6707 —קריעת ים סוף בדברים המובאים בשם הבעש"ט: נס שהוטבע בטבע מבריאת העולם

B"H, 4 Adar I, 5719
Brooklyn.

Mr. Yaakov, may he live long^[1]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of the second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar I^[2], in which you express your astonishment at what is brought in the book Baal Shem Tov^[3], in Parshas Beha'aloscha, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, as an explanation of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds: that it was, as it were, within nature, the miracle being that at the beginning of creation the Holy One, blessed be He, embedded in nature that on a certain day the sea would split. This is unlike what is explained in a number of places, that the splitting of the Sea was a miracle, and an exceedingly great miracle^[4].

Now, the above book is compiled from a number of books, and it requires examination how accurate are the things brought in the books from which it was compiled. For in matters such as these, through an inaccuracy in a few words the meaning changes from one extreme to the other. This is especially so in light of what is known, that the Baal Shem Tov would say his words of Torah in the vernacular^[5] and not in the Holy Tongue, and the one who wrote them down did not always grasp the Baal Shem Tov's intent, even when the compiler was present at the same time and place. See an example in the Alter Rebbe's Iggeres HaKodesh, section 25 (141a)^[6].

It is close to certain that in our case^[7] too it is so, for you are right in your remark that the splitting of the Sea is reckoned an exceedingly great miracle. See also the Alter Rebbe's Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, chapter 2^[8].

As to the matter itself: even if you will say that someone^[9] did speak about the splitting of the Sea in the style brought above in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, it is known in such cases that very often one answers according to the other's view and reasoning^[10], "even if you will say", that is to say^[11]:

that even if you will say (although the matter is not so) that there was something natural in it, nevertheless, etc.^[12], as explained there.

Let it be known that many of the great men of Israel and Jewish thinkers in past generations explained in this way the matter of the rainbow, of which it is said that it is a sