6786 —ברכת פסח לכפר חב"ד: חירות אמיתית בשנת השמיטה, ומצה שמורה

B"H, Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh of Parshas HaChodesh^[1], 5719
Brooklyn, N.Y.

To each and every man and woman in Kfar Chabad^[2]
– founded and directed by my father-in-law,
the Rebbe^[3] –
may G‑d be with them, may they live:

Peace without end, and blessing!

As the Festival of Matzos, the season of our freedom, approaches us and all Israel for good, I hereby express my blessing to each and every one of them, the blessing of a kosher and joyous festival, the season of our freedom – true freedom;

and that they carry this freedom and joy over into all their affairs, the individual and the general, throughout the days of the entire year – "a year of complete rest, a Sabbath to G‑d"^[4],

– which "makes harmful beings cease"^[5]; "you shall remove leaven"^[6]; but rather repose and tranquility^[7], delight^[8] and rest, the revelation of the Supernal Delight.

And speedily in our days, literally, may we merit the fulfillment of the words of our Sages and their promise: "This month shall be for you… the nation whose G‑d is G‑d… in it Israel was redeemed from Egypt and in it they will be redeemed in the future"^[9] – in the true and complete redemption, through

the going up of "the one who breaks through" – our righteous Moshiach – before them, "their King"^[10], bringing them out of Egypt – out of straits and boundaries – "breaking forth westward and eastward, northward and southward"^[11].

With blessings for a kosher and joyous festival of Pesach, with true expansiveness, and for a healthy and happy summer.

I have sent shmurah matzah, and asked that the General Committee of Kfar Chabad and the Spiritual Committee – with the Rav, the Gaon, the Rav, the Chassid, the veteran Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, etc., Rabbi Shneur Zalman^[12], may he live long, the mara d'asra, at their head – distribute it to the residents of Kfar Chabad and to individual Chabad activists in the Holy Land^[13], may they live long and happily.

May it be G‑d's will that it have its effect, the effect of "the food of faith" and "the food of healing"^[14], in full measure.

Makes harmful beings cease: Yalkut, Bechukosai, remez 672.

You shall remove leaven, etc.: At length – see the notes of the Tzemach Tzedek on the verse "A psalm, a song for the Shabbos day", siman 12 (printed in the supplements to his commentary on Tehillim)^[15].

The words of our Sages: Shemos Rabbah 15:11.

The one who breaks through… their King: Michah 2:13.

Publisher's notes

Printed in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 7, p. 242, and completed from the secretariat's copy.

Notes

1. Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh of Parshas HaChodesh (מוצש"ק פ' החודש הזה לכם): מוצש"ק = מוצאי שבת קודש. Parshas HaChodesh [Shemos 12:1-20] is read on the Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh Nissan; this year, Shabbos 25 Adar II 5719, so the letter was written on Saturday night, 4 April 1959.

2. Kfar Chabad (כפר חב"ד): The Rebbe wrote such a letter to the residents of Kfar Chabad before Pesach in several years, with shmurah matzah: see vol. 17, letter 6161 (7 Nissan 5718), and vol. 19, letter 7244 (2 Nissan 5720); see also vol. 15, letter 5345 (7 Nissan 5717).

3. My father-in-law, the Rebbe… (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר = כבוד קדושת מורי וחמי אדונינו מורנו ורבנו, the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn; זצוקללה"ה = זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה לחיי העולם הבא, "may the memory of the righteous and holy one be for a blessing, for the life of the World to Come"; נבג"מ = נשמתו בגנזי מרומים, "his soul is in the hidden treasuries on High"; זי"ע = זכותו יגן עלינו, "may his merit protect us".

4. A year of complete rest, a Sabbath to G‑d (שנת שבתון שבת לה'): From the verses on the Shemittah year [Vayikra 25:4-5]: "ובשנה השביעת שבת שבתון יהיה לארץ שבת לה'... שנת שבתון יהיה לארץ", "In the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, a Sabbath to G‑d… it shall be a year of complete rest for the land." 5719 was a Shemittah year, as the Rebbe wrote at its beginning, letter 6521: "we have now entered a new year, which is a full year, a year with its added month, the Shemittah year, of which it is said, a Sabbath to G‑d". The Rebbe blesses them that the freedom and joy of Pesach continue throughout the year, which is entirely "a Sabbath to G‑d".

5. Makes harmful beings cease (משבית מזיקין): Yalkut Shimoni (Bechukosai, remez 672), on "I will make evil beasts cease from the land": "R. Yehudah says: He removes them from the world. R. Shimon says: He makes them cease, so that they do no harm… And so it says, 'A psalm, a song for the Shabbos day' – for Him who makes harmful beings cease from the world, so that they do no harm." The Shabbos "makes harmful beings cease", and so does the year that is "a Sabbath to G‑d".

6. You shall remove leaven (תשביתו שאור): From the verse about the Festival of Matzos [Shemos 12:15]: "שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו אך ביום הראשון תשביתו שאר מבתיכם", "Seven days you shall eat matzos; but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses" (the verse spells שאר without the vav). The Rebbe links תשביתו, "you shall make cease", with Shabbos and משבית.

