6686 —ברכה לעובדים במוסדות בעל ההילולא: "פועלי דיממא" וקביעות בזמן ובנפש

B"H, 15 Shevat^[1], 5719
Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I acknowledge receipt of your letter and the pidyon nefesh for the day of the hillula^[2].

May it be G‑d's will that, since Divine Providence has granted you the merit and the success and has set you upon the good portion^[3] – to be among the workers ("day-laborers", in the language of our Sages and as explained by the Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek)^[4] in the institutions of the one whose hillula it is,

which certainly adds even more to the arousal of abundant mercy^[5] through the one whose hillula it is,

this will add many times over^[6] to the blessings of G‑d in all that you need.

And the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, has both qualities in it: the quality of blessing and the quality of prayer,

as explained in the discourse beginning "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said… 'I will bless those who bless you'" (at the beginning of Sefer HaMaamarim 5629)^[7].

With blessing for fixedness in the holy work mentioned, in keeping with the instruction of the Alter Rebbe: fixedness in time, and above all – fixedness in the soul^[8].

Through this, the fixedness takes effect also in those you influence and educate – and what is fixed is not nullified^[9].

May it be G‑d's will that this too be with great success, in the manner of "you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south", up to an inheritance without bounds^[10].

With blessing for good news concerning all the above^[11].

Publisher's notes

Printed in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 11, p. 231, and vol. 23, p. 528. Sent to several of the activists among Anash^[12].

Day-laborers (פעלא דיממא): See also above, vol. 18, letter 6552 (12 MarCheshvan 5719, on the saying "We are day-laborers: to make light"), and the publisher's notes there.

Notes

1. 15 Shevat (טו"ב שבט): טו"ב שבט = ט"ו בשבט, the fifteenth of Shevat.

2. The pidyon nefesh for the day of the hillula (הפ"נ ליום ההילולא): הפ"נ = הפדיון נפש, a note of request to be mentioned at the resting place of the Rebbe. The day of the hillula is 10 Shevat, the day of the passing of the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, in 5710; this year was his ninth yahrzeit. As the publisher's note states, this letter was sent to several of the activists among Anash who work in the institutions the Previous Rebbe founded, who had sent the Rebbe a letter and a pidyon nefesh for the day of the hillula.

3. Set you upon the good portion (העמידתו על חלק היפה): After Rashi on Devarim 30:19, on "choose life": אני מורה לכם שתבחרו בחלק החיים. כאדם האומר לחברו, בחר לך חלק יפה בנחלתי. ומעמידו על חלק היפה, ואומר לו, את זה ברור לך, "I instruct you to choose the portion of life, like a man who says to his friend, 'Choose for yourself a good portion of my estate,' and sets him upon the good portion and says to him, 'Choose this for yourself.'" Divine Providence has set the recipient upon the "good portion": the work in the Previous Rebbe's institutions.

4. Day-laborers (פעלא דיממא, כלשון רז"ל וכביאור אדמו"ר הצ"צ): Workers hired by the day. The words of our Sages in Eruvin 65a: אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק: אנן פועלי דיממי אנן, "Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: We are day-laborers" (the Gemara there reads דיממי). The Tzemach Tzedek explained that the task of "day-laborers" is to make "day", that is, to bring light; in the Rebbe's words in letter 563: וע"פ פירוש הצ"צ (הובא בשיחת שמח"ת תרצ"ו), זייער ארבעט איז – מאכן ליכטיג, "according to the explanation of the Tzemach Tzedek (cited in the sicha of Simchas Torah 5696), their work is to make light", and in letter 3102: שעלינו להעיר ולעשות יממא (כמ"ש ויקרא לאור יום), "that we must awaken and make day (as it is written, 'And He called the light day')". Here the Rebbe applies this to those who work in the Previous Rebbe's institutions. See also above, letter 6552, and the publisher's notes there.

5. Abundant mercy (ר"ר): ר"ר = רחמים רבים. That is, the one whose hillula it is arouses abundant mercy for those who work in his institutions.

