5912 —ברכה להצלחה בחיזוק היהדות ובהגדלת התורה, וחוברת לי"ט כסלו

B"H, 10th of Kislev, 5718

Brooklyn, N.Y.

To the honored Rav, the Gaon, the veteran and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and exalted^[1], a man of Torah and a son of distinguished forebears^[2], "a man of life, of many deeds"^[3] and a master of good deeds, who "sits in judgment" and leads his community "by still waters"^[4], our master and teacher Rabbi Rafael Baruch, may he live^[5], leader of the holy community of the city of Meknes, may their Rock protect and redeem them, whose net is spread over the whole country^[6]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I hereby acknowledge receipt of two letters from your honor^[7], as well as the telegram. May G‑d, blessed and exalted be He, help that all the efforts of the Jewish people in matters of strengthening Judaism and spreading it, and at their central point, "to magnify Torah and make it glorious"^[8], be successful and free of obstacles, and that wisdom and knowledge increase from time to time.

Your honor surely knows the story of the Festival of Redemption of the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch, on the 19th of Kislev^[9]. In any case, enclosed here is a booklet on Yud-Tes Kislev that was written at the time by my father-in-law, the Rebbe, although for certain reasons he did not explicitly put his name on it^[10].

With respect and blessing.

[Publisher's notes: Rabbeinu Rafael Baruch: Toledano. Further letters to him: above, vol. 6, 1690, and the letters cited in the notes there.]

Notes

1. Veteran and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and exalted (וו"ח אי"א נו"מ): ותיק וחסיד, איש ירא אלקים, נכבד ומרומם.

2. A man of Torah and a son of distinguished forebears (בר אוריין ובר אבהן): Aramaic: a Torah scholar in his own right and a son of a distinguished rabbinic family.

3. "A man of life, of many deeds" (איש חי רב פעלים): The words of the pasuk, Shmuel II 23:20: "And Benayahu son of Yehoyada, son of a man of life, of many deeds, from Kavtze'el." Here as a title for a rav who works for the community; "master of good deeds" (מרא דעובדין טבין) is Aramaic.

4. "Sits in judgment" … "by still waters" (יושב על מדין ומנהל עדתו על מיין נייחין): "Who sit in judgment" — after the pasuk, Shoftim 5:10: "you who sit on middin", which Rashi there explains as "a term for judges". "Leads his community by still waters" — in Aramaic, after the pasuk, Tehillim 23:2: "He leads me beside still waters", i.e. he leads his community calmly and peacefully.

5. Our master and teacher Rabbi Rafael Baruch (מר ניהו רבנא רפאל ברוך שי'): מר ניהו רבנא — Aramaic, "he is our master and teacher". The recipient: the Gaon Rabbi Rafael Baruch Toledano (1890–1970), dayan, head of the rabbinical court and rav of the city of Meknes in Morocco, son of Rabbi Yaakov Toledano, rav of Meknes, and author of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch HaShalem. In 5723 (1963) he settled in Eretz Yisrael, in Bnei Brak. Further letters to him: 642, 758, 944, 1690, and later 8643.

6. Leader of the holy community … whose net is spread over the whole country (מדברנא דק"ק … ומצודתו פרושה בכל המדינה): Meknes is the name of the city, in Morocco; יצ"ו stands for ישמרם צורם וגואלם, "may their Rock protect and redeem them" (as in the Tanya, the Compiler's Introduction: "to all our faithful brethren, יצ"ו"). מדברנא — Aramaic, "leader"; דק"ק — דקהלא קדישא, "of the holy community". "His net is spread over the whole country": his influence and rulings reach the whole country (Morocco).

7. Your honor (כת"ר): כבוד תורתו, "the honor of his Torah".

8. "To magnify Torah and make it glorious" (להגדיל תורה ולהאדירה): After the pasuk, Yeshayahu 42:21: "G‑d desired, for the sake of His righteousness, to magnify the Torah and make it glorious."

9. The 19th of Kislev (י"ט כסלו): The day in 5559 (1798) on which the Alter Rebbe was released from imprisonment in Petersburg, "the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus" (Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev). השו"ע — the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe.

10. Written … by my father-in-law, the Rebbe, although … he did not explicitly put his name on it (שנכתבה בשעתה ע"י כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר): The Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. In these days the Rebbe sent the same booklet on the story of the Festival of Redemption to a number of correspondents, and in several of those letters too he mentions that it was written by the Previous Rebbe without his name: see letters 5897 (the second), 5909, 5916, 5927. This is the booklet Yud-Tes Kislev – Sippur Parashas Chag HaGeulah, known as Megillas Yud-Tes Kislev (Kehot, 5712), which the Previous Rebbe wrote without his name appearing as author; see letters 3104 and 3959.

Summary

The Rebbe acknowledges two letters and a telegram from a leading rav of Morocco and blesses all efforts to strengthen and spread Judaism, and above all to magnify Torah, with success free of obstacles. For Yud-Tes Kislev he encloses a booklet on the Alter Rebbe's Festival of Redemption, written by the Previous Rebbe without his name.