5836 —תענית דבור אינה מחליפה את התעניות שבאגרת התשובה, ותכלית בכל דבר

B"H, 10 Marcheshvan, 5718

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of Erev Shabbos Kodesh, in which you ask, in continuation of what the Alter Rebbe writes in Iggeres HaTeshuvah about giving tzedakah in place of a fast, whether a speech fast too can serve as a substitute.

It is understood from the whole presentation of the matter in Iggeres HaTeshuvah that in the case at hand this is not so; see also Iggeres HaTeshuvah, there, chapter 3, and all the more so the poskim, to give for each fast day, etc. The matter of a speech fast and the like is a matter in its own right, and for particular cases (see also Sefer HaToldos of the Rebbe Maharash, p. 72, at the end), but it does not replace the fasts mentioned.

As to your question about the custom, etc., of giving coins, etc., it needs consideration what practical difference it makes in your affairs. And indeed, the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, is known, לא ברא הקב"ה דבר אחד בעולמו לבטלה "the Holy One, blessed be He, did not create a single thing in His world for nothing" (Shabbos 77b), which is also a lesson in a person's affairs: all his thoughts, words and deeds must be not for nothing but for an end and a purpose; and the end and purpose is as the Mishnah rules, אני נבראתי לשמש את קוני "I was created to serve my Maker" (Kiddushin 82a). This is also understood from the Rambam (Hilchos De'os 3:3), the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim siman 231, that it must be בכל דרכיך דעהו "in all your ways know Him" (Mishlei 3:6). And the explanation of the matter you asked about needs great consideration: what does it accomplish? Nevertheless, so that they should not say, etc., it can be said that it is an explicit Gemara (Bava Basra 15b, at the end: כל הנוטל פרוטה מאיוב מתברך "whoever took a perutah from Iyov was blessed").

I would like to hope that from time to time you add not only in the study of the revealed part of Torah but also in the teachings of Chassidus, for this is an explicit law, מעלין בקדש "one ascends in holiness" (Berachos 28a).

Publisher's notes

Coins (מטבעות): Polish rebbes, for protection and the like.

Summary

This letter rules that a speech fast, unlike tzedakah, does not replace the fasts discussed in Iggeres HaTeshuvah. On a custom of giving coins, it teaches that nothing was created for nothing, so a person's every thought, word and deed must serve the purpose of serving his Maker, and it urges added study of Chassidus.