6753 —עזרה לשומרי שביעית בארץ הקודש: קרן השמיטה שבניו יורק, והמחאה פרטית מרבינו

B"H, 7 Adar II, 5719
Brooklyn.

The veteran Chassidim, G‑d-fearing men, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs^[1], Reb Moshe Yehudah, may he live long, and Reb Yaakov Moshe, may he live long

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of the night before Monday^[2], in which you write about your holy mission on behalf of those who keep the seventh year according to halachah, "mighty in strength, who do His word"^[3], in the Holy Land, may it be built and established^[4] speedily in our days through Moshiach, our righteous redeemer.

When the founders of the Shemitah Fund in New York were with me, it was said explicitly that they stand ready to help all who keep the seventh year in the Holy Land, may it be built and established, without any distinction whatsoever; and they are trustworthy people, who keep their word, especially since the conduct mentioned, help to all the settlements, is a matter of Torah. It is surprising that your letter makes no mention of help from that fund. Surely at least^[5] now you will turn to them, if this has not been done until now.

In any case, in keeping with what is written, "I am a friend to all who fear You…"^[6], I enclose my personal check^[7].

May it be G‑d's will that we soon merit the fulfillment of what is written, "However, there shall be no needy among you," and that we merit to see the state connected with it, when the Jewish people do the will of the Omnipresent (Sifrei, Devarim 15:4)^[8]; and, as the saying of our Sages on this is explained, that is when one serves G‑d not only "with all your heart and with all your soul" but also "with all your might" (the explanation of the Maggid of Mezritch, Berachos 35b)^[9].

And from keeping the seventh year may they come, speedily in our days^[10], also to the counting of the seventh years and the Jubilees, when all its inhabitants are upon it, gathered in by Moshiach, our righteous redeemer, speedily in our days.

With respect and with blessings for success.

P.S.

As to what you write about a letter of recommendation,

it is well known that this is not the custom of Beis HaRav^[11].

Notes

1. The veteran Chassidim… engaged in communal needs (הוו"ח אי"א נו"נ עוסקים בצ"צ): הוו"ח = הוותיק וחסיד, "the veteran Chassid"; אי"א = איש ירא אלקים, "a G‑d-fearing man"; נו"נ = נעלה ונכבד, "distinguished and honored"; עוסקים בצ"צ = עוסקים בצרכי ציבור, "engaged in communal needs".

2. The night before Monday (אור ליום השני): That is, the night of Monday, Sunday evening.

3. "Mighty in strength, who do His word" (גבורי כח עושי דברו): שביעית = the seventh year, Shemitah; 5719 was a Shemitah year. Tehillim 103:20: ברכו ה' מלאכיו גברי כח עשי דברו לשמע בקול דברו, "Bless the L‑rd, O His angels, mighty in strength, who do His word, to hearken to the voice of His word." Vayikra Rabbah (1:1): גברי כח עשי דברו, במה הכתוב מדבר? אמר רבי יצחק: בשומרי שביעית הכתוב מדבר. בנהג שבעולם אדם עושה מצוה ליום אחד, לשבת אחת, לחדש אחד, שמא לשאר ימות השנה, ודין חמי חקליה בירה כרמיה בירה ויהב ארנונא ושתיק, יש לך גבור גדול מזה, "'Mighty in strength, who do His word': of whom does the verse speak? Rabbi Yitzchak said: it speaks of those who keep the seventh year. In the way of the world a person does a mitzvah for a day, a week, a month, but for the rest of the year? And this one sees his field lying fallow, his vineyard lying fallow, and pays the tax and keeps silent. Is there a mightier man than this?" The Rebbe uses the same words in Shevat 5719 of a community in the Holy Land who "keep the seventh year according to halachah… mighty in strength, who do His word" (letter 6702).

4. In the Holy Land, may it be built and established (באה"ק ת"ו): באה"ק ת"ו = בארץ הקודש תבנה ותכונן.

5. At least (עכ"פ): עכ"פ = על כל פנים.

6. "I am a friend to all who fear You…" (חבר אני לכל אשר יראוך וגו'): ובכ"א = ובכל אופן, "in any case"; מ"ש = מה שכתוב, "what is written". Tehillim 119:63: חבר אני לכל אשר יראוך ולשמרי פקודיך, "I am a friend to all who fear You and to those who keep Your precepts."

