6620 —ביקור בכפר חב"ד ביום הגאולה י"ט כסלו, וצדקת ארץ ישראל באגרת הקודש

B"H, 3rd of Teves, 5719
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Mr. Yitzchak, may he live long^[1]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I received with pleasure your letter of the 19th of Kislev with its enclosure; enclosed herewith are the receipts, in keeping with your instructions^[2].

I especially enjoyed reading in your letter about your visit to Kfar Chabad^[3] in our Holy Land – may it be built and established by our righteous Moshiach, speedily in our days – and about the satisfaction you derived from your visit and from what you saw there.

"Merit is brought about on a meritorious day"^[4] – namely, the auspicious day of Yud-Tes Kislev, the day of redemption of the founder of the teachings of Chabad^[5], whose cornerstone is that love of G‑d, love of the Torah and love of Israel are all one^[6]. And continuing from the above with regard to Kfar Chabad: it is known how greatly the Alter Rebbe stressed the matter of tzedakah for our Holy Land, as can be seen from several of his holy letters printed in the Tanya, and especially in Iggeres HaKodesh, at the end of Epistle 4, where he writes: "And especially the tzedakah of Eretz Yisrael ... it is this that has stood by us to redeem the life of our souls ..."^[7]

With respect and with blessing for good tidings always, all the days.

Kindly convey my greetings^[8] to your daughter and son-in-law, may they live long, who visited me together with you.

Publisher's notes

Mr. Yitzchak (מר יצחק): Rabinowitz.

Notes

1. Mr. Yitzchak (מר יצחק שי'): Rabinowitz. R. Yitzchak Rabinowitz, son of the gaon R. Zev Wolf Rabinowitz (5619–5685) of Domachevo near Brisk, author of Sha'arei Toras Eretz Yisrael on the Jerusalem Talmud. In the summer of 5718 he travelled to Russia and succeeded in bringing out his father's manuscript, later printed (Jerusalem 5721) as Sha'arei Toras Bavel. The Rebbe wrote to him about this in letter 6398 (15 Tammuz 5718), where he also thanked him for the copy of Sha'arei Toras Eretz Yisrael he had sent and sent greetings to his daughter and son-in-law, who were then with him – as at the end of this letter, where the Rebbe sends regards to the daughter and son-in-law who visited him together with him.

2. Enclosed herewith are the receipts, in keeping with your instructions (ולוטה בזה הקבלות, מתאים להוראתו): The recipient enclosed a contribution with his letter ("its enclosure"), and the Rebbe sends him the receipts for it, as he had asked.

3. Kfar Chabad (כפר חב"ד): The village founded in Eretz Yisrael in 5709 (1949) at the directive of the Previous Rebbe.

4. "Merit is brought about on a meritorious day" (ומגלגלין זכות ליום זכאי): Taanis 29a: מגלגלין זכות ליום זכאי וחובה ליום חייב, "Merit is brought about on a meritorious day, and liability on a day of liability." The recipient's letter, with its good news of his visit to Kfar Chabad, was written precisely on Yud-Tes Kislev, a day already established for merit and redemption.

5. The founder of the teachings of Chabad (מייסד תורת החב"ד): The Alter Rebbe. Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev: "Our master, teacher and Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe, went free from his first imprisonment on 19 Kislev, Tuesday of the week of Vayeshev, 5559, towards evening."

6. Love of G‑d, love of the Torah and love of Israel are all one (אהבת ה' אהבת התורה ואהבת ישראל כולי חד): כולי חד, "all one" – after the Zohar's expression "Israel, the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one", as cited in Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim, "Ki Karov Eilecha": "Three levels are bound to one another: the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah, and Israel." Asked which form of service is higher, love of G‑d or love of Israel, the Alter Rebbe answered: "Love of G‑d and love of Israel are both engraved together in the soul of every Jew ... for one loves what the beloved loves" (Hayom Yom, 28 Nisan); see also Hayom Yom, 26 Adar I: "With three sacred vessels – love of G‑d, love of the Torah, love of Israel."

7. "It is this that has stood by us to redeem the life of our souls" (והיא שעמדה לנו לפדות חיי נפשנו): Iggeres HaKodesh, Epistle 4: "And especially the tzedakah of Eretz Yisrael, which is truly the tzedakah of G‑d, as it is written, 'The eyes of the L‑rd your G‑d are always upon it' ... and it is this that has stood by us to redeem the life of our souls from the counsel of those who thought to push away our steps." The epistle was written about the fund of Kollel Chabad in Eretz Yisrael. It may be noted that the libel for which the Alter Rebbe was arrested, and from which he was redeemed on 19 Kislev, concerned the money he sent to Eretz Yisrael, then under Turkish rule, with which Russia was at war; hence the connection between "the day of redemption" on which the recipient wrote and the tzedakah of Eretz Yisrael.

8. Greetings (פ"ש): פ"ש = פריסת שלום, "greetings".

Summary

The recipient wrote, on Yud-Tes Kislev itself, of his visit to Kfar Chabad. The Rebbe sees this as "merit brought about on a meritorious day": the day of the Alter Rebbe's liberation, whose teaching unites love of G‑d, Torah and Israel; and he recalls how the Alter Rebbe stressed tzedakah for Eretz Yisrael, quoting Iggeres HaKodesh 4.