6689 —מקור פירוש הבעש"ט על "לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים" שבשער היחוד והאמונה, ומדרש תהלים

B"H, 17 Shevat, 5719
Brooklyn.

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

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of Friday.

...^[3] As to your remark on the well-known question: the Alter Rebbe, in Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, brings in the name of the Baal Shem Tov the explanation of the verse "Forever, G‑d, Your word stands firm in the heavens"^[4], although it is found also in Midrash Tehillim^[5]; and you point to Kesubos 22b^[6].

See on this Kuntres Chai Elul 5703, page 14, where a sicha of my father-in-law, the Rebbe^[7], on this matter is printed; and in a footnote at the bottom of the page I referred to the tractate Kesubos mentioned, to Avos, chapter 4, mishnah 19^[8], and to Vayikra Rabbah, section 16:2^[9]. Incidentally, in Likkutei Torah (beginning of Parshas Acharei) the above is cited (without attribution, and not in the name of the Baal Shem Tov), and immediately after it is noted that it is likewise in Midrash Tehillim^[10].

Since you do not mention anything about your health and that of the members of your household^[11], may they live long, this is surely a sign that all is in order.

With blessing for good news^[12] in all the above.

Publisher's notes

Reb Naftali (מו"ה נפתלי שי'): Yunik, Montreal. Further letters to him: above, vol. 14, letter 4819^[13], and the references in the notes there.

Reb Naftali: See also below, vol. 20, letter 7672 (to him, 16 Sivan 5721, on the appointment placed upon him).

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 Naftali… shochet and bodek (מו"ה נפתלי שי' שו"ב): מו"ה = מורנו הרב; שו"ב = שוחט ובודק. Yunik, Montreal. R. Naftali Yunik, a shochet and bodek in Montreal, who corresponded with the Rebbe on questions of halachah and communal matters: whether to lead the prayers in a synagogue most of whose worshippers do not keep Shabbos (3644, 18 Tammuz 5715); on the state of shechitah and the shochtim in his community (7923, 7 Elul 5712); and on adding in Torah and mitzvos, and in the study of Chassidus, every Rosh Hashanah (4818, 7 MarCheshvan 5717). In this letter the Rebbe answers his remark on the source of the Baal Shem Tov's explanation of "Forever, G‑d, Your word stands firm in the heavens". Later the Rebbe wrote to him about the appointment placed upon him (7672, 16 Sivan 5721), and about the stories of tzaddikim he was recording (8535, 28 Tishrei 5723).

3. ... (...): Part of the letter is omitted in the printed text.

4. Forever, G‑d, Your word stands firm in the heavens (לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים): Tehillim 119:89. In Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, ch. 1: הנה כתיב, לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים. ופי' הבעש"ט ז"ל: כי דברך שאמרת יהי רקיע בתוך המים וגו', תיבות ואותיות אלו, הן נצבות ועומדות לעולם, בתוך רקיע השמים, ומלובשות בתוך כל הרקיעים לעולם, להחיותם, "It is written: Forever, G‑d, Your word stands firm in the heavens. The Baal Shem Tov explained: 'Your word' that You said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters' – these very words and letters stand firmly forever within the firmament of heaven, and are clothed within all the heavens forever, to give them life." Likewise in Iggeres HaKodesh 25: וכנודע מ"ש הבעש"ט ז"ל: ע"פ: לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים, "as is known from what the Baal Shem Tov said on the verse: Forever, G‑d, Your word stands firm in the heavens".

5. Midrash Tehillim (מדרש תהלים): ג"כ = גם כן. Midrash Tehillim (Psalm 119): מהו דברך נצב בשמים, אי זהו דבר הנצב בשמים. אלא אמר הקב"ה על מה השמים עומדים, על אותו דבר שאמרתי יהי רקיע בתוך המים... בדבר ה' שמים נעשו ובאותו הדבר שברא אותן בו הם עומדים לעולם. לכך נאמר לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים, "What is 'Your word stands firm in the heavens'? Which word stands firm in the heavens? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: On what do the heavens stand? On that word which I said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters'… By the word of G‑d the heavens were made, and by the very word with which He created them they stand forever. Therefore it is said: Forever, G‑d, Your word stands firm in the heavens." This is "the well-known question": why does the Alter Rebbe bring it in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, when it is already found in the Midrash?

