Letter 7 ז

Life, peace, and all good to the honor of my beloved dear friend, beloved to me as my own soul — the great and distinguished talmid chacham [Torah scholar], the Chassid, who desires in truth to serve Hashem — the distinguished Torah scholar, our Master R' Alter Ben Tzion Kraskop, may he live.

First, I hereby inform your honor that — thank G‑d [תלי"ת = תודה לאל יתברך — thanks to G‑d, blessed be He] — we are in good health. I ask of your honor to write to me words of encouragement [divray hischazkus — דברי התחזקות] and good counsel.

And as was the story: a certain Tzaddik — a king asked him how much wealth he has — and he told him a certain sum. And the king understood that this was not in accordance with the truth — that he had much more. And the king had him imprisoned. And afterward — at the time of the trial — the king asked him: why did you not speak the truth? [For they had taken all his wealth to the royal house — and it was much more.] And he replied: this is not his — for there may well be, G-d forbid, circumstances that it will not remain with him. And the truth is that the king took all his wealth — but what is truly his is what he gave to charity — that is truly his — for no person can take this from him. [For everything a person merits to do — acts of kindness and charity and all good deeds and Torah and prayer — these are not lost from him — only he should always take care not to regret the good deeds he does — and not to be sorry for the former good things he did, G-d forbid.] And he commanded to bring his charity ledger — and they saw written in it exactly the amount he had told the king — and he was released to freedom — and all his possessions were returned to him.

And this is what his honor truly fulfills — charity. As our master the Rebbe זצ"ל said in Torah 4 of Likutay Moharan Tannina[תנינא = תנינא — Aramaic for "second." The second volume of Likutay Moharan (Part 2). Same as ח"ב (Part 2).] — "And the ravens I commanded to sustain you" — that the essential of charity is to break the cruelty — that which has already made his heart cruel — and he no longer wants to give. And he breaks the evil inclination and gives — this is the essential value of charity. And the difficulty of the matter — charity is very hard — like giving birth literally — how many contractions and labor pains and how many cries and groans and sighs and so on — one is compelled through all this before every matter of holiness that the Jewish person wants to perform.

To my dear brother...

"It comes with great difficulty — and one must struggle greatly — weeping or crying — until one merits to perform the matter of holiness as is fitting — that is: study and prayer and other divine services — and in particular at the beginning — when one is not yet accustomed to doing it — it is literally like a woman who must have her first child — it comes with very great difficulty. So too all the good deeds that a Jew does in the world are holy births — as it says: 'These are the generations of Noah — Noah was a righteous man' — the essential generations of the righteous are good deeds. All the more so giving charity is harder than all good deeds — and it is always like the beginning — with the labor pain of the first birth. For every time it is a new obstacle from the heart."

"[For what does this mean: he must take his hard-won labor and his self-sacrifice that he invested until he obtained the money — and give it to others — to a stranger — while he could have given life to himself and his wife and children — and so on. And therefore it is very very great — and in truth it is only a loan that one lends to Hashem — as it says: 'One who is gracious to the poor lends to Hashem.' And Hashem repays even in this world a thousandfold more — all the more so in the World to Come — the principal remains established forever — like one who plants in the earth — as long as it is good earth (meaning: when one strikes upon a good heart — the charity falls into good hands) — trees grow full of all good — as it says: 'Sow for yourselves in charity.' And in truth one lives in the merit of charity — and one is healed — and no evil has dominion — all in the merit of charity — as stories are brought in the Talmud, the Midrash, and the Zohar. And as brought in the Talmud: more than the master of the house[בעה"ב = בעל הבית — "the master of the house / the householder." Ba'al habayis — the one who gives charity.] does for the poor person — the poor person does for the master of the house.]"

