3401 —הערות ושאלות על כתבי הרב רבקין בענין חציצה

B"H, 11 Nissan, 5715.

Brooklyn, NY.

Haraha"g veharaha"ch vavac"h iy"a nu"n etc. Moshe Dovber Rivkin

Shalom u'Vrachah!

Your letter has been received. As we approach the Festival of Matzos, the season of our freedom, which is coming upon us and all Israel for good, I hereby express my blessing for a kosher and joyous holiday and true freedom—freedom from material and spiritual worries—from anything that hinders serving Hashem with joy and gladness of heart. May this freedom and joy continue throughout the entire year.

I received both booklets regarding the question and chatzitzah. Thank you very much. (Apparently one of these is the booklet you gave me some time ago in mimeograph form.) And for the sake of beloved Torah discussion, I said in haste at least (and it seems this is not false, G‑d forbid) four questions as is customary on this festival:

a) What you wrote regarding chatzitzah—it is surprising that you did not clarify the main point: if when there is an interposition—there is no immersion at all (for "morachatz" we learn from Eruvin 4b. And this simply answers what is said about "karatzah sefatoteha"). Or perhaps immersion still occurs but it is invalid (and therefore there is a distinction between chatzitzah on most or minority of the body, unlike immersion. Although it requires further study from where we know to distinguish since we learn from "morachatz" as above).

b) What you wrote on page five—I am surprised because a minority that one is particular about does not interpose except that the Sages decreed so.

c) Also surprising that you did not mention Shu"t tzt"z Yoreh Deah section 158 from which many halachic details can be learned for our case.

d) What you wrote in your note on page seventeen to eighteen regarding the air gap between the shel rosh tefillin and the head—that perhaps the Torah was not particular about this since it is the usual way of placement etc., and therefore at least one should minimize such an interposition as much as possible—in my humble opinion I do not agree; on the contrary, the Torah was particular that the bottom of the shel rosh be flat (see Menachos 35a. And in Rambam’s introduction to his commentary on Mishnah: we have seen without doubt from Yehoshua onward etc.), so on the contrary it must be placed so that only a minority touches. Were it not for the weight of the shel rosh pressing into the scalp, contact between a flat surface and a spherical surface would only be at one point.

With blessings for the holiday.

Summary

The Rebbe encourages thorough analysis in halachic matters such as chatzitzah in immersion and tefillin placement, referencing classic sources while blessing for true spiritual freedom during Pesach.