Igrot Kodesh · Letter 2798 — Health

B"H

8 Tammuz 5714,
Brooklyn.

To the great Rav, distinguished Chassid* who fears Hashem and devotes himself to communal needs, great scholar,

Rav Sh. Y. (Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin, redactor of the Talmudic Encyclopedia),

Greetings and blessing,

I have just received your letter of the first day of Rosh Chodesh Tammuz and I thank you for it.

You tell me that my interpretation of the verse "These are the judgments" is difficult to accept. On the contrary, the other interpretations make the proof that mine is the correct one. Certainly, our Sages recount, in tractate Sanhedrin 19a, what befell the servant of Yannai and the teaching that it is fitting to derive therefrom (the fact that the king does not judge and is not judged). There is not there a direct contradiction of the principle that I establish, as I show at length in my analysis.

I was satisfied with the account that you gave me of the meeting of Agudas Yisrael. It is a pity that you do not attend the other important meetings. If one proposes to you to be a member of the Council of Sages of the Torah, I hope that you will accept. Indeed, when an individual adheres to a party, he does not thereby adopt each of its ideas, for it is said that "their opinions diverge." In the present case, this will therefore not prevent you from entering into this Council.

I wish you Mazal Tov on the occasion of the publication of the new version of your book Moadim BeHalachah. You will gladden me by announcing that the editor also gathers what you have published in the matter of Chassidic discourses, of proverbs of our masters, after indication of the references. Such a collection should have appeared long ago already. Those who are capable of redacting it are much fewer than those who can intervene in other domains. This realization can therefore be compared to a mitzvah* the practice of which one cannot entrust to someone else (and that one is therefore obligated to accomplish personally).

Doubtless the redaction of the Talmudic Encyclopedia also advances. Hashem will come to your aid.

We approach the days of the liberation, that of the leader and head of Yisrael, my father-in-law, the Rebbe, whose merit will protect us, and may Hashem grant that the body follow the head.

Very soon, we will merit the true and complete Redemption, by our righteous Mashiach*. On these days, you will doubtless organize Chassidic gatherings, filled with inspiration and good resolutions.

With my blessing,

P.S.: You do not speak of your state of health and I deduce therefrom that all is well. I enclose the continuation of the description of the imprisonment (of the previous Rebbe). It has been edited for the liberation festival of 12 and 13 Tammuz, which approaches.

* * *

B"H

Beginning of Tammuz 5714.

To the great assembly of Agudas Yisrael,

I reply to your letter.

In our era, certain ones, calling into question the established order, make darkness pass for light and use the light to intensify the darkness. Numerous are those who falsify the values of our holy Torah.

May Hashem grant that your assembly succeed in emphasizing the difference and the opposition that exist between compromise and truth, that it elevate the destiny of the Jewish Tradition by affirming clearly that the people of Yisrael survives only through the Torah and for it.

And may Hashem grant that we merit the true Redemption by our righteous Mashiach*.

With my respects,

ב'תשצח*

[תחלת תמוז תשי " ד ]

[ לכנסי' הגדולה של אגודת ישראל ]

"במענה למכתבכם, בדורנו שמתפרצים אלו השמים חושך לאור ומשתמשים באור להגביר החושך, שרבו המזייפים ערכי תורתנו הקדושה, יהי רצון מה' שיצליח כנוסכם להדגיש ההבדלה והנגוד שבין הפשרה והאמת ולרומם קרן ישראל סבא ע"י הפגנה מוחלטה שרק התורה ובתורה קיום עם ישראל, ונזכה לגאולה האמתית ע"י משיח צדקנו".

בכבוד.

ב'תשצח*
נדפסה בלקו"ש חכ"א ע' 392.