a mitzvah is the mitzvah" (Avos 4:2) itself: the very fact that a great sage commands a simple man to do something binds him to the great sage, and every bond brings about a point held in common by those bound together. This is easily understood.

Surely, as has been your custom all along, and especially after your last letter, you have prepared and are also sending to the periodicals material for printing for the days of the month of Kislev, and especially Yud-Tes Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of the teachings of Chassidus and the ways of Chassidus (Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev).

With blessing for success in all matters, and for good news in all the above.

See also: Igros Kodesh vol. 18, letter 6539

Publisher's notes

Our teacher Rabbi Avraham Chanoch (מו"ה אברהם חנוך): Glitzenstein, Lod.

See also below, letter 5906 (8 Kislev 5718), to him, on the Tehillim campaign proposed by Tzeirei Agudas Chabad and the youth gathering in Kfar Chabad.

Sadducees (צדוקים): This should apparently read "tzaddikim" (צדיקים), the righteous.

Summary

This letter explains that the Omer harvest was publicized too, but the joy of Tishrei, the season of baalei teshuvah, is greater, just as a prince returning from captivity rejoices more than one never captured; and that true free choice belongs only to G‑d's Essence and so to the Jewish people, while for the nations reward and punishment are either cause and effect or a capacity for choice granted by the Noahide command itself.