על כן, אהובי אחיי ורעיי, אל נא תרעו הרעה הגדולה הזאת
Therefore, my beloved ones, my brethren and friends: do not commit this great evil — of turning a gathering of worshipers before or after prayers into a “company of scoffers,”
ותנו כבוד לה׳ אלקיכם בטרם יחשך, דהיינו בין מנחה למעריב כל ימות החול
and58 “give glory unto the L‑rd your G‑d before it grows dark,” i.e., between Minchah and Maariv every weekday,59
ללמוד בעשרה פנימיות התורה, שהיא אגדה שבספר עין יעקב
by studying in groups of [at least] ten the innermost (i.e., the mystical) dimension of the Torah, i.e., the Aggadah contained in Ein Yaakov.
שרוב סודות התורה גנוזין בה
For most of the secrets of the Torah are concealed in it (i.e., in the Aggadah);
ומכפרת עונותיו של אדם
moreover, it atones man’s sins,
כמבואר בכתבי האריז״ל
as explained in the writings of R. Isaac Luria, of blessed memory.60
והנגלות שבה
As to the revealed (non-mystical) passages in [the Aggadah],
הן דרכי ה׳ שילך בהם האדם
these are the ways of G‑d in which a man ought to walk,
וישית עצות בנפשו במילי דשמיא ובמילי דעלמא, וכידוע לכל חכמי לב
and [they enable him] to take counsel in his soul in heavenly matters (such as Torah and mitzvot) and in worldly matters, as is known to all the wise of heart.
וגם ללמוד מעט בשלחן ערוך, אורח חיים, הלכות הצריכות לכל אדם
In addition, between Minchah and Maariv, [people] should study a little — out of the Shulchan Aruch, in [the section called] Orach Chayim — the laws that are essential for every person to know.
ועל זה אמרו רז״ל: כל השונה הלכות בכל יום כו׳
Of this our Sages, of blessed memory, said:61 “Whoever studies Torah laws (halachot) every day [is assured of life in the World to Come].”
שהן הלכות ברורות ופסוקות, הלכה למעשה
This refers to clear and definitive rulings that are of practical relevance,
כמבואר בפירוש רש״י ז״ל שם
as explained in the commentary of Rashi, ad loc.62 — that the term halachot refers to final rulings, without the surrounding debates and argumentation.
This is actually explained by Rashi a little earlier in Tractate Megillah, not on the teaching about “Whoever studies halachot…,” but in connection with a eulogy for someone who used to “study halachot.”
In Tractate Niddah, commenting on this teaching, Rashi states that the term halachot refers to Mishnayot, Beraitot and Halachah leMoshe miSinai, none of which include the discussions of the Gemara. This is also the case with regard to the Shulchan Aruch.
ובשבת קדש, בעלות המנחה, יעסקו בהלכות שבת, כי הלכתא רבתי לשבתא
On the holy Sabbath, moreover, towards the time of Minchah, [people] should occupy themselves with the laws of the Sabbath. For63 “the law of Sabbath is a weighty law,” with many details to be mastered.
ובקל יכול האדם ליכשל בה, חס ושלום, אפילו באיסור כרת וסקילה, מחסרון ידיעה
A person can easily stumble in it, heaven forfend, even in a prohibition punishable by extirpation or stoning, because of ignorance [of these laws],
ושגגת תלמוד עולה זדון, חס ושלום
and64 “an unwitting error in [observance due to insufficient] study is accounted as an intentional transgression,” heaven forfend.
ואין צריך לומר באיסורי דברי סופרים, שרבו כמו רבו למעלה, ובפרט באיסורי מוקצה, דשכיחי טובא
It goes without saying [that the same applies to] the Rabbinic injunctions which are ever so numerous, and especially so with respect to the prohibitions of muktzeh that occur frequently;
וחמורים דברי סופרים יותר מדברי תורה
and65 “[infringements of] the words of the Sofrim (i.e., the Rabbinic injunctions) are more serious than [infringements of] the words of the Torah (i.e., explicit Scriptural commandments).”
כמו שאמרו רז״ל: שכל העובר על דברי חכמים, אפילו באיסור קל של דבריהם, כמו האוכל קודם ערבית וכהאי גונא, חייב מיתה, כעובר על חמורות שבתורה
As our Sages, of blessed memory, said:66 “Whoever transgresses the words of the Sages,” even a minor prohibition of theirs — as, for instance, he who eats before the evening prayer, and the like — “is liable to the death penalty,” just like one who transgresses grave prohibitions [explicit] in the Torah.67
At any rate, since we see from the above that it is vital that one study and know the laws of the Sabbath, they should be studied in public as the time for Minchah draws near.
