1547 —סדר לימוד בשביל תלמידים ספרדים, אוירה באפיית מצה, והלכה במקוה

B"H, 6 Iyar 5712.

Brooklyn.

Haraha"ch vavac"h iy"a nu"n oseik b'tzt"z etc. Michael Lipsker

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I received your letter from Thursday of last week and the previous ones with pleasure. You wrote that you sent the list of students... As of now it has not been received, but it will surely arrive in the coming days.

b) Regarding your question about the study schedule—suggesting that the older classes should learn Chassidus for an hour and a half before prayers and two hours in the evening—my opinion is that it is still too early to institute three and a half hours of daily Chassidus study for Sephardic students in your country... Even though I also believe it is necessary to establish learning Chassidus before prayers as well as in the evening and at night, regarding the length of study time both in the morning and at night one must consider that this is a new place; therefore, one should not demand the maximum at the outset. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to set a required time for everyone to learn Chassidus and allow those who wish to add more on their own to do so—but not require this from the yeshivah itself. In my view, for now, what should be required by the yeshivah is half an hour to three-quarters of an hour before prayers in the morning, and about an hour and a half in the evening. The students should be encouraged that on Shabbos they need to add to this—even those students who are not in yeshivah but at home.

c) I was pleased to read in your letter about baking shmurah matzah and about the atmosphere surrounding the baking. As stated by my father-in-law, the Rebbe zatzal (may his merit protect us), who explained many times how sometimes "the atmosphere has more effect than the matter itself." And even though this is on a makif (encompassing) level, when one adds during or near the act an explanation of these matters, then some of this makif enters into pnimiyus (internalization), which brings two types of benefit: both makif and pnimiyus...

e) It goes without saying that at an auspicious time when I am at the holy resting place (tziyun) of my father-in-law, I mention you and your family for success in your holy work and all your personal needs. The merit of your involvement in spreading the light of our holy leaders' Torah [in Morocco] is great—to draw down and receive blessings from Hashem above down here below ten handbreadths.

f) Regarding what you wrote some time ago about an incident with immersion in a mikveh where you later saw that the water did not reach the connecting hole through which hashakah (joining) occurs: It is very likely that before this there was at least once connection and hashakah. It is hard to believe that when they filled up the mikveh they did not ensure this hole was covered with water. It is known that after there was hashakah even for a moment, according to many later authorities there is no need to be stringent at all—the mikveh is kosher even lechatchilah (from the outset). In several responsa—including those by Chatam Sofer—it was arranged lechatchilah that mikvaot would have hashakah once before using them regularly; additionally, such mikvaot were used via hashakah to purify another mikveh containing drawn water. Our custom follows based on the mikveh in Rostov: they wanted hashakah throughout immersion time; however, this is not essential according to halachah...

With blessings for success in your holy work and all good things for you and your entire family both materially and spiritually.

Summary

The Rebbe guides gradual increases in Chassidus study tailored to local context, highlights how positive spiritual atmosphere can deeply influence mitzvah observance like matzah baking, and clarifies leniencies regarding mikveh construction based on halachic precedent.