3034 —תיקון בצדקה ובאיחור הסעודות, פסק הצמח צדק במצב רפואי, ולימוד החסידות בכל יום

B"H, 16 MarCheshvan, 5715.

Brooklyn.

Greetings and blessing!

In reply to your letter of Monday of Parshas Vayeira. As regards your first question, about what happened to you and your wife, may she live: each of you, both you and your wife, should set aside for tzedakah a sum of twenty-six and two-thirds selaim (you can ascertain from a Kohen how much a sela is in your country's currency, as a Pidyon HaBen is five selaim). Of course this does not mean setting it aside all at once; it may be over a month or even longer, and there is an advantage in giving many times, according to what is explained in Iggeres HaKodesh of the Alter Rebbe on the Mishnah, "הכל לפי רוב המעשה" ("all is according to the abundance of the deed" — Iggeres HaKodesh, section 21). And at forty meals — which, of course, need not be consecutive, day after day, but should also be spread over several weeks — delay the meal by about twenty minutes. Your heart should be firm, trusting in G‑d, that you will be able to continue to serve Him, may He be blessed, with joy. It is known that the service of G‑d is "in all your ways," as explained at length in Rambam, Hilchos De'os, ch. 3, and Tur, Orach Chaim, and Shulchan Aruch, siman 231.

As regards the ruling of the Tzemach Tzedek, that if according to the doctor there is danger to the woman, it is permitted to use a moch: of course he does not need my agreement. Since the doctor's opinion is as above, that it harms her health, it is permitted to do so. As for your writing that you bought some devices for this, and you give the name in English, its nature is not known here. The point in this is that it must change nothing for the husband. So if it is a matter of a covering and the like, it must not, G‑d forbid, be placed on the organ, but inserted in the womb.

Here is the place for me to urge you once again that it is essential that you have a fixed time every day, at least for some moments, to study the inner part of the Torah, which in our generation has been revealed and explained in the teachings of Chassidus. "None among us knows": perhaps all the above too is a further hint of the need for this study for you. To say more is superfluous.

With blessing for good news in all the above.

Publisher's notes

In continuation of it, below, 3139.

Twenty-six and two-thirds selaim (עשרים וששה ושני שליש סלע): See above, vol. 2, letter 199: "And if one transgressed and desecrated (Shabbos), he must fast 40 days... and if he wishes to redeem the fast, he should give 12 pshitim to tzedakah for each day... 18 pshitim are the measure of a Torah sela"; so the redemption of the forty fasts is twenty-six and two-thirds selaim. See also above, letter 3005; below, 3173.

The ruling of the Tzemach Tzedek (לפסק דין הצמח צדק): See also above, vol. 9, letter 2962, and the references in the notes there.