5921 —כוחה של התוועדות חסידית, וי"ט כסלו כ"ראש" לכל ימות השנה

B"H, 13 Kislev, 5718
Brooklyn.

To the participants in the farbrengen of the day of redemption and victory of the Mitteler Rebbe^[1],
may G‑d be with them, may they live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

It was with pleasure that I received your letter of that very day, written in the midst of your farbrengen.

May it be G‑d's will that the blessings of each and every Jew to his fellow be fulfilled, in good that is visible and revealed. And there is already known the ruling from Above^[2], as the Alter Rebbe told it; in his words: "What a chassidic farbrengen can accomplish, the angel Michael cannot accomplish."

And "one mitzvah brings another"^[3]: surely Anash in Toronto will hold a farbrengen on the auspicious day of Yud-Tes Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus and of the ways of Chassidus^[4]. And as for "Rosh", the Alter Rebbe and his son the Mitteler Rebbe explained the precise wording: rosh (head) and not techilah (beginning)^[5]; just as the head contains the vitality of all the limbs of the body, so Rosh Hashanah contains all the days of the year. May it be G‑d's will that the inspiration continue, and that its impression be felt throughout all the days of the coming year, may it come upon us for good.

With blessings for a joyous and active farbrengen.

Publisher's notes

As the Alter Rebbe told it (כסיפור רבנו הזקן): See also letter 5899 above, and the sources noted there.

Notes

1. The day of redemption and victory of the Mitteler Rebbe (יום הגאולה והנצחון של כ"ק אדמו"ר האמצעי): 10 Kislev, the day in 5587 (1826) on which the Mitteler Rebbe was released from imprisonment; it was established as a day of redemption, and Chassidim hold farbrengens on it. "Your letter of that very day" was written on 10 Kislev itself, in the midst of the farbrengen.

2. The ruling from Above (פס"ד של מעלה): The Alter Rebbe's saying, which has the force of a "ruling" from Above (in the Rebbe's words in letter 5899 above, "the note that came down from Heaven"): what a chassidic farbrengen can accomplish, the angel Michael cannot. Michael is the guardian angel of the Jewish people, as it is written (Daniel 12:1), "Michael, the great prince who stands over the children of your people." For the source of the saying, see Igros Kodesh of the Previous Rebbe, vol. 3, letter 784. See also letter 5891 above, where the Rebbe brings this saying in connection with bringing students to the Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen. The Rebbe brings it here in connection with the blessings Jews give one another; see also letter 5925 below, where he again brings "the story of the Alter Rebbe" about the blessings Jews wish one another.

3. One mitzvah brings another (ומצוה גוררת מצוה): Avos 4:2, שמצוה גוררת מצוה, "for one mitzvah brings another." The farbrengen of 10 Kislev will lead to the farbrengen of 19 Kislev.

4. The Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus (י"ט כסלו ר"ה לחסידות): In the words of the Rebbe Rashab's letter printed in Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev: הַיוֹם הַזֶּה הוּא רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לְדִבְרֵי אֱלֹוקִים חַיִים, "This day is the Rosh Hashanah of the words of the living G‑d (Chassidus)."

5. Rosh, not techilah (ראש ולא תחלה): Likkutei Torah, Tavo, maamar "Hayom hazeh": ולכן נקרא: "ראש השנה", ולא: "תחלת השנה", "It is therefore called 'the head of the year' and not 'the beginning of the year': just as the soul has a head, the head and intellect of the body, so the year has a head, and that is Rosh Hashanah." So too Yud-Tes Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus: as the head gives vitality to all the limbs, this day gives vitality to all the days of the year, and so the Rebbe wishes that its impression be felt throughout the year.

Summary

This letter tells the participants in a 10 Kislev farbrengen that, by a "ruling from Above" reported by the Alter Rebbe, a chassidic farbrengen accomplishes what even the angel Michael cannot. It calls on them to farbreng again on Yud-Tes Kislev, the "head" of the year of Chassidus, so that its influence carries through the whole year.