וכל יחיד אל יפרוש עצמו מן הציבור, אפילו ללמוד ענין אחר
And let no individual separate himself from the congregation, when they are studying Ein Yaakov, Shulchan Aruch and the like, even in order to study something else;
כי אם בדבר שהציבור עסוקים בו
rather, [every individual should participate only] in whatever the congregation is busy with.
ואין צריך לומר שלא יצא החוצה, אם לא יהיו עשרה מבלעדו
It goes without saying that one should not leave if there are not ten without him;
ועליו אני קורא הפסוק: ועוזבי ה׳ יכלו כו׳
to him [who does leave] I apply the verse,68 “And those who forsake G‑d (i.e., who forsake the study of His Torah) shall be consumed…,”
כמו שאמרו רז״ל על כל דבר שבקדושה
as our Sages, of blessed memory, have said69 with respect to every sacred matter.
כי אין קדושה כקדושת התורה
For there is no holiness like the holiness of the Torah,
דאורייתא וקודשא בריך הוא, כולא חד
since70 “the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one.”
Strictly speaking, our Sages applied the above verse (“And those who forsake G‑d shall be consumed”) only to a person whose leaving bars the congregational recital of a davar shebikedushah, a text involving the sanctification of G‑d’s Name, which cannot be done without a quorum of ten. By contrast, though the quality of Torah study is enhanced by a quorum of ten, this is not a prerequisite condition.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that there is “no holiness like the holiness of the Torah”: when ten Jews study together they draw down a most exalted degree of holiness and an intense indwelling of the Shechinah, as explained above. In this sense, then, an individual whose leaving disrupts a study group of ten may be likened to one whose leaving prevents a minyan from reciting Kedushah or the like.
וכל הפורש מן הציבור כו׳
Moreover,71 “Whoever separates himself from the community [will not merit to witness (and participate in) the community’s consolation].”
ושומע לי ישכון בטח, ובימיו ובימינו תושע יהודה, וירושלים תשכון לבטח
The Alter Rebbe concludes:72 “But he who listens to me shall dwell securely,” and73 in his days and in ours, Judah shall be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell securely.74
אמן, כן יהי רצון
Amen, may this be His will.
Footnotes:
1.Daniel 4:14.
2.Note of the Rebbe: “Pesachim 33a.”
3.Note of the Rebbe: “Rashi, loc. cit.; see there.”
4.Avot 3:6.
5.Sanhedrin 39a.
6.Kohelet 12:13.
7.Berachot 6b.
8.Cf. I Melachim 8:27.
9.Bamidbar 35:34.
10.Berachot 21b.
11.Vayikra 22:32.
12.Bamidbar 16:21.
13.Sefer HaSichot 5704, p. 29.
14.Kohelet 7:14.
15.Hoshea 11:9.
16.Berachot 21b.
17.Cf. Avot 3:1.
18.Cf. Avot 3:6.
19.Eichah 3:28.
20.Brackets are in the original text.
21.Note of the Rebbe: “The question here is well known — that the above-quoted mishnah (Avot 3:2) teaches that [even if only] ‘two people sit together and exchange words of Torah, the Shechinah dwells in their midst.’“
This may be understood in the light of Or HaTorah [by the Tzemach Tzedek] on Parshat Eikev, p. 542; see also Berachot 6a.“
At the end of Part VI of Magen Avot: (1) there is a different version of the above letter; (2) according to the explanation there (evidently taken from the Tzemach Tzedek), the above difficulty can be resolved.”
See also Tanya, Mahadura Kama, p. 261, footnote 13, line 48.
22.Eichah 3:25.
23.Tehillim 104:2.
24.Note of the Rebbe: “The proof text usually cited is the verse (Mishlei 6:23), ‘For a mitzvah is a lamp and the Torah is light.’ Here, however, the Alter Rebbe seeks to show that the study of ‘the Torah [that] is light’ results in a Divine irradiation, for ‘the light of His Torah,’ like a garment, reveals many aspects of that which is clothed in it. (This is why [the Alter Rebbe writes above that ‘the Torah is simply] called light (אור),’ for this term shows — more than the term תורה אור — that [the light of the Torah] serves as a garment by which Gd is revealed.) See also the Tzemach Tzedek on the phrase Oteh or.”
25.Yeshayahu 35:2.
26.The variant reading literally means “over G‑d”; i.e., they delight in G‑d Himself.
27.Zechariah 9:14.
28.Note of the Rebbe: “See Iggeret HaKodesh, end of Epistle XV, [regarding the light that comes forth] from “the source [of the intellect, … like … a flash of lightning].’”
29.Kiddushin 39b.
30.Sanhedrin 39a.
31.Tehillim 90:17.
32.Note of the Rebbe: “The interpretation that the ‘work of our hands’ refers to the ‘study of the Torah’ and the ‘fulfillment of the commandments,’ requires further examination.”
