The United States of America (I) - Intro

00:00 With this installment, we begin Be'ezras Hashem, a new series in honor of the upcoming July 4th this year when the United States is commemorating two hundred and fifty years since its independence. As Hasidim, we refer back to our Rebbeim and their teachings. On this occasion, a glimpse into what the Rebbeim said about the United States of America. We begin with a letter which the Rebbe wrote to the President of the United States, Tav Shin Nun Alef nineteen ninety-one, on the occasion of receiving a letter from the President congratulating the Rebbe on the fiftieth anniversary since the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin arrived in the United States. The letter begins as follows, "President George Bush, The White House, Washington, DC. Greeting and blessing. I was deeply moved by your gracious felicitations in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of my arrival in the United States. Your good wishes, Mr. President, as well as those of the First Lady, are heartily appreciated. I can best reciprocate by invoking Hashem's promise to our patriarch, Avraham, Abraham, 'I will bless them that bless thee.' I welcome especially your remarks, my dear President, as a tribute to the Lubavitch movement which I am privileged to head. That it has grown and flourished in this country is a testimony to the conducive climate and responsive human nature that combine to ensure that all positive efforts are abundantly fruitful. By Divine Providence, your kind letter was dated on the morrow of the anniversary of the nation's birthday. It is well to remember that the

02:11 founders of this nation considered Independence Day as," quoting, " 'A day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God the Almighty.' By Divine Providence also, my arrival in the United States in nineteen forty-one coincided with the declaration by Congress that year, making July fourth a legal public holiday. Speaking of auspicious seasons, we are about to usher in the month of Elul, which being the last month of the year in Tav Shin Nun Alef in our Jewish calendar, is a time of meaningful preparation for the new year beginning with Rosh Hashanah of Tav Shin Nun Beis," which later goes into nineteen ninety-two. As such, it is particularly promising for firm resolutions to advance from strength to strength along the path of solemn acts of goodness, good in the eyes of God and good to fellow man. In a sicha that the Rebbe delivered Shabbos Parshas Miketz, Tav Shin Chaf Vav, that is late nineteen sixty-five, the Rebbe said, "It should be noted that there are quite a number of matters that were stated in the Zohar many years ago before they became known in the world. But that at that time, people did not want to take them into account or acknowledge them. For example, what is written in the Zohar volume three, ten-A, and also in the commentaries, that the Earth is spherical, which means round, so that there is also a lower hemisphere and rotates on its axis and the like." This is an introduction in regards to the discovery of America as

04:15 we will continue ref- re- referring to another sicha which the Rebbe delivered on the twelfth of Tammuz, Tav Shin Daled Mem, nineteen eighty-four. "The aforementioned regarding Rabbi Avrom Zakutha, or Zakutha, who was mentioned earlier in that sicha in nineteen eighty-four, is connected with the history of the settlement of this country. As is known, Columbus, who discovered America, used in his voyages the calculations and astronomical instruments that were made by Rabbi Avrom Zakutha. It is even possible that one of his students joined Columbus on his voyages, and thus they discovered America. And from one matter to another, the expression 'discovered America' is precise even according to the full truth. For before the inhabitants of Spain and all the inhabitants of the other hemisphere knew about this continent, this continent already existed. Indeed, in a more complete state, since in those times there was less hatred and strife on this continent." And the Rebbe concludes this comment, "This is not the place to elaborate on this. Furthermore, at the time of the creation of the world, heaven and Earth, and all their hosts, both hemispheres of the Earth were created, both the upper hemisphere and the lower hemisphere. However, regarding the creation of man and animals and plants, the Torah relates that they were created in the, in Gan Eden, the place where the four rivers, Gihon Pishe and Chidekel and the Euphrates are located. Are located whose place is in the upper hemisphere. From there they spread throughout the entire earth, so that in the very

06:23 earliest times the descendants of Adam Alishan also reached the lower hemisphere by boats, ships, and the like. Similarly, regarding the animals found on this continent, amongst them animals for which we find no equivalent anywhere else in the world, these too arrived also in the very earliest times from the place where they were created, near the Euphrates River, by boats and various other means. Accordingly, several questions and difficulties were resolved. How is it possible that in South America and in some other places they found symbols and letters whose origin is from India, Media and Persia and the like? Indeed, they found letters resembling the Aleph Beis of Losh Nakheidesh to such an extent that among the inhabitants of America who preceded Columbus, they found several customs for which all indications point to their origin in the laws of the Teta. And they attempt to explain this by saying that even before Columbus there was a Nanju from Greenland who lost his way and arrived in America and he was the one who brought all these things with him, a theory that has no basis whatsoever in reality. To say that a Gentile traveling from place to place and losing his way had no other concern except to bring with him the letters of the Teta, Jewish customs and the like. This is a miracle of miracles that one would have to be exceedingly naive to believe. However, according to what was explained above, the matter is readily understood. For the creation of Adam and Chava, the

08:23 animals and all the various plants indeed took place in a specific location near the Euphrates River, as stated above. And from there they spread throughout the entire earth to all corners of the globe. Thus, already in the very earliest times, various cultures, customs and the like had already reached the continent of America as well. We refer now to an additional sikha, Shabbos Parsha Shmini Tov Shin Mem, which is spring 1980. From this one sees that a matter which was only discovered in the world a few hundred years ago, when America was discovered, is already written in the Zeyar a very long time beforehand. The Zeyar having existed in manuscript form many years before the discovery of America. It states there, with the aforementioned details and in simple language that anyone can understand. There are, however, others who are embarrassed by this and wish to conceal the fact that the Zeyar stated it much earlier than the time when it became known in the world. We will, im yirtze Hashem, continue in the next installment.