Guidance to one of the Rebbe's shluchim

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Guidelines when requesting blessings for health; a request to commit adages heard from the Rebbeim to writing

No. 693

This letter was sent to R. Shneur Zalman Gorelik, the Rabbi of Kfar Chabad.

B"H, 26 Menachem Av, 5710

Greetings and blessings,

I received your relatively detailed letter from the month of Tammuz after a slight delay. Thank you for the information concerning the establishment of the study sessions about which you write in detail.

As you requested, I am enclosing a summary of the address given at the conclusion [of the study][758] of tractate Kiddushin which is being studied communally. You will certainly inform me if there are any points you desire to raise about it.

In response to your question as to whether I have notes from the chassidim of the previous generations with explanations of the Tanya: You surely have a copy of the explanations possessed by R. Moshe Axelrod[759] and what was copied in mimeograph by R. Avraham Paris.

I have heard an undesirable report (but I do not know if it is true) that the ... in your village are, for whatever reasons, causing disturbances for R. ... whom my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, hk"m, appointed as a .... I do not want to engage in the details of the matter, but it would appear that, because of the bond to our Nasi, my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, hk"m, it is incumbent on each of us to labor not to change anything that he commanded in any of its details. This applies especially to a matter that affects people at large and has become public knowledge.

Certainly, if there are [valid] claims and reasons for the disturbances, it is possible to find the means of dealing with the matter, [penalizing him with] a fine or the like, but the appointments made by my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, hk"m, should not be changed.

Obviously, I am writing all the above hypothetically, without knowing the details of the matter and without a desire to enter into them, particularly since I am not a resident. Rely on your understanding to arrange the matter in the best way possible for all sides.

I hope to hear good news from you in the future concerning all the good that will [certainly] take place. I conclude with blessings and greetings for the entire fellowship,

Menachem Schneerson

Concerning what you wrote about the mikveh: that another reservoir was also made from the side so that [water will enter the mikveh using the approach of] zeriah.[760] According to the manner in which the Rebbe [Rashab] [suggested constructing a mikveh], the immersion pool is above the reservoir [with holes connecting the two]. And he desired that the water from the reservoir rise above the floor of the pool (according to the instructions [communicated by] R. Yaakov Landau).[761] This represents zeriah in the most effective manner. In such an instance, according to all opinions, there is no need for hashakah[762] at all, as is clearly understood.

Even if [the water from the reservoir] will not rise above the floor, it is possible to arrange that the tap water will flow directly into the hole leading to the reservoir, bringing about zeriah. If so, what will the other reservoir on the side add? (Unless it is being kept only as a precautionary measure, lest the reservoir below [the pool] be impaired.)

   

Notes:

758. (Back to text) [The above phrase translates the Hebrew term siyum. After concluding the study of a tractate of the Talmud or other significant work of Torah scholarship, a feast is held where a concluding address concerning that work is delivered. On 20 Av, 5710, (his father's yahrzeit), the Rebbe delivered an address on the concluding passages of tractate Kiddushin. It was subsequently printed in Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 16, p. 533ff.]

759. (Back to text) [See Letter No. 410 where these explanations are mentioned.]

760. (Back to text) [Zeriah is one of the techniques of filling the immersion pool of a mikveh with tap water. Rainwater is first collected in a reservoir at the side of the immersion pool. That reservoir is constructed in a way that when tap water flows into it, it will overflow into the immersion pool, creating a halachically acceptable mikveh.]

761. (Back to text) [See Letter No. 539.]

762. (Back to text) [Hashakah is another technique used to fill the immersion pool of a mikveh with tap water. Rainwater is first collected in a reservoir at the side of the immersion pool. The immersion pool is filled with tap water and then a large hole connecting the two is opened. Because of the connection, the immersion pool is now considered an acceptable mikveh.]

Guidance to one of the Rebbe's shluchim

Table of contents

Search this book:

Guidelines when requesting blessings for health; a request to commit adages heard from the Rebbeim to writing