5881 —גודל יום הבר מצוה, וחיזוק יהדות אמיתית בלתי פשרות לקראת חדש כסלו

B"H, 27 Marcheshvan, 5718

Brooklyn.

The Rabbi and Gaon, the veteran Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, honored and elevated, engaged in communal needs, a man of many deeds, etc., our teacher Rabbi Yehoshua, may he live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I hereby acknowledge receipt of your letter of 13 Marcheshvan with the pidyon nefesh enclosed in it, which will be read at an auspicious time at the holy resting place of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, of saintly memory. In it you report the entry into the yoke of mitzvos of your grandson Dovid, may he live, this past Shemini Atzeres, and also the entry into the yoke of mitzvos of your grandson Noach, may he live, on Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Vayishlach, which is approaching for good. The wondrous words of our Sages concerning bar mitzvah are already known, and this is their language:

דההוא יומא חובתא על צדיקא למעבד חדוותא דליבא כיומא דסליק לחופה ובגין ההוא זכותא עתיד הקב"ה לאתערא להו ולעברא כרוזא קדמיהון בחדוה צאינה וראינה בנות ציון "On that day it is an obligation upon the tzaddik to make rejoicing of the heart, like the day he goes up to the chuppah; and in the merit of that, the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future awaken them and have a herald pass before them in joy: 'Go forth and gaze, O daughters of Zion' (Shir HaShirim 3:11)" (Zohar Chadash, Bereishis 15d. And see also there 10c-d, and Zohar II, 98a. For it is of the day of bar mitzvah that the saying of King David was said, that G‑d says to him, בני אתה אני היום ילידתיך "You are My son, this day have I begotten you" (Tehillim 2:7), and the matter is explained in the notes of the Tzemach Tzedek on Tehillim there).

May it be G‑d's will that for length of days and good years you see true nachas, which is Chassidic nachas, from all your offspring, may they live; and this will add still more youthful strength to you to act for the strengthening and spreading of Yiddishkeit: true Yiddishkeit without compromises, the Yiddishkeit of Yisrael Saba, Israel the Elder.

Especially since we are approaching the month of Kislev, the month of miracles and redemption, the victory of תורתך וחוקי רצונך "Your Torah and the decrees of Your will" (Siddur, Al HaNissim for Chanukah), and as the precision in this is explained: "Your Torah" specifically, and not mere wisdom; and "the decrees of Your will," גזירה גזרתי חוקה חקקתי ואין לך רשות להרהר אחריה "I have issued a decree, I have ordained a statute, and you have no right to question it" (see Rashi on Bamidbar 19:2).

With blessing for good news in all of the above.

Publisher's notes

Our teacher Rabbi Yehoshua (מו"ה יהושע): Shpetman, London.

Summary

This letter marks the bar mitzvahs of two grandsons with the Zohar's teaching that the day obliges the tzaddik to rejoice as at his own wedding, and that G‑d then says, "You are My son, this day have I begotten you." It wishes the grandfather true Chassidic nachas, giving him fresh strength for uncompromising Yiddishkeit, as Kislev, month of the victory of "Your Torah and the decrees of Your will," draws near.