6675 —שאלות בפירות שביעית של נכרים ובחשמל באה"ק, וקביעת מזוזה במרפסת ע"פ היכר ציר

B"H, 7 Shevat, 5719
Brooklyn.

The veteran Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored^[1], etc., Reb Shimon Moshe, may he live long^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I acknowledge receipt of your letter of 4 Shevat with the pidyon nefesh^[3], which will be read at an auspicious time at the holy resting place of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, of saintly and blessed memory, whose soul is in the hidden treasuries on High, may his merit protect us^[4]. Its contents:

(a) A question concerning Shevi'is produce of non-Jews^[5], and the use of electricity in the Holy Land, may it be built and established^[6].

Since many^[7] in the Holy Land have already weighed and debated this, especially in recent years, and moreover the ruling in it depends on a number of details, you should clarify it with the leading halachic authorities there: how they have decided the halachah in practice.

(b) Where to affix the mezuzah of a balcony that is on the second floor, the only entrance to which is from the inner room.

It is a tradition in the hands of Chassidim that the ruling of our Rebbeim, even in a case such as this, is that the entrance is considered to be into the room toward which the door opens^[8]. There is a saying of our Rebbeim about this, which, I believe, the Rav and Gaon, etc., Rabbi Yaakov Landau, may he live long, who is in their pure camp^[9], has heard; ask him for the exact wording of this saying^[10].

It is a great wonder that you do not mention how you have ascended in holiness^[11] in the study of Nigleh and of Chassidus. Although my hope is that "a messenger carries out his mission"^[12] – and every one is a messenger of the Omnipresent (see Likkutei Torah, beginning of Parshas Vayikra, 1c)^[13], and the mission is, in the words of the Mishnah, "to serve one's Maker"^[14] through the Torah and the mitzvah – nevertheless, the law is ruled at the beginning of Yoreh De'ah that where it is possible to clarify, etc.^[15]

With blessings for good news^[16] in all the above.

Publisher's notes

Reb Shimon Moshe (מו"ה שמעון משה): Diskin, Bnei Brak. A further letter to him: above, vol. 15, letter 5763.

The entrance is considered (הכניסה נחשבת): See also above, vol. 14, letter 5323, and the references in the notes there.

Notes

1. The veteran Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored (הוו"ח אי"א נו"נ): הוו"ח = הוותיק וחסיד; אי"א = איש ירא אלקים; נו"נ = נעלה ונכבד.

2. Reb Shimon Moshe, may he live long (מו"ה שמעון משה שי'): Diskin, Bnei Brak. R. Shimon Moshe Diskin of Bnei Brak. The Rebbe had written to him before, on 26 Elul 5717 (vol. 15, letter 5763), when he was still "the young man Shimon Moshe" and about to marry: there the Rebbe reminded him of "the saying of the Alter Rebbe that there must be not only a fixed time, but, and this is the main thing, a fixed place in the soul" for the study of Chassidus, and answered him on the measure of two finger-breadths in tefillin. Later, on 9 MarCheshvan 5724, the Rebbe wrote to him on his accepting "the post of maggid shiur in the Achei Temimim yeshivah in Rishon LeZion" (vol. 23, letter 8692).

3. The pidyon nefesh (הפ"נ): הפ"נ = הפדיון נפש, a note with names and requests for blessing, read at the resting place of the Previous Rebbe.

4. My father-in-law, the Rebbe… (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): הציון הק' = the holy resting place. כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר = כבוד קדושת מורי וחמי אדונינו מורנו ורבנו, the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn; זצוקללה"ה = "may the memory of the righteous and holy one be for a blessing, for the life of the World to Come"; נבג"מ = נשמתו בגנזי מרומים, "whose soul is in the hidden treasuries on High"; זי"ע = זכותו יגן עלינו, "may his merit protect us".

5. Shevi'is produce of non-Jews (פירות שביעית של נכרים): 5719, the year of this letter, was a Shemitah year. The status of produce grown in the seventh year on land owned by non-Jews in the Holy Land was already discussed by the great poskim: in his responsa Avkas Rochel (§24) the Beis Yosef cites the view of R. Shlomo Sirilio "to observe the law of Shevi'is in the produce of the non-Jews that grows in the Land", and writes, "It does not seem to me that his proofs suffice to set aside the custom of the earlier generations, who did not do so".

6. In the Holy Land, may it be built and established (באה"ק ת"ו): באה"ק ת"ו = בארץ הקודש תבנה ותכונן. In other letters in which the Rebbe was asked about electricity in the Holy Land, the question is the use of electricity on Shabbos, as the publisher's note to vol. 18, letter 6792 states: "on Shabbos in the Holy Land, where the machines are operated by Jews". The Rebbe answered similarly in vol. 14, letter 4967 (24 Kislev 5717): "As to what you write about electric light on Shabbos in the Holy Land… this has already been weighed and debated in Torah journals in recent years"; and in letter 6792 (29 Adar II 5719): "There are several ways of operating the light, and therefore, before giving an opinion, one must clarify how the machines work in a given place and regarding a given use".

