Texts of Chassidus sent to a follower

Table of contents

Search this book:

Encouragement not to postpone one’s spiritual tasks

No. 488

The text of this letter was sent to various individuals, personally addressed to each one.[357]

B"H, the days preceding the Shavuos holiday,[358] 5709

Greetings and blessings,

Your letter was received. I am [writing now] about a matter of present concern: the enclosed kuntreis for the coming Shavuos holiday. You will, no doubt, share it with others.

Among the concepts explained in this kuntreis: Our Sages state (Bava Basra 147a):[359] “If the holiday of Shavuos is a clear day (without clouds), sow wheat. Mar Zutra says: “When Shavuos is partly cloudy, sow wheat.” And the passage concludes: “The intent is neither clear, nor partly cloudy, but even a partly cloudy day when there is a north wind blowing[360] is considered as clear (and the crop of wheat will be successful).”

There are many points to be derived from the analysis of the passage; see the Talmud [and commentaries]. It is possible to offer the following explanation as a suggestion:

Wheat is “food for humans” (Pesachim 3b).[361] [This concept and the analogy] are described according to Chassidus at length in the maamarim associated with the Counting of the Omer and Shavuos (in Likkutei Torah, et al.).

Behold, “Man is born like a wild donkey.”[362] The yetzer hara and the animal soul within him have a pre-established claim.[363] “On the eve of the fourteenth [of Nissan]” — [in the analogue, i.e., with regard to the soul,] before one becomes bar-mitzvah — “we search for chametz.”[364] Afterwards, due to an arousal from Above on His initiative, because “He desires Chessed,” one is granted powers from Above, ([as indicated by the expression] “the King of kings was revealed to them).[365] [Afterwards,] he must count [the days] of the Omer, [an offering of] barley, “animal fodder.” The ultimate goal is that he become an adam, a man, given that name because he is adamah l’Elyon [i.e., he] “resembles the One Above.”[366] This is accomplished through the Torah, [as it is written:][367] “This is the Torah: man...”; [this refers to] Shavuos, which follows the Counting of the Omer. [See] Likkutei Torah, et al., [for further details].

The Torah contains two opposite [thrusts]. From its own perspective, it comes as an arousal from Above without any [preceding] arousal from below at all. [This is indicated by the phrase:][368] “And G-d descended,” [which refers to] the revelation of His essence, [a level] that an arousal from below cannot reach. Also, the refinement that it [brings about] comes as a revelation from Above.

The intent, however, is that the refinement and the Divine service should involve material things. Therefore the Torah was given to beings who have a yetzer hara and who descended to Egypt (Shabbos 88b),[369] as explained at length in the enclosed kuntreis.[370]

This [explains] the allusions in our Sages’ words in the passage from Bava Basra cited above. The order is extremely precise. [The weather on] the holiday of Shavuos serves as an indication of the nature of the crop of wheat that will be produced throughout the entire year. As the passage continues and explains: “If the holiday of Shavuos is a clear day....” [The reason the emphasis is on the heavens being clear is that] the Torah is a revelation from Above, unlike prayer. Rashi, in his commentary, makes an even more direct allusion, [citing the expression:][371] “Like the essence of the heavens in their purity.” This [points to] the refinement [brought about by] the direct light of the Torah as [it is revealed] from Above, as explained in Torah Or, Parshas Mishpatim, on this expression.[372]

“Mar Zutra”[373] [whose name indicates a connection] to “small matters — the dialectics of Abbaye and Ravva” (“who asked many questions and resolved them” — Rashbam, Bava Basra 134a) states that, nevertheless, Divine service is necessary in a place where it is partly cloudy — a mixture of good and evil — where “the sun and its shield, Havayah and Elokim,”[374] are not entirely revealed.

[The passage continues:] “The Sages of Nehardea said” — [that city was so named because] it was “located on the river of the king” (Kiddushin 70b), i.e., the King of the world. (See Megillah 29a which explains that the Divine presence accompanied [the Jews into exile]. In Babylonia, it was revealed in Nehardea. This is also alluded to in Berachos 58b which states: “The paths of heaven are like the paths of Nehardea.”)

“In the name of Rav Yaakov” — ([The name] Yaakov implies that the Yud [identified with the Sefirah] of Chochmah is drawn down into the heel.)[375] [These Sages agree that] ultimately, the day must be clear. However, [there is a possibility for success,] even if it is partly cloudy at the outset, i.e., one begins his Divine service in a place where there is a mixture of good and evil, provided “there is a north wind blowing.” [In the analogue, this refers to] a higher revelation from Above upon which the world depends and it is constant (Bava Basra 25a). The fundamental time for [this revelation] is midnight, at which time [the north wind] blows alone (Berachos 3b; as is well known, [midnight] is associated with the phrase “And he encountered them at night,”[376] a revelation of the King of kings9 at midnight).[377] This [revelation] scatters the clouds, creating a clear day, which causes the wheat crop to be successful throughout the year. There is room for elaboration, but this is not the appropriate place.[378]

With wishes for receiving the Torah with happiness and inner feeling,

Menachem Schneerson

   

Notes:

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

358. (Back to text) [Literally, the expression used by the Rebbe (“yamei hagbalah”) means “the days (when Mount Sinai) was cordoned off.”]

359. (Back to text) [This was part of Achitophel’s advice to his sons on his deathbed.]

360. (Back to text) [This will break up the clouds (Rashi).]

361. (Back to text) [In contrast to barley which our Sages (loc. cit.) describe as “animal fodder.”]

362. (Back to text) [Iyov 11:12.]

363. (Back to text) [See Zohar I, p. 179a ff.; Koheles Rabbah 4:13.]

364. (Back to text) [Pesachim 2a. Chametz is also used as an analogy for the yetzer hara.]

365. (Back to text) [Haggadah Shel Pesach.]

366. (Back to text) [Cf. Yeshayahu 14:14; Shelah, pp. 3a, 20b.]

367. (Back to text) [Bamidbar 19:14.]

368. (Back to text) [Shmos 19:20.]

369. (Back to text) [There the Talmud explains that Moshe gave these reasons as a reply to the angels who asked that the Torah be given to them.]

370. (Back to text) [See Sefer HaMaamarim 5709, p. 152.]

371. (Back to text) [Shmos 24:10.]

372. (Back to text) [Torah Or, Shmos, p. 78c.]

373. (Back to text) [Zutra means “small.”]

374. (Back to text) [Tehillim 84:12.]

375. (Back to text) [See Pardes, Shaar 23, erech Yaakov; Torah Or, pp. 21a, 27b.]

376. (Back to text) [See Bereishis 14:15 and Rashi’s commentary there.]

377. (Back to text) [Toras Chayim, Shmos, p. 124b ff.]

378. (Back to text) [See also Letter No. 490 which discusses some of these concepts.]

Texts of Chassidus sent to a follower

Table of contents

Search this book:

Encouragement not to postpone one’s spiritual tasks