"In summary: giving charity comes with very great difficulty — harder than everything — and why? Because charity is always the beginning. It is the beginning of all beginnings — it always opens the gates of the service of Hashem and all the gates of mercy. For when a Jew needs to perform some holy act he must break through the barriers and open the gate — and this is very hard — but when he gives charity — the charity opens for him the door and the gate — for this is the power of charity: to open the gates. And in truth charity is very hard to give — because when one gives charity at the time one wants to do some holy thing — this opens for him the door. [And therefore one gives charity before prayer and before every holy matter and before the Day of Judgment and at times of joy and so on.] Therefore it is hard — but the benefit of charity is very great. And one can work through charity so much — that the livelihood will fly to the person so easily — that he will not need to work at all — like the future to come — as it says: 'And you shall be called the priests of Hashem.' May Hashem grant us merit for this." "And there is brought a parable in the Midrash and the holy books: a person had three friends. Once he had to go before the king for judgment. He turned to the greatest friend [that is: money] — he answered him: he cannot help him at all [as it says: 'Wealth does not avail on the day of wrath' — and nothing is taken to the grave — not gold and precious stones and pearls and so on]. He goes to the second good friend [that is: wife and children] — he answers: he can go with him only until the king's palace and no further [meaning: wife and children accompany until the grave]. He sees that they — the best friends — stand from afar in a time of trouble. He goes to the smallest friend — who occasionally gave him some pleasure [that is: charity] — he answers him: do not worry — I will run before you to the king — and I will go in with you — and wherever you turn I will be there with you — until you come out completely righteous — as it says: 'When you lie down it will watch over you' and so on — and as they announce when carrying to the grave: 'Righteousness goes before him' and so on." "Only the free choice is very great — and the test of the world is awesome — one forgets the purpose. And happy is the person who remembers that this world is a passing world — and what one snatches — that remains forever. And the essential must be done with joy — for a commandment done with joy is very precious to Hashem — and redeems one's soul and the Shechinah from exile — and one merits to the highest levels — as the Arizal said: that he reached his level only through performing the commandments with joy." [This comes with great difficulty and one must struggle greatly — weeping and crying — until one merits to perform the holy matter as is fitting: study and prayer and other divine services — and in particular at the beginning when one is not yet accustomed to performing this — it is literally like a woman giving birth for the first time — it comes with great difficulty. So too all the good deeds a Jew does in the world are holy births — as it says: "These are the generations of Noah — Noah was a righteous man" — the essential generations of the righteous are good deeds. All the more so giving charity is harder than all good deeds — and it is always like the labor pain of the first birth — for every time it is a new obstacle from the heart. [For what does this mean: he must take his effort and his self-sacrifice that he invested until he obtained the money — and give it to another — to a stranger — while he could have sustained himself with it — his wife and children — and so on. And therefore it is very very great. And in truth it is only a loan that one lends to Hashem — as it says: "One who is gracious to the poor lends to Hashem." And Hashem repays even in this world a thousandfold — all the more so in the World to Come — the principal is established forever — like planting in the earth — as long as it is good earth (meaning when one finds a good heart — the charity falls into good hands) — trees full of all good grow — as it says: "Sow for yourselves in charity." And in truth one lives in the merit of charity — and one is healed — and no evil has dominion — all in the merit of charity — as stories are brought in the Talmud, the Midrash, and the Zohar. And as brought in the Talmud: more than the master of the house does for the poor — the poor does for the master of the house. In summary: giving charity comes with great difficulty — harder than everything — and why? Because charity is always the beginning — the beginning of all beginnings — it always opens the gates of the service of Hashem and all the gates of mercy. For when a Jew must