6771 —יום הולדת, ומעלין בקדש: אין עמידה במקום בלימוד והפצת תורת החסידות

B"H, 16 Adar II^[1], 5719
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your notice regarding your birthday:

Surely you observed the custom that Anash have adopted in recent times for a birthday^[2]. May it be the will of G‑d, blessed be He^[3], that it be a year of success for you, both materially and spiritually, and that you increase in the study of Torah and the observance of its mitzvos with expansiveness.

With blessings for Torah study with fear of Heaven^[4].

It is surprising, what you write^[5], that in the study and the spreading of the teachings of Chassidus there is no change. After all, we have been commanded "one ascends in holiness"^[6]; and especially according to the words of my father-in-law, the Rebbe^[7], that in our era each person is like someone climbing an extremely steep mountain, where it is impossible to stand still: either one ascends, or…^[8] This too can be applied by way of homily to the saying of our Sages that the generation in which Mashiach comes is entirely worthy or guilty^[9]. And this is easy to understand^[10].

Publisher's notes

According to the words (ע"פ דברי): see also above, vol. 10, letter 3379, and the references in the notes there. Below, letter 6985.

Climbing an extremely steep mountain (המטפס על הר משופע ביותר): see also below, vol. 23, letter 8861 (the days of the Redemption, Tammuz 5724), and the publisher's note there: "His well-known talk: see also above, vol. 18, letter 6771".

Notes

1. 16 Adar II (ט"ז אד"ש): אד"ש = אדר שני, Adar II.

2. The custom that Anash have adopted in recent times for a birthday (מנהג אנ"ש בזמן האחרון ביום ההולדת): אנ"ש = אנשי שלומנו, the Chassidim. The Rebbe spelled out this custom in vol. 15, letter 5472 (22 Iyar 5717): giving tzedakah on the birthday before the morning and afternoon prayers (or on the day before, when the birthday falls on Shabbos or Yom Tov); an additional lesson in both the revealed Torah and Chassidus; an aliyah to the Torah on the birthday or on the Shabbos before it; and studying the three set lessons of Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya on the birthday itself. See also Hayom Yom, 11 Nissan: "On one's birthday a person should spend time alone, recall his memories and reflect on them; those that need correction and teshuvah, he should repent of and correct".

3. May it be the will of G‑d, blessed be He (ויה"ר מהשי"ת): ויה"ר = ויהי רצון; מהשי"ת = מהשם יתברך.

4. Torah study with fear of Heaven (לת"ת ביר"ש): לת"ת ביר"ש = לתלמוד תורה ביראת שמים.

5. What you write… the teachings of Chassidus (מש"כ… תוה"ח): מש"כ = מה שכתב; תוה"ח = תורת החסידות.

6. "One ascends in holiness" (מעלין בקדש): From Berachos 28a: "מעלין בקדש, ואין מורידין", "one ascends in holiness and does not descend". In holy matters one may not rest content with what has been until now; one must add and rise.

7. My father-in-law, the Rebbe (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר): כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר = כבוד קדושת מורי וחמי אדוננו מורנו ורבנו, the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.

8. Either one ascends, or… (כ"א עלי' או כו'): א"א = אי אפשר; כ"א = כי אם. The Rebbe does not say what happens when one does not ascend; he only hints with "or…". He gives the parable at length in vol. 7, letter 2213 (28 Menachem Av 5713): "as my father-in-law, the Rebbe, said, that in these days of ours it is like one who climbs and ascends an extremely steep mountain: one who walks on level ground can stop for a while to rest, whereas on the slope of the mountain, when one stops, this is in effect a retreat backwards".

9. The generation in which Mashiach comes is entirely worthy or guilty (מרז"ל שדורו שמשיח בא הוא כולו זכאי או חייב): במרז"ל = במאמר רז"ל, "the saying of our Sages", Sanhedrin 98a: "ואמר רבי יוחנן: אין בן דוד בא אלא בדור שכולו זכאי או כולו חייב", "Rabbi Yochanan said: the son of David comes only in a generation that is entirely worthy or entirely guilty". "Applied by way of homily" – not in its plain sense. The Rebbe stresses the word "entirely".

10. This is easy to understand (וק"ל): וק"ל = וקל להבין. Just as the generation in which Mashiach comes has no middle state – "entirely worthy or entirely guilty" – so in our era a person has no state of standing still: if he does not add and ascend, "or…". This is why the Rebbe is surprised at the report that in studying and spreading Chassidus "there is no change".

Summary

Answering a birthday notice, the Rebbe takes it for granted that the recipient kept the birthday customs recently adopted by Anash and blesses him with a successful year. He is surprised at the report of "no change" in studying and spreading Chassidus: one must ascend in holiness, for in our era a person is like a climber on a very steep mountain, who cannot stand still; and, applying the Sages' saying, the generation of Mashiach is "entirely" one way or the other.