This letter was written as a Publisher’s Foreword to the kuntreis published for 12 Tammuz, 5711. It was later reprinted in Sefer HaMaamarim 5711, p. 287.

ב"ה,

In his letter1 for the first celebration of Yud-Beis/Yud-Gimmel Tammuz in 5688, [1928,] my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, explained the nature of this redemption: “It was not myself alone that the Holy One, blessed be He, redeemed on Yud-Beis Tammuz, but also those who cherish the Torah and observe its command­ments, and so too ‘all those who merely bear the name Israel.’”2

This includes all the categories of Jewish men and women: those who possess both [the knowledge of] the Torah and [the merit of] mitzvos, those who possess either [the knowledge of] the Torah or [the merit of] mitzvos, and those who possess neither [the knowledge of] the Torah, nor [the merit of] mitzvos, but “merely bear the name Israel.”

As is well known, the term kinui, [the noun form related to the verb yichaneh, translated as “bear the name,” connotes an alternative name, like a nickname,]3 that hides and conceals the character of the person referred to with this kinui. It is possible that the kinui is not the person’s essential name, or an abbreviation of his name, or an interpretation of his name. [Moreover,] it is possible that the kinui is not even in the same language as the person’s name. And it may not have been given in reference to him, but rather he is called by that name because of his family.4

Nevertheless, even such individuals “bear the name Israel,”5 because to borrow the wording of that letter: “for the heart of every man of Israel (irrespective of his particular level in the observance of the mitzvos) is perfectly bound with G‑d and His Torah.”

Redemption was drawn down to all these categories of Jews on this date in that year, (5687 [1927]). Each year, the [same energies] are again aroused and drawn down at this time.

The meaning of redemption is going beyond the constraints, limitations, and boundaries of the material and physical dimensions of the body and the animal soul.

Nevertheless, we must prepare ourselves to be a vessel to receive this influence, to take it in, [enabling it to permeate our] inner dimensions and, as a result, to express it in actual fact — in thought, speech, and action in the days that follow this Festival of Redemption.

Then, we and the entire Jewish people will be granted Redemption, the true and Ultimate Redemption. May it take place speedily, in our days.

Menachem Schneerson

Motzaei Shabbos, 3 Tammuz, 5711,
Brooklyn, N.Y.