[In 1991, the Rebbe instructed:] Each of us should hold a personal reckoning of all that needs correcting from the past year, i.e., from last year’s Pesach Sheni until Erev Pesach Sheni of this year.
There is the well known adage of the Previous Rebbe, "Es is nitah kein farfalen, men ken aleh’mal farichten," "It is never too late; it is always possible to put things right." Even those that are [spiritually] "impure" or extremely "distanced" - and even if they were intentional transgressors - are still able to correct their past. (Parshas Behar 5749; Hisvaaduyos p.147)
Severing self-made bonds ... In the above adage, the stress is mainly on the possibility to correct even the very lowest situations - the unfortunate situation of being in a state that directly contradicts spiritual purity (or being distanced from the Beis HaMikdash [i.e., G-d's Presence]). All the more so if this lowly standing is [in the words of the verse] "lachem," lit., "of you," i.e., of your own making, willfully, and even deliberately (rachmana litzlan - Heaven have mercy!)… Nevertheless, even a predicament such as this is not lost; it can be corrected. (Ibid., p.159)
The importance of Erev Pesach Sheni There is a well known directive of the Alter Rebbe – "We should ‘live with the times.’" This requires "living" with [the lessons found in] each week’s Torah portion ... and it also means "living" with the lessons derived from the "Torah" of the present time [i.e., the time of year, significant dates and occasions.] In our case, this requires living with ... Erev Pesach Sheni – despite the fact that we do recite Tachanun during the Minchah service on Erev Pesach Sheni" (as recorded in the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur, before Lamnatze’ach ya’ancha). (Parshas Acharei-Kedoshim 5748; Hisvaaduyos p. 278, with fn. 2 and subnote)
Note that the topic of Pesach Sheni is mentioned in Megilas Ta’anis [an ancient text that recorded every date in the year on which Jews would not fast or give eulogies]. Now, "the dates recorded in Megilas Ta’anis impose Halachic implications – such as a prohibition against fasting on the days prior to them as well" [which, in this case, includes Erev Pesach Sheni]. Although [one could argue that] "the Megilas Sheni have been cancelled" [and we no longer observe the dates recorded within] – and therefore the prohibition against fasting and the like on the days prior to them have also been cancelled. … Nevertheless, it is plainly obvious that even following this cancellation, the dates recorded in Megilas Ta’anis still bear some residue of their former status – which similarly extends to the days prior to them; [they too retain some of their former status. As such, Erev Pesach Sheni remains a significant date – a day whose theme we should "live" with]. (Ibid., p.290)
