6635 —חדש טבת שבו הגוף נהנה מן הגוף: העצמות נהנה מגוף היהודי, ובריאות הגוף מדרכי השם

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

The Rav and Gaon, the venerable Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, etc.^[1], Reb Avraham Zusha, may he live long^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I hereby acknowledge receipt of the pidyon nefesh^[3] with what was enclosed with it.

At an auspicious time it will be read 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].

May it be G‑d's will that – since we are now in the month of Teves, of which it is said in the exposition of our Sages^[5] that "the body derives pleasure from the body", and as was discussed at the farbrengen [at which I believe your honor was present]^[6], according to the exposition of our Sages that Achashverosh is the Holy One, blessed be He, to Whom the end and the beginning belong^[7], and Esther is Knesses Yisrael^[8], the Jewish people in every generation – it will be fulfilled in actual fact that His very Essence and Being, blessed be He, will derive pleasure, as it were, from the body and its affairs of every single Jew^[9], literally. See also the talk of the Rebbe Rashab in Toras Shalom (Simchas Torah 5669), p. 108 ff.^[10], on "the Essence has to do with the body"^[11]. All the above adds further to the ruling of the Rambam that "a healthy and whole body is among the ways of G‑d"^[12].

It may be said^[13] that this is also the meaning of "Then Yehudah approached him" (him, and not his attributes)^[14], as explained in the discourses of Torah Or on this verse: the virtue of the inanimate, of action and of the body^[15].

With blessings for good news in matters of the health of the body and the health of the soul, yours and of each member of your household, may they live long^[16].

Publisher's notes

Reb Avraham Zusha (מו"ה אברהם זושא): Ziskind, Brooklyn. Further letters to him: above, vol. 17, letter 6404, and the references in the notes there.

In the month of Teves (בחדש טבת): See also above, letter 6619, and the references in the notes there.

Notes

1. The Rav and Gaon, the venerable Chassid… (הרה"ג וו"ח אי"א נו"נ): הרה"ג = הרב הגאון, "the Rav and Gaon"; וו"ח = ותיק וחסיד, "venerable and Chassidic"; אי"א = איש ירא אלקים, "a G‑d-fearing man"; נו"נ = נעלה ונכבד, "distinguished and honored".

2. Reb Avraham Zusha, may he live long (מו"ה אברהם זושא שי'): Ziskind, Brooklyn. R. Avraham Zusha Ziskind, son of R. Yitzchak Meir, who passed away on Rosh Chodesh Nissan 5727 (1967); born in Warsaw and a student of Tomchei Temimim, who worked as a shochet, served as a rav, and later headed the Kollel Avreichim in Crown Heights; the Rebbe corresponded with him on Torah and Chassidic questions (see vol. 8, letter 2335, 7 Teves 5714, on his questions on Toras Chaim and the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch). As was his custom, he sent a pidyon nefesh with a donation, as in vol. 17, letter 6404 (19 Tammuz 5718), where the Rebbe also mentions his eldest son Yechiel. See also below, vol. 20, letter 7650 (Iyar 5721); and after his passing, vol. 24, letter 9310 (Nissan 5727), to students who divided the study of Mishnayos in his memory.

3. The pidyon nefesh (הפ"נ): הפ"נ = הפדיון נפש, a note with names and requests for blessing, read at the resting place of the Previous Rebbe.

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 = "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, "whose soul is in the hidden treasuries on High"; זי"ע = זכותו יגן עלינו, "may his merit protect us".

5. In the exposition of our Sages (בדרז"ל): בדרז"ל = בדרשת רז"ל, "in the exposition of our Sages". Megillah 13a: "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. He explains the same saying above, letter 6619 (1 Teves 5719), and in vol. 14, letter 5041 (15 Teves 5717).

6. At the farbrengen, at which I believe your honor was present (בההתועדות [שכמדומה הי' כת"ר נוכח בה]): כת"ר = כבוד תורתו, "your honor". The farbrengen at which the Rebbe spoke about this exposition.

7. To Whom the end and the beginning belong (שאחרית 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 (as in letter 6619: "cited in Me'orei Or and in the commentary of the Rema on Megillas Esther").

