5905 —הוספת שם לחולה – אין להזכירו בתפלה בשם העריסה שעליו חל הגזר דין

B"H, 6 Kislev, 5718

Brooklyn.

The Rabbi and Gaon, the veteran Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs^[1], Rabbi A. Friedman, may he live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I acknowledge receipt of your letter of Erev Shabbos Kodesh^[2], and many thanks for the good news^[3] from Anash there. At an auspicious time they will be mentioned at the holy resting place of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, of saintly memory^[4], which will surely arouse great mercy for the like among all the rest of Israel^[5].

Many thanks for what you write about the book of the Zohar with the notes of my revered father, of saintly memory^[6].

As for what you write about the portrait of the Gaon R. Moshe Chefetz^[7]: it seems to me that it was printed in books long ago, and perhaps that is what you mean.

As for the argument you write of^[8], that some say that for prayer for a sick person the main thing is the cradle name: it is most astonishing how one could say this, for it is the opposite of the laws and sayings of our Sages about adding a name for a sick person^[9], of which the Talmud and the Poskim are full. And the law about a name that has been uprooted was not ruled for nothing, to the point that the get is void by Torah law; this is astounding^[10]! And even more: with a sick person, changing the name changes his decree – and in praying for this they should mention him by the name upon which the decree fell^[11]!

Surely you will take part in the farbrengen of the luminous day, Yud-Tes Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus^[12]; and may it be G‑d's will that its impression be felt throughout all the days of the year that is coming upon us for good.

With blessing for good news.

Publisher's notes

Rabbi A. F. (הרא"פ): Rabbi A. Friedman. Another letter to him – above, letter 5853.

The Zohar... my revered father (הזהר... אאמו"ר): They were later printed in the book Likkutei Levi Yitzchak.

As for the argument you write of (בהסברא שכותב): See above, there.

Notes

1. The Rabbi and Gaon... engaged in communal needs (הרה"ג וו"ח אי"א נו"נ עוסק בצ"צ): Titles of honor: הרב הגאון, ותיק וחסיד, איש ירא אלקים, נעלה ונכבד, עוסק בצרכי ציבור. הרא"פ is Rabbi A. Friedman of Jerusalem (see the publisher's notes).

2. Erev Shabbos Kodesh (עש"ק): ערב שבת קודש, Friday.

3. Many thanks for the good news (ת"ח על הבשו"ט): ת"ח = תשואות חן, "many thanks"; בשו"ט = בשורות טובות, "good news"; אנ"ש = אנשי שלומנו, "the men of our circle."

4. My revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, of saintly memory (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): The Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. The abbreviations stand for: "may the memory of the righteous and holy be for a blessing in the life of the World to Come; his soul is in the hidden treasuries on high; may his merit shield us."

5. Great mercy for the like (ר"ר על כגון דא): ר"ר = רחמים רבים, "great mercy"; כגון דא, "the like of this." That is, the good news from Anash there will arouse great mercy for similar good among the rest of the Jewish people.

6. My revered father, of saintly memory (כ"ק אאמו"ר זללה"ה): The Rebbe's father, the Kabbalist R. Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, rav of Yekaterinoslav. His notes on the Zohar were later printed in the book Likkutei Levi Yitzchak (see the publisher's notes).

7. R. Moshe Chefetz (ר' משה חפץ): R. Moshe Chefetz (Gentili, 1663–1711), one of the great Torah scholars of Italy, author of Meleches Machsheves on the Torah and Chanukas HaBayis.

8. The argument you write of (בהסברא שכותב): This continues the recipient's earlier question, answered in the Rebbe's letter of 18 Marcheshvan (letter 5853): he was unsure about the name of a woman who was called one name in the cradle and another at school, and the Rebbe answered that it is decided by the laws of names in the laws of gittin. Now he wrote that in praying for a sick person the cradle name is the main thing, and the Rebbe rejects this.

9. Adding a name for a sick person (הוספת שם לחולה): See Rosh Hashanah 16b: "Four things tear up a person's decree: charity, crying out, changing the name, and changing one's deeds"; and Rema, Yoreh De'ah 335:10, that the custom is to change a sick person's name, "for changing the name tears up his decree."

10. A name that has been uprooted... the get is void (שם שנעקר... הגט בטל): See Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 129 (the order of men's and women's names in gittin) and its commentaries. A name that has been uprooted, by which the person is no longer called, is no longer his name, so much so that a get written with it is void by Torah law. How then can one say that the cradle name is "the main thing"? אתמהא is an expression of astonishment.

11. The name upon which the decree fell (בשם עליו חל הגז"ד): הגז"ד = הגזר דין, "the decree." The whole point of adding a name for a sick person is to change his decree, which was decreed upon the former name (Rosh Hashanah 16b); to mention him in prayer specifically by the cradle name would be to mention him by the very name on which the decree fell, the opposite of the intent.

12. The Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus (ר"ה לחסידות): Yud-Tes Kislev, the day of the Alter Rebbe's liberation from imprisonment in Petersburg (see Hayom Yom, 19 Kislev). הבע"ל = הבא עלינו לטובה, "coming upon us for good."

Summary

This letter rejects the view that a sick person should be prayed for by his cradle name: the Sages' laws and sayings on adding a name for the sick fill the Talmud and Poskim, an uprooted name is no longer a person's name even for a get, and since changing the name changes the decree, praying by the old name would invoke the very name on which the decree fell.