6598 —חילוקי דעות במנהג וההכרח בלימוד חסידות

B"H, 11th of Kislev, 5719
Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of Erev Shabbos Kodesh^[1], whose content is a question on which there is apparently a difference of opinion between you and your wife, may she live.

In particular regarding your question, and in general in such questions, in which the customs of the communities differ — and in a city like New York there are several communities, each following its own custom — the directive of our Sages is known: "in the place of Rav, they follow Rav"^[2].

You should turn in this matter to the rav who decides halachah^[3] in the community to which you belong, and he will instruct you.

There are matters in which all Jews are alike, and I will take this opportunity to arouse you regarding one of them: the necessity of studying the inner dimension of the Torah, which in our generation has been revealed in the teachings of Chassidus.

And although there are some who do not yet do so, there are various reasons for that; and in any case, this does not in the least lessen the necessity of fixing times for the study of this part of the Torah, for all those whom the report of the teachings of Chassidus, its conduct and its guidance, has reached — and you too are among them, since you turned to me in your letter. See Laws of Torah Study, chapter 1, end of section 4^[4], by the Alter Rebbe — author of the Tanya, a posek in the hidden Torah, and of the Shulchan Aruch, a posek in the revealed Torah^[5] — and the introduction of R. Chaim Vital to Shaar HaHakdamos^[6], and Kuntres Etz HaChayim^[7] of the Rebbe (Rashab)^[8], who explained at great length the necessity of studying the teachings of Chassidus. May it be G‑d's will that at any rate^[9] from now on you make fixed times for this; and as the saying of the Alter Rebbe goes, fixed not only in time but also fixed in the soul^[10].

With blessing for good tidings^[11] in all the above,

In the name of the Rebbe shlita,

Secretary

P.S.

You surely know of the takanah of saying Tehillim^[12], the monthly portion — as the Tehillim is divided for the days of the month — every day after the morning prayer; at any rate keep it from now on.

Notes

1. Erev Shabbos Kodesh (מעש"ק): מערב שבת קודש, Friday.

2. "In the place of Rav, they follow Rav" (באתרא דרב נהוג כרב): The principle that in a sage's place his ruling is followed is found in several places in the Talmud; see Shabbos 130a: "In the place of Rabbi Eliezer they would cut wood to make charcoal to make iron on Shabbos; in the place of Rabbi Yosi HaGelili they would eat fowl with milk"; and Shabbos 19b: "It was the place of Rav; he should not have done so."

3. The rav who decides halachah (לרב מורה הוראה): A practical ruling on a question that depends on local custom cannot be given in a general letter, but by the rav of the community, who knows its customs; and in this way the difference of opinion between husband and wife is also settled.

4. Laws of Torah Study, chapter 1, end of section 4 (הלכות ת"ת פ"א סוס"ד): סוס"ד = סוף סעיף ד. See the Alter Rebbe's Laws of Torah Study, chapter 1: "And the sages of truth also said that every soul needs, for its rectification, to occupy itself with Pardes as far as it is able to grasp and know. And whoever was able to grasp and know much and was lazy, and grasped and knew only a little, must come in a reincarnation until he grasps and knows all that his soul is able to grasp of the knowledge of the Torah, whether in the plain laws or in hints, expositions and secrets."

5. A posek in the hidden Torah... a posek in the revealed Torah (פוסק בנסתר דתורה... פוסק בנגלה דתורה): The Alter Rebbe is a decisor both in the revealed Torah (in his Shulchan Aruch) and in the hidden Torah (in the Tanya); so his ruling in the Laws of Torah Study, that there is an obligation to study the secrets of the Torah as well, decides from both parts of the Torah together.

6. The introduction of R. Chaim Vital to Shaar HaHakdamos (הקדמת הרח"ו לשער ההקדמות): הרח"ו — R. Chaim Vital, disciple of the Arizal. In his introduction to Shaar HaHakdamos he dwells at length on the obligation to occupy oneself with the wisdom of truth and on the great loss in refraining from it.

7. Kuntres Etz HaChayim (קונטרס עץ חיים): By the Rebbe Rashab (written for the students of the Tomchei Temimim yeshivah), explaining at length the necessity of studying Chassidus and its benefit for the service of G‑d and for the completeness of the study of nigleh itself.

8. The Rebbe (Rashab) (כ"ק אדמו"ר (מוהרש"ב) נ"ע): כבוד קדושת אדוננו מורנו ורבנו (מורנו הרב רבי שלום דובער) נשמתו עדן.

9. At any rate (עכ"פ): על כל פנים.

10. Fixed not only in time but also in the soul (קביעות לא רק בזמן כי אם גם קביעות בנפש): It is not enough that the lesson be fixed by the clock; it must be fixed and set in his soul, something he does not budge from, until his study affects and changes him.

11. Good tidings (לבשו"ט): בשורות טובות.

12. The takanah of saying Tehillim (התקנה דאמירת תהלים): The takanah of the Previous Rebbe to say every day after prayer the portion of Tehillim as divided for the days of the month; see Hayom Yom, 1 Shevat: "In the recitation of Tehillim mentioned (every day after prayer) there is no difference between the synagogues of Anash, or those who pray Nusach Ashkenaz or Nusach Polin."

Summary

On a question of custom about which husband and wife disagree, the Rebbe's secretary writes that in such matters, where the communities of New York differ, each follows its own rav; he should ask the halachic authority of his own community. He takes the opportunity to urge something common to all Jews: the necessity of studying Chassidus, as the Alter Rebbe rules in the Laws of Torah Study and as R. Chaim Vital and Kuntres Etz HaChayim explain — fixed in time and in the soul — and to say the daily Tehillim.