889 —השראת חסידות, הבהרת הלכה, והשפעת אברך

B"H, 5th of Shevat, 5711.

Brooklyn.

The distinguished Avrech vavac"h iy"a etc. Yechiel Ziskind

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I was pleased to read in your letter that you are influencing the young man... regarding learning Chassidus. Certainly you will not be satisfied with just one or two and will increase friends for this study. In general, emphasize that it is absolutely impossible to study Torah without fear of Heaven. Otherwise, as our Sages warned (Shabbos 31a), "it would have been better had you not brought him up."

Regarding your comment on the ruling of the Alter Rebbe in his Siddur to interrupt for answering Barechu etc. between tefillin shel yad and shel rosh—which differs from what is written in his Shulchan Aruch section 25—this is one of those matters where the Alter Rebbe's opinion in his Siddur differs from that in his Shulchan Aruch, and the halachah follows the later rulings found in the Siddur. All these changes are collected in Sefer Piskei HaSiddur by Rabbi Naeh (Jerusalem, may it be rebuilt speedily in our days, 1937).

I will read your pidyon nefesh at the holy resting place.

Awaiting good news—and there is no good except Torah and mitzvah—with blessing,

Menachem Schneerson

Summary

The Rebbe encourages spreading Chassidus among peers and clarifies that when there is a difference between the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur and Shulchan Aruch, halachah follows the Siddur’s later rulings.