6662 —שמחה בהטבת הבריאות וכפילת הברכה "מטוב לטוב", ומראי מקומות לשאלותיו

B"H, 25 Teves, 5719
Brooklyn.

The Rav and Gaon, the Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs^[1], Reb Ephraim Eliezer HaKohen, may he live long^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of 24 Teves, the hilula of the Alter Rebbe^[3].

I was pleased to read in it of the improvement in your health^[4], and the Rav's words are repeated many, many times^[5] (in the manner of "the whole east is lit up… in Hebron")^[6]: may it go from good to even better in all the particulars you write about.

As to what you mention in passing^[7] about the matters of nitzok and katapras^[8], you surely know that this is discussed in the commentary on the Mishnah by the Tzemach Tzedek and in the Shaar HaMiluim there^[9].

As to the reading you bring of "three steps", one may point to where the number three is mentioned in connection with steps^[10]..

Concerning the level of Moshe among the five called Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah, Yechidah^[11], see the writings of the Arizal, as noted below^[12]. There is also found there a lengthy explanation of the matter of "he turned aside to see", and on the verse "Let me turn aside now and see"^[13] there is the well-known sicha of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, of saintly memory, whose soul is in the hidden treasuries on High, may his merit protect us^[14], printed on this.

With respect and blessing for good news^[15] in all the above.

1) Sanhedrin 96a^[16] (according to Torah Or 31c)^[17]; Bereishis Rabbah 43:3 (with a lengthy explanation of it by R. Chaim Vital, printed at the end of the book Chesed LeAvraham, and in several places)^[18]; Zohar III 307b; and elsewhere. See also Midrash Maaseh Torah^[19].

2) In Shaar HaPesukim, Sefer HaLikkutim, and also in Likkutei Torah of the Arizal^[20].

Publisher's notes

Reb Ephraim Eliezer (מו"ה אפרים אליעזר): Yolles, Philadelphia. Further letters to him: above, letter 6582, and the references in the notes there.

The level of Moshe (לדרגת משה): See also above, vol. 17, letter 6273, and the references in the notes there.

The well-known sicha (ידועה השיחה): See Sefer HaSichos 5702, p. 47.

Reb Ephraim Eliezer: See also below, letter 6752 (to him, 7 Adar II 5719, blessing his recovery in the month of Adar, and noting that 25 of the first Adar is "the day of Creation").

Notes

1. The Rav and Gaon… engaged in communal needs (הרה"ג הרה"ח אי"א נו"נ עוסק בצ"צ): הרה"ג = הרב הגאון, "the Rav and Gaon"; 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 Ephraim Eliezer HaKohen (מו"ה אפרים אליעזר שי' הכהן): R. Ephraim Eliezer HaKohen Yolles of Philadelphia, a rav there from 1921, later its chief rabbi and president of the Agudas HaRabbonim; among the leading American rabbis close to the Rebbe, with whom he kept up a wide correspondence on Nigleh and Kabbalah from the 1940s on. This letter continues letter 6582 (6 Kislev 5719), where the Rebbe wrote that he had already been worried at not receiving his customary letter for Erev Rosh Chodesh Kislev; the delay turned out to be due to his health, and the Rebbe blessed him to return to full strength. Now the recipient reported an improvement. The Rebbe continues to bless him in the later letters 6700 (27 Shevat) and 6752 (7 Adar II), where he writes: "that your health continue to improve, especially since this has already begun".

3. The hilula of the Alter Rebbe (הילולא של רבנו הזקן): 24 Teves, the yahrzeit of the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya and Shulchan Aruch (passed away 24 Teves 5573). The recipient wrote on that day, and the Rebbe answered the next day.

4. The improvement in your health (מהטבת מצב הבריאות): See letter 6582, and the note on the recipient.

5. Many, many times (כו"כ): כו"כ = כמה וכמה.

6. "The whole east is lit up… in Hebron" (האיר פני כל המזרח כו' בחברון): From the Mishnah, Yoma 28a (also Tamid 3:2), on checking whether the time for slaughtering the daily offering had come: אם הגיע הרואה אומר ברקאי. מתיא בן שמואל אומר: האיר פני כל המזרח עד שבחברון, והוא אומר הן, "If it had come, the observer would say 'Barkai'. Masya ben Shmuel says: [he would say] 'The whole face of the east is lit up as far as Hebron', and he would answer 'Yes'." The Gemara, Yoma 28b, explains that one says "the whole east is lit up", his fellow repeats and adds "as far as Hebron", and the first confirms "Yes". The Yerushalmi (Yoma 3:1) explains why Hebron was mentioned: "to recall the merit of the Patriarchs". In this way the Rebbe repeats the recipient's words about his improved health and adds his own blessing: "may it go from good to even better".

