6772 —חשש אם מדתיות יתירה של בנה: בריאות הגוף, ומורה "טופח על מנת להטפיח"

B"H, 16 Adar II^[1], 5719
Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of Erev Purim^[2], with the enclosed letter from one of the mothers of the students in your class. Its content: she is worried about her son's religiousness, which, as she understands it, is excessive and is affecting his health adversely.

It is understood that in part of what she writes – I mean what she mentions, that he does not take part in his friends' games and also cuts down on outings, etc. – she is right. For the body must be healthy and whole so that one can serve G‑d as is proper (see Rambam, Laws of De'os, end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4)^[3]; and especially according to the saying of the Maggid of Mezritch, "A small hole in the body makes a large hole in the soul"^[4]. We see among the youth of the United States^[5] that when one changes what they are used to in matters concerning the body, this affects the state of their nerves, etc. And especially since, in my opinion^[6], if the mother sees that the yeshivah has influenced her son to be more joyful and to join boys his age in recreation – of course in keeping with the order of the Torah and the like – and sees that the influence comes from those very teachers who study the holy Torah^[7] with her son, then not only will she agree to his religiousness, as she puts it, but she will add to it on her part.

It is surely superfluous to spell out the distinction, brought in many places in the holy Torah, between "moist" and "moist enough to moisten"^[8]. Since the task of every teacher in Israel (even one who outwardly does not teach them holy subjects, and how much more so^[9] one who teaches our Torah, the Torah of life) is to moisten his students, it is understood that he must be "moist enough to moisten" in those matters that must be instilled in the students. This includes the two principal matters, fear [of G‑d] and wisdom (true wisdom – the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed in our Torah), in the order that one's fear precedes one's wisdom^[10]. The application of the analogy is understood^[11]; and nothing stands in the way of the will.

You surely know of the three well-known lessons of Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya^[12]; at any rate, keep to them from now on.

With blessings for good news^[13] in all the above.

Publisher's notes

Saying (פתגם): see also above, vol. 14, letter 4962, and the references in the notes there. Above, letter 6574.

Notes

1. 16 Adar II (ט"ז אד"ש): אד"ש = אדר שני, Adar II.

2. Erev Purim (ערב פורים): 13 Adar II, Monday.

3. Rambam, Laws of De'os, end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4 (רמב"ם הלכות דיעות סוף פרק ג' ורפ"ד): רפ"ד = ריש פרק ד'. Rambam, Laws of De'os 3:3: "אלא ישים על לבו שיהא גופו שלם וחזק כדי שתהיה נפשו ישרה לדעת את ה'. שאי אפשר שיבין וישתכל בחכמות והוא רעב וחולה או אחד מאיבריו כואב", "rather, he should set his heart on his body being whole and strong, so that his soul be upright to know G‑d; for it is impossible to understand and grasp wisdom while hungry and sick, or while one of his limbs is in pain"; and at the beginning of chapter 4: "הואיל והיות הגוף בריא ושלם מדרכי השם הוא. שהרי אי אפשר שיבין או ידע דבר מידיעת הבורא והוא חולה", "since the body being healthy and whole is among the ways of G‑d, for it is impossible to understand or know anything of the knowledge of the Creator while sick".

4. The saying of the Maggid of Mezritch (פתגם הרב המגיד ממעזריטש): The Rebbe wrote likewise in vol. 14, letter 4962 (22 Kislev 5717): "as is known the saying of the Maggid of Mezritch… a small hole in the body is a large hole in the soul"; and in vol. 7, letter 2055 (22 Adar 5713): "as is known the saying of the Maggid to his son, R. Avraham the Malach, that a small hole in the body causes a large hole in the soul; and this is also a ruling in the revealed Torah, as the Rambam writes in the Laws of De'os, beginning of chapter 4".

5. The United States (ארצוה"ב): ארצוה"ב = ארצות הברית.

6. In my opinion (לפ"ד): לפ"ד = לפי דעתי.

7. The holy Torah (תוה"ק): תוה"ק = תורה הקדושה.

8. "Moist" and "moist enough to moisten" (טופח, וטופח ע"מ להטפיח): בכ"מ = בכמה מקומות, "in many places"; ע"מ = על מנת. "Moist" (טופח) is merely damp; "moist enough to moisten" (טופח על מנת להטפיח) is so wet that whatever touches it becomes wet too, and can wet something else. So the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 129:13: "טופח על מנת להטפיח (פי' שהיד הנעשית לחה במגעו תחזור ותעשה לחה גם יד אחרת)", "moist enough to moisten (meaning that the hand made wet by touching it will in turn make another hand wet)". The analogy: it is not enough for the teacher to be "moist" himself; he must have so much that it passes on to his students.

9. How much more so (ועאכו"כ): ועאכו"כ = ועל אחת כמה וכמה.

10. One's fear precedes one's wisdom (יראתו קודמת לחכמתו): צ"ל = צריך להיות; הקב"ה = הקדוש ברוך הוא. From Avos 3:9: "רבי חנינא בן דוסא אומר, כל שיראת חטאו קודמת לחכמתו, חכמתו מתקיימת", "Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa says: anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom endures" (the Mishnah says "fear of sin").

11. The application of the analogy is understood (והנמשל מובן): The teacher himself must be "moist enough to moisten" in fear of Heaven and in the wisdom of the Torah, in that order – fear before wisdom – so that he can instill them in his students.

12. The three well-known lessons of Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya (שלשת השיעורים דחומש תהלים ותניא הידועים): The fixed daily lessons in Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya; in the Rebbe's words in vol. 15, letter 5472: "the three lessons fixed for this day in Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya". עכ"פ = על כל פנים, "at any rate".

13. Good news (לבשו"ט): לבשו"ט = לבשורות טובות.

Summary

A teacher forwarded a mother's letter fearing that her son's religiousness was excessive and harming his health. The Rebbe agrees that the boy should join his friends' games and outings, since a healthy body is needed to serve G‑d; if the mother sees the yeshivah make her son happier, she will support his piety. A teacher must himself be "moist enough to moisten" his students, fear of G‑d before wisdom, and keep the daily lessons of Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya.