4850 —מניעת נסיעה במכונית להקפות, ועלי' לתורה למי שאין ברור אופן שמירתו תומ"צ

B"H, 18 Marcheshvan, 5717

Brooklyn.

The Rav and Chassid, G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, etc., our teacher Rabbi Yaakov Eliezer, may he live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In answer to your letter of 25 Tishrei. It is surprising that there is such a long interval between one letter and the next; and the surprise is greater still, since we have just now entered a new year, and this entry demands an intensification of activities — as in the well-known saying, "As one sets oneself up, so it goes"^[1]; and especially since a new matter has been added, the matter of the Beis Rivkah^[2] — and precisely now Anash write less.

As to your question:

a) How to correct what happened on Simchas Torah, when among those who came to take part in the hakafos of Yeshivas Ohalei Yosef Yitzchak there were some who came by car, etc.

The correction for this is simple, and it is surprising that this year too it was not done: some days before such an occasion, a notice should be printed in the newspapers (and how good it would be together with the announcement of the times of the hakafos and the like) that the prohibition of traveling by car on Shabbos and Yom Tov is certainly plain and known, as is the self-contradiction^[3] of taking part in a Torah event in a manner contrary to the Torah.

b) Regarding calling up to the Torah those whose manner of observing Torah and mitzvos is not clear.

I was once already asked about this by the shul of Yeshivas Ohalei Yosef Yitzchak in Melbourne, and I answered then, and that answer is still valid now: a decision in this depends on many details, both regarding the conduct of the one who wishes to be called up to the Torah and regarding those present in the shul and the impression made on them — for, as with all things done in public, this too must be taken into account; and in accordance with the clarification of the above, those on the spot must decide. But it is understood, according to the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, לעולם תהא ימין מקרבת ושמאל וכו', "Always let the right hand draw near and the left hand, etc."^[4], that this is how one must act in the question at hand too — especially when there is doubt whether one needs to push away at all, even with the left hand. And it has already been said, דרכי' דרכי נועם וכל נתיבותי' שלום, "Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace" (Mishlei 3:17).

With blessing for good news in all of the above.

Publisher's notes

Our teacher Rabbi Yaakov Eliezer, may he live: Herzog, Melbourne. Further letters to him — above, vol. 13, 4665, and the references noted there; below, 5055.

As in the saying (וכפתגם): see also above, letter 4761, and the references noted there.

The Beis Rivkah (הבית רבקה): see also above, letter 4747, and the references noted there.

Notes

[1] As one sets oneself up, so it goes (ווי מען שטעלט זיך אוועק אזוי גייט דאס): as a person sets himself up at the beginning of the year, so the whole year goes; therefore precisely on entering a new year activities should be intensified (see the publisher's notes).

[2] The Beis Rivkah (הבית רבקה): a girls' educational institution in Melbourne, newly added then to the activities of Anash there (see the publisher's notes and the letter cited there).

[3] The self-contradiction (הסתירה שמני' ובי'): literally "from itself and in itself" (Aramaic): the act contradicts itself — coming to the hakafos of Simchas Torah by a journey the Torah forbids.

[4] Always let the right hand draw near (לעולם תהא ימין מקרבת): the Gemara (Sotah 47a) reads: "Always let the left hand push away and the right hand draw near." The Rebbe puts "the right hand draws near" first, stressing that drawing near is the main thing, as he continues: "especially when there is doubt whether one needs to push away at all, even with the left hand."