6700 —ברכת "ונהפוך הוא" של חודש אדר כבר באדר הראשון, ו"טוב לב משתה תמיד"

B"H, 27 Shevat, 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!

I acknowledge receipt of your letter of Tuesday, the day on which "that it was good" was said twice^[3].

Being today 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], I mentioned you and all those you write about, in accordance with the content of your letter.

May it be G‑d's will that, since of the month of Adar it is said "and it was turned about," and that of the whole month^[5], so it will be in all your affairs that you write about, within the whole Jewish people^[6].

And indeed, according to several opinions and in several respects, the first Adar is Adar, or the two are as one month^[7].

And the ruling, the closing words of Orach Chaim, is: "and a good heart is a continual feast," in the joy of…^[8]

With blessings for good news^[9].

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.

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): Yolles, Philadelphia. R. Ephraim Eliezer HaKohen Yolles, one of the leading rabbis of Philadelphia (a rav there from 1921, and from 1953 the city's chief rabbi), for many years president of the Agudas HaRabbonim; he and the Rebbe kept up a wide correspondence on Nigleh and Kabbalah. In Kislev 5719 he wrote to the Rebbe about his health, and the Rebbe answered: "May it be G‑d's will that, just as you report an improvement in this, the condition will go on improving until you return to your full strength" (letter 6582). In Teves, when he reported a further improvement, the Rebbe doubled his blessing: "may it go from good to even better" (letter 6662). In this letter, written as Adar I approached, the Rebbe blesses him that Adar's "turning about" come in all his affairs; and in the next letter (6752, 7 Adar II) he writes: "May it be G‑d's will that your state of health go on improving, especially since this has already begun, and we are now in the month in which joy is increased."

3. "That it was good" was said twice (שהוכפל בו כי טוב): That is, your letter of the third day of the week. Following Rashi on Bereishis 1:7: ומפני מה לא נאמר 'כי טוב' ביום שני? לפי שלא היה נגמר מלאכת המים עד יום שלישי... ובשלישי שנגמרה מלאכת המים והתחיל וגמר מלאכה אחרת, כפל בו 'כי טוב' שתי פעמים, אחת לגמר מלאכת יום השני ואחת לגמר מלאכת היום, "Why is 'that it was good' not said on the second day? Because the work of the waters was not completed until the third day… On the third day, when the work of the waters was completed and He began and completed another work, He said 'that it was good' twice: once for the completion of the second day's work and once for the completion of that day's work."

4. The holy resting place of my father-in-law, the Rebbe… (הציון הק' של כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): הציון הק' = the holy resting place, the Ohel of the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר = כבוד קדושת מורי וחמי אדוננו מורנו ורבנו, "his holiness my father-in-law, our master, teacher and Rebbe"; זצוקללה"ה = זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה לחיי העולם הבא, "may the memory of the tzaddik 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. "And it was turned about," and that of the whole month (ונהפוך הוא על כל החדש): Esther 9:1: ביום אשר שברו איבי היהודים לשלוט בהם ונהפוך הוא, "on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to rule over them, and it was turned about." Further on, the turnabout is said not of that day alone but of the whole month (Esther 9:22): והחדש אשר נהפך להם מיגון לשמחה ומאבל ליום טוב, "and the month that was turned for them from sorrow to joy and from mourning to a festive day." Hence "of the whole month".

6. Within the whole Jewish people (בתכ"י): בתכ"י = בתוך כלל ישראל.

7. The first Adar is Adar, or the two are as one month (אדר הראשון הוא אדר או דכחדש אחד הם): Although this letter was written in Shevat, before Adar I (5719 was a leap year), the "turning about" of Adar already applies to the first Adar, for by several opinions the first Adar is the main one. Megillah 6b: רבי אליעזר ברבי יוסי סבר: בכל שנה ושנה - מה כל שנה ושנה אדר הסמוך לשבט, אף כאן אדר הסמוך לשבט, "Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosi holds: 'in each and every year': just as in every year it is the Adar adjacent to Shevat, so here too it is the Adar adjacent to Shevat" (so in his view the Megillah is read in the first Adar). For vows, Nedarim 63a: עד ראש אדר עד ראש אדר הראשון... אלמא סתמא דאדר דקאמר ראשון הוא, "'until the beginning of Adar' means until the beginning of the first Adar… so Adar said without qualification is the first"; and for documents, Rabbi Yehudah there holds אדר הראשון כותב סתם, "for the first Adar one writes simply 'Adar'." The Mishnah (Megillah, there) says: אין בין אדר הראשון לאדר השני, אלא קריאת המגילה, ומתנות לאביונים, "The only difference between the first Adar and the second Adar is the reading of the Megillah and gifts to the poor," and the Baraisa there: ושוין בהספד ובתענית, שאסורין בזה ובזה, "and they agree that eulogies and fasting are forbidden in both." See also the Rebbe's next letter to him (6752): "according to those who say that the first Adar is the main one."

8. The ruling, the closing words of Orach Chaim (והפס"ד וחיתום אורח חיים): הפס"ד = הפסק דין, "the ruling". The Orach Chaim section of the Shulchan Aruch ends with siman 697, on the 14th and 15th of the first Adar, where the Rema writes: י"א שחייב להרבות במשתה ושמחה בי"ד שבאדר ראשון... ואין נוהגין כן מ"מ ירבה קצת בסעודה כדי לצאת ידי המחמירים... וטוב לב משתה תמיד, "Some say one is obligated to increase in feasting and joy on the 14th of the first Adar… That is not the custom; nevertheless one should increase his meal somewhat, to satisfy the stringent opinions… and a good heart is a continual feast." These closing words are the verse Mishlei 15:15: כל ימי עני רעים וטוב לב משתה תמיד, "All the days of the poor man are bad, but a good heart is a continual feast." The ruling, and all of Orach Chaim, thus closes with constant joy, and precisely in the law of the first Adar.

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

Summary

Writing just before Adar I, the Rebbe tells the recipient, a leading rav in Philadelphia, that he mentioned him at the Previous Rebbe's resting place, and blesses him that Adar's "turning about," which applies to the whole month, come in all his affairs, already in the first Adar, which by several opinions is Adar itself; the Shulchan Aruch closes the laws of the first Adar with "a good heart is a continual feast."