Igrot Kodesh · Letter 2291 — Faith & Bitachon

B"H,

9 Kislev 5714,

Brooklyn,

Greetings and blessings,

I have duly received your letter of Friday of Parshas Toldos. I hope not to offend you in reminding you that certain questions must be asked from the start or else not be asked at all.

You have surely seen the letter[1] of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, which is printed in pamphlet no. 93. It is said there that the publication of the chassidic writings, books, and discourses of our masters — and therefore also of this Rebbe[2], whether they bear on Chassidus* or on the revealed part of the Torah — belongs to the Kehot publishing house.

One may justify the reasons for this. One of these is the following. Numerous versions contain errors. Sometimes, several versions exist of them. But, before any other consideration, our Sages say that "all depends on mazal*, including the Sefer Torah* in the holy ark[3]." Consequently, it is clear that this is not a way to act[4]! Could each one publish or reproduce such writings as he sees fit? Is it not desirable to ask the advice of another person?

There are also other reasons[5], but, in fact, it is not really useful to seek them out, since my father-in-law, the Rebbe, indicated what had to be done.

Consequently, if you had, from the start, queried the Kehot publishing house before having these chassidic discourses published, the question would have been envisaged, as it should have been a priori. One could have asked whether it was fitting to print these texts or whether others were prioritary. But, in this case, part of the work has already been done, and it is only after this that the question is posed in New York. Should one interrupt the printing of the teaching of the Rebbe Rashab*, or not do so, so that they may be widely spread?

What answer do you think you will receive to such a question? Even more, you write to me that you have already invested in this project some hundreds of pounds. It follows that ahavas Yisrael* also intervenes in the matter[6]. I therefore have my hands and feet bound, and I must tell you to complete this edition, at a good and fruitful moment.

You explain to me that the heads of the yeshivah* asked for it[7]. It is not surprising that they study the chassidic discourses to which they were accustomed when they were themselves at the yeshivah. Our Sages say that "one must always study a text toward which one feels attraction." It is clear that this is easier for them than to approach new texts. For, in each era, a Rebbe necessarily introduces new ideas in his teaching. The style and content are modified accordingly.

Conversely, if these teachers wish to establish that it be the same for the talmidim* of the yeshivah, they must remember, as well as the older talmidim, the relation they had toward their own teachers, when these wished to teach them the texts of the masters of previous eras and not of the head of their generation, the Rebbe Rashab.

As you know, the Alter Rebbe* rules, in his Hilchos Talmud Torah*, that one must, in the course of one's life, study at least once the entirety of the Written Law and the Oral Law, with all the parts they contain. This includes also the teachings of the masters of Chabad, in each era.

Nevertheless, I maintain my position. More than a hundred pamphlets containing chassidic discourses of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, have been published, as well as entire years of these discourses. They must therefore be studied in a systematic manner, in the Yeshivah Lubavitch[8].

May Hashem grant each one of us to bring to a good end the mission entrusted to him, in conformity with the truth.

With my blessing on the occasion of the festival of liberation[9] and so that you may know success in your communal and personal preoccupations,

N.B.: Your letter was delayed because you sent it to number 177 instead of number 770.

[1] See the letters of the previous Rebbe, vol. 9, letter no. 3145.
[2] The Rebbe Rashab.
[3] Everything must therefore have its place.
[4] To publish without authorization the writings of the Rebbe Rashab.
[5] For which it is not good to act thus.
[6] Since to make the printing cease would be to cause the recipient of this letter to lose money.
[7] Asked for this edition in order to use these books in the yeshivos.
[8] See, on this subject, letters no. 850, 1146, 1171 and 2394.
[9] Of the liberation of the Mitteler Rebbe, on 10 Kislev, and of the Alter Rebbe, on 19 Kislev.