A short time later, on Yud-Beis Tammuz, the Rebbe Rayatz was informed that he would be freed, and the following day, Yud-Gimmel Tammuz, he received official documents to this effect. It was thus revealed that the third of Tammuz was the first stage in the process of the Rebbe Rayatz’s redemption. Moreover, it was revealed that a death sentence had previously been issued. The sentence of exile had replaced it, and as such, represented a lessening of his judgment, which ultimately led to his complete redemption on Yud-Beis/Yud-Gimmel Tammuz.

One might ask: Since the redemption was a Divine miracle, why did it have to come in stages? Why wasn’t the Rebbe Rayatz granted a complete redemption immediately? Moreover, even after Yud-Beis Tammuz when the Rebbe Rayatz was freed, he did not achieve a complete victory over the opposing forces; many restrictions against the Jews of Russia remained in place, forcing the Rebbe Rayatz to leave the country. These restrictions continued to exist many years after his departure, and it was not until very recently, more than 60 years after his redemption, that the full ramifications of his redemption are being realized in the exodus of Jews from that country.

Surely this pattern of redemption coming in stages is controlled by Divine providence. Hence, we must try to understand the reason for the pattern. This is all the more relevant because the Rebbe Rayatz’s redemption relates to the entire Jewish people, as the Rebbe Rayatz writes in his renowned letter:

It was not me alone whom the Holy One, blessed be He, redeemed on Yud-Beis Tammuz, but also all those who hold our holy Torah dear, observe its mitzvos, and all those who are called by the name "Israel."

Many years before the Rebbe Rayatz’s redemption, another great miracle occurred on the Third of Tammuz - at Yehoshua’s command, "The sun stood still over Givon." Here too, a question arises: On the one hand, the stopping of the sun was a great miracle. On the other hand, it had a limitation. Why did the sun stop? So that Yehoshua should be able to complete the battle against the K’naanim, a battle that was being fought through natural means. Hashem surely could have caused the K’naanim to be defeated miraculously, without the need for battle.

There is also a more abstract question involved with this miracle: Did the miracle cause only the sun to stop, or was it more inclusive, affecting also the entire cosmos, i.e., the orbiting of the spheres, which govern the movement of the sun? The question revolves around the concept of the integration of miracles with the natural order. To what extent did the miracle permeate the natural order? Did it merely break the natural order through the halting of the sun’s orbit? Or did it actually transform the natural order by causing the entire cosmic order to come to a halt?

A similar question arises in regard to the miracle described in this week’s Torah portion, i.e., the miracle of the blossoming of Aharon HaKohen’s staff. After Korach’s revolt, Moshe Rabbeinu took the staffs of all the Nesiim, as well as Aharon’s staff, and placed them together in the Sanctuary. He put Aharon’s staff in the center, surrounded by the others. A miracle transpired and Aharon’s staff sprouted flowers and fruit.

The question is: Since the entire purpose of the miracle was to show that Hashem had chosen Aharon, why was it necessary for the miracle to take place within the framework of the natural order? (I.e., the almond branches budded, grew flowers, and then produced fruit.) Seemingly, the growth of the fruit alone would have been a sufficient sign that Hashem chose Aharon.

To explain: A staff can only sprout flowers and fruit through a miracle. In this instance, however, the miracle permeated the natural order of the world, causing the staff to sprout almonds through a "natural" process. What’s the point in investing a miracle in a natural process?

Our Sages declared: "Everything which the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world, He created only for His honor." Thus, although the nature of the world ("olam" in Hebrew which relates to the word "helam" meaning concealment) is such that the G-dly life-force within it is concealed, nevertheless, each particular being in the world exists for one purpose alone: to reveal Hashem’s glory.

There is logical support for this concept: Since the world and all its creatures were created by Hashem, and He invested, as it were, time and effort, to bring them into being, He surely did so with a purpose - that they relate to the Divine life-force which creates them, and thereby add to His honor.

The latter argument is reinforced by the Baal Shem Tov’s teaching that Creation is an ongoing process, happening every moment of existence. Why did Hashem choose to create the world in a manner that requires His constant investiture within it? He could have invested enough energy in the initial Act of Creation, to maintain the world for 6000 years!

