6748 —ברכה לבר מצוה, ועבודה בבכורות בבכור לאב בלבד

B"H, 5 Adar II, 5719
Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Rav and Gaon, the Rav and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, etc.^[1], Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Leib, may he live long^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your announcement that your grandson Menachem has reached the age of mitzvos:

May it be the will of G‑d, blessed be He^[3], that from "thirteen for mitzvos" he grow to "fifteen", etc., as the Mishnah rules (Avos, chapter 5)^[4], and that he add diligence and assiduousness in his study of Torah – in the revealed Torah and likewise in the teachings of Chassidus – and carry out the mitzvos in the finest manner. May G‑d, blessed be He, grant him success in becoming a Chassid, G‑d-fearing and a scholar,

and may you have abundant Chassidic nachas from him and from all your descendants^[5], may they live.

With respect and with blessing for success in your holy work in Toras Emes^[6] and in spreading the wellsprings^[7].

Concerning your remark on the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chaim 128:10^[8], that he holds that when the [Temple] service was performed by the firstborn, it applied also to one who is a firstborn only to his father:

What is the source for this? We find holiness only in one who "opens the womb"^[9].

The clearest of all: its source is the unqualified wording of the Mishnah (Zevachim 112b), "and the service was performed by the firstborn"^[10]. So too in the Targumim on Shemos 24:5^[11]. (This needs some study, from Bechoros 4b, which connects this with the verse "Sanctify to Me every firstborn", which speaks of one who opens the womb; and it can be explained.)^[12]

(2) In Bereishis Rabbah (98:4)^[13], on Reuven: the priesthood was his, and when he sinned it was given to Levi. Now if you say it depends on opening the womb – then the same would hold for Dan, Gad and Yosef. And further, why was it taken from them?^[14] – Note, though, that according to the Tanchuma and Targum Yerushalmi (there), it was the "High Priesthood"; one can say that it cannot be held by two^[15].

(3) The Baalei HaTosafos (in Hadar Zekenim), at the beginning of Parshas Toldos, on the verse "And Yaakov gave"^[16]: for the inheritance Yaakov gave Esav much money, and "sell me this day" referred to the service; "and if you ask, how did Yaakov deceive… one can say that by law Yaakov was the firstborn… the first drop". Yet the one who opened the womb was Esav. – Even so, Yaakov needed Esav's sale, for who would believe that he was the first drop, since in this there was a great wonder (Bachya, end of Parshas Toldos; and see Yevamos 98a, top)^[17].

In this the Baalei HaTosafos disagree with the Midrash brought in Rashi there, on the verse "and afterwards"^[18].

(4) Bamidbar Rabbah 4:8^[19] implies that "the service was performed by the firstborn" means by the great and distinguished, not necessarily a firstborn – and all the more so not specifically one who opened the womb.

In any case, at first sight this needs great study in light of the Or HaTorah of the Tzemach Tzedek on Bereishis (343b ff.; 157a; 166a)^[20]. Perhaps one can say that the Or HaTorah explains according to the Midrash in Rashi mentioned above.

Note also the Korban HaEdah on the Yerushalmi, Megillah (1:11)^[21]; Sefer HaGilgulim, ch. 23, 34.

Publisher's notes

Printed in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 11, p. 307, and completed from the Secretariat's copy.

Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Leib (מו"ה משה ארי' ליב): Shapira, Jerusalem. Further letters to him: above, vol. 10, letter 3062, and the letters noted there.

Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Leib (מו"ה משה ארי' ליב): see also below, vol. 19, letter 7183 (4 Shevat 5720, on the progress in the students' Torah novellae).

Notes

1. The Rav and Gaon, the Rav and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored (הרה"ג והרה"ח אי"א נו"נ): הרה"ג = הרב הגאון; הרה"ח = הרב החסיד; אי"א = איש ירא אלקים; נו"נ = נעלה ונכבד.

2. Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Leib (מו"ה משה ארי' ליב): מו"ה = מורנו הרב. Shapira, Jerusalem (publisher's note). Other letters to him on the site: 1587 (26 Iyar 5712) and 1775 (13 Menachem Av 5712), on his questions on the opening of Tanya ("they make him swear: be righteous"); 2482 (23 Adar II 5714), condolences on his mother's passing and the custom of a mourner leading the prayers; 3062 (28 Cheshvan 5715), on his news "that benches have been added in the yeshivah of our holy Rebbeim, Toras Emes", and on "the sheets that he prints with notes on Ketzos HaChoshen"; and below, 7183 (4 Shevat 5720), on the progress "in the Torah novellae of the students". In his letter he had sent a question on the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, which the Rebbe answers in the second part of this letter.

3. May it be the will of G‑d, blessed be He (יה"ר מהשי"ת): יה"ר = יהי רצון; מהשי"ת = מהשם יתברך.

4. "Thirteen for mitzvos"… "fifteen" (מבן שלש עשרה למצות… לבן חמשה עשר): Avos 5:21: בן שלש עשרה למצות, בן חמש עשרה לתלמוד, "at thirteen, for mitzvos; at fifteen, for Talmud". That is: may he grow from the age of mitzvos to the age of studying Talmud, and onward.

5. All your descendants (יו"ח): יו"ח = יוצאי חלציו.

6. Your holy work in Toras Emes (עבוה"ק בתו"א): עבוה"ק = עבודת הקודש; בתו"א = בתורת אמת, the Toras Emes yeshivah in Jerusalem (see above, letter 3062: "in the yeshivah of our holy Rebbeim… Toras Emes"; 2482: "the administration of the yeshivah Toras Emes"; and below, 7183: "my father-in-law, the Rebbe, director and founder of the yeshivah Toras Emes").

7. Spreading the wellsprings (הפצת המעיינות): Spreading the wellsprings of the teachings of Chassidus.

8. Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chaim 128:10 (שו"ע לאדה"ז חאו"ח סקכ"ח ס"י): דס"ל = דסבירא ליה, "that he holds"; ה"ז = הרי זה. The Shulchan Aruch there: ואם אין שם לוי יצוק בכור פטר רחם שהלוי הוא קדוש על ידו אבל בכור לאב בלבד אין בו קדושה עכשיו שניטל העבודה מבכורות, "if there is no Levi, a firstborn who opened the womb should pour [the water over the Kohanim's hands]… but one who is a firstborn only to his father has no holiness now that the service has been taken from the firstborn." The word "now" implies that when the service was performed by the firstborn, one who was a firstborn only to his father (and not to his mother) was also among the firstborn who served.

9. One who "opens the womb" (פטר רחם): מנ"ל = מנא לן, "what is our source?" A firstborn to his mother, after Shemos 13:2: קדש לי כל בכור פטר כל רחם בבני ישראל, "Sanctify to Me every firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel"; Rashi: "that opened the womb first". The holiness of the firstborn in the Torah depends on opening the womb; so what is the Alter Rebbe's source that the service applied also to a firstborn to the father?

10. "And the service was performed by the firstborn" (ועבודה בבכורות): The Mishnah, Zevachim 112b: עד שלא הוקם המשכן היו הבמות מותרות ועבודה בבכורות, ומשהוקם המשכן נאסרו הבמות ועבודה בכהנים, "before the Mishkan was set up, private altars were permitted and the service was performed by the firstborn; once the Mishkan was set up, private altars were forbidden and the service was performed by the Kohanim"; Rashi there: "as it is written, 'He sent the young men of the children of Israel' (Shemos 24)". The Mishnah says "firstborn" without qualification, not "those who opened the womb".

11. The Targumim on Shemos 24:5 (בתרגומים לשמות כד, ה): וכ"ה = וכן הוא. Shemos 24:5: וישלח את נערי בני ישראל ויעלו עלת, "He sent the young men of the children of Israel, and they offered burnt-offerings"; Targum Onkelos: ושלח ית בוכרי בני ישראל, "he sent the firstborn of the children of Israel"; Rashi: "the young men – the firstborn". Here too "firstborn" without qualification.

12. Bechoros 4b (בכורות ד, ב): צע"ק = צריך עיון קצת; מש"נ = מה שנאמר; וי"ל = ויש לומר. In Bechoros 4b R. Yochanan and Reish Lakish dispute whether the firstborn were sanctified in the wilderness: "R. Yochanan said, the firstborn were sanctified in the wilderness… as it is written, 'Sanctify to Me every firstborn'", and "R. Yochanan challenged Reish Lakish" from the baraisa "and the service was performed by the firstborn"; Rashi: "the firstborn of Israel would offer… so we see that the firstborn were sanctified". The Gemara ties the service to the holiness of "Sanctify to Me every firstborn", and that verse speaks of one who opens the womb. The Rebbe ends "and it can be explained".

13. Bereishis Rabbah (98:4) (ב"ר פצ"ח, ד): On Bereishis 49:3, "Reuven, you are my firstborn… excelling in dignity and excelling in power": הבכורה היתה שלך והכהנה היתה שלך והמלכות היתה שלך, ועכשיו שחטאת נתנה הבכורה ליוסף, והכהנה ללוי, והמלכות ליהודה, "the birthright was yours, the priesthood was yours and the kingship was yours; now that you have sinned, the birthright was given to Yosef, the priesthood to Levi and the kingship to Yehudah."

