אֵין אוֹמְרִים תַּחֲנוּן.

[On Purim Katan,] Tachanun is not recited.1

אַאַזְמוּ"ר סִפֵּר לְאַאַמוּ"ר: דִי מַאֲמָרִים וואָס זַיינעֶן געֶדרוּקט אִין לִקּוּטֵי תּוֹרָה, האָט דעֶר טאַטעֶ (הַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק) אוֹיסְגעֶקְלִיבּעֶן פוּן צְוֵויי טוֹיזעֶנְט מַאֲמָרִים.

My revered grandfather, the Rebbe [Maharash], once told my revered father, the Rebbe [Rashab]: “My father (the Tzemach Tzedek)chose the maamarim that appear in Likkutei Torah from two thousand maamarim [authored by the Alter Rebbe].”

Delving Deeply

The Rebbe explains2 that the number two thousand is not arbitrary.

The Midrash states:3 “The Torah preceded the world by two thousand years.” Before Creation, however, time did not exist, so what could this mean?

The answer is that one of the meanings of the root of the word shanah (“year”) is related to the root of the word shinui (“change”). The two thousand years of the Midrash thus allude to two thousand changes that occurred on various spiritual levels before Creation. The Torah likewise comprises two thousand levels that transcend our earthly plane of existence. By stating that Likkutei Torah draws on two thousand maamarim, the Rebbe Maharash implied that these two thousand levels were invested in that compilation.