6663 —כתיבה לרבי גם על המגרעות, ובחינת סברא המונעת מעבודה בפועל

B"H, 25 Teves, 5719
Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of 19 Teves, in which you write of the argument^[1] that there are those who are in doubt whether they need to write also about the shortcomings, and that there were sharp debates about it.

The doubt in such a matter is very surprising, since I have written about this several times, and especially after the announcement that in any case there are people who report about the above^[2], only they are people from the outside, and so they exaggerate, etc., so that the results are the reverse of what those who argue for not writing hope.

My main astonishment is that we have received from our holy Rebbeim^[3] a clear instruction for examining arguments of this kind, to know the source from which they come, when there is a doubt about it (printed in Hayom Yom, 23 Sivan)^[4]: whether through it^[5] there will be an increase or a decrease in the things that are of benefit for action and actual avodah. And it is beyond doubt that once it becomes known that no reports are made about shortcomings in a certain place, this will lead not to a lessening of the lack and the deficiency, but on the contrary, and this is easy to understand^[6]. And what can be clearer for us than the saying of our Sages: "If only the fear of Heaven were upon you like the fear of flesh and blood"^[7].

May it be G‑d's will that the writing referred to become less and less^[8] – not, however, because of the unsuitable argument mentioned, but because the shortcomings and their cause become less and less, until they pass away entirely, and, in the manner of what is said in Iggeres HaKodesh, end of section 26^[9], detailed letters will be written not about the clarification of clarifications but about adding in lights, etc., and this is easy to understand^[10].

As to what you write about the matters that still require correction: you will surely rouse attention to this again and yet again^[11], especially since there is room to say that the usual expression regarding rebuke, "you shall surely rebuke – even a hundred times"^[12], is not an exaggeration (see the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, 156:7, and the references there)^[13].

With blessing for good news^[14] in all the above.

Notes

1. The argument (הסברא): The recipient writes that some are in doubt whether, in their reports to the Rebbe on the situation in their place, they should write also about the shortcomings and deficiencies, and not only about the good and the activities, and that there were sharp debates among them about it.

2. In any case there are people who report (שבלא"ה ישנם מודיעים ע"ד כהנ"ל): עד"ז = על דבר זה; בלא"ה = בלאו הכי, "in any case"; כהנ"ל = כהנזכר לעיל, "the above". The Rebbe had already announced that even without their writing, reports of the shortcomings reach him, only from outsiders, who do not know the matters closely and therefore exaggerate. Not writing therefore does not hide the shortcomings; it only causes them to be described in a worse light.

3. Our holy Rebbeim (מרבוה"ק): מרבוה"ק = מרבותינו הקדושים.

4. Hayom Yom, 23 Sivan (היום יום כ"ג סיון): Hayom Yom, 23 Sivan, the answer of the Rebbe Maharash to his son the Rebbe Rashab in yechidus, winter 5635: "Take this rule in hand and remember it always: anything that benefits or leads to actual avodah – every hindrance to it, even if the hindrance comes from something most lofty, is only one of the wiles of the animal soul." That is, an argument that holds back something of practical benefit to avodah comes from the animal soul, however lofty its reasons.

5. Through it (שעי"ז): שעי"ז = שעל ידי זה.

6. And this is easy to understand (וק"ל): וק"ל = וקל להבין. Once it is known that no one reports to the Rebbe the shortcomings in a certain place, watchfulness weakens and the shortcomings grow. The argument for not writing thus holds back something of practical benefit, and by the rule in Hayom Yom its source is not in holiness.

7. "If only the fear of Heaven were upon you like the fear of flesh and blood" (הלואי שיהא מורא שמים עליכם כמורא בשר ודם): מארז"ל = ממאמר רז"ל. Berachos 28b: when R. Yochanan ben Zakkai fell ill and his students asked for his blessing, "he said to them: May it be [G‑d's] will that the fear of Heaven be upon you like the fear of flesh and blood. His students said: Only that much?! He said to them: If only! Know that when a person commits a transgression he says: Let no one see me." The Rebbe quotes it in the form "If only it were", following R. Yochanan ben Zakkai's reply there. In practice, people's awe of others – lest it become known – does affect a person; so the knowledge that shortcomings are reported helps to correct them.

8. Become less and less (באופן דפוחת והולך): In the language of the Gemara, Shabbos 21b, on the Chanukah lights: "Beis Shammai say: on the first day one lights eight; from then on one keeps decreasing." That is, may the writing about shortcomings diminish little by little.

9. Iggeres HaKodesh, end of section 26 (אגה"ק סוף סי' כ"ו): אגה"ק = אגרת הקודש (in the Tanya). Iggeres HaKodesh 26: "But when the Shechinah goes out of kelipas nogah, once the clarification of the sparks is complete and the evil is separated from the good… then the occupation with Torah and mitzvos will not be to clarify clarifications, but to bring about higher unions, to draw down lights higher than Atzilus." That is, in exile the main avodah is clarifying the good from the evil; in the time to come, adding light.

10. And this is easy to understand (וק"ל): Just as in the time to come the avodah will not be clarifying evil but adding light, so may there soon be nothing to write about shortcomings and their correction, and all the detailed letters be about adding goodness and light.

11. Again and yet again (עוה"פ): במ"ש = במה שכתב; עוה"פ = ועוד הפעם.

12. "You shall surely rebuke – even a hundred times" (הוכח תוכיח אפילו מאה פעמים): From Bava Metzia 31a: "One of the Rabbis said to Rava: Perhaps 'hochei'ach' means once and 'tochi'ach' twice? He said to him: 'hochei'ach' means even a hundred times." The verse, Vayikra 19:17: "You shall surely rebuke your fellow, and you shall not bear sin because of him."

13. The Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, 156:7 (שו"ע לאדה"ז סקנ"ו ס"ז ובמ"מ שם): שו"ע לאדה"ז = שולחן ערוך לאדמו"ר הזקן; סקנ"ו ס"ז = סימן קנ"ו סעיף ז'; ובמ"מ = ובמראה מקומות, "and the references". Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Orach Chayim 156:7: "One who sees his fellow sin… it is a mitzvah to bring him back to the good… and if he did not accept it from him he should rebuke him again, as it says 'you shall surely rebuke', even a hundred times." That is, "a hundred times" is not hyperbole but an obligation to be taken literally; so one should rouse attention again and again to the matters that require correction.

14. Good news (לבשו"ט): לבשו"ט = לבשורות טובות.

Summary

Some of those reporting to the Rebbe argued that they should not write about the shortcomings in their place. The Rebbe rejects this: the reports reach him anyway, exaggerated, from outsiders; by the Rebbeim's rule any argument that holds back practical good comes from the animal soul; and knowing that shortcomings are reported helps correct them. He hopes such reports will diminish because the shortcomings themselves disappear, and urges repeated rebuke, "even a hundred times".