6752 —כ"ה באדר הראשון "יום בראשית", וברכה שגופו יהי' "שלם וחזק" בחודש אדר

B"H, 7 Adar II, 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 received in due time your letter of 25 Adar I^[3], with what was enclosed with it.

Let me point out that, according to those who say that the first Adar is the main one, and that the world was created in Nissan, that day is the day of Creation*^[4].

The reply was delayed because of what you wrote in your letter, that you were thinking of being here and of our meeting on the second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar II^[5].

In any case^[6], may it be G‑d's will that your state of health go on improving, especially since this has already begun. We are now in the month in which joy is increased^[7], joy in accordance with Torah, which is itself the service of G‑d^[8]; and for this there must be^[9], in the words of the Rambam, "a body whole and strong, etc., for it is impossible to understand… (even) [when] one of his limbs is in pain" (Laws of De'os, end of chapter 3)^[10], and that is a pain, which is less than an illness (Shabbos 12a)^[11].

And since in the month of Adar "it was turned about," "to joy…"^[12], may the condition mentioned also be turned about, to be, in the Rambam's words, "whole and strong."

With respect and with blessings for good news^[13] in all the above, and for a joyous Purim.

*) For in such a case it is obvious that adding a thirtieth day at the end of the month does not change the dating of the days before it.^[14]

Publisher's notes

Printed in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 23, p. 481.

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

Reb Ephraim Eliezer: See also above, letter 6700 (to him, 27 Shevat 5719, with the blessing that Adar's "turning about" come in all his affairs, already in the first Adar).

Reb Ephraim Eliezer: See also below, letter 6831 (to him, 29 Nissan 5719: between the month of redemption and the month of Ziv; "Iyar" as the initials of Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Rachel).

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 blessed him: "May the condition go on improving until you return to your full strength" (letter 6582); in Teves, when he reported an improvement, the Rebbe doubled his blessing: "may it go from good to even better" (letter 6662); and in Shevat, before Adar I, he blessed him that Adar's "turning about" come in all his affairs, for "according to several opinions and in several respects, the first Adar is Adar" (letter 6700). In this letter the Rebbe continues both themes: the first Adar, and the improvement in his health.

3. 25 Adar I (כ"ה אד"ר): אד"ר = אדר ראשון, Adar I; 25 Adar I 5719 fell on Thursday, 5 March 1959. Likewise אד"ש in the date of the letter = אדר שני, Adar II.

4. The day of Creation (יום בראשית): The Tannaim disagree (Rosh Hashanah 11a): ר' יהושע אומר בניסן נברא העולם, "Rabbi Yehoshua says: in Nissan the world was created," while Rabbi Eliezer says "that in Tishrei the world was created." According to Rabbi Eliezer, Vayikra Rabbah (29:1) says: בעשרים וחמשה באלול נברא העולם, "on the twenty-fifth of Elul the world was created," and Rosh Hashanah, the day on which man was created, is the sixth day of Creation ("on the day of Rosh Hashanah, in the first hour it arose in [G‑d's] thought… in the sixth He made him"). Accordingly, by the view that the world was created in Nissan, the first day of Creation is 25 Adar, six days before Rosh Chodesh Nissan. And by the view that the first Adar is the main one (see letter 6700), 25 of the first Adar, the day on which the recipient wrote his letter, is "the day of Creation".

5. The second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar II (בבדר"ח אד"ש): = בב' דראש חודש אדר שני, that is, 1 Adar II (Wednesday, 11 March 1959). The recipient had written that he was thinking of coming here and meeting the Rebbe on Rosh Chodesh Adar II, and so the reply was held back.

6. In any case (ובכ"א): ובכ"א = ובכל אופן.

7. The month in which joy is increased (מרבין בשמחה): Taanis 29a: כשם שמשנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה, כך משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה, "Rav Yehudah son of Rav Shmuel bar Shilas said in the name of Rav: just as when Av begins we lessen our joy, so when Adar begins we increase our joy."

8. Which is itself the service of G‑d (אשר עבודת השם היא): See Rambam, Laws of Shofar, Sukkah and Lulav 8:15: השמחה שישמח אדם בעשית המצוה ובאהבת האל שצוה בהן, עבודה גדולה היא, "The joy with which a person rejoices in doing a mitzvah and in the love of G‑d who commanded them is a great service."

9. There must be (צ"ל): צ"ל = צריך להיות.

10. Laws of De'os, end of chapter 3 (הלכות דיעות ספ"ג): ספ"ג = סוף פרק ג. The Rambam there (halachah 3): אלא ישים על לבו שיהא גופו שלם וחזק כדי שתהיה נפשו ישרה לדעת את ה'. שאי אפשר שיבין וישתכל בחכמות והוא רעב וחולה או אחד מאיבריו כואב, "Rather, he should set his heart on having a body whole and strong, so that his soul be upright to know G‑d; for it is impossible to understand and contemplate wisdom while one is hungry or ill, or one of his limbs is in pain." The Rebbe adds "(even)" in parentheses: not only hunger and illness, but even pain in a single limb keeps a person from understanding.

11. A pain, which is less than an illness (כאב פחות מחולי): That is, pain in one limb is less than an illness, and yet it too prevents understanding, as the Rambam says. See Shabbos 11a: כל חולי, ולא חולי מעים. כל כאב, ולא כאב לב. כל מיחוש, ולא מיחוש ראש, "any illness but not illness of the bowels; any pain but not pain of the heart; any ache but not an ache of the head," and Rashi there: an illness (חולי) is "a long illness that wastes and saps one's strength"; a pain (כאב) is "one that comes and goes, such as a toothache or the pain of a wound."

12. "It was turned about," "to joy…" (נהפוך הוא, לשמחה וגו'): 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"; 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." Just as in Adar the situation was reversed from one extreme to the other, "from sorrow to joy," so may the recipient's health be reversed, until his body is "whole and strong," in the Rambam's words.

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

14. *) For in such a case… (דבכגון דא פשוט): The Rebbe's own note. In a leap year the first Adar is full (thirty days), while Adar of an ordinary year is short (twenty-nine days). The Rebbe explains that adding a thirtieth day at the end of the month does not change the dating of the days before it, so 25 of the first Adar is 25 Adar in every respect.

Summary

Answering a letter from a leading rav of Philadelphia dated 25 Adar I, the Rebbe points out that by the views that the first Adar is the main one and that the world was created in Nissan, that date is the first day of Creation. He blesses him that his recovering health continue to improve: Torah joy, the service of Adar, needs a body "whole and strong," as the Rambam writes, and as Adar was "turned about" to joy, so may his condition be.