6766 —מחצית השקל הקדימה את שקלי המן, ובזמננו זו הצדקה: על תרומת מעות חטים למוסדות חב"ד בארה"ק

B"H, 13 Adar II^[1], 5719
Brooklyn.

Agudas Nshei uBnos Chabad,
Montreal Branch,^[2]
may G‑d be upon them that they live.^[3]

Brachah v'Shalom!

With satisfaction I received your letter of 10 Adar II with its enclosure, a contribution of maos chittim^[4] for the Chabad institutions in our Holy Land, may it be built and established speedily in our days through Moshiach Tzidkeinu.

May G‑d, blessed be He, help that your work should keep on rising, both in quantity (an increase in the number of members) and in quality (upholding and strengthening Yiddishkeit in more and more areas)^[5].

And this is indeed one of the lessons (indications) concerning Purim that our Sages of blessed memory tell us^[6]: that the half-shekel which Jews gave nullified Haman's ten thousand talents of silver^[7], and through this the decree was annulled;

and in our time, the half-shekel is the matter of tzedakah^[8].

With blessing for a joyous Purim and for good news.

Notes

1. Adar II (אד"ש): אד"ש = אדר שני, the second Adar (5719 was a leap year). 13 Adar II 5719 was Monday, 23 March 1959, the Fast of Esther, the day before Purim.

2. Agudas Nshei uBnos Chabad, Montreal Branch (אגודת נשי ובנות חב"ד סניף מאנטרעאל): The Chabad women's and girls' organization in Montreal, Canada. The Rebbe wrote to them from the branch's beginning, on their first meeting on Tuesday, 2 Cheshvan 5713 (above, vol. 7, letter 1911), and in the following years (vol. 10, letter 3045; vol. 12, letter 4181; vol. 13, letter 4379). A year earlier, on 29 Adar 5718, he acknowledged their "contribution of maos chittim for Kfar Chabad in the Holy Land", with the blessing "that your work should keep on rising, both in quantity and in quality" (vol. 16, letter 6142), as in this letter.

3. May G‑d be upon them that they live (ה' עליהן תחיינה): From the verse (Isaiah 38:16): "אדני עליהם יחיו", "O L‑rd, upon them they live", here in the feminine.

4. Maos chittim (מעות חטים): "Money for wheat": funds to provide the poor with their Pesach needs, a custom recorded by the Rema (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 429:1): "ומנהג לקנות חטים לחלקן לעניים לצורך פסח", "and it is the custom to buy wheat to distribute to the poor for Pesach."

5. Both in quantity and in quality (סיי אין כמות… און סיי אין איכות): That is: an increase both in the number of members and in the content of their activities.

6. Our Sages of blessed memory tell us (רבותינו ז"ל דערציילען אונז): (Megillah 13b), on the verse "If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed, and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver": "אמר ריש לקיש: גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והיה העולם שעתיד המן לשקול שקלים על ישראל, לפיכך הקדים שקליהן לשקליו. והיינו דתנן: באחד באדר משמיעין על השקלים", "Reish Lakish said: It is revealed and known before Him Who spoke and the world came into being that Haman would weigh out shekels against Israel; therefore He had their shekels precede his shekels. And this is what we learned: on the first of Adar they announce the shekels." That is: the half-shekel that Israel gave in Adar came first and outweighed Haman's shekels; this is what the Rebbe means by saying it "nullified" his ten thousand talents of silver.

7. Haman's ten thousand talents of silver (די עשרת אלפים ככר כסף פון המן): (Esther 3:9): "אם על המלך טוב יכתב לאבדם ועשרת אלפים ככר כסף אשקול על ידי עשי המלאכה להביא אל גנזי המלך", "If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed, and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king's treasuries."

8. The half-shekel is the matter of tzedakah (מחצית השקל, איז ענין הצדקה): So the Rema writes (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 694:1): "יש אומרים שיש ליתן קודם פורים מחצית מן המטבע הקבוע באותו מקום ובאותו זמן זכר למחצית השקל שהיו נותנין באדר", "Some say that before Purim one should give half of the coin current in that place and time, in remembrance of the half-shekel that was given in Adar."

Summary

The Rebbe acknowledges the Montreal Nshei uBnos Chabad's maos chittim contribution for the Chabad institutions in Eretz Yisrael and blesses their work to grow in quantity and quality. He draws the Purim lesson that the Jews' half-shekel outweighed Haman's ten thousand talents and annulled the decree, and that in our time the half-shekel is tzedakah.