Igrot Kodesh · Letter 191 — Wedding Blessing and Halachic Guidance

By the grace of Hashem, 21 Menachem Av 5705, the day after the Hilloula* of my father, To the distinguished chassid*, who fears Hashem, the Rav H. Havlin[1],

I greet you and bless you,

I am responding to your letters and, in particular, to the last one, dated 25 Tammuz:

A) I send you my blessing on the occasion of your daughter's wedding. May it be celebrated at a good and auspicious moment. May the couple build an eternal edifice, founded upon Torah* and mitzvot*, and give birth to a blessed generation.

B) I received yesterday the report from Rav Ch. G.[2] regarding the festival of liberation and jubilee[3], but I have not yet received the photographs. Please also send me the blessings sent by those who were invited to the celebration and, being unable to attend, responded in writing. Likewise, I suggest you contact the local correspondents of the Morgen Journal[4] so that they write an article about the celebration and have it published in that newspaper.

C) In my letter of 23 Tevet[5], I suggested that you contact the individual who was attached to the service of the author of the Torat Chesed*. You committed to doing so, but I have, as yet, received no response on this matter. What is the status?

D) On the occasion of the Hilloula*[6], I ask you to give on my behalf, drawing from the funds of Merkaz L'Inyonei Chinuch* and Machne Yisrael* in your possession, one hundred dollars to Collel* Chabad* and eighteen dollars to the Yeshiva* Torat Emet*. I have given the equivalent here. You will also give twenty-five dollars to the international union for the recitation of Tehillim*.

E) You will find, on a separate sheet, the prices of the books published by the Shulsinger publishing house. The two combined volumes of the Likkutei Torah* cost, for Yeshivot*, five dollars. The prices of our other publications are printed on the books.

To all of this must be added the shipping costs, which are very significant. I am therefore obliged to repeat what I have already said and to put you doubly on guard. The lack of resources prevents many of the Kehot* publishing house's projects from being realized. What has been sent to various places and the invoices that must be settled represent a very significant investment.

I therefore restate the proposal that was in paragraph G of my letter of 23 Tevet. Send us tefillin*, according to the modalities set out in that letter. You have sent us two pairs, but these cost much more than the tefillin* of Eretz Yisrael* that are available here. We therefore propose that you purchase, at one time, a substantial quantity. In this way, you will obtain them at a much better price. I thank you to let me know, by return post, what you intend to do in this matter.

F) Can you send here, to our account, a copy of the commentaries of Rav Ch. G.[7] that is with Rav Teks[8], as I requested in my letter of 23 Iyar? I thank you in advance.

I will conclude with words of Torah*, continuing what I explained in my previous letter[9], the chassidic* commentary which I received from my father, on the Mishna*: "When a needle is at the top of the cave in which there is the ebb and flow of the wave, it is pure, once the wave has passed over it."

In my humble opinion, one may also consider, drawing on chassidut*, the teaching, for the service of Hashem, of the preceding paragraph of the Mishna[10], on which several questions may be raised:
1. The specification "one descends and immerses" seems superfluous.
2. Why speak of both branches and stalks?
3. Repeating the word "bundles" twice seems redundant.

One can briefly offer the following explanation. The waters of the mikveh* serve to purify. They thus allude to fruitful contemplation. The Rambam* emphasizes that ritual immersion, which delivers one from impurity, is a Decree of the Torah*[11]. Nevertheless, he finds an allusion to it in the verse: "He introduces his soul into the waters of Knowledge."

Tevila*, immersion, is an anagram of bitul*, submission, which must be the result, the synthesis of fruitful contemplation. For this, the entire body must be covered by the water, and the same applies when one immerses in a spring. Indeed, if a part of the body remains outside the water, the submission cannot be sincere.

Here, however, it is a mikveh* whose waters "are spread very wide." It contains the necessary quantity of water, but the one who immerses cannot submerge the entire body. If he puts his feet in the water, he cannot immerse his head, and if he puts his head in, his feet will remain outside the pool. He might attempt to immerse lying down, but if he puts the right side in the water, the left side will float, and vice versa.

In general, a person has two ways of serving Hashem, through study or through action. One person may be capable of sound intellectual analysis yet succumb in concrete action, unable to contain his desires. Conversely, another may remain cold before the pleasures of the world but be intellectually incapable of submitting. One may do good, be good, with great ease, yet fail and stray from evil. The opposite may equally be true.

Thus, at the giving of the Torah*, the descendants of Ishmael refused it because it is written: "You shall not commit adultery." The descendants of Esav did not want it because it says: "You shall not murder."

In this case, the contemplation may indeed be fruitful, since the required quantity of water is present in the pool. Despite this, the entire body is not covered and submission is therefore not achieved. The person recognizes the lack.

In such a case, one may place stones in the pool[12]. These are inert minerals, which clearly symbolize the submission that is lacking. It is clear that one will then be able to immerse and be purified, once the stones have been placed in the water, that is, once submission has been introduced into the contemplation.

