6582 —ברכה לרפואה שלימה ולברכה המשולשת בבני חיי ומזוני

B"H, 6th of Kislev, 5719
Brooklyn.

The Rav and Gaon, the Rav and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs, our teacher Reb Efraim Eliezer HaKohen, may he live^[1]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I was already concerned at the absence of your letter, as is your custom, on Erev Rosh Chodesh Kislev, the month of miracles and redemption^[2]; and evidently the explanation of this delay is the content of your letter, received just now^[3], regarding the state of your health.

May it be G‑d's will that, just as you report an improvement in this, the situation will keep getting better until you return to your full strength^[4] in every sense. See also the maamar beginning^[5] "Maskil LeEisan"^[6] of the Alter Rebbe (printed in Kuntres Limud HaChassidus).

Thank you^[7] for what you write at the end of your letter about the content of the dream. May it be G‑d's will that from this month, the third month from Tishrei, which corresponds to "the third month"^[8] counting from the month of Nisan — the revealed Torah and the inner dimension of the Torah — they will draw down the threefold blessing^[9] for each and every one^[10] among the threefold people, in the three matters of children, life and sustenance, and in all of them in abundance^[11]. And we are, after all, in a "full year", a year with its intercalated month^[12].

Especially according to what is stated explicitly in the Rambam's Commentary on the Mishnah, Arachin 9:3 — though for the time being^[13] I have not found anyone else who says so^[14].

With blessing for good tidings, in good that is visible and revealed^[15], in all the above.

[Publisher's notes: Our teacher Reb Efraim Eliezer: Yales, Philadelphia. Further letters to him: above, vol. 17, letter 6349, and in the references in the notes there; below, 6662, 6700, 6752, 6831, 6986.

What is stated explicitly in the Rambam's Commentary on the Mishnah: "Rebbi says that what the Torah calls a 'full year' is a solar year, which is 365 days, etc."

See also the maamar "Maskil LeEisan": see also below, letter 6769 (a similar blessing, "that you return to your strength in its plain sense and in its meaning", referring to this maamar).]

Notes

1. Reb Efraim Eliezer HaKohen (מו"ה אפרים אליעזר שי' הכהן): Yales, of Philadelphia.

2. The month of miracles and redemption (חדש הנסים והגאולה): Kislev is so called on account of the days of redemption, Yud and Yud-Tes Kislev (Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev), and the miracle of Chanukah at its end.

3. Just now (ז"ע): זה עתה.

4. Return to your full strength (שיחזור לאיתנו): The words of the pasuk, Shemos 14:27: "and the sea returned toward morning to its strength (le'eisano)"; Rashi there: "to its original strength."

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

6. "Maskil LeEisan" (משכיל לאיתן): After Tehillim 89:1: "A maskil of Eisan the Ezrachite." The connection seems to be the word eisan (strength) in the blessing "that you return to your strength" (see the previous note).

7. Thank you (ת"ח): תשואות חן.

8. "The third month" (ירחא תליתאי): After Shabbos 88a: "Blessed is the Merciful One Who gave a threefold Torah to a threefold people through a third-born, on the third day, in the third month" — the month of Sivan, the third from Nisan. Kislev, the third month counting from Tishrei, corresponds to it; and the letter links this to the revealed Torah and the inner dimension of the Torah.

9. The threefold blessing (ברכה המשולשת): The Priestly Blessing (Bamidbar 6:24–26), made up of three pesukim; it relates especially to the recipient, who is a Kohen.

10. Each and every one (או"א): אחד ואחד.

11. Children, life and sustenance, in abundance (בני חיי ומזוני... רוויחי): After Moed Katan 28a: "Rava said: Life, children and sustenance do not depend on merit but on mazal." רוויחי — in abundance.

12. A "full year", a year with its intercalated month (שנה תמימה שנה ועבורה): The year 5719 was a leap year. The wording follows Arachin 31a (in the Mishnah, on "until a full year has passed", Vayikra 25:30): "When it says 'full', it comes to include the intercalated month. Rebbi says: to give him a year and its intercalation." That is: a leap year is a "full year" in its entirety, with added blessing.

13. For the time being (שלע"ע): שלעת עתה.

14. I have not found anyone else who says so (לא מצאתי לו חבר): The Rambam's explanation (quoted in the publisher's note at the end of the letter), that according to Rebbi a "full year" is a solar year, has not yet been found in other commentators.

15. Good tidings, in good that is visible and revealed (לבשו"ט בטוב הנראה והנגלה): לבשורות טובות; "visible and revealed" — that the good be manifest and seen, not only a hidden good.

Summary

The Rebbe, who had missed the recipient's customary Erev Rosh Chodesh letter, blesses him that his improving health continue until he returns fully to his strength, referring him to the Alter Rebbe's maamar "Maskil LeEisan". Thanking him for describing a dream, he links Kislev, the third month from Tishrei, to Sivan, the third month of the giving of the threefold Torah, and blesses the threefold people with the threefold blessing in children, life and sustenance, in this full, leap year.