Hashem, however, chose to create the world in the manner in which it presently exists so that each creation would feel that it has the potential to increase and enhance the positive dimension of the world by revealing Hashem’s glory. In the case of a person, not only does he follow Hashem’s will, he is also capable of contributing independently to Hashem’s glory. (This, in turn, brings a person great joy, because everyone prefers being a contributor to being a recipient.)

It is in order to maintain a constant connection with the Creation, that Hashem invests so much of Himself into bringing the world into being. In this manner, He grants each particular the power to reveal His glory at every moment.

Were the Creation to have received an initial burst of Divine energy that would continue to maintain its existence at all times, the revelation of Hashem’s glory would be in a much more general and distant manner. However, because Hashem created the world in a manner that requires Him to sustain it at all times, every moment of existence can serve as a means to reveal Hashem’s glory. For example, when a Jew takes a drink of water and recites the blessing "...for everything was created by His word," this reveals the existence of Hashem’s word, i.e., His creative force, within the water. Likewise, every blessing reveals the uniqueness of Hashem’s creative energy.

Hashem’s glory is also revealed through miracles. His ultimate intent is that these miracles should permeate nature and thereby openly reveal G-dliness within this framework, as well. This was reflected in the blossoming of Aharon’s staff, in which the miracle was drawn down into the natural framework of the almond tree’s production of fruit.

The teachings of Chassidus point out a connection between the concept of a miracle permeating the natural order and the Priestly Blessing. The Priestly Blessing draws down G-dly energy from beyond the natural order, but imbues it within that order, affecting positive changes within our reality.

In light of the above we can answer the question asked above regarding the miracle of Yehoshua: The intent of the miracle was not that it entirely transcend the natural order, but rather that it amplify the success of the war as it was being waged (primarily) within the limits of the natural order. Therefore, the enemy was not defeated through miracles that entirely transcend nature, but rather, by a miracle that allowed the success that was achieved by natural means to be more complete and inclusive.

Based on the above, we may conclude that the miracle of the sun standing still did not effect only the sun, but rather, it influenced the entire natural process by which the sun moves. In this manner, the miracle had a greater connection to the natural order.

Based on the above, we can also understand the gradual nature of the miracle related to the freeing of the Rebbe Rayatz which began on the third of Tammuz. Although the third of Tammuz was a miracle that transcended nature, it also influenced the order of nature itself, causing it to conform to this miraculous series of events. Simply put, the very same people who arrested the Rebbe Rayatz were the very ones who set him free and, indeed, were forced to assist him in certain elements of his liberation.

For this reason, i.e., that the opposing forces should remain within their natural context, without losing their power, the Rebbe Rayatz’s redemption had to come about in stages. First, the commuting of his death sentence to exile, and only later, his complete release.

The effects of the Rebbe Rayatz’s redemption did not end with his own personal freedom; they ultimately resulted in the religious freedom and the freedom to emigrate which the Russian government has, in recent times, granted the Jewish people.

2. We can connect the concepts explained above to the transition from the month of Sivan, the third month, to the month of Tammuz, the fourth month. Our Sages associate the transition from three (Gimmel in Hebrew) to four (Dalet in Hebrew) with the phrase, "gomeil dallim" (bestowing kindness upon the poor). This transition from Gimmel to Dalet takes us from the month in which the Torah was given to the month associated with the Rebbe Rayatz’s imprisonment and then, through gomeil dallim, brings about the transformation of the latter month into a month of redemption.

This process is also alluded to in the shape of the letter Dalet. To explain: Both the letters Dalet and Reish are associated with poverty (for the word "dallus" means poverty and the word "rahsh" means a poor person). Similarly, the shapes of these two letters resemble each other. There is one difference between them, however. The letter Dalet has a point at its corner which resembles the letter Yud, whereas the Reish does not.

The point of the Dalet represents the attribute of bittul, self-nullification, which emanates from the essential point of the soul of the Jew. Even if a Jew is estranged from his roots, he remains a Jew, for this essential point of the soul transcends all concealment, and connects the essence of a Jew to the essence of Hashem. The poverty of the Dalet, therefore, represents the attitude of bittul that connects a person with the highest levels. The letter Reish, by contrast, is not associated with this quality of bittul and thus reflects poverty, which has no connection to holiness.

a miracle - by natural means

Sichos in English

The enemy was not defeated through miracles that entirely transcend nature, but by a miracle that allowed the success that was achieved by natural means to be more complete and inclusive.