6591 —תפלה, תורה, ושמחת ההתאחדות עם הבורא

B"H, 8th of Kislev, 5719
Brooklyn.

The veteran and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and exalted^[1], of lofty character, a branch of the tree of his forefathers, etc., R. Shneur Zalman, may he live^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

You have surely received the greetings^[3] I asked to have conveyed to you through the Rav and Gaon, the Rav and Chassid^[4], the veteran and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and exalted, engaged in communal needs^[5], a man of energy, etc., our teacher Rabbi^[6] Binyomin Eliyahu Gorodetzky, may he live, and the Rav and Chassid, the veteran and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and exalted, engaged in communal needs, etc., our teacher Rabbi David^[7] Chanzin, may he live.

I was sorry to learn that the state of your wife's health^[8] was not in order. I hope the medical treatment has succeeded and that your peace of mind has also returned, for I was also told that you were in distress and in a scattered state of mind.

Distress and a scattered state of mind contradict the whole life of a person, as a human being. In the words of our Sages of blessed memory: "One does not stand to pray out of sadness, etc.", and likewise for a matter of halachah^[9]. And the whole life of a Jew on earth is prayer and Torah. Prayer — an ascent from below to above, up to bonding, cleaving and uniting with the Creator^[10]; and Torah — a drawing down from His essence and being, drawing holiness and good down below^[11]. Their purpose is that they be in a congregation (tzibbur), as explained in the Iggeres HaKodesh^[12] of the Alter Rebbe, section 23^[13]. The inner explanation of this by the Alter Rebbe is known: prayer with the tzibbur means to gather (litzbor) all the refinements and elevate them in prayer^[14] (a letter of my father-in-law, the Rebbe^[15], printed in HaTamim, issue 2, p. 46).

From this one also understands the meaning of tzibbur as regards Torah.

A person, who is a being of intellect, must certainly do all his affairs with intent and for an important purpose: gathering his activities — his deeds, words and thoughts — and the powers of his soul to the lofty purpose; that is to say^[16], elevating them from below to above, and afterwards drawing into them a supernal light from Heaven, even more than a person can attain by his own strength.

The teachings of Chassidus came to unite and join Torah and prayer, through the directive that prayer comes after contemplation of the greatness of G‑d by way of study and comprehension in the Chabad^[17] of the soul — "Know the G‑d of your father" — after which prayer is as the continuation of the pasuk, "and serve Him with a whole heart"^[18]. Likewise, the study of Torah is preceded by fear and love^[19], the love of G‑d and the fear of G‑d, which come as the result of the avodah of prayer; and then the Torah unites the person studying with the Giver of the Torah, up to the level where Israel, the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one^[20]. And there is no joy greater than the joy of the union of the created being with the Creator — a doubled joy, the joy of the Creator and the joy of the created being, as explained in Tanya, chapter 33^[21].

With respect and with blessing for good tidings^[22], in good that is visible and revealed, in all the above.

Surely, as is your good custom for some years, you will visit Kfar Chabad on the bright day, the day of Yud-Tes Kislev, coming upon us for good^[23], marking a hundred and sixty years since the day of the redemption of our Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe^[24], and with it the redemption of his teachings, Chabad Chassidus, and of all who walk in its ways and paths, they and their children and their children's children down to our generation, "we, those here today, all of us alive" (Iggeres HaKodesh, section 27)^[25].

[Publisher's notes: Printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 10, p. 234, and completed from the secretariat's copy. R. Shneur Zalman: Shazar. Further letters to him: above, vol. 17, letter 6182, and in the references in the notes there; below, 6718.]

Notes

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

2. R. Shneur Zalman (הרש"ז): R. Shneur Zalman Shazar (Rubashov), a scion of a family of Chabad Chassidim (hence "a branch of the tree of his forefathers"). He was the first Minister of Education of the State of Israel, at the time of this letter a member of the Executive of the Jewish Agency, and later (5723) the third President of the State.

3. The greetings (הפ"ש): הפריסת שלום.

4. The Rav and Gaon, the Rav and Chassid (הרה"ג והרה"ח): הרב הגאון והרב החסיד.

5. Communal needs (בצ"צ): בצרכי ציבור.

6. Our teacher Rabbi (מוהר"ר): מורנו הרב רבי.

7. Our teacher Rabbi David (מוהר"ד): מורנו הרב רבי דוד.

8. Your wife (זוג' שתחי'): זוגתו שתחיה, "his wife, may she live".

9. "One does not stand to pray out of sadness"... and likewise for a matter of halachah (אין עומדים להתפלל לא מתוך עצבות... וכן לדבר הלכה): The beraisa, Berachos 31a: "One does not stand to pray out of sadness, nor out of laziness... but out of the joy of a mitzvah." "And likewise for a matter of halachah": see Shabbos 30b: "for the Shechinah does not rest out of sadness... but out of the joy of a mitzvah... Rav Yehudah said: and likewise for a matter of halachah."