7. In passing (דא"ג): דא"ג = דרך אגב.

8. Nitzok and katapras (נצוק וקטפרס): Nitzok is a stream of liquid poured from one vessel into another; katapras is liquid flowing down a slope. The question is whether they count as a "connection" for impurity and purity: Taharos 8:9, הנצוק והקטפרס ומשקה טופח אינן חבור לא לטומאה ולא לטהרה, "a poured stream, a slope-flow and moisture are not a connection, neither for impurity nor for purity"; the commentary there: nitzok is "a stream from a pipe coming down straight like a column", katapras is "water coming down the slope of a high mound". See also Machshirin 5:9, "every poured stream is pure, except for zifin honey and batter".

9. The commentary on the Mishnah by the Tzemach Tzedek… Shaar HaMiluim (בפירוש המשניות לאדמו"ר הצ"צ ובשער המילואים): אדמו"ר הצ"צ = the Tzemach Tzedek. Shaar HaMiluim is one of the parts of the "Tzemach Tzedek" series of his works. See also Responsa Tzemach Tzedek, Yoreh De'ah 169, on the difference between nitzok, katapras and moisture.

10. Where the number three is mentioned in connection with steps (מספר שלש בהנוגע לפסיעות): On the recipient's reading of "three steps", the Rebbe lists (in note 1 at the end of the letter) the places where the number three appears with regard to steps. The Gemara, Sanhedrin 96a, speaks of Nebuchadnezzar's reward "for four steps"; Torah Or, Mikeitz 31c, citing it, writes: "we find that Nebuchadnezzar (Sanhedrin 96a, see there and Yalkut), because he walked three steps in honor of G‑d, was granted rule over the whole world".

11. Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah, Yechidah (נר"ן ח"י): the five levels of the soul.

12. The writings of the Arizal, as noted below (בכתבי האריז"ל כמצוין למטה): in note 2 at the end of the letter. See the Rebbe's letter 2832 (vol. 9): "Moshe, whose connection is to the level of Chayah, as cited in Shaar HaPesukim, Parshas Vayechi, and elsewhere".

13. "He turned aside to see"… "Let me turn aside now and see" (סר לראות… אסורה נא ואראה): Shemos 3:3, "Moshe said: Let me turn aside now and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt"; Shemos 3:4, "G‑d saw that he turned aside to see, and G‑d called to him from within the bush".

14. My father-in-law, the Rebbe… (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn; זצוקללה"ה = זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה לחיי העולם הבא; נבג"מ = נשמתו בגנזי מרומים; זי"ע = זכותו יגן עלינו. The sicha is in Sefer HaSichos 5702 (see the publisher's notes).

15. Good news (לבשו"ט): לבשו"ט = לבשורות טובות.

16. Sanhedrin (סנה'): See above, the note on "three steps".

17. Torah Or (תו"א): תו"א = תורה אור.

18. Bereishis Rabbah 43… R. Chaim Vital… Chesed LeAvraham (ב"ר פמ"ג… מהרח"ו… בסו"ס חסד לאברהם): ב"ר פמ"ג = בראשית רבה פרשה מ"ג; מהרח"ו = מורנו הרב חיים ויטאל; בסו"ס = בסוף ספר; ובכ"מ = ובכמה מקומות. So Likkutei Torah, Vayikra, Additions, maamar Lehavin Mah She'kasuv b'Otzros Chaim: "at the end of R. Chaim Vital's Discourse on the Steps, at the end of Chesed LeAvraham, explaining the Sages' saying in Bereishis Rabbah, Lech Lecha 43: Avraham's steps were three mil".

19. Zohar III (זח"ג): זח"ג = זהר חלק ג.

20. Shaar HaPesukim (בשה"פ): בשה"פ = בשער הפסוקים (of the Arizal); לקו"ת = לקוטי תורה.

Summary

Replying the day after the Alter Rebbe's hilula, the Rebbe rejoices at the improvement in the recipient's health and repeats and adds to it his blessing that it go from good to better. He then answers the recipient's learned questions, pointing him to sources on nitzok and katapras, on "three steps", and on Moshe's level among the five levels of the soul.