6. Kesubos 22b (כתובות דף כ"ב ב'): There: אי הכי אפי' לכתחלה נמי? משום דרב אסי, דא"ר אסי: (משלי ד) הסר ממך עקשות פה ולזות שפתים הרחק ממך, "If so, [she should be permitted to marry] even at the outset? Because of Rav Assi, for Rav Assi said: 'Put away from you a crooked mouth, and keep perverse lips far from you'" – a verse of Mishlei (4:24) cited in the Gemara as a saying of Rav Assi.

7. My father-in-law, the Rebbe (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר): Kuntres Chai Elul 5703: a booklet published for 18 Elul 5703. כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר = כבוד קדושת מורי וחמי אדוננו מורנו ורבנו, the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.

8. Avos, chapter 4, mishnah 19 (אבות פ"ד משנה י"ט): There: שמואל הקטן אומר, (משלי כד) בנפול אויבך אל תשמח ובכשלו אל יגל לבך, פן יראה ה' ורע בעיניו והשיב מעליו אפו, "Shmuel HaKatan says: 'When your enemy falls, do not rejoice, and when he stumbles let your heart not be glad, lest G‑d see it and it be evil in His eyes, and He turn away His anger from him'" – verses of Mishlei (24:17-18) taught in the Mishnah as the saying of Shmuel HaKatan.

9. Vayikra Rabbah, section 16:2 (ויקרא רבה פרשה ט"ז ב'): There: מעשה ברוכל אחד שהיה מחזיר בעיירות שהיו סמוכות לצפורי והיה מכריז ואומר, מאן בעי למזבן סם חיים... הוציא לו ספר תהלים הראה לו פסוק: מי האיש החפץ חיים... נצר לשונך מרע, סור מרע ועשה טוב... אמר רבי ינאי כל ימי הייתי קורא הפסוק הזה ולא הייתי יודע היכן הוא פשוט עד שבא רוכל זה והודיעו, "It once happened that a peddler went round the towns near Tzippori, calling out: Who wants to buy the elixir of life?… He took out a book of Tehillim and showed him the verse: 'Who is the man who desires life…? Guard your tongue from evil… turn from evil and do good.'… Rabbi Yannai said: All my life I read this verse and did not know where its plain meaning lay, until this peddler came and made it known."

10. Likkutei Torah (beginning of Parshas Acharei) (לקו"ת (ר"פ אחרי)): דא"ג = דרך אגב; לקו"ת ר"פ אחרי = לקוטי תורה ריש פרשת אחרי (the discourse "For on this day He shall atone for you"); תומ"י = תיכף ומיד. There: והנה נודע מה שכתוב על פסוק: לעולם הוי' דברך נצב בשמים, כי דבר ה' שבו שמים נעשו, נצב שם לעולם, כי לעולם הוא מהוה מאין ליש, "It is known what is written on the verse 'Forever, G‑d, Your word stands firm in the heavens': that the word of G‑d by which the heavens were made stands there forever, for He is forever bringing them into being from nothing"; and immediately after it: [וכן הוא במדרש תהלים על פסוק זה. וזה לשונו: איזהו דבר הנצב בשמים?...], "[And so it is in Midrash Tehillim on this verse; this is its wording: Which word stands firm in the heavens?…]".

11. The members of your household (ב"ב שי'): ב"ב שי' = בני ביתו שיחיו.

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

13. Vol. 14, letter 4819 (חי"ד ד'תתיט): חי"ד = חלק י"ד. The letter to him in vol. 14 is 4818 (7 MarCheshvan 5717).

Summary

A shochet in Montreal raised the well-known question why the Alter Rebbe brings the explanation of "Forever, G‑d, Your word stands firm in the heavens" in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, though it is in Midrash Tehillim. The Rebbe refers him to the Previous Rebbe's sicha in Kuntres Chai Elul 5703 and his own notes there, and to Likkutei Torah.