10. Uniting with the Creator (התאחדות עם הבורא): As explained in several places in Chassidus, tefillah is related to "one who joins (hatofel) an earthenware vessel" — joining and cleaving: the person rises and bonds with his Creator.

11. Drawing holiness and good down below (המשכת הקדושה והטוב למטה): Two opposite lines: prayer is an "ascent", from the created to the Creator, and Torah is a "drawing down", the word of G‑d descending from above and enclothing itself in the human intellect and in the matters of the world.

12. Iggeres HaKodesh (אגה"ק): אגרת הקודש.

13. Section 23 (סי' כג): Tanya, Iggeres HaKodesh, section 23, on the virtue of occupying oneself with Torah and mitzvos specifically with ten, through which the Shechinah rests among them: "ten who sit and occupy themselves with Torah, the Shechinah rests among them"; and at its end: "and let no individual separate himself from the community."

14. To gather all the refinements and elevate them in prayer (לצבור כל הבירורים ולהעלותם בתפלה): "Prayer with the tzibbur" is not only prayer with a minyan, but also from the word "gathering" — to gather all the sparks of holiness ("refinements") that a person has refined in his affairs and dealings during the day, and to elevate them in his prayer. And likewise the "tzibbur" in Torah — gathering all his powers and activities to their purpose, as the letter goes on to say.

15. My father-in-law, the Rebbe (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר): כבוד קדושת מורי וחמי אדוננו מורנו ורבנו.

16. That is to say (ז"א): זאת אומרת.

17. Chabad (חב"ד): חכמה, בינה, דעת — wisdom, understanding, knowledge.

18. "Know the G‑d of your father... and serve Him with a whole heart" (דע את אלקי אביך... ועבדהו בלב שלם): The words of the pasuk, Divrei HaYamim I 28:9. This is the foundation of the Chabad path: first "know" — contemplation and comprehension of the greatness of G‑d in the Chabad of the soul; then "serve Him" — the avodah of prayer in the heart.

19. Fear and love (דחילו ורחימו): See Tanya, chapter 40: "without fear and love it cannot rise and stand before G‑d, as stated in the Tikkunim." Hence the practice of arousing love and fear before studying Torah, so that the study be for its own sake.

20. Israel, the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one (ישראל ואורייתא וקוב"ה כולא חד): A saying famous in the books of Chassidus, based on the Zohar (see Zohar III, 73a). On "the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one", see Tanya, chapter 4 and chapter 23.

21. Tanya, chapter 33 (תניא פ' ל"ג): Tanya, chapter 33: "And it is a joy doubled and redoubled, for apart from the joy of the intellectual soul in its nearness to G‑d and His dwelling with it, there is more: he will rejoice doubly in the joy of G‑d and the great gratification before Him."

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

23. Coming upon us for good (הבע"ל): הבא עלינו לטובה.

24. A hundred and sixty years since the day of the redemption of the Alter Rebbe (מאה וששים שנה ליום הגאולה של רבינו הזקן): The Alter Rebbe's release from imprisonment in Petersburg on 19 Kislev 5559; in 5719, 160 years were completed. See Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev.

25. "We, those here today, all of us alive" (אנחנו אלה פה היום כלנו חיים): Tanya, Iggeres HaKodesh, section 27: "and we too, those here today, all of us living in his ways"; based on the pasuk, Devarim 5:3: "but with us, we, those here today, all of us alive."

Summary

Writing to a communal leader who had been distressed over his wife's illness, the Rebbe explains that sadness and a scattered mind contradict a Jew's whole life, which is prayer — rising to unite with the Creator — and Torah — drawing holiness down. Both should be "with the tzibbur", gathering all one's powers and deeds to their purpose. Chassidus unites the two: prayer follows contemplation, and study is preceded by love and fear, so that the learner becomes one with the Giver of the Torah — the greatest, doubled joy. He anticipates the recipient's customary Yud-Tes Kislev visit to Kfar Chabad, 160 years after the Alter Rebbe's redemption.