6609 —תודה על הברכה לשנת השלשים ליום החתונה, וכל המברך מתברך

B"H, 20th of Kislev, 5719
Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

With thanks I acknowledge receipt — in its time — of the letter of blessing for the thirtieth year since the day of the wedding.

In the style of Chazal — "his word has already been said"^[1]: that whoever blesses is blessed with the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He^[2], as it is said, "And I will bless those who bless you"^[3].

And it is explained that the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, has a wondrous quality: that a new will and the most supernal blessing are drawn down^[4].

As explained in several places^[5], among them in the teachings of Chassidus^[6], the maamar beginning^[7] "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, etc., I will bless those who bless you" (Sefer HaMaamarim 5629)^[8].

With blessing for good tidings^[9] always, all the days^[10].

M. Schneerson

[Publisher's note: Printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 20, p. 573. A similar text was sent to several people.]

Notes

1. "His word has already been said" (כבר מלתו אמורה): That is: the matter has already been stated and established in the words of Chazal and needs no new ruling; hence the one who blesses here (who blessed the Rebbe for the thirtieth year of his wedding) is himself blessed.

2. Whoever blesses is blessed with the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He (כל המברך מתברך בברכתו של הקב"ה): After 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 (Bereishis 12), 'And I will bless those who bless you.'" See also Chullin 49a, where Rabbi Akiva derives a blessing for the Kohanim from "And I will bless those who bless you", "and the Holy One, blessed be He, concurs through them."

3. "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, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you" — G‑d's promise to Avraham our father, which extends to all his descendants.

4. A new will and the most supernal blessing (רצון חדש וברכה הכי עליונה): A person's blessing to another draws from what already exists, and within limits; whereas G‑d's blessing to the one who blesses is not merely a limited addition, but the drawing down of a new will from Above, and from there the most supernal blessing, which has no measure.

5. In several places (בכ"מ): בכמה מקומות.

6. The teachings of Chassidus (תורת דא"ח): דברי אלקים חיים, a name for the teachings of Chassidus.

7. The maamar beginning (ד"ה): דיבור המתחיל.

8. "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, etc." (ד"ה אריב"ל כו'): The maamar "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Every Kohen who blesses is blessed... as it says, 'And I will bless those who bless you'", a maamar of the Rebbe Maharash, printed in Sefer HaMaamarim 5629; it opens with the words of the Gemara in Sotah mentioned above (note 2).

9. Good tidings (לבשו"ט): לבשורות טובות. That is: the blessing that returns to the one who blesses will be revealed in actual good news.

10. Always, all the days (תכה"י): תמיד כל הימים.

Summary

Thanking the writer for his blessing on the thirtieth year since the Rebbe's wedding, the Rebbe recalls that, as Chazal say, whoever blesses is blessed by G‑d — "I will bless those who bless you" — and G‑d's blessing draws down a new will and the most supernal blessing, as explained in the Rebbe Maharash's maamar in Sefer HaMaamarim 5629.