8. Knesses Yisrael (כנס"י): כנס"י = כנסת ישראל, the community of Israel.

9. From the body and its affairs of every single Jew, literally (מהגוף ועניניו של כאו"א מבנ"י כפשוטו): ית' = יתברך, "blessed be He"; כאו"א = כל אחד ואחד; בנ"י = בני ישראל. The "body" Above – G‑d's very Essence and Being ("King Achashverosh") – derives pleasure from the "body" below, the Jewish people ("Esther"). What is new here compared with letter 6619 (there: "from the essence and inwardness of each and every Jew") is that the Essence derives pleasure "from the body and its affairs… literally": from the physical body itself and its needs, not only from the soul; hence the blessing for bodily health at the end of the letter.

10. The talk of the Rebbe Rashab in Toras Shalom (Simchas Torah 5669), p. 108 ff. (שיחת כ"ק אדמו"ר (מוהרש"ב) נ"ע בתורת שלום (שמח"ת תרס"ט) עמוד ק"ח ואילך): כ"ק אדמו"ר (מוהרש"ב) נ"ע = the Rebbe Rashab, R. Shalom DovBer, "whose soul is in Eden"; שמח"ת = שמחת תורה. Toras Shalom is the collection of the Rebbe Rashab's talks.

11. "The Essence has to do with the body" (עצמות האט צו טאן מיט גוף): Yiddish: "the Essence has to do with the body", i.e. G‑d's very Essence relates specifically to the physical body (not only to the soul and the spiritual levels); hence the special virtue of the body.

12. The ruling of the Rambam that "a healthy and whole body is among the ways of G‑d" (פסק דין הרמב"ם היות הגוף בריא ושלם מדרכי השם הוא): Rambam, Hilchos De'os 4:1: "Since maintaining a healthy and whole body is among the ways of G‑d – for one cannot understand or know anything when ill – a person must distance himself from things that destroy the body". For the Rambam, bodily health is a means to serving G‑d (so that one can understand and know); according to the above, that G‑d's Essence derives pleasure from the body itself, bodily health is "among the ways of G‑d" all the more.

13. It may be said (וי"ל): וי"ל = ויש לומר.

14. "Then Yehudah approached him" (him, and not his attributes) (ויגש אליו (אליו ולא למדותיו) יהודא וגו'): Bereishis 44:18: "Then Yehudah approached him and said, Please, my lord". The Rebbe notes: "him" – Yosef himself, not his attributes (his manner of conduct). Yehudah's approach reaches the essence. This letter was written on Friday, the eve of Shabbos Parshas Vayigash (8 Teves 5719).

15. As explained in the discourses of Torah Or on this verse: the virtue of the inanimate, of action and of the body (בדרושי תו"א על כתוב זה, מעלת הדומם והמעשה והגוף): תו"א = Torah Or of the Alter Rebbe. Torah Or, the discourse "Vayigash Eilav Yehudah": Yosef is the level of "vegetation", "an expression of addition and increase, growing ever higher", while "Yehudah is the level of earth… the level of the inanimate"; now Yosef is above Yehudah, "but in the Time to Come Yehudah will be elevated above Yosef", because of his lofty root: earth and the inanimate "preceded all of them in the [Divine] thought", which is why the Beis HaMikdash was built specifically of stones, the inanimate. The inanimate, deed and body have the highest virtue in their root, to be revealed in the Time to Come – in keeping with the point above, that G‑d's Essence derives pleasure from the body.

16. Good news… each member of your household (בשו"ט... מב"ב): בשו"ט = בשורות טובות, "good news"; מב"ב = מבני ביתו, "of the members of his household".

Summary

Acknowledging a pidyon nefesh, the Rebbe explains the Sages' saying that in Teves "the body derives pleasure from the body": G‑d's very Essence derives pleasure from the physical body of every Jew, literally, which adds to the Rambam's ruling that bodily health is among the ways of G‑d. He links this to "Vayigash eilav Yehudah" as explained in Torah Or, the virtue of the inanimate, of deed and of the body, and blesses health of body and soul.