6619 —חדש טבת – ירח שהגוף נהנה מן הגוף, והפיכת חשוכא לנהורא

B"H, 1st of Teves, 5719
Brooklyn.

The Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs^[1], Reb David Natan, may he live long^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

Before my trip to the holy resting place, the telephone message reached me, together with the names, and I mentioned them yesterday, Erev Rosh Chodesh Teves^[3], at the holy resting place of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, of saintly and blessed memory, whose soul is in the hidden treasuries on High, may his merit protect us^[4].

Of the month of Teves our Sages expounded that it is the month in which "the body derives pleasure from the body"^[5]. This is understood according to the expositions of our Sages that Achashverosh refers to the Holy One, blessed be He, to Whom the end and the beginning belong^[6] (cited in Me'orei Or and in the commentary of the Rema^[7] on Megillas Esther), and Esther is Knesses Yisrael, each and every one of the Jewish people^[8]: the very Essence and Being of the Infinite One, blessed be He, derives pleasure from the essence and inwardness of each and every Jew^[9]. And this is specifically in the month of Teves, which is associated with the opposing side^[10], as explained in the holy Zohar, II 12a, III 259a, and Zohar Chadash, Eichah (92d)^[11]; and the Jewish people, through their divine service, transform darkness into light and bitterness into sweetness^[12], which is the purpose of the creation of all the worlds, as explained in the holy book of the Tanya, chapter 36, that the Holy One, blessed be He, longed to create it^[13].

May it be G‑d's will that all the blessings with which Jews bless one another be fulfilled in full, and in a manner that keeps increasing, in keeping with the lesson of these days of Chanukah, which keep increasing^[14], until "he grew very great"^[15].

With blessings for a joyous Chanukah and for good news^[16].

Regarding what you wrote about Moshe and Aharon, which of them is in Netzach and which in Hod^[17]: see Etz Chaim, Gate 32 (Illumination of the Mochin), end of chapter 6^[18]; and Zohar II 27a, in the glosses of R. Chaim Vital^[19] there.

Publisher's notes

Reb David Natan (מו"ה דוד נתן): Lesser, Brooklyn. Further letters to him: above, letter 6575, and the references in the notes there.

On the month of Teves (על חדש טבת): See also above, vol. 14, letter 5041, and the references in the notes there; below, letter 6635.

Notes

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

2. Reb David Natan (מו"ה דוד נתן): R. David Natan Lesser of Brooklyn, a Chabad Chassid active in communal matters, above all in publicizing and strengthening the proper observance of the mitzvah of tzitzis (see letters 514, 1722, 3578, 4387). Every year he sent the Rebbe wax candles for lighting the Chanukah lights; the Rebbe acknowledged them with thanks and usually enclosed a check to pay for them, following the Zohar (II 128a) that a mitzvah is not to be done for free (see letters 1316 (5712), 1942 (5713), 2316 (5714), 4971 (5717), 6575 (5719), 8559 (5723)). This letter was written about a month after letter 6575 (Erev Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5719), in which the Rebbe acknowledged that year's candles, and it was written on Rosh Chodesh Teves, during Chanukah itself, which is why it closes with the lesson of the Chanukah days.

3. Erev Rosh Chodesh Teves (ער"ח טבת): ער"ח = ערב ראש חודש, the eve of Rosh Chodesh, i.e. 29 Kislev, the day before this letter was written.

4. My father-in-law, the Rebbe… (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר = כבוד קדושת מורי וחמי אדונינו מורנו ורבנו, the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn; זצוקללה"ה = זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה לחיי העולם הבא, "may the memory of the righteous and holy one be for a blessing, for the life of the World to Come"; נבג"מ = נשמתו בגנזי מרומים, "his soul is in the hidden treasuries on High"; זי"ע = זכותו יגן עלינו, "may his merit protect us".

5. The body derives pleasure from the body (הגוף נהנה מן הגוף): Megillah 13a: ותלקח אסתר אל המלך אחשורוש אל בית מלכותו בחדש העשירי הוא חדש טבת – ירח שנהנה גוף מן הגוף, "Esther was taken to King Achashverosh, to his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Teves" (Esther 2:16) – "a month in which the body derives pleasure from the body"; Rashi: "because of the cold". Simply, a cold month, in which one body is warmed by another; the Rebbe goes on to explain the saying in its inner sense.

6. To Whom the end and the beginning belong (אחרית וראשית שלו): The name אחשורוש is expounded as if composed of אחרית ("end") and ראשית ("beginning"): the One to Whom the end and the beginning belong, the Holy One, blessed be He. "King Achashverosh" in the Megillah is therefore expounded as the King of the world.