perform some holy act he must break through the barriers and open the gate — and this is very hard — but when he gives charity — the charity opens for him the door and the gate — for this is the power of charity: to open the gates. And in truth giving charity is hard — for when one gives charity at the time one wants to perform some holy matter — it opens for him the door. [Therefore one gives charity before prayer and before every holy matter and before the Day of Judgment and at times of joy.] Therefore it is hard — but the benefit of charity is very great — and one can work through it so that the livelihood flies to the person so easily that he need not work at all — like the future to come — as it says: "And you shall be called the priests of Hashem." May Hashem grant us merit for this. And there is brought a parable in the Midrash and holy books: a person had three friends... [as above]. Only the free choice is very great and the test of the world is awesome — one forgets the purpose — and happy is the person who remembers that this world is a passing world — and what one snatches remains forever. And the essential must be done with joy — for a commandment with joy is very precious to Hashem — and redeems one's soul and the Shechinah from exile — and merits the highest levels — as the Arizal said: that he reached his level only through performing the commandments with joy. Your friend — wishing you all good.] This thirty-fourth letter — written Rosh Chodesh Av — is the most sustained treatment of the subject of charity (tzedakah) in the entire correspondence. The date-line identifies two yahrtzeits: Aaron the High Priest (1 Av, Numbers 33:38) and R' Aharon the Rabbi of Breslov (a disciple of the Rebbe). Also noted: the 5th of Av is the yahrtzeit of the Arizal in Tzfas. Acknowledgment and envy (§§2–3): The recipients' regular giving is called a great test heroically passed. "I am envious of you" — for they merited to stand against the evil inclination's attempt to rob them of this mitzvah. Munbaz the King (Talmud Bava Batra 11a): "My fathers stored below — I stored above." Isaiah 1:27: "Zion shall be redeemed through judgment — and her returnees through charity." Sefer HaMidos on charity = tzaddik, saves from sin. The Tzaddik-and-King parable (§4): A Tzaddik tells the king a sum — the king knows it's less than the truth — imprisoned. At trial: the real total was in his charity ledger — because only what one gives to charity is truly one's own — nothing can take it away. LM Tannina Torah 4 ("And the ravens I commanded to sustain you"): the essential of charity = breaking the cruelty of the heart that no longer wants to give. Charity is like childbirth — labor pains before every holy act. Yiddish teaching and translation (§§5–6): Charity like the first birth — every time a new obstacle. Why hard? Because charity is always the beginning — the beginning of all beginnings — it opens all gates of divine service and all gates of mercy. Give charity before prayer, before every holy matter, before the Day of Judgment. One can work through charity until livelihood flies to you without work (Isaiah 61:6: "and you shall be called priests of Hashem"). The parable of the three friends: money (can't help on the day of wrath), wife and children (only to the grave), charity (runs before you to the king, goes in with you, until you come out completely righteous — "when you lie down it will watch over you" / "righteousness goes before him"). The Arizal: reached his level only through performing commandments with joy. Key terms: Yahrtzeit of Aaron HaKohen — 1 Av — the only yahrtzeit recorded in the Torah (Numbers 33:38) · Yahrtzeit of the Arizal — 5 Av — Tzfas · R' Aharon the Rabbi of Breslov — told by the Rebbe he would die in Av; feasted after Rosh Chodesh; soul-spark of Aaron · Munbaz the King — Talmud Bava Batra 11a — "my fathers stored below, I stored above" · Tzion b'mishpat tipadeh v'shaveha bitzedakah — Isaiah 1:27; Zion redeemed through charity · The charity ledger = the only true wealth — the parable of the Tzaddik and the king · LM Tannina Torah 4 — v'es ha'orvim tzivisi — breaking the cruelty of the heart = the essential of charity · Tzedakah k'chavalei leidah — charity like labor pains; every holy act requires this birth-effort · Tzedakah hi hatechilah shel kol hatechilot — charity is the beginning of all beginnings; opens all gates · The parable of the three friends — money, wife/children, charity — who helps at the final trial · Beshichvecha tishmor alecha — Proverbs 6:22; charity watches over you when you sleep · Tzedek lefanav yehalech — Psalms 85:14; righteousness goes before him to the grave · HaAri"zal — higi'a l'madrago rak al yedei asiyat hamitzvos b'simcha — the Arizal reached his level only through joy in performing commandments