33.Zohar II, 90b; see also II, 60a, and III, 73a.
34.Kiddushin 39b.
35.Tehillim 62:13.
36.Note of the Rebbe: “Seemingly, where is the kindness if He pays the individual according to his work? This question indicates that G‑d’s kindness lies in His enabling a [finite] mortal to receive [the infinite reward].”
37.Sanhedrin 100b.
38.Note of the Rebbe: “…for they were not granted this capacity.”
39.Note of the Rebbe: “Further examination is required to understand the meaning [of ‘one angel’].”
40.Note of the Rebbe: “This requires further examination, for angels elevate even congregational prayers. [How, then, is this possible if they become utterly nullified in the presence of ten Jews?]”
41.Note of the Rebbe: “We must say that the reason why the ten Jews themselves do not become nullified, etc., nor terrorstricken, etc., is that [the Divine Presence] is not perceived even by their mazal. [I.e., it is not perceived even superconsciously, by the heavenly root of their souls.] (For if it were perceived, they would no doubt be in a state of trepidation, as in our Sages’ description [Megillah 3a] of Daniel’s friends.) Indeed, this [state of unawareness] must exist, for without it free choice would cease, as is to be understood from the disposition of Daniel’s friends.“
As to the benefit of the indwelling of the Shechinah: [i.e., if this is totally concealed from the Jew, what possible benefit does he derive from it?] — It grants him assistance, though concealed, in his spiritual service.”
42.Pp. 97-98.
43.P. 101.
44.Note of the Rebbe: “This is most likely a typographical slip, for (1) even in later generations the study of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch was not widespread in Russia; (2) most paragraphs contain one law each; (3) it was first printed during the last years of the Tzemach Tzedek, outside of Russia; (4) the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch was published early in the leadership of the Mitteler Rebbe, and from that time onward regular sessions were surely set up for the study of its clearly delineated laws. What possible reason would there be to change this and replace it [by the study of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch]?”
45.Note of the Rebbe: “A paraphrase of Kohelet 2:17.”
46.Note of the Rebbe: “See commentary of Rashi on Yitro, [Shmot] 19:22 [which refers to sacrifices] — and the prayers were ordained in place of the offerings [Berachot 26b].”
47.Note of the Rebbe: “Bereishit Rabbah, sec. 49; commentary of Rashi on the verse [referred to above].”
48.Avot 3:2, citing Tehillim 1:1.
49.Kiddushin 31a.
50.Note of the Rebbe: “See Etz Chayim, Shaar HaSheimot, ch. 7; Yahel Or, p. 573ff.”
51.Sotah 5a.
52.Shir HaShirim 7:6.
53.Note of the Rebbe: “Cf. beginning of ch. 7 of Iggeret HaTeshuvah.”
54.Addenda to Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun Vav.
55.Cf. Zohar II, 7a.
56.Yeshayahu 52:2.
57.III, 75b.
58.Cf. Yirmeyahu 13:16.
59.Note of the Rebbe: “It could be suggested that the reason the Alter Rebbe does not begin by relating to Shacharit, the first prayer of the day, is that an explicit law in the Shulchan Aruch (sec. 89:4) forbids one to engage in one’s personal affairs before prayer; likewise (sec. 155:1), the morning prayers must be followed by group study of the Torah (‘from the House of Prayer [directly] to the House of Study’).”
60.See the Alter Rebbe’s Hilchot Talmud Torah 2:2 and sources cited there (in the Kehot edition); see also the Introduction of the Ramban to Shir HaShirim.
61.Megillah 28b; Niddah 73a.
62.See Taz, Yoreh Deah 246:2.
63.Shabbat 12a, and Rashi there.
64.Avot 4:13.
65.Yerushalmi, Berachot 4:2.
66.Berachot 4:2.
67.Note of the Rebbe: “At first glance [the question arises], what is the Alter Rebbe letting us know [that is novel]? The answer: He is clearly expressing his dissent from the opinions that this statement is intended to be taken as mere hyperbole. See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch 63:5; Sdei Chemed, Klalim, p. 386; Pe’at HaSadeh 8:15 (at length); Encyclopedia Talmudit, Vol. XIV, p. 599ff.”
68.Yeshayahu 1:28.
69.Berachot 8a; Yerushalmi, Megillah 4:4.
70.Zohar II, 90b; see also II, 60a, and III, 73a.
71.Semachot 2:10. But there the text reads, “from the ways of the congregation.” See also Rambam, Hilchot Evel 1:10.
72.Mishlei 1:33.
73.Cf. Yirmeyahu 23:6 and 33:16.
74.Note of the Rebbe: “The relevance here [of this verse] is perhaps the teaching in Taanit 11a, that he who shares the pain of the community will merit to witness the consolation of the community. Note also beginning of Berachot 30a.”