7. I enclose my personal check (מוסג"פ המחאתי פרטית): מוסג"פ = מוסגר פה, "enclosed here"; המחאה = a check. Besides the help they should seek from the Shemitah Fund, the Rebbe encloses a check of his own for those keeping the seventh year, as "a friend to all who fear You".

8. When the Jewish people do the will of the Omnipresent (דישראל עושין רצונו של מקום): Devarim 15:4: אפס כי לא יהיה בך אביון כי ברך יברכך ה' בארץ, "However, there shall be no needy among you, for the L‑rd will surely bless you in the land." The Sifrei there (114), cited by Rashi: ולהלן הוא אומר 'כי לא יחדל אביון'? אלא בזמן שאתם עושים רצונו של מקום, אביונים באחרים ולא בכם. וכשאין אתם עושים רצונו של מקום, אביונים בכם, "Yet further on it says (verse 11), 'For the needy shall not cease'? Rather: when you do the will of the Omnipresent, the needy are among others and not among you; and when you do not do the will of the Omnipresent, the needy are among you."

9. The explanation of the Maggid of Mezritch, Berachos 35b (פירוש הה"מ ממעזריטש, ברכות ל"ה ב'): רז"ל = רבותינו זכרונם לברכה, "our Sages"; הה"מ = הרב המגיד, "the Maggid". Berachos 35b: ל"ק: כאן, בזמן שישראל עושין רצונו של מקום, כאן, בזמן שאין ישראל עושין רצונו של מקום, "It is written, 'I will take back My grain in its time,' and it is written, 'You shall gather in your grain.' There is no contradiction: here, when the Jewish people do the will of the Omnipresent; there, when they do not." Tosafos there (s.v. Kan) ask: further on (in Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's words there) "you shall gather in your grain" is set at a time when the Jewish people do not do His will; and they answer: דמיירי ודאי שעושין רצונו, אבל אין עושין רצונו כ"כ, דאינם צדיקים גמורים, "it speaks of when they certainly do His will, but not so fully, for they are not perfect tzaddikim." The Maggid of Mezritch's explanation, which the Rebbe brings: the passage "And it shall come to pass, if you hearken," where "you shall gather in your grain" is written, says only "with all your heart and with all your soul," and not "and with all your might" of the first passage of Shema; so "doing the will of the Omnipresent" in full is serving G‑d also "with all your might." So too in the Alter Rebbe's Likkutei Torah (Parshas Shelach): יתכן שתהא פולחנא דרחימותא בכל נפשך... ועדיין אין עושין רצונו של מקום... שהוא ובכל מאדך, ולכך נאמר גבי בחי' ובכל נפשכם ואספת דגנך, "the service of love can be 'with all your soul'… and still they are not doing the will of the Omnipresent… which is 'and with all your might'; therefore of the level 'with all your soul' it is said 'you shall gather in your grain'."

10. When all its inhabitants are upon it (בהיות כל יושבי' עלי'): בעגלא דידן = "speedily in our days". Arachin 32b: משגלו שבט ראובן ושבט גד וחצי שבט המנשה בטלו יובלות, שנאמר וקראתם דרור בארץ לכל יושביה – בזמן שכל יושביה עליה, ולא בזמן שגלו מקצתן, "Once the tribe of Reuven, the tribe of Gad and half the tribe of Menasheh went into exile, the Jubilees ceased, as it says, 'You shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants': when all its inhabitants are upon it, and not when some of them have gone into exile"; and there: "they counted Jubilees to sanctify the seventh years." The seventh year is kept now; the counting of the seventh years and the Jubilees by Torah law will return when all the land's inhabitants are upon it, in the ingathering of the exiles by Moshiach.

11. Beis HaRav (בית הרב): The house of our Rebbeim. It is not their custom to give letters of recommendation.

Summary

To two communal workers on a mission in support of those keeping the seventh year (5719 was a Shemitah year) in the Holy Land, the Rebbe writes that the founders of the Shemitah Fund in New York told him they stand ready to help all who keep it without distinction, urges them to apply there, and encloses a personal check. He blesses them that "there shall be no needy among you," which comes when the Jewish people serve G‑d "with all your might," and that the counting of the seventh years and the Jubilees return with the ingathering of the exiles; in a postscript he notes that letters of recommendation are not the custom of Beis HaRav.