6. Many times over (כו"כ): כו"כ = כמה וכמה. השי"ת = השם יתברך, "G‑d, blessed be He".

7. The discourse beginning "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said" (ד"ה אמר ריב"ל כו' ואברכה מברכיך): ד"ה = דיבור המתחיל; ריב"ל = רבי יהושע בן לוי. Sefer HaMaamarim 5629 is the Rebbe Maharash's discourses of the year 5629 (in the series Toras Shmuel); its first discourse begins "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Every kohen who blesses is blessed", on Sotah 38b: ואמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: כל כהן שמברך, מתברך. ושאינו מברך, אין מתברך. שנאמר (בראשית יב) ואברכה מברכיך, "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Every kohen who blesses is blessed, and one who does not bless is not blessed, as it is said, 'I will bless those who bless you.'" The discourse explains the difference between prayer and blessing: שהברכה היא מה שכבר יש במקור למעלה... אבל ענין התפלה היא בחי' יהי רצון היינו שיומשך רצון חדש לרפאות החולי' ולברך השנים, "blessing is what already exists in the Source above… whereas prayer is 'may it be [Your] will', that a new will be drawn down to heal the sick and to bless the years"; אבל ברכה דהקב"ה... יש בבחי' הברכה גם מה שנמצא במעלת התפלה, "but the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He… includes also what is found in the quality of prayer". G‑d's blessing draws down both what already exists in the Source and a new will, as prayer does.

8. Fixedness in time, and above all – fixedness in the soul (קביעות בזמן ובעיקר - קביעות בנפש): It is not enough that the work be fixed in time; it must be fixed in one's soul, and that is the main thing. The Rebbe cites this saying of the Alter Rebbe in many letters; see for example letters 6598 and 5820.

9. What is fixed is not nullified (וקבוע - לא בטיל): עי"ז = על ידי זה. What is fixed is not nullified. The Rebbe wrote similarly in letter 4937, of fixed study of Chassidus with fixedness in the soul: אשר אז מתקיים בזה הדין קבוע לא בטל בשאר שיעורי היום, אלא אדרבה פועל פעולתו ועושה רושם גם על שאר היום, "for then the rule 'what is fixed is not nullified' applies to it among the rest of the day's lessons; on the contrary, it has its effect and leaves its mark on the rest of the day as well." Here: the worker's inner fixedness brings about fixedness in those he influences and educates, and it is not nullified.

10. You shall spread out… an inheritance without bounds (ופרצת ימה וקדמה וצפונה ונגבה, ועד לנחלה בלי מצרים): The verse Bereishis 28:14, G‑d's blessing to Yaakov: "Your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south." "An inheritance without bounds" follows Shabbos 118a: א"ר יוחנן משום רבי יוסי: כל המענג את השבת, נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים, "Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: Whoever delights in the Shabbos is given an inheritance without bounds" (Rashi: "that is, it has no end")… "not like Avraham… nor like Yitzchak… but like Yaakov, of whom it is written: you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south" (ibid., 118b). That is, may the success of his work be without limits.

11. Good news concerning all the above (בשו"ט בכהנ"ל): בשו"ט = בשורות טובות; כהנ"ל = כל הנזכר לעיל.

12. Likkutei Sichos… Anash (לקו"ש חי"א... חכ"ג... אנ"ש): לקו"ש חי"א = לקוטי שיחות חלק י"א; חכ"ג = חלק כ"ג; אנ"ש = אנשי שלומנו, "the members of our fellowship", the Chassidim.

Summary

A letter sent to several activists working in the Previous Rebbe's institutions, who had sent a pidyon nefesh for his ninth yahrzeit, 10 Shevat 5719. The Rebbe tells them that Providence has set them among the "day-laborers" whose task is to bring light, blesses them, and asks for fixedness in their holy work, in time and above all in the soul, which takes effect in those they educate.