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Gut Chodesh! -- ("May you have a good month"). From Rosh Chodesh, when the blessings are powerful, blessing is drawn down to the entire month. This is particularly true when the celebrations connected with Rosh Chodesh will last three days, establishing a chazakah. May this effect the entire month and the entire year which follows.

The month of Kislev is the third of the winter months. Thus, it parallels the month of Sivan which is the third of the summer months. In general, the difference between the summer and the winter is that the winter is the rainy season, the time connected with the service of the Jews.[161] This service adds to the influence of the entire year[162] including the summer months [whose service is associated with the revelation from Above].

The above has special relevance because of the unique nature of this year. Firstly, it is Tav-Shin-Nun 5750, "a year of miracles," a year which transcends the natural order. Also, Rosh HaShanah fell on Shabbos. Just as Shabbos is above the normal weekday routine, the potential is granted for this year to be Shabbos-like, above the ordinary natural pattern.

This supra-natural influence is further enhanced by the weekly Torah portion which begins: "These are the generations of Yitzchok, Avraham gave birth to Yitzchok." Yitzchok's birth was a great miracle. Similarly, the portion contains Yitzchok's blessings to Ya'akov which, as our Sages explained based on the Hebrew, ÅÜëà vayitain, these blessings were twofold in nature, i.e., they reflected a miraculous order. This also relates to the present day, a Tuesday, which is -- as our Sages relate -- associated with a twofold good, "good to the heavens and good to the creatures."

This emphasis on miracles is also reflected in the holiday celebrated in the month of Kislev, the holiday of Chanukah which is associated with the miracle of the Menorah.[163] This year the miraculous nature of Chanukah is enhanced by the fact that the first day of Chanukah is celebrated on Shabbos.[164]

All of these influences are present this evening, during the first moments of the month of Kislev (and receive greater strength this year because Rosh Chodesh Kislev is celebrated for two days). These influences must be reflected in our behavior. We must show a miraculous order of behavior, performing mitzvos b'hiddur, indeed, in a manner of mehadrin min hamehadrin, (i.e., the most complete and beautiful manner possible).

This, in turn, will hasten the coming of the Messianic redemption. Generally, the redemption is expected to come after the service of the Jews (and any increase in the Jews' service will increase the magnitude of the redemption). Since, however, "all the appointed times for Moshiach's coming have passed," there is no need for further service. The redemption will come now, immediately.

May this be revealed in an apparent manner. Once when it was mentioned to the Alter Rebbe (or according to another version of the story, the Tzemach Tzedek) that Moshiach should have already come, he replied that, at that time, the "wellsprings of Chassidus" were spread outward through the printing of Chassidic teachings [i.e., a revelation which paralleled the Messianic redemption]. The listeners were not satisfied and exclaimed that they wanted Moshiach to be revealed in an openly manifest manner.[165]

The above particularly applies when we demonstrate that it is a "Kislevdikker" month by organizing farbrengens three days consecutively at the beginning of the month of Kislev, thus establishing a chazakah. May this, together with the distribution of money to be given to tzedakah, lead to the kindling of the Menorah in the Beis HaMikdash with the coming of Moshiach. May it be now, immediately.

   

Notes:

161. (Back to text) Note Genesis 2:6 which relates that before it ever rained (symbolic of Divine influence), "a mist arose from the earth (symbolic of the Jews' service)." The rains are also dependent on the prayers of the Jews.

162. (Back to text) Thus, we see that, in a leap year, through the addition of an extra month in the winter, the entire year becomes "a perfect year."

163. (Back to text) The Menorah burned miraculously for eight days, more than the three days necessary to create a chazakah and more than the seven days of the week which represent a full cycle of time.

164. (Back to text) This fact is not dependent on the fact that Rosh HaShanah falls on Shabbos. Since the number of days in Cheshvan is not fixed (sometimes 29 and sometimes 30), even if Rosh HaShanah falls on Shabbos, it is possible that the first day of Chanukah will not.

165. (Back to text) This reply was given despite the act that, in the Alter Rebbe's time, the spread of Chassidus had far exceeded that which had occurred in the generations of the Maggid and the Baal Shem Tov. In particular, this applies after Yud Tes Kislev, when the service of "spreading the wellsprings outwards" began.