7. Many (כו"כ): כו"כ = כמה וכמה.

8. The room toward which the door opens (לחדר לשם פותחים הדלת): That is, one follows the "sign of the hinge". Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 289:3: "One who divides his house in two, and each part has a doorway opening to the public domain, and in the dividing wall there is a doorway from one to the other: the place where the hole is made in the threshold in which the door's hinge turns, and where the doors stand, is the house, and one affixes it on the right of one entering it." The room into which the door opens counts as the "house", and the mezuzah goes on the right of one entering it. The custom of our Rebbeim is to follow the sign of the hinge in every doorway "except for the doorway that leads outside" (vol. 12, letter 4227; see also 4237, on a mezuzah on a balcony; vol. 14, letter 5323; and below, vol. 19, letter 7324, on a gallery entered only through one of the rooms). Here: although the balcony can be entered only from the room, the mezuzah of the doorway between them is placed according to the side to which the door opens.

9. Rabbi Yaakov Landau… who is in their pure camp (הרה"ג וכו' מוהר"י לנדא שי' אשר במחנם הט'): הרה"ג = הרב הגאון; מוהר"י = מורנו הרב ר' יעקב; במחנם הט' = במחנם הטהור, "in their pure camp", i.e. in Bnei Brak, where the recipient lived. R. Yaakov Landau, the rav of Bnei Brak, was born in Kurenitz in 5653 (1893), where his father, R. Moshe Yehuda Leib, was rav; he entered Tomchei Temimim in Lubavitch in 5668 and settled in the Holy Land in 5695. The Rebbe wrote to him in vol. 12, letter 4251, to ask about this very ruling (see the next note).

10. The exact wording of this saying (נוסח המדוייק של פתגם זה): That is, the saying on the question of how one is to enter a room all of whose doors open outward. On 24 Nissan 5716 the Rebbe asked Rabbi Landau for the wording of this ruling (vol. 12, letter 4251). In his reply, cited in the publisher's note there, Rabbi Landau wrote that in a room in the home of the Rebbe Maharash, "all of whose doors opened outward", the Rebbe Maharash himself affixed the mezuzos according to the hinges, and his son – Rabbi Landau's Rebbe, the Rebbe Rashab – asked him, "If so, from where will one enter? And to this his father, the Rebbe Maharash, answered him: וואס ארט דאס מיך, זאל ער שפרינגען דורכן פענסטר" ("What does that concern me? Let him jump through the window"). Similarly in letter 4237: "let him enter through the window"; and in letter 7324: "let him climb in through the roof".

11. How you have ascended in holiness (מאשר העלה בקדש): An echo of the rule "one ascends in holiness and does not descend" (Shabbos 21b): what he has added and risen in his learning. In letter 5763 the Rebbe had written to him: "Surely, although you do not mention it, in addition to taking part in farbrengens you have a fixed time for studying Chassidus"; now he wonders that again he says nothing of it.

12. "A messenger carries out his mission" (ששליח עושה שליחותו): From the Gemara (Eruvin 31b): כדאמר רב יחיאל חזקה שליח עושה שליחותו, "as Rav Yechiel said: there is a presumption that a messenger carries out his mission". So the Rebbe hopes that the recipient is fulfilling his mission; below he explains why, nevertheless, one does not rely on the presumption.

13. Every one is a messenger of the Omnipresent (Likkutei Torah, Vayikra) (כ"א שלוחו של מקום הוא (לקו"ת ר"פ ויקרא א, ג)): כ"א = כל אחד. In Likkutei Torah, beginning of Parshas Vayikra, the maamar "Vayikra el Moshe" (section 3), on the verse "which you shall proclaim": "This drawing down is through the souls of Israel. And of this it is said, 'which you (atem) shall proclaim' specifically. The reason is as our Sages said about agency, that 'a person's agent is like himself'… and so too, the agent of the Supernal Holiness who invites the weekdays to become holy convocations must be like the one who sends him."

14. "To serve one's Maker" (לשמש את קונו): From the Mishnah (Kiddushin 82a): והלא לא נבראו אלא לשמשני, ואני נבראתי לשמש את קוני, "They were created only to serve me, and I was created to serve my Maker." The Rebbe gives it in the third person: "to serve his Maker".

15. The beginning of Yoreh De'ah (ביו"ד בתחלתו): בכ"ז = בכל זה; יו"ד = יורה דעה. Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 1:1, on a shochet whom one does not know: "When is this said? When he is not before us; then one may eat from his slaughtering and rely on the presumption. But if he is before us, one must examine him"; and the Rema there: "Some say that one relies on the presumption only after the fact, but at the outset one does not rely on a presumption where it is possible to clarify." That is: although there is a presumption that a messenger carries out his mission, since it is possible to clarify, one does not rely on it. The Rebbe does not spell out the conclusion, but hints at it with "etc.": the recipient should write and tell him what he has added in his learning.

16. Good news (בשו"ט): בשו"ט = בשורות טובות.

Summary

A Chassid in Bnei Brak asks about Shemitah produce grown by non-Jews, electricity in the Holy Land and a balcony mezuzah. The Rebbe sends the first questions to the local poskim, gives the Chabad custom of following the door's hinges, with its well-known saying, and, using the halachic rule that one does not rely on a presumption where one can clarify, asks him to report on his own learning.