6644 —מלחמת היונים ב"תורתך" וב"חוקי רצונך", וכל יהודי – נר ה' להאיר את סביבתו

B"H, 13 Teves, 5719
Brooklyn, N.Y.

To the students of the Shaarei Chessed Evening Yeshivah^[1], run by Tzeirei Agudas Chabad in the Holy City of Jerusalem, may it be built and established^[2], may G‑d be upon them, may they live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In due course I received your letter marking two full years since the yeshivah was founded, and afterwards I was pleased to receive the reports of the gathering you held for all the students of the evening yeshivos, and of the examinations, which took place during the days of Chanukah.

I hereby send each and every one of you my blessing, based on what is explained in a number of places: that the matter of Chanukah was "to make them forget Your Torah and to make them transgress the decrees of Your will"^[3]. That is, the aim of the wicked Greek kingdom was not to forbid the study of Torah as such, as a wisdom, but specifically to make them forget Your Torah – "the Torah of G‑d is perfect"^[4]. So too regarding the observance of the mitzvos: they were not concerned with the observance of the rational mitzvos, but specifically with the chukim, which have no reason; and even these would not have troubled them, were it not that they are specifically "the decrees of Your will", the will of the Creator^[5]. And through the self-sacrifice of the Jewish people, men, women and children, "the wicked were delivered into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton into the hands of those who occupy themselves with Your Torah"^[6]; and a festival was added in Israel, "to give thanks and praise to His great Name"^[7], and in a manner that keeps increasing, to illuminate the darkness of exile by means of the Chanukah light – and the halachah follows Beis Hillel^[8]. And according to the verse, "The soul of man is a candle of G‑d"^[9] – that every Jew is the candle of the Holy One, blessed be He, and his task, in the words of the Mishnah, "I was created to serve my Maker"^[10], is to illuminate his portion of the world: not only his animal soul, but also his surroundings and what lies beyond them, like the mitzvah of the Chanukah light "at the entrance of his house, on the outside"^[11] – may all the above be fulfilled in each and every one of you, in a manner that keeps increasing, adding and shining^[12].

With blessings for good news in all the above^[13].

It is understood that all that has been said applies, and is directed, also to your friends, may they live long and good days, in the other branches of the evening yeshivos. Surely you will pass these words on to them; and the main thing is that you serve them as a living example of a good and successful student, in keeping with the hope and intent of our Rebbeim, our leaders, of righteous and holy memory, whose souls are in the hidden treasuries on High, may their merit protect us^[14].

Publisher's notes

Printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 10, p. 296, and completed from the secretariat's copy.

Notes

1. The Shaarei Chessed Evening Yeshivah (ישיבת הערב שערי חסד): An evening yeshivah in the Shaarei Chessed neighborhood of Jerusalem, run by Tzeirei Agudas Chabad of Jerusalem, whose students learned in the evening hours; it had further branches in the city ("the other branches of the evening yeshivos", below). This letter was written when it marked two years, after the gathering and examinations held for all the evening-yeshivah students during Chanukah. On the evening yeshivos in Jerusalem see also the Rebbe's letters to R. Naftali HaKohen Rata, one of those involved in them: 5367, 6131, 6212 (on the certificates distributed to the evening-yeshivah students), 6762 (12 Adar II 5719, on the evening yeshivah's development); and his letters to the students themselves: below, 6794 (Rosh Chodesh Nissan 5719, "to all the students of the evening yeshivos in Jerusalem") and 8191 (10 Sivan 5719), where he again asks them to be "a living example" and says his words are directed also to their friends "in the other evening yeshivos".

2. Run by… may it be built and established (שע"י… בעיה"ק ירושלים ת"ו): שע"י = שעל ידי, "run by"; בעיה"ק = בעיר הקודש, "in the Holy City"; ת"ו = תבנה ותכונן, "may it be built and established (speedily in our days)".

