5984 —עידוד לעריכת אוצר פתגמים יהודיים

B"H, 13 Teves, 5718.

Brooklyn.

Havavac"h iy"a nu"n involved in tzt"z Harav Moshe Chaim Ephraim Blach

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I hereby acknowledge receipt of your book, "Mi Natan LeMeshisa Yaakov," and thank you for your attention in sending me the aforementioned book.

On this occasion, I wish to remind you that, as I recall from one of our conversations, you mentioned that you are compiling a treasury of proverbs from the medieval works of great Jewish leaders. If I recall correctly, at the time I pointed out the necessity and demand for such a project, and since then I have not heard anything further from you about this matter.

Recently I learned that in Eretz HaKodesh (may it be rebuilt and established), they published a treasury of parables and proverbs from medieval literature by Prof. Davidson, through Mossad HaRav Kook, which includes more than three thousand proverbs (and their histories, i.e., different versions with similar content). Since in my opinion this number is quite small, there remains room for someone who merits to excel in this area. I am interested to know if you are working on this project; if so, you should certainly first review Prof. Davidson's published book for comparison and supplementation.

With blessing.

P.S. Enclosed is reimbursement for shipping costs.

Summary

The Rebbe encourages diligent work in collecting Jewish proverbs and highlights the ongoing need for comprehensive collections that build upon previous scholarly efforts.