Lag BaOmer and the revelation of pnimiyus haTorah

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The Lag BaOmer holiday

No. 482

The text that follows was added as a postscript to the first part of the previous letter.

B"H, 14 Iyar, 5709

With regard to the concept of reviewing maamarim of Chassidus in a manner that can be understood by the listeners from the perspective of their human intellect,[340] maamarim of this type were chosen and, for this purpose also, written in Yiddish[341] and published in Sefer HaMaamarim Yiddish.

Support for the custom of sleeping in a tallis was not brought from the narrative concerning those who died in the desert.[342] This can be explained in several ways. The simplest and the clearest is that at that time, people did not wear a special tallis katan. Instead, they wore tzitzis on the garments that they would wear at all times.[343] Obviously the people would not have desired — and it is possible to say that it would have been forbidden for them — to sleep unclothed [at that time],[344] although they would usually sleep unclothed. Therefore support is brought from King David.[345] See Tosafos, Bava Basra 74a; Niddah 61b; and the Piskei Dinim of the Tzemach Tzedek, Hilchos Tzitzis.

   

Notes:

340. (Back to text) [E.g., it is customary on certain occasions for chassidim to gather together and for one person to recite a maamar by heart. Often, those reciting the maamar focus on saying the maamar correctly without paying too much attention to whether it is understood by the listeners or not. The person to whom the letter is addressed wrote to the Rebbe, asking whether it was desirable that attention be paid to the listeners understanding as well.]

341. (Back to text) [Which at that time was understood by more people than Lashon HaKodesh, the language in which maamarim are traditionally written.]

342. (Back to text) [Who were seen (as reported in Bava Basra 74a), lying in their graves wearing tzitzis. As Tosafos explains, every Tishah BeAv, they would go to sleep in their graves. Since they were wearing tzitzis when they went to sleep, their corpses were seen with tzitzis.]

343. (Back to text) [I.e., in that era, it was common to wear four-cornered garments on which one was required to place tzitzis as part of one’s ordinary garments. In a later era, wearing four-cornered garments was no longer common. In order to promote the observance of the mitzvah of tzitzis, our Sages ordained that a special garment — a tallis katan — should be worn.]

344. (Back to text) [For it is not appropriate for a corpse to be buried unclothed, and they were expecting to die.]

345. (Back to text) [See Pri Etz Chayim, Shaar Tzitzis, ch. 1; Magen Avraham 21:2.]

Lag BaOmer and the revelation of pnimiyus haTorah

Table of contents

Search this book:

The Lag BaOmer holiday