14. Dan, Gad and Yosef (דן גד ויוסף): וא"ת = ואם תאמר; ה"ה = הרי הוא. Dan, Gad and Yosef were each a firstborn to his mother. If the priesthood depended on opening the womb, they too would have had it – and why was it taken from them? This implies that the priesthood was Reuven's as his father's firstborn, as the Alter Rebbe holds.

15. The "High Priesthood" (כהונה גדולה): י"ל = יש לומר; דא"א = דאי אפשר. Tanchuma (Buber), Vayechi 11: שלך היתה ראויה כהונה גדולה, ואין שאת אלא כהונה גדולה, "the High Priesthood was fit to be yours"; Targum Yerushalmi on Bereishis 49:3: וכהונתא רבתא לשבטא לוי, "and the High Priesthood [was given] to the tribe of Levi". Since it is the High Priesthood, which cannot be held by two, there is no proof from the fact that Dan, Gad and Yosef did not have it.

16. Hadar Zekenim… on the verse "And Yaakov gave" (בס' הדר זקנים... עה"פ ויעקב נתן): רבעה"ת = רבותינו בעלי התוספות; ר"פ = ריש פרשת; עה"פ = על הפסוק. Bereishis 25:34: "And Yaakov gave Esav bread and lentil stew." Hadar Zekenim there: "one can say that Yaakov gave him much money for the birthright, and the bread and stew were only to confirm the sale… And if you ask, how did Yaakov deceive Esav, when deceit is a disgrace for the righteous? One can say that by law Yaakov was the firstborn. A parable: if a man puts two stones into one flask… so Yaakov was the first drop, and therefore came out last." In their view Yaakov was the firstborn "by law" because he was formed from the first drop, although Esav opened the womb – implying that the birthright does not depend on opening the womb.

17. A great wonder (פלא גדול): ובכ"ז = ובכל זאת; ס"פ = סוף פרשת; רע"א = ריש עמוד א. Rabbeinu Bachya (Bereishis 28:5): "but with Yaakov and Esav there was the great wonder, that both were formed in one placenta"; Yevamos 98a: דהא שני אחין תאומים דטפה אחת היה ונחלקה לשתים, "two twin brothers, who were one drop that divided in two". Because there was a wonder in this, people would not believe that Yaakov was formed from the first drop, so Yaakov needed Esav's sale.

18. The Midrash brought in Rashi there (מדרש שהובא בפרש"י שם): פרש"י = פירוש רש"י. Bereishis 25:26, Rashi on "and afterwards his brother came out": "Yaakov was formed from the first drop and Esav from the second… Yaakov came to hold him back, so that he would be first in birth as he was first in formation, and would open her womb and take the birthright by law." According to that Midrash, although Yaakov was formed from the first drop, he needed to "open her womb" to take the birthright; for the Baalei HaTosafos the first drop suffices.

19. Bamidbar Rabbah 4:8 (במדב"ר פ"ד, ח): "At first the firstborn served… Noach died and passed them [the garments] to Shem – but was Shem the firstborn? Was not Yefes the firstborn?… Shem died and passed it to Avraham – but was Avraham a firstborn? Rather, because he was righteous the birthright was passed to him, and he offered." ול"ד = ולאו דוקא, "not necessarily"; ועאכו"כ = ועל אחת כמה וכמה, "all the more so".

20. Or HaTorah of the Tzemach Tzedek (אוה"ת להצ"צ): צע"ג = צריך עיון גדול; אוה"ת = אור התורה; הצ"צ = the Tzemach Tzedek; אפ"ל = אפשר לומר.

21. The Korban HaEdah on the Yerushalmi, Megillah (1:11) (קה"ע בירושלמי מגילה): The Yerushalmi there: "From where did [the expounder] derive that the service was performed by the firstborn… Before that, what did they do? 'And Rivkah took the coveted garments of Esav her elder son' – what are 'the coveted [garments]'? That he served in the High Priesthood." Korban HaEdah: "that he served in the High Priesthood – for there was only one Kohen, and he would appoint another Kohen in his place; or else, the eldest of his sons, even if not a firstborn, would serve in his place." Here too: the High Priesthood held by one (as in point 2); and by the second explanation, "the eldest of his sons, even if not a firstborn" (as in point 4).

Summary

Blessing the recipient on his grandson's bar mitzvah, the Rebbe turns to his question on the Alter Rebbe's ruling that, when the Temple service was performed by the firstborn, even a firstborn only to his father served. He traces the source to the unqualified wording of the Mishnah and Targum, and weighs Bechoros, Bereishis Rabbah, the Baalei HaTosafos, Rashi, Bamidbar Rabbah and the Korban HaEdah.