The significance of the month of Iyar

Table of contents

Search this book:

Reviewing maamarim publicly; the tallis katan which the Jews wore during the time they wandered in the desert

No. 481

The text of the first part of this letter was sent to various individuals, personally addressed to each one.[333] The portion following the Rebbe’s signature was addressed to a specific individual whose name was not made known.

B"H, 12 Iyar, 5709

Greetings and blessings,

Your letter has been received. I am [writing to send] the enclosed selection of Likkutei Dibburim for the coming Lag BaOmer holiday.[334] You no doubt will share it with people at large in the most appropriate manner as explained in sec. 2 of that sichah.

Perhaps it is possible to offer the following explanation of that [date]. Lag BaOmer is alluded to in the phrase[335] “the mound of testimony,” [which was constructed by Lavan to mark the separation between him and Yaakov]. Two concepts are implied: a mound [separating] between the [transcendent] level of sublime whiteness[336] and the holiness of Yaakov, and a mound [separating] between holiness and the forces of evil, as explained in the Siddur [Im Dach], Shaar HaLag BaOmer. Accordingly, Lag BaOmer contains two elements: the ultimate ascent experienced by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, [as manifest in] pnimiyus haTorah, that was revealed on this day, and [the lowest levels of] acknowledgment, which is the Divine service of utterly simple people, as explained in the kuntreis [published] in connection with the Pesach holiday.[337]

It is possible to explain that throughout the time the Baal Shem Tov’s [identity] was hidden, he was [functioning] on the level of the sublime whiteness as expressed [above] with the level of holiness. This is alluded to in the digest [of the Rebbe’s talks] ([see] the enclosed [issue] of Likkutei Dibburim, p. 29). When the time that he was to remain hidden ended and it was necessary that he be revealed [as a teacher], the sign was that of gal ed, “a mound of testimony.” It is well known that the Baal Shem Tov writes (printed in Sichos, 20 Kislev, 5693; HaTamim, Vol. IV, p. 18) that after he completed studying the Torah with his master, Achiyah HaShiloni (see Seder HaDoros which writes that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was a reincarnation of him; see the Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachos 9:2), until the phrase “before the eyes of all Israel,”[338] he was revealed [as a teacher]. With wishes for everlasting good in all matters,

M. Schneerson

---

The health of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe Shlita, has continued to improve. May G-d grant him a complete recovery in the near future. Amen, so may it be His will.

---

I will answer the question you raised before Pesach when I am able to free myself slightly. With wishes for everlasting good in all matters and with blessings for the “small Pesach,” i.e., at least a “small leap”[339] at the present time.

   

Notes:

333. (Back to text) [See footnote 1 to Letter No. 472 on p. 119.]

334. (Back to text) [Printed in Likkutei Dibburim, Vol. IV, p. 514a ff.]

335. (Back to text) [Bereishis 31:47. The term gal (“mound”) shares the same letters as Lag.]

336. (Back to text) [A level above all distinction between holiness and the opposite.]

337. (Back to text) [See Sefer HaMaamarim 5709, pp. 127-128. The Rebbe refers to the expression hodoah dehodoah which relates to Lag BaOmer. In the scheme of the relationship between the Sefiros and the Counting of the Omer, Lag BaOmer (the 33rd day of the Omer) corresponds to the Sefirah of Hod shebeHod. Chassidus explains that hodoah, acknowledgment, implies that one recognizes that a concept is correct even though he does not comprehend it. In avodah, it refers to steadfast commitment even when one does not understand the reason for it. Hodoah dehodoah refers to a deeper commitment based on the inner resources of the soul that is not at all dependent on intellect.]

338. (Back to text) [I.e., the concluding words of the Torah.]

339. (Back to text) [The fourteenth of Iyar is Pesach Sheni, referred to as “the small Pesach.” It was instituted to allow those who had not brought a Pesach offering at the appropriate time in Nissan to bring one a month later, in the month of Iyar.

     The spiritual service associated with Pesach is alluded to in its name which also means “leap,” i.e., one makes a radical leap forward in his Divine service. The “small Pesach” thus refers to a smaller leap, but nevertheless a leap.]

The significance of the month of Iyar

Table of contents

Search this book:

Reviewing maamarim publicly; the tallis katan which the Jews wore during the time they wandered in the desert