5958 —תלמיד ישיבה מקבל הוראה בלימודו מהנהלת הישיבה ולא מבחוץ, ומילוי הוראות הרופא בחולי נפילה

B"H, Rosh Chodesh Teves, 5718
Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of the 23rd of Kislev: it is surprising that you mention nothing about the farbrengen of the auspicious day of Yud-Tes Kislev, for, by the precision of its title, it is the "Rosh", the head, of the year^[1]; and the head includes within it and draws life into all the limbs of the body, that is to say^[2], into all the days of the year, so that the influence of this day should be felt in all the days of the year.

As for what you write about ..., may he live, who studies in the Tomchei Temimim^[3] yeshivah in ..., that he wrote to him what he should study, etc.: it is understood that this is most surprising and even astonishing. For the studies of a student who has entered a yeshivah must follow the direction of the yeshivah's administration, and not of anyone outside it; and surely he too remembers how this was conducted in the Tomchei Temimim yeshivah since days of old. Of course this does not exclude his offering his opinion to the administration of the yeshivah there; but the conduct described is untenable^[4].

As for what you write about ..., may he live: in such cases there are medicines^[5] that act not only to ease, but also lengthen the interval between one occurrence and the next, and the improvement keeps growing. It is surprising, since the doctor you mention in your letter is an expert in the field; perhaps his instructions are not being followed, and therefore for the time being^[6] the effect is not noticeable.

With blessing,

In the name of the Rebbe shlita,

Secretary

Notes

1. The "Rosh", the head, of the year (ראש השנה): Yud-Tes Kislev is called the "Rosh Hashanah" of Chassidus, not its "beginning", for the head includes all the limbs and gives them life; so the influence of Yud-Tes Kislev should be felt throughout the year. The Rebbe wrote similarly a few days earlier, letter 5954.

2. That is to say (ז.א.): זאת אומרת.

3. Tomchei Temimim (תו"ת): תומכי תמימים. The student's name and the yeshivah's location were omitted in print.

4. The conduct described is untenable (מופרכת הנהגה האמורה): Someone outside the yeshivah may offer his view to its administration, but may not instruct the student directly what to study; so it has always been in Tomchei Temimim.

5. Medicines (תרופות): Publisher's note: "for epilepsy."

6. For the time being (לע"ע): לעת עתה.

Summary

The Rebbe's secretariat wonders that the recipient wrote nothing of his Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen, a day that is the "head" of the year and should give life to all of it. A student in Tomchei Temimim must study as the yeshivah's administration directs; an outsider may offer his opinion to the administration but not instruct the student himself. As for someone suffering from epilepsy, there are medicines that steadily lengthen the intervals between attacks; if no improvement is seen, perhaps the expert doctor's instructions are not being followed.