3917 —לימוד לעיונא ולימוד למיגרס, וניצול כשרון החינוך

B"H, the first day of Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5716

Brooklyn.

Greetings and blessing!

It is surprising that since your letter from before Rosh HaShanah no news at all has come from you, and especially of how you made use of the days of the month of Tishrei, which is the general month of the whole year, "satiated with all good," and a person must draw this good into the remaining months of the year. Surely you will make up for this at the next opportunity.

As for what you wrote in your letter then about a detailed order of study in Nigleh and Chassidus: in general, both require study in depth (le'iyuna) and study for breadth (lemigras). In Nigleh, the study for breadth should be in the parshah of the week, the tractate [you took on] in the division of the Shas (Chalukas HaShas), and the halachos needed in everyday life; and in Chassidus, the study for breadth should be in the parshah of the week (Torah Or in the winter, and Likkutei Torah in the spring and summer), or in the kuntreisim printed for set times. And the study in depth, both in Nigleh and in Chassidus, should be "where his heart desires," as in the well-known saying of our Sages, "אין אדם לומד תורה אלא ממקום שלבו חפץ" — "A person learns Torah only where his heart desires" (Avodah Zarah 19a). As for the details of this, namely how much time each day and when, it is understood that this depends on the particulars of each person; therefore you should consult about it with your friends among Anash there on the spot.

As for your question about what occupation to take up: it is understood that if G‑d, blessed be He, has graced you with a talent for education and for influencing others, this gift should be put to use. And in order to use it in a great measure, the best and the most, if at all possible it is worthwhile to try that your material livelihood too should come from this. For as far as the recipient is concerned, it makes no great difference whether one does it for its own sake or also for the sake of one's own livelihood; and as is known, our Sages ruled (Sifri, Teitzei, 24:19) that if one loses a sela and a poor man finds it, he has fulfilled the matter of tzedakah. And it is obvious that all the above is in addition to the three study sessions common to every soul, instituted by my father-in-law, the Rebbe, of blessed memory — the well-known [daily portions of] Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya — which you surely keep.

With blessing for good news in all the above.

Publisher's notes

Study in depth and study for breadth (לימוד לעיונא ולימוד למגרס): see also above, vol. 7, letter 1933, and the references in the notes there; below, 4066.