6579 —חרישת שמיטה, ברכות, והפצת חסידות בכסלו

B"H, 4th of Kislev, 5719
Brooklyn.

The Rav and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs^[1], our teacher Reb Michael Aryeh Yehudah Leib HaKohen, may he live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of the 28th of Cheshvan and the earlier ones; my letter in reply to your wife, may she live long and happily^[2], has surely been received by now.

As for what you write about the matter of plowing in the seventh year, which is the Shemitah year^[3]:

It is understood that it is appalling that a Jew should engage in this, for even those who permit^[4] did not permit such work done by a Jew. And as for the proof that so-and-so engages in it — in our times, sadly, of darkness doubled and redoubled^[5] — by that kind of proof one could transgress, Heaven forbid, the whole Torah entirely.

Many thanks^[6] for your blessing at the close and seal of your letter. The promise of the Creator of the world, "And I will bless those who bless you"^[7], will certainly be fulfilled; and the greatness of this is explained in the maamar beginning^[8] "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Every Kohen who blesses is blessed"^[9] (Sefer HaMaamarim 5629, which has just now been published^[10]; see there).

With blessing for good tidings^[11],

M. Schneerson

P.S.

You are certainly preparing a detailed plan to make use of the days of Kislev in general, and the bright day of Yud-Tes Kislev^[12] in particular, for spreading the wellsprings, until they reach outward as well^[13].

[Publisher's note: Printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 17, p. 520, and completed from a photocopy of the letter.]

Notes

1. The Rav and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs (הרה"ח אי"א נו"נ עוסק בצ"צ): הרב החסיד, איש ירא אלקים, נעלה ונכבד, עוסק בצרכי ציבור.

2. May she live long and happily (שתליט"א): שתחיה לאורך ימים טובים אמן.

3. The Shemitah year (שנת השמיטה): The year 5719 was a Shemitah year. See Vayikra 25:4: "But in the seventh year shall be a Shabbos of rest for the land, a Shabbos to G‑d; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard."

4. Those who permit (המתירין): Those who rely on the "heter mechirah" (selling the land to a non-Jew for the Shemitah year). Even according to them, such work (plowing) was not permitted to be done by a Jew himself in that year, only by a non-Jew.

5. Darkness doubled and redoubled (חשך כפול ומכופל): A name for the darkness of exile in the last generations. Because of the great concealment and decline, one cannot learn from how people behave what is permitted and what is forbidden; so "so-and-so does it" is no proof, for otherwise one could permit every prohibition in the Torah.

6. Many thanks (ת"ח ת"ח): תשואות חן, תשואות חן.

7. "And I will bless those who bless you" (ואברכה מברכיך): Bereishis 12:3: "And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse." The recipient is a Kohen (as the address states), and through his blessing what Chazal derived from this pasuk is fulfilled in him, as follows.

8. The maamar beginning (בד"ה): בדיבור המתחיל.

9. "Every Kohen who blesses is blessed" (כל כהן שמברך מתברך): Sotah 38b: "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Every Kohen who blesses is blessed, and one who does not bless is not blessed, as it says, 'And I will bless those who bless you.'" See also Chullin 49a: "From where does Rabbi Akiva derive a blessing for the Kohanim? Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: from 'And I will bless those who bless you.'" יב"ל = יהושע בן לוי.

10. Sefer HaMaamarim 5629, which has just now been published (ספר המאמרים תרכ"ט, שהו"ל ז"ע): The maamarim of the Rebbe Maharash from the year 5629. שהו"ל ז"ע = שהוציאו לאור זה עתה.

11. Good tidings (לבשו"ט): לבשורות טובות.

12. Yud-Tes Kislev (י"ט כסלו): The day of the Alter Rebbe's release from imprisonment, "the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus". See Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev.

13. Until they reach outward as well (עד שיגיעו גם חוצה): After the pasuk, Mishlei 5:16: "Let your wellsprings spread outward", and the letter of the Baal Shem Tov (printed at the beginning of Kesser Shem Tov): Mashiach will come when his wellsprings spread outward.

Summary

To a Kohen, the Rebbe writes that it is appalling for a Jew to plow in the Shemitah year: even those who rely on the sale of the land did not permit such work by a Jew himself, and that others do it proves nothing in our dark times. He thanks him for his blessing, recalling "every Kohen who blesses is blessed", and asks for a detailed plan for Kislev and Yud-Tes Kislev.