6666 —לחיות עם הסדרה: "עבודה קשה" ו"חומר ולבנים" – קושיא, קל וחומר וליבון הלכתא

B"H, 27 Teves, 5719
Brooklyn.

The veteran Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs, whose dealings are faithful^[1], Reb Yaakov HaKohen, may he live long^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of 26 Teves, with its enclosure^[3].

In addition to what will – without a vow^[4] – be spoken on the telephone, I wish here to call attention to what you write in connection with the well-known saying of the Alter Rebbe: one must live with the sedra of the week^[5],

in which it speaks of "hard labor" and "crushing labor"^[6].

This matter is discussed in Torah Or, in the discourses of Parshas Shemos^[7], and also in the Tzemach Tzedek's Or HaTorah^[8] and in other places [and it is founded on the holy Zohar]^[9]: that the things enumerated in the sedra can be gone through by way of spiritual avodah. And this is, as he says there: "hard labor" – this is a difficult question (kushya); "with mortar" (chomer) – this is a kal vachomer; "and with every labor in the field" – this is a Baraisa; "and with bricks" (levenim) – this is the clarification (libun) of the halachah^[10].

And this avodah is, after all, much more delightful, and its reward is also greater, and this is easy to understand^[11].

And it seems to me that also in the table of contents of Parshas Shemos this is spoken of, if only briefly.

With blessing for good news in all the above, and for a joyous Shabbos and a joyous Rosh Chodesh^[12], and to take from this joy for the whole week and the whole month.

Publisher's notes

Reb Yaakov (מו"ה יעקב שי'): Katz, Chicago. Further letters to him: above, vol. 15, letter 5523, and the references in the notes there; below, letter 6987.

Notes

1. The veteran Chassid… whose dealings are faithful (הוו"ח אי"א נו"נ עוסק בצ"צ מו"מ באמונה): הוו"ח = הוותיק וחסיד; אי"א = איש ירא אלקים; נו"נ = נעלה ונכבד; עוסק בצ"צ = עוסק בצרכי ציבור; מו"מ באמונה = משאו ומתנו באמונה.

2. Reb Yaakov HaKohen (מו"ה יעקב שי' הכהן): R. Yaakov HaKohen Katz, of the Chassidim in Chicago and among the activists of the Anshei Lubavitch shul there. The Rebbe wrote to him about the farbrengen in the Anshei Lubavitch shul on Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Tammuz 5716 (4485), about his serving as chazzan on the High Holidays (4674), about strengthening the shul and widening its activities together with R. Levitansky and R. Shlomo Zalman Hecht (5523), and about keeping the Lubavitch nusach in the shul (5683). Later, in letter 6987 (28 Menachem Av 5719), the Rebbe answers his remark from a maamar that Mashiach will be Moshe Rabbeinu.

3. Your letter of 26 Teves, with its enclosure (בריף פון כ"ו טבת, מיט דאס בייגעלייגטע): The recipient wrote on Tuesday of the week of Parshas Va'eira, and the Rebbe answers the next day, Wednesday.

4. Without a vow (בלי נדר): i.e. it will be discussed on the telephone, but without binding oneself to it as a vow.

5. One must live with the sedra of the week (מ'דארף לעבען מיט דער סדרה פון דער וואך): See Hayom Yom, 2 Cheshvan: "In the first years of his leadership the Alter Rebbe said publicly: 'One must live with the times.' Through his brother, R. Yehudah Leib, the elder Chassidim found out that the Rebbe meant one must live with the parsha of the week." This letter was written in the week of Parshas Va'eira, three days after the Alter Rebbe's hilula.

6. "Hard labor" and "crushing labor" (עבודה קשה ועבודת פרך): In the sedra of the week, Va'eira, Shemos 6:9: "They did not listen to Moshe, because of shortness of spirit and hard labor"; and in Parshas Shemos before it, Shemos 1:13-14: "The Egyptians made the Children of Israel work with crushing labor. They embittered their lives with hard labor, with mortar and with bricks and with every labor in the field; all their labor that they worked with them was with crushing labor."

7. Torah Or, in the discourses of Parshas Shemos (תורה אור בדרושי פ' שמות): Torah Or, maamar Ve'eileh Shemos (49a): "'They embittered their lives' – this is the Torah, for it is our life. 'With hard labor' – this is a kushya. 'With mortar' – this is a kal vachomer. 'And with every labor in the field' – this is a Baraisa. 'And with bricks' – this is the clarification of the halachah, for we have no clear halachah and plain ruling… So just as through the bondage of Egypt with mortar and bricks they merited the Giving of the Torah, so through the clarification of the halachah in our times they will merit the revelation of the inner Torah in the Time to Come." So also ibid., maamar Kol Dodi (51a): "As it says in the Raaya Mehemna: 'With mortar – this is a kal vachomer; and with bricks – this is the clarification of the halachah; and with every labor in the field – this is a Baraisa.'"

8. The Tzemach Tzedek's Or HaTorah (אור התורה להצמח צדק): See Or HaTorah, Bamidbar vol. 3, Chukas, maamar Kach es HaMateh: "and with bricks – with the clarification of the halachah; and with every labor in the field – this is a Baraisa; see all this in Torah Or, Parshas Shemos, maamar Kol Dodi and maamar Ve'eileh Shemos"; and Or HaTorah, Bamidbar vol. 1, discourses for Shavuos.

9. Founded on the holy Zohar (מיוסד אויף דעם זוהר הקדוש): Zohar, Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Beha'aloscha: "'They embittered their lives with hard labor' – this is a kushya; 'with mortar' – this is a kal vachomer; 'and with bricks' – this is the clarification of the halachah; 'and with every labor in the field' – this is a Baraisa." So also Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Pinchas.

10. Kushya… kal vachomer… Baraisa… clarification of the halachah (דא קושיא… דא קל וחומר… דא ברייתא… דא לבון הלכתא): "Hard labor" is the toil of resolving a difficulty; "mortar" (chomer), reasoning a kal vachomer; "labor in the field", a Baraisa, an "outside" teaching (beyond the six orders of the Mishnah); "bricks" (levenim), the clarifying (libun) of the halachah. As Torah Or says there: just as through the bondage of Egypt they merited the Giving of the Torah, so through this toil in Torah one merits the revelation of the inner Torah in the Time to Come.

11. And this is easy to understand (וק"ל): וק"ל = וקל להבין. The things listed in the sedra – hard labor, mortar and bricks – can be gone through not in hardship and bitterness in the plain sense, but through toil in Torah; and that avodah is both sweet and more richly rewarded.

12. A joyous Shabbos and a joyous Rosh Chodesh (שבת שמח ור"ח שמח): ר"ח = ראש חודש. In 5719 Rosh Chodesh Shevat fell on Shabbos, Parshas Va'eira.

Summary

Writing in the week of Parshas Va'eira, the Rebbe applies the Alter Rebbe's teaching to live with the weekly sedra to the "hard labor" of Egypt: as Torah Or, Or HaTorah and the Zohar explain, hard labor, mortar, field-work and bricks can be lived through spiritually as the toil of Torah study – kushya, kal vachomer, Baraisa and clarifying the halachah – an avodah far sweeter and more richly rewarded.