5899 —היכן מזכיר אדמו"ר הזקן את ספר התניא בספריו, וגודל ההתוועדות החסידית ביו"ד וי"ט כסלו

B"H, 5 Kislev, 5718

Brooklyn.

The rav and gaon, the veteran Chassid, a God-fearing man, distinguished and honored, Reb Yosef, may he live long

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of 22 MarCheshvan, in which you write that you were told that the Alter Rebbe mentions the book of Tanya in his works, and you point out where these places are.

There are very many more such places, as noted in the index of books and names printed at the end of the Tanya and of Torah Or, which has also been prepared for print for Likkutei Torah. And see there that in the Tanya itself he refers in several places to earlier chapters, and also by name; see there in the index^[1].

I hope that, since you write about the above, all the more so you take part in the farbrengens of Anash held on the days of Yud and Yud-Tes Kislev, the days of the redemption of the Alter Rebbe and of his son and successor, the Mitteler Rebbe^[2]. The Alter Rebbe's saying is already known, about the note that came down from Heaven^[3] on the greatness of a chassidic farbrengen.

With blessing

In the name of the Rebbe shlita

Publisher's notes

Reb Yosef (מו"ה יוסף): Mendelkoren, Jerusalem.

The Alter Rebbe's saying (פתגם רבנו הזקן): see also above, vol. 14, letter 4750, and the sources noted there; above, letter 5813; below, letters 5921 (to the participants in the Yud Kislev farbrengen in Toronto, on the "ruling Above" about a chassidic farbrengen), 5941.

Notes

[1] In the index (במפתח): The question was whether, and how, the Alter Rebbe mentions his Tanya in his other works (Torah Or, Likkutei Torah). The answer: there are many more such places, listed in the index of books and names printed at the end of the Tanya and at the end of Torah Or (an index of this kind had also been prepared for Likkutei Torah); and there one will see that in the Tanya itself, too, the Alter Rebbe refers in several places to earlier chapters, "and also by name."

[2] Yud and Yud-Tes Kislev (יו"ד י"ט כסלו): 19 Kislev is the day of the Alter Rebbe's release from imprisonment in Petersburg in 5559 (1798); 10 Kislev, the day of the release of his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, in 5587 (1826).

[3] The note that came down from Heaven (הפתקא שמשמיא נחית): Aramaic. The Alter Rebbe's saying: וואס א חסידישע התוועדות קען אויפטאן, קען אפילו מלאך מיכאל ניט אויפטאן, "What a chassidic farbrengen can accomplish, even the angel Michael cannot accomplish." The Rebbe quotes it so in Igros Kodesh vol. 14, letter 4750, and in letter 5813 calls it "the ruling Above." See the publisher's notes.

Summary

This letter, written in the Rebbe's name, answers a rav who noted places where the Alter Rebbe mentions the Tanya in his other works: there are many more, listed in the index at the end of the Tanya and Torah Or. It hopes he takes part in the farbrengens of Yud and Yud-Tes Kislev, recalling the Alter Rebbe's saying on the greatness of a chassidic farbrengen.