3. To make them forget Your Torah… (להשכיחם תורתך ולהעבירם על חוקי רצונך): From the Al HaNissim prayer for Chanukah (in the Amidah and in Grace after Meals): "when the wicked Greek kingdom rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and to make them transgress the decrees of Your will" (the siddur reads ולהעבירם מחקי רצונך; the Rebbe writes here ולהעבירם על חוקי רצונך). The Previous Rebbe explained this, as cited in Hayom Yom, 2 Teves: "The war of the Greeks was 'to make them forget Your Torah and to make them transgress the decrees of Your will' … The whole war was against G‑dliness: let them learn Torah, let them observe the mishpatim and eidos, only let them not mention that it is the Torah of G‑d and that the mitzvos are the decrees of His will." See also Torah Or, Inyan Chanukah: "Whereas at Chanukah the Jews were settled on their land and had not been exiled from it – only the Torah was in exile, 'to make them forget Your Torah and to make them transgress the decrees of Your will'"; and at length in Maamarim Melukatim vol. 2, maamar Tanu Rabbanan Mitzvas Ner Chanukah 5738, section 3.

4. "The Torah of G‑d is perfect" (תורת ה' תמימה): Tehillim 19:8: "The Torah of G‑d is perfect, restoring the soul". The Greeks did not fight the Torah as wisdom and intellect, but the fact that it is "Your Torah", "the Torah of G‑d".

5. The will of the Creator (רצון הבורא): Even the chukim they would not have opposed had they been kept for some other reason; what they opposed was only that these are "the decrees of Your will", the Creator's will. Hence the precise wording "Your Torah" (not "the Torah") and "the decrees of Your will" (not "the mitzvos").

6. "The wicked were delivered into the hands of the righteous…" (נמסרו רשעים ביד צדיקים וזדים ביד עוסקי תורתך): From Al HaNissim: "You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton into the hands of those who occupy themselves with Your Torah." The Rebbe cites the last two clauses: against their war on "Your Torah", they were delivered specifically into the hands of "those who occupy themselves with Your Torah".

7. "To give thanks and praise to His great Name" (להודות ולהלל לשמו הגדול): From Al HaNissim: "and they instituted these eight days of Chanukah to give thanks and praise to Your great Name"; and Shabbos 21b: "The following year they instituted them and made them festive days with Hallel and thanksgiving."

8. The halachah follows Beis Hillel (והלכה כבית הלל): Shabbos 21b: "Beis Shammai say: on the first day one lights eight, and from then on decreases; Beis Hillel say: on the first day one lights one, and from then on keeps adding", Beis Hillel's reason being that "one ascends in holiness and does not descend". The halachah follows Beis Hillel (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 671:2). The light that illuminates the darkness of exile does not stand still but grows from day to day.

9. "The soul of man is a candle of G‑d" (נר הוי' נשמת אדם): Mishlei 20:27: "The soul of man is a candle of G‑d, searching all the chambers of the innermost parts." The Rebbe reads it: every Jew is "a candle of G‑d", and a candle's task is to give light.

10. "I was created to serve my Maker" (אני נבראתי לשמש את קוני): The Mishnah at the end of Kiddushin, Kiddushin 82a: "Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: Have you ever seen a beast or a bird with a trade? … They were created only to serve me, and I was created to serve my Maker."

11. "At the entrance of his house, on the outside" (על פתח ביתו מבחוץ): Shabbos 21b: "Our Rabbis taught: it is a mitzvah to place the Chanukah light at the entrance of one's house, on the outside"; Rashi: "to publicize the miracle". Just as the Chanukah light shines outward, every Jew must illuminate not only himself but also his surroundings and what lies beyond them.

12. Keeps increasing, adding and shining (מוסיף והולך מוסיף ואור): "Keeps adding" (מוסיף והולך) is the Gemara's phrase in Shabbos 21b (above); "and shining" (ואור) is from Mishlei 4:18: "The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, growing ever brighter until full day"; Rashi: "which keeps shining from daybreak". A light that keeps growing until it shines in full.

13. In all the above (בכהנ"ל): בכהנ"ל = בכל הנ"ל.

14. Of righteous and holy memory… (זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): זצוקללה"ה = זכר צדיקים וקדושים לברכה לחיי העולם הבא, "may the memory of the righteous and holy be for a blessing, for the life of the World to Come"; נבג"מ = נשמתם בגנזי מרומים, "their souls are in the hidden treasuries on High"; זי"ע = זכותם יגן עלינו, "may their merit protect us".

Summary

Writing to the students of a Chabad evening yeshivah in Jerusalem on its second anniversary, the Rebbe explains that the Greeks did not oppose Torah as wisdom or the rational mitzvos, but G‑d's Torah and the decrees of His will, and that they were defeated by those who occupy themselves with "Your Torah". Every Jew is a candle of G‑d whose task is to light up his surroundings, like the Chanukah light at the door, in an ever-increasing way, and the students should be a living example to their friends in the other branches.