7. The Rema (הרמ"א): R. Moshe Isserles, author of the glosses on the Shulchan Aruch, who also wrote a commentary on Megillas Esther entitled Mechir Yayin.

8. Each and every one (כאו"א): כאו"א = כל אחד ואחד.

9. Derives pleasure from the essence and inwardness of each and every Jew (נהנה מהעצם והפנימיות של כאו"א מבנ"י): א"ס ב"ה = אין סוף ברוך הוא, "the Infinite One, blessed be He"; בנ"י = בני ישראל. This is the meaning of "the body derives pleasure from the body" according to the exposition above: the "body" Above – G‑d's very Essence and Being ("King Achashverosh") – derives pleasure from the "body" below, the essence and inwardness of every Jew ("Esther"). In letter 5041 (15 Teves 5717) the Rebbe writes on this that the Essence and Being Above derives pleasure, as it were, from the body below, as will be fulfilled in the Time to Come, when the virtue of the body will be revealed. See also below, letter 6635 (8 Teves 5719), where the Rebbe explains the same saying.

10. The opposing side (הלעו"ז): הלעו"ז = הלעומת זה, "the one opposite this", i.e. the side opposing holiness (the kelipos and the sitra achra), from the verse "G‑d has made the one opposite the other" (Koheles 7:14). The point is that it is specifically in this month, associated with the side opposing holiness, that the essential pleasure Above is revealed.

11. Zohar II… III… Zohar Chadash (זח"ב… זח"ג… ז"ח): זח"ב = זהר חלק ב; זח"ג = זהר חלק ג; ז"ח = זהר חדש.

12. Transform darkness into light and bitterness into sweetness (מהפכים חשוכא לנהורא ומרירו למתקא): The language of the Zohar, cited in the Tanya: Tanya ch. 36, כד אתכפיא ס"א ואתהפך חשוכא לנהורא, "when the sitra achra is subdued and darkness is turned into light"; Tanya ch. 27, ואתהפכא ממרירו למתקא ומחשוכא לנהורא ע"י הצדיקים, "turned from bitterness to sweetness and from darkness to light, by the tzaddikim". Not only pushing darkness away, but turning the darkness itself into light and the bitterness itself into sweetness.

13. That the Holy One, blessed be He, longed to create it (שנשתוקק הקב"ה לבראותו): Tanya ch. 36: והנה מודעת זאת מארז"ל: שתכלית בריאת עולם הזה הוא שנתאוה הקב"ה להיות לו דירה בתחתונים, "It is known from the words of our Sages that the purpose of the creation of this world is that the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to have a dwelling place in the lower realms"; and there it explains that the purpose is the gratification Above "when the sitra achra is subdued and darkness is turned into light". The turning of darkness into light that Jews accomplish specifically in Teves is thus the very purpose of creation.

14. Which keep increasing (דמוסיף והולך): Shabbos 21b: וב"ה אומרים: יום ראשון מדליק אחת, מכאן ואילך מוסיף והולך, "Beis Hillel say: on the first day one lights one, from then on one keeps adding." Hence the lesson that the blessings too should be fulfilled in an ever-increasing way.

15. Until "he grew very great" (ועד כי גדל מאד): From the verse about Yitzchak, Bereishis 26:13: "The man became great, and he kept growing greater until he grew very great". Growth that does not stop, until it reaches great heights.

16. Good news (בשו"ט): בשו"ט = בשורות טובות.

17. Which of them is in Netzach and which in Hod (מי בנצח ומי בהוד): במש"כ = במה שכתב, "regarding what you wrote". The recipient asked which of the two, Moshe or Aharon, corresponds to the sefirah of Netzach and which to the sefirah of Hod; the Rebbe directs him to the sources where this is discussed.

18. Gate 32… end of chapter 6 (של"ב… ספ"ו): של"ב = שער ל"ב (שער הארת המוחין); ספ"ו = סוף פרק ו'.

19. R. Chaim Vital (מהרח"ו): מהרח"ו = מורנו הרב חיים ויטאל.

Summary

On Rosh Chodesh Teves, during Chanukah, the Rebbe explains the Sages' description of Teves as the month in which "the body derives pleasure from the body": G‑d's very Essence takes pleasure in the essence of every Jew, and specifically in this month associated with the opposing side, as Jews turn darkness into light, the purpose of all creation. He blesses that, like the Chanukah lights, all blessings keep increasing.