6608 —י"ט כסלו, תמיכה בתומכי תמימים, וכוח אהבת ישראל

B"H, 19th of Kislev, 5719
Brooklyn, N.Y.

To our brethren, the children of Israel, who love and cherish Torah and mitzvah, may G‑d be upon them, may they live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

On the bright day of Yud-Tes Kislev, the day of the liberation of the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch, who lit up the eyes of the whole Jewish people with the double light, shnei-ohr — the light of the revealed Torah and the light of the inner dimension of the Torah^[1] —

I turn with my call to all who hold Torah and mitzvos dear, in connection with the annual celebration of the central yeshivah "Tomchei Temimim" Lubavitch, which is to take place, with G‑d's help^[2], on Sunday, the 2nd of Shevat, coming upon us for good^[3].

The theme of Yud-Tes Kislev, which brought the liberation of the Alter Rebbe and the increased flourishing of his path — a path that rests on the great principle that the love of G‑d, the love of the Torah and the love of Israel are all one^[4] — reminds, urges and encourages each one of us in our duties to ourselves and to the Jewish people as a whole: duties that must find expression in actual deeds, and in an ever-rising measure.

In the Lubavitch yeshivos and their center — the central Lubavitch yeshivah "Tomchei Temimim" in Brooklyn, which my father-in-law, the Rebbe^[5], transplanted here on arriving in America nineteen years ago^[6] — generations are raised who are permeated with the love of G‑d, the love of the Torah and the love of Israel, to the point of mesirus nefesh.

It is a holy duty for all Jews who love Torah and mitzvah to support the Lubavitch yeshivos, and especially now, in view of the annual celebration, to take part and help secure the success of the annual undertaking, which has such important meaning for the strengthening and further development of the central yeshivah "Tomchei Temimim" Lubavitch in Brooklyn.

The merit of the one whose celebration is today, and the merit of our Rebbeim, his holy successors — of saintly and blessed memory, whose souls are in the hidden treasuries on High, may their merit protect us^[7] — will surely stand by each of the supporters, may they live, in what they need, that for them it be "He redeemed in peace"^[8] — redeemed from need through the merit of the tzedakah, which brings peace to the world^[9].

And every good deed in this, in a manner of steady increase^[10], will draw down G‑d's^[11] blessings also in an ever-rising measure.

With blessing for all good, materially and spiritually^[12],

Menachem Schneerson

[Publisher's note: Printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 10, p. 260.]

Notes

1. The double light, shnei-ohr (שני-אור): An allusion in the Alter Rebbe's name, "Shneur": two lights — the light of the revealed Torah (his Shulchan Aruch) and the light of the inner Torah (the Tanya and the teachings of Chabad Chassidus). So too it is said of Yud-Tes Kislev (Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev): "This day is the Rosh Hashanah of the words of the living G‑d... to draw down the revelation of the light of the inner dimension of our holy Torah."

2. With G‑d's help (בע"ה): בעזרת השם.

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

4. Are all one (כולי חד): "All is one." After the well-known saying "Israel, the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one" (based on Zohar III, 73a). See Hayom Yom, 28 Nisan, that the Alter Rebbe answered the Chassidim: "the love of G‑d and the love of Israel are both engraved as one in the soul, spirit and life of every Jew... for one loves what the beloved loves"; and Hayom Yom, 26 Adar I: "with three holy vessels — love of G‑d, love of the Torah, love of Israel."

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

6. Nineteen years ago (מיט נייענצען יאהר צוריק): The Previous Rebbe arrived in the United States in Adar II 5700 and at once founded the Tomchei Temimim yeshivah here — nineteen years before this letter (5719).

7. Of saintly and blessed memory... may their merit protect us (זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): זכר צדיקים וקדושים לברכה לחיי העולם הבא, נשמתם בגנזי מרומים, זכותם יגן עלינו.

8. "He redeemed in peace" (פדה בשלום): The words of the pasuk, Tehillim 55:19: "He redeemed my soul in peace from the battle against me, for the many were with me." This is the pasuk the Alter Rebbe was saying at the time of his release, as he wrote in his letter to R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev: "when I was reading in the book of Tehillim the pasuk 'He redeemed my soul in peace'... I went out in peace"; hence the words of the Rebbe Rashab's letter on Yud-Tes Kislev (Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev): "the festival on which He redeemed our soul in peace." The Rebbe here explains "in peace" — through tzedakah, which brings peace (as in the next note).

9. Tzedakah, which brings peace to the world (צדקה, וואס בריינגט שלום אין וועלט): After Avos 2:7: "The more tzedakah, the more peace"; and the Bartenura there: "as it is said, 'And the work of tzedakah shall be peace'" (Yeshayahu 32:17). It is also in the word "redeemed" — the language of redemption, for tzedakah redeems a person from trouble, along the lines of "redeem your sins with tzedakah" (Daniel 4:24).

10. Steady increase (מוסיף והולך): The words of the Gemara on the Chanukah light, Shabbos 21b: "Beis Hillel say: on the first day one lights one, from then on one steadily adds." This fits these days between Yud-Tes Kislev and Chanukah.

11. G‑d (השי"ת): השם יתברך.

12. Materially and spiritually (בגו"ר): בגשמיות וברוחניות.

Summary

In a public Yiddish letter written on Yud-Tes Kislev, the Rebbe calls on all who cherish Torah and mitzvos to support the annual celebration of the central Tomchei Temimim yeshivah in Brooklyn on 2 Shevat. The Alter Rebbe, who lit up the Jewish people with the two lights of revealed and inner Torah, taught that love of G‑d, of the Torah and of Israel are one; the yeshivah raises generations permeated with these loves to the point of self-sacrifice. In the merit of the Alter Rebbe, the supporters will be "redeemed in peace" through tzedakah.