But, beyond this, one may also place bundles of branches, vegetables, which allude to emotions. One may first awaken within oneself love and awe of Hashem. Nevertheless, one must then gather "a bundle" of emotions, for a single one is not sufficient to overcome the evil inclination. On the contrary, it is necessary to "gather all the flocks together"[13].

Furthermore, it is said that by nature, the intellect directs the emotions. Yet the contemplation has, in this case, been without effect. One must then "place stones" upon the love and awe of Hashem, introduce these emotions into submission, failing which the intellect will direct them according to its own inclination.

"Placing these stones" is an essential phase, and one may thus understand the formulation of the Mishna*.

According to this reading, the text does not merely give us good advice for raising the water level. That is now evident.

There are thus two kinds of emotions, considered first from the standpoint of their source:
1. by meditating upon the fact that the Light of Hashem surrounds the worlds, that beings can connect directly to the Creator,
2. by meditating upon the fact that the Light of Hashem permeates the worlds, that the bond between Hashem and created beings cannot have the character of self-evidence.

One may also distinguish them according to their nature. Thus there are:
1. the emotions of Tohu*[14],
2. the emotions of Tikkun*[15].

One may thus understand the difference between the stalks, which are flexible, hollow at their center, and grow at the water's edge, on the one hand, and the branches, on the other.

Each possesses what the other lacks, as various texts explain. That is why the Mishna* speaks of both "bundles of branches" and "bundles of stalks."

How can one ensure that such an effort has been crowned with success? It must indeed be verified, since until now there has been a failure. One must therefore "descend," break oneself, shed the coarseness of one's personality. Then the Mishna*, which is compared to a queen, gives the assurance that "one immerses," Tevila*, an anagram of bitul*, submission at last attained.

With my blessing for immediate teshuvah*, immediate redemption,
Rav Menachem Schneerson, Director of the Executive Committee[16]

ב״ה ,י״ב ניסן ,תש״י
הוו״ח אי״א נו״מ וכו׳ תלמידי ישיבת אחי תמימים
דפיצבורג שי׳ והמורים שי׳
שלום וברכה׳
נדבתם למעות חטים נתקבלה ,ומצו״ב קבלה.
מצורף בזה קונטרס חג הפסח שיצא לאור עתה ,ובטח יזכו בו את
הרבים.
בכל הזדמנות ,ובפרט שבת ויום־טוב ,כאשר כל אחד הוא יותר רוחני
מכל השבוע ,מתאחדים כולנו -אלו שזכו להיות תלמידים או מקושרים -
עם הארות ובחי׳ רוחו העצמיות של כ״ק מו״ח אדמו״ר הכ״מ ,כמרומז
באגרת הקודש של אדמו״ר הזקן סימן כ״ז וביאורו.
כ״ק מו״ח אדמו״ר הכ״מ ,אשר הקדיש את חייו לטובת הכלל והפרט,
ולטובת המקושרים אליו בפרטי פרטיות ,בטח ממשיך גם עתה את
ההשפעות שלו.
אך ההשפעות כעת שונות ,במדה ידועה ,מאשר לפני כן ,כי כעת הרי
הנשמה חפשי׳ מההגבלות וצמצומים של הגוף ויש לה עלי׳ בעילוי אחר
עילוי )שזוהי משמעות המלה ״הסתלקות״( ,במילא ההשפעות -הן
הגשמיות והן הרוחניות ־ הן באופן יותר גבוה ויותר נעלה.
חקפג
נדפסה בלקוטי שיחות כרך ז עמוד ,249והושלמה ע״פ צילום האגרת.
האגרה)מלבד שורה ראשונה ואחרונה( נשלחה לכמה וכמה.
בדרך ממילא מוכרח ,שגם המקבל יתאים עצמו להשפעות הנעלות
יותר ,ע״י שירומם את עצמו.
כ״ק מו״ח אדמו״ר הכ״מ לימד אותנו כל חייו כיצד לשגשג ,ולא רק
במחשבה אלא גם גפועל ,וגם עתה שפתיו מדובבות גם בעולם הזה ע״י
הכמות העצומה של תורות ,מאמרים ,שיחות ומכתבים .וע״י מילוי חפצו
ורצונו בפועל ,אנו יוצרים את הכלים לקבל את ההשפעות הנעלות שברצונו
להשפיע לנו.
ימי הפסח ויציאת מצרים ,מצרים וגבולים ,שכל אחד מאתנו מוכרח
לצאת מההגבלות אפילו ממצרים דקדושה שלו ,וכל שכן מההגבלות של
שכלו האנושי ונפשו הבהמית ,מסוגלים במיוחד לשגשוג ברוחניות ) -צריך
רק להזהר מרמאות ה׳ערמומי׳( ,-במילא הם גם מסוגלים לקבל את
ההשפעות העליונות בגשמיות וברוחניות .והדרך לכך היא לתת לא רק
מעות חטים לנצרכים בערב פסח ־״ אלא לעזור לנצרכים ועניים בתורה
ומצוות כל השנה.
בברכת חג כשר ושמח והצלחה רבה בלימודם ובעבודתם בקודש
מ .שניאורפאהן