7. Repose and tranquility (שובה ונחת): From the verse [Yeshayahu 30:15]: "בשובה ונחת תושעון", "in repose and tranquility you shall be saved"; Rashi there: "בשובה – לשון ישוב ומרגוע", "a term of settledness and rest".

8. Delight (עונג): From the verse [Yeshayahu 58:13] about Shabbos: "וקראת לשבת ענג", "and you call the Sabbath a delight".

9. The words of our Sages… in it they will be redeemed in the future (דברי רז"ל... בו נגאלו ישראל ממצרים ובו עתידין ליגאל): Shemos Rabbah 15:11: "Another interpretation: This month shall be for you – as it is written (Tehillim 33:12), Fortunate is the nation whose G‑d is G‑d. When the Holy One, blessed be He, chose His world, He set in it new moons and years; and when He chose Yaakov and his sons, He set in it the new moon of redemption, in which Israel was redeemed from Egypt and in which they will be redeemed in the future." The verses: [Shemos 12:2] "This month shall be for you the head of the months"; [Tehillim 33:12] "Fortunate is the nation whose G‑d is G‑d, the people He chose as His inheritance."

10. "The one who breaks through"… "their King" (הפורץ... מלכם): From the verse [Michah 2:13]: "עלה הפרץ לפניהם פרצו ויעברו שער ויצאו בו ויעבר מלכם לפניהם וה' בראשם", "The one who breaks through has gone up before them; they have broken through, passed the gate and gone out through it; their King passes before them, and G‑d at their head." Rashi: "The one who breaks through – their deliverer, who breaks through the fences of thorns and hedges of brambles to straighten the way before them." The Rebbe explains: "the one who breaks through" – our righteous Moshiach.

11. Out of straits and boundaries… breaking forth westward and eastward, northward and southward (ממצרים וגבולים, פורץ ימה וקדמה וצפונה ונגבה): From Yaakov's blessing [Bereishis 28:14]: "ופרצת ימה וקדמה וצפנה ונגבה", "you shall break forth westward and eastward, northward and southward." On ממצרים וגבולים (a play on מצרים, Egypt, and מיצרים, straits) see Rashi [Yeshayahu 58:14] on "the heritage of Yaakov your father": "נחלה בלא מצרים כמה שנא' ופרצת ימה וקדמה וגו'", "a heritage without boundaries, as it is said, you shall break forth westward and eastward". The future exodus will be a going out of every strait and boundary.

12. Rabbi Shneur Zalman (הרש"ז): הרה"ג = הרב הגאון; הרה"ח = הרב החסיד; הוו"ח = הוותיק וחסיד; אי"א = איש ירא אלקים. הרש"ז = R. Shneur Zalman Garelik, the rav of Kfar Chabad, as the publisher's note to the following year's letter states (vol. 19, letter 7244): "R. Shneur Zalman: Garelik, the rav of Kfar Chabad". So too the year before (vol. 17, letter 6161): "I have handed over through… R. Shneur Zalman, the mara d'asra, shmurah matzah, and asked him that, with the participation of the General Committee of Kfar Chabad and the Spiritual Committee, they distribute it to the residents of Kfar Chabad".

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

14. "The food of faith" and "the food of healing" (מיכלא דמהימנותא ומיכלא דאסותא): Two names of the matzah. In the Zohar (Tetzaveh) the matzah is called "the food of healing": "When Israel went out of Egypt they did not know the essence and secret of faith… once they ate matzah, which is a healing for entering into and knowing the secret of faith". In Derech Mitzvosecha by the Tzemach Tzedek (the mitzvah of eating matzah): "for it is known what is written in the Zohar (Vayeitzei) that the matzah is the food of faith, that through eating matzah faith is strengthened". And the Alter Rebbe said [Hayom Yom, 15 Nissan]: "The food of faith – the first night. The food of healing – the second night. If the healing brings the faith – one says, Thank You, G‑d, for my cure – then he was ill. But if the faith brings the healing, one is not ill in the first place" (quoted by the Rebbe in his letter to Kfar Chabad, vol. 19, letter 7244).

15. Siman 12 (עה"פ מזמור שיר ליוה"ש, סי"ב): עה"פ = על הפסוק; ליוה"ש = ליום השבת (Tehillim 92:1); סי"ב = סימן יב; לפי' = לפירושו. That is, in the notes of the Tzemach Tzedek on "A psalm, a song for the Shabbos day", siman 12, printed in the supplements to his commentary on Tehillim.

Summary

Before Pesach of the Shemittah year 5719, the Rebbe blesses every resident of Kfar Chabad with true freedom and joy that should continue throughout the year, "a Sabbath to G‑d", and with the coming redemption, which, like the exodus, will be in Nissan. He sends shmurah matzah, to be distributed by the village committees led by its rav, as the food of faith and of healing.