6687 —ההשתתפות ביום ההילולא: עליית הצדיק, והמקושרים אליו נמשכים אחריו – "הבא לטהר"

B"H, 17 Shevat, 5719
Brooklyn.

To all the participants in the farbrengen of the day of the hillula, the tenth of Shevat, in the seventh year, the Shemittah year, 5719, in the city of Bnei Brak^[1], "G‑d is upon them, they shall live"^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

It was a pleasure to receive the names of the participants in that farbrengen, each with his own name and his mother's name, to be mentioned at the holy resting place of the one whose hillula it is^[3].

And "everything follows the conclusion"^[4]: participation on the day of the hillula of a tzaddik, the leader of Israel, the leader of the generation, who on this day ascends higher and higher, as is explained in many places in the teachings of Chassidus, the teaching of "the words of the living G‑d"^[5].

This is understood also according to the revealed Torah, from the fact that on the day of the hillula Kaddish is said once again, although several years have passed since the passing; and all the more so, a fortiori, since for every Jew one stops saying it after a year, because his judgment has already been completed^[6]. One must therefore say that the saying of this Kaddish (the Arizal, cited in Lechem HaPanim and in Shiyurei Berachah on Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, end of section 376)^[7] is because of the ascent in holiness, from higher to higher still; as our Sages say, "They have no rest, neither in this world nor in the World to Come, as it is said: They go from strength to strength"^[8].

And "the body follows the head"^[9]: all who belong to him and are bound to him, among all Israel^[10], are drawn after him in his ascent, receiving additional help and strength from Above, as our Sages say, "One who comes to purify is helped"^[11].

And the precise wording is known (see Likkutei Torah, Discourses for Shemini Atzeres, 89d)^[12]: "to purify" (and not "to be purified"); the point of this is the effect on the other: the "other" within oneself, one's body and animal soul^[13], and the "other" in the plain sense. And this is the point of the avodah of Chassidim.

With respect and with blessing for good news^[14], with joy and gladness of heart.

Publisher's notes

Printed in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 11^[15], p. 321. A similar copy was sent to the participants in several farbrengens; to some of them, in Yiddish translation (see also the next letter).

Notes

1. The farbrengen of the day of the hillula… in Bnei Brak (ההתועדות דיום ההילולא... בעיר בני ברק): A Chassidic gathering held in Bnei Brak on 10 Shevat 5719, the ninth yahrzeit of the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, whose participants sent the Rebbe their names. As the publisher's note states, a similar copy of this letter was sent to the participants in several farbrengens, to some of them in Yiddish translation; see the next letter, 6688, of the same day, in which the Rebbe encloses "my letter to the participants in the farbrengen of the day of the hillula" and asks that it be used "for further explanation of those matters mentioned in the letter by way of hint, and above all with regard to spreading the wellsprings". 5719 was a Shemittah year.

2. G‑d is upon them, they shall live (ה' עליהם יחיו): The words of Yeshayahu 38:16, in the prayer of Chizkiyahu: אדני עליהם יחיו.

3. His own name and his mother's name… the holy resting place (בשמו ושם אמו... הציון הק'): Each participant's name with his mother's name, as is customary when a person is mentioned for a blessing. The holy resting place is that of the one whose hillula it is, the Previous Rebbe.

4. Everything follows the conclusion (הכל הולך אחר החתום): The words of the Gemara, Berachos 12a, about a blessing begun in one form and concluded in another: פתח ביוצר אור, וסיים במעריב ערבים, יצא. כללו של דבר, הכל הולך אחר החתום, "If he began with 'Who forms light' and concluded with 'Who brings on evenings', he has fulfilled his obligation. The rule is: everything follows the conclusion." The Rebbe applies it to the farbrengen: its value is determined by its "seal", that it was participation on the day of the hillula of the leader of the generation, who ascends on this day higher and higher.

5. In many places… the words of the living G‑d (בכ"מ... תורת דא"ח): בכ"מ = בכמה מקומות; דא"ח = דברי אלקים חיים, "the words of the living G‑d", a name for the teachings of Chassidus.

6. His judgment has already been completed (שכבר נגמר דינו): ע"פ = על פי; במכש"כ וק"ו = במכל שכן וקל וחומר; כאו"א = כל אחד ואחד; וע"כ צ"ל = ועל כרחך צריך לומר. For every Jew, one stops saying Kaddish after a year, because his judgment is complete; if on the day of the hillula Kaddish is said again, though years have passed, it is necessarily not for the sake of judgment but for the sake of ascent.

7. Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, end of section 376 (שו"ע יו"ד סו"ס שע"ו): The Arizal = האלקי רבי יצחק זכרונו לברכה. There (376:4), in the gloss of the Rema: ונהגו שאם מגיע לאדם יום שמת בו אביו ואמו שאומרים עליהם קדיש יתום לעולם, "The custom is that when the day on which one's father or mother died comes round, one says the mourner's Kaddish for them, always"; and: ונהגו שאין אומרים קדיש ותפלה רק י"א חדשים כדי שלא יעשו אביהם ואמם רשעים כי משפט רשע י"ב חדש, "The custom is to say Kaddish and lead the prayers only eleven months, so as not to make their father and mother wicked, for the judgment of the wicked lasts twelve months." Lechem HaPanim and Shiyurei Berachah there cite the Arizal on the reason for this Kaddish.

8. They have no rest (אין להם מנוחה לא בעולם הזה ולא בעולם הבא): The saying of our Sages, Berachos 64a: אמר רבי חייא בר אשי אמר רב: תלמידי חכמים אין להם מנוחה, לא בעולם הזה ולא בעולם הבא. שנאמר: ילכו מחיל אל חיל, יראה אל אלהים בציון, "Rabbi Chiya bar Ashi said in the name of Rav: Torah scholars have no rest, neither in this world nor in the World to Come, as it is said: They go from strength to strength; [each one] appears before G‑d in Zion" (Tehillim 84:8). The Gemara says it of Torah scholars; the Rebbe applies it to the yearly ascent of the tzaddik on the day of the hillula, "from higher to higher still". "Ascent in holiness" echoes the rule מעלין בקדש, ואין מורידין, "one ascends in holiness and does not descend" (Berachos 28a).

9. The body follows the head (גופא בתר רישא אזיל): The words of Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri in Eruvin 41a, after the passing of Rabban Gamliel: חזי אנא דבתר רישא גופא אזיל, "I see that the body follows the head" (Rashi there: "I see by law and by right that we must follow the words of the earlier ones"). The Rebbe uses it here in its plain sense: those bound to the tzaddik, the "head", are drawn after him in his ascent.

10. Among all Israel (בתכ"י): בתכ"י = בתוך כלל ישראל.

11. One who comes to purify is helped (הבא לטהר מסייעין אותו): מרז"ל = מאמר רז"ל. Yoma 38b: אמר ריש לקיש: מאי דכתיב (משלי ג, לד) אם ללצים הוא יליץ ולענוים יתן חן? בא לטמא, פותחין לו. בא לטהר, מסייעין אותו, "Reish Lakish said: What is meant by 'If it concerns scorners, He scorns them, but to the humble He gives grace'? One who comes to defile is given an opening; one who comes to purify is helped." (Shabbos 104a reads בא ליטהר – מסייעים אותו, "one who comes to be purified is helped".)

12. Likkutei Torah, Discourses for Shemini Atzeres, 89d (לקו"ת דרושי שמע"צ פט, ד): In the discourse "G‑d is with me among my helpers, and I shall see [my wish] upon my enemies", at its opening: וגם להבין מארז"ל: הבא לטהר מסייעין לו... וגם י"ל לשון: לטהר – שהוא פועל יוצא, דמשמע לטהר את אחרים, והל"ל: ליטהר?, "We must also understand the saying of our Sages, 'one who comes to purify is helped'… and one must also ask about the word 'to purify', a transitive verb, which implies purifying others; it should have said 'to be purified'"; and on 89d it explains: וזהו הבא לטהר – כלומר לטהר ולזכך מדת מלכותו ית', "This is 'one who comes to purify': that is, to purify and refine [the attribute of] His Kingship". The Rebbe draws from this the lesson for a person's avodah: "to purify" is transitive, an effect on another.

13. Animal soul (נה"ב): נה"ב = נפש הבהמית. The "other" is both one's own body and animal soul, which one must purify, and the other in the plain sense, another person.

14. Good news (בשו"ט): בשו"ט = בשורות טובות.

15. Likkutei Sichos, vol. 11 (לקו"ש חי"א): לקו"ש חי"א = לקוטי שיחות חלק י"א.

Summary

The Rebbe writes to the participants in the 10 Shevat 5719 farbrengen in Bnei Brak, whose names he will mention at the Previous Rebbe's resting place. On the hillula the tzaddik ascends higher each year, as the yahrzeit Kaddish shows; those bound to him are drawn after him and helped from Above, and "to purify" means to act on the other, within oneself and outside.