023 - כג אלול

The story begins with Reb Moshe, the son of the Alter Rebbe, when he was about eight or nine years old. At that young age, he was already learning the sugya in גיטין—the tractate Gittin, specifically the section that discusses the שבחן של חכמים—the praise of the sages.

While studying, he reached the statement of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai there: שָׁנוּ מִדֹותַי—"they have studied my midos." In its plain meaning in the Gemara, Rashbi is saying that his own measures, his method and approach in learning, are the ones the sages there have adopted.

Reb Moshe's uncertainty was over the word כִּפְשׁוּטוֹ—whether the phrase is to be taken in that plain sense. For מִדֹות carries two meanings: measures, that is, one's manner and method of learning, which is what the word means in the sugya; and character traits. He was unsure whether Rashbi's words were to be understood only in the first sense, or in the second as well.

At that very moment, the Alter Rebbe entered the room. As was his holy custom, he began to speak in a special tune, saying: תֹּורָה שֶׁנִיתְּנָה לָנוּ כּוּלָה מִדֹות טֹובֹות—the Torah that was given to us is entirely composed of good character traits.

He emphasized that even the punishments in the Torah are, in truth, expressions of chesed—kindness—and tov—goodness. The Torah’s essence is goodness and kindness, and even its harshest aspects are ultimately for the good.

With this the Alter Rebbe resolved Reb Moshe's question. The two meanings of מִדֹותַי—the measures and method of learning Torah, which is the word's plain sense in the sugya, and good character traits—are one and the same, and each depends on the other: it is impossible to have מִדֹות טֹובֹות, good character traits, without Torah, and it is impossible to have Torah without good character traits.

The same kind of story happened with the Tzemach Tzedek when he was also eight or nine years old. Just as with Reb Moshe, he too experienced a similar episode at that young age, showing the continuity of this approach to Torah and character in the family of the Alter Rebbe.