6706 —תיקון המשכת המים למקוה בעיר, והדו"ח הקצר מהתועדות י' שבט

B"H, 2 Adar I, 5719
Brooklyn.

The Rav and Gaon, the Rav and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs^[1], our teacher the Rav [Reb Mordechai HaKohen, may he live long]^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

After a most prolonged interruption, your letter of 25 Shevat has arrived, with the main points^[3], in very few lines, regarding the farbrengen of the Tenth of Shevat^[4].

Understandably, this is a cause for wonder^[5].

Likewise a few lines about what needs correcting in the city. And I wonder at what you write, that it is impossible to know precisely and in detail what repair is needed in the conveying of the water to the mikveh^[6]: for surely the water must be changed from time to time, etc., and then one sees how the matter is done.

The Acharonim have already written at length that in the matter of a mikveh, the rule of not casting aspersions on the earlier generations does not apply^[7].

Since you mention nothing about your health and the health of your wife, may she live, surely all is in order.

With blessings for good news^[8] in all the above,

M. Schneerson

Publisher's notes

Printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 17, p. 480, and completed from a photocopy of the letter.

Reb Mordechai (מו"ה מרדכי): Perlov. Further letters to him: above, vol. 17, letter 6256, and the references in the notes there.

Notes

1. The Rav and Gaon, the Rav and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal needs (הרה"ג הרה"ח אי"א נו"נ עוסק בצ"צ): הרה"ג = הרב הגאון; הרה"ח = הרב החסיד; אי"א = איש ירא אלקים; נו"נ = נעלה ונכבד; עוסק בצ"צ = עוסק בצרכי ציבור.

2. Reb Mordechai HaKohen (מו"ה [מרדכי שי' הכהן]): מו"ה = מורנו הרב, "our teacher the Rav". Perlov, Milan (as in the publisher's note to letter 6256). R. Mordechai HaKohen Perlov settled in Milan, Italy, and served the community there. In Teves 5712 he wrote to the Rebbe that he had already succeeded in starting a public Torah class and had made a beginning with the mikveh, and the Rebbe urged him on (vol. 5, letter 1351). In Tammuz 5712 the Rebbe wrote to him: "I was alarmed to read in your letter about the mikveh in your community not being repaired; it seems this is the only mikveh in the city" (vol. 6, letter 1720); in Elul 5712: "I greatly enjoyed hearing that the mikveh in your holy community is being repaired according to the instruction of the Rebbe Rashab" (letter 1824); and in 5713 he answered him about conveying rainwater into the mikveh (vol. 7, letter 2023) and about making it valid with artificial ice (letter 2063). In Iyar 5718 he wrote to him about the translation of a maamar, that "the style must be as easy as possible" (vol. 17, letter 6256).

3. The main points (ר"פ): ר"פ = ראשי פרקים: he wrote only the bare outline, in very few lines.

4. The Tenth of Shevat (יו"ד שבט): The ninth yahrzeit of the Previous Rebbe, which fell this year on Monday (19 January 1959). The recipient wrote on 25 Shevat.

5. A cause for wonder (שלפלא הדבר): The Rebbe had already written to him in the same vein years before, in Tammuz 5712 (vol. 6, letter 1720): "I was pleased to receive the letter about the farbrengen, though extremely brief, on Shabbos 12 Tammuz; it is a pity about the brevity regarding the farbrengen."

6. The conveying of the water to the mikveh (המשכת המקוה): That is, channeling the rainwater into the mikveh; compare the recipient's question as the Rebbe quotes it in letter 2023: "where they want to convey the rainwater, which must be on ground fit to absorb it". The recipient wrote that it was impossible to know exactly what needed repairing in the channeling; the Rebbe answers that the mikveh's water has to be changed from time to time, and at that point one sees how the channeling actually works, and from that the details of the repair can be determined.

7. Casting aspersions on the earlier generations (להוציא לעז על הראשונים): In some matters one refrains from invalidating an accepted practice so as not to cast aspersions on earlier generations (implying that until now they acted improperly); in the matter of a mikveh this consideration does not apply. See Responsa Noda BiYehudah (second series, Yoreh De'ah 139): a rav wished to invalidate a mikveh, "but so as not to cast aspersions on the earlier ones he sought to find a leniency", and the Noda BiYehudah answered: "One should be quick in this matter to forbid the mikveh at once and to require the women who immersed in it to immerse again; better to cast a little aspersion on the earlier ones than to make them stumble in the future" (cited in Pischei Teshuvah, Yoreh De'ah 201:13). See also the Shach, Yoreh De'ah 198:45, citing the Maharam of Lublin: "Certainly one should not change the custom, so as not to cast aspersions on the earlier ones; nevertheless, whenever I come across a mikveh being repaired or a new one being built, I always instruct that it be fixed… so that it will be valid according to all opinions."

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

Summary

The Rebbe writes to R. Mordechai HaKohen Perlov of Milan, after a long silence, expressing surprise that his report on the Tenth of Shevat farbrengen was so brief, and that he claims the needed repair in channeling water to the city's mikveh cannot be determined, since it can be seen whenever the water is changed. Citing the Acharonim, he adds that in a mikveh the concern for casting aspersions on earlier generations does not apply.