The Leap Year - Part V

00:01 The hemsach, in continuation to the early installments regarding a leap year and its lessons, we continue now with installment number five, discussing additional insights from the Rebbe on a leap year. This is in a letter, a message that the Rebbe wrote for Rosh Hashanah, Tov Shin, Dalet Mem, which was late nineteen eighty-three. That year, Tov Shin, Dalet Mem, was also a leap year. In the letter, the Rebbe refers to the leap year and he writes the following, as it's translated here in English. "It has often been mentioned that a person should derive an instructive lesson from everything in his experience with a view to improving his conduct and quality of life, so as to carry out all the better the basic lesson for a Yid, ani nivreisi leshamet shaskeni, I was created to serve my creator. Such an abject lesson is particularly in order in connection with the leap year event which determines the dates of the Jewish month and of every Jewish festival throughout the year. One noteworthy aspect in this connection is that although both the sun and the moon were created, quote unquote, to give light on the earth, they differ radically in the manner in which they carry out this function. The sun's light comes down to earth without change from day to day, whereas the moon's light on earth undergoes uninterrupted change from day to day, from the day of its rebirth, melet or new moon, at the beginning of the month, waxing fuller each day in the first half

02:07 of the month until it reaches completeness in the full moon, then gradually diminishing in the second half of the month until it is completely obscured, which is only a prelude to yet another new moon with renewed and growing strength. Moreover, and this too is a most significant point, all these changes in the moon come from the influence of the sun from which it derives its light. Inasmuch as the Torah, Torah psalmist declares that a human being is a world in itself, indeed a complete world, eila molei, complete in all details, it is understandable that the two natural phenomena, the changeability of the moon and the constancy of the sun, would be reflected in human life. Thus, every person has two natural tendencies characterizing his creative life, selecting for himself a world outlook and establishing for himself basic principles and rigid, uncompromising goals, such as the wisdom to the maximum degree, developing good character traits in the fullest measure, high standards of justice and ethics, and so forth, while at the same time experiencing a tendency to change, innovate, create, even in relationship to his own life of yesterday to the best of his ability. At first glance, these two tendencies, changeability and stability, appear to be contradictory. However, since a human being is a complete, not a split world, they not only do not fight each other, but on the contrary, complete each other, and both together enable him to attain his life's goal and purpose in the way the leap year brings orderliness and

04:33 completeness into our Jewish calendar. To explain the above briefly, let us cite a simple example. Day after day throughout his life, a Yid begins the day with the recital of Meida Ani, I give thanks to you, to Hashem, and then proceeds with Birchas HaShachar morning blessings, Psukei d'Zimra verses of praise, the Shema with his blessings, the first three and last three blessings of the Amidah, etc. These are the same every day. On the other hand, the eternal Torah requires that the middle blessings of the Amidah have to be changed. On Rosh Hashanah, they are different than on any other day of the year. Those of Shabbos differ from those on weekdays, and so forth. While the Shir Sholayim, the psalm of the day, the psalm of the day, is different on each day of the week. Similarly, in regards to the regular Torah sections, there are those which are the same every day. In Torah Shebiksav, the section of the priestly blessings, and in Torah Shebikpalpe, Eludvorim, Eizomukeiman, while there are those that have to be studied on special occasions, such as the festival laws on the particular festivals, specific timely laws pertaining to specific activities to make sure that they are in accord with the teachings of the Torah and the like. We will mitzveshen continue in the next installment.