...In[53] the[54] well-known Epistle 27 in Iggeres HaKodesh, written to offer redoubled consolation to "the smitten, who are sighing and groaning,"[55] the Alter Rebbe writes that a tzaddik[56] "leaves over life... to every living being, that is, to the soul of every living being who is bound to his soul..., in each and every individual, corresponding to the degree of his genuine bond [with the tzaddik] and his true and pure love of him."

It is explained in Inyan HaHishtat'chus[57] that "even as to those who did not know or recognize [the tzaddik] during his actual lifetime but only studied the holy books that he left over as a blessing, and who bask in the radiance of his Torah teachings and are thereby invigorated in their service of G-d,... it is certain that they too are called his disciples,... for they believe in that tzaddik and from him they receive the light of his Torah teachings;... the branches are drawn back to their roots."

So, too, my late revered father-in-law the Rebbe [Rayatz] explained in a letter[58] that [a chassid] "is able to satisfy his strong desire for a bond [with his Rebbe] only by studying the maamarim of Chassidus which the Rebbe delivers or writes; merely beholding his face is not enough."

Another letter[59] states explicitly: "You ask, what does your bond with me consist of, since I do not know you by face.... True hiskashrus is attained by the study of the Torah. If you study my maamarim of Chassidus, read the sichos, associate with my friends (the members of the chassidic brotherhood[60] and the temimim[61]) in their studies and in their farbrengens, and fulfill my request concerning the daily recital of Tehillim[62] and the observance of fixed times for Torah study, -- in this lies hiskashrus."

When we will study the Torah teachings and the sichos [of the Rebbe Rayatz], and will walk in this34 "straight path which he has shown us," then[63] " 'as in water, face [answers to face: so is the heart of man to man'], and[64] 'spirit rouses spirit and brings forth spirit.' For his Ruach[65] remains truly in our midst...; that is, even in this world of action -- [of which it is written],[66] 'This day: to do them' -- [the departed tzaddik] is found more [than in his lifetime]." And just as here he stood and dutifully served, there too he stands and dutifully serves....[67]

Menachem Schneerson

   

Notes:

53. (Back to text) Hiskashrus means the soul-connection between Rebbe and chassid.

54. (Back to text) The above letter, dated Rosh Chodesh Adar, 5710 [1950], almost three weeks after the passing of the Rebbe [Rayatz], appears in Sefer HaMaamarim 5710, p. 139, and in Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XI, p. 205. See also Igros Kodesh (Letters) of the Rebbe, Vol. III, Letter 696.

55. (Back to text) On the connection between the Heb. words ne'enakim and naakah, see BeOr HaTorah (by the Tzemach Tzedek), Parshas Shmos, p. 64.

56. (Back to text) Iggeres HaKodesh of the Alter Rebbe, Epistle 27; see Lessons In Tanya, Vol. V, p. 166.

57. (Back to text) Maamarei Admur HaEmtza'i -- Kuntreisim, p. 28.

58. (Back to text) Igros Kodesh (Letters) of the Rebbe Rayatz, Vol. IV, p. 978.

59. (Back to text) Ibid., Vol. V, p. 1207.

60. (Back to text) In the original, Anash; an acronym for anshei shlomeinu (lit., "the men of our peace").

61. (Back to text) I.e., the students of the Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch Yeshivah.

62. (Back to text) When this letter was first written, the daily study cycles of Chumash-Rashi and Tanya, as instituted by the Rebbe Rayatz, were not yet publicized. See Sefer HaMinhagim: The Book of Chabad-Lubavitch Customs (in English translation: Kehot, N.Y., 1991), p. 38-43.

63. (Back to text) Mishlei 27:19.

64. (Back to text) Zohar II, 166b, et al.

65. (Back to text) Lit., "spirit"; one of the five levels of the soul.

66. (Back to text) Devarim 7:11.

67. (Back to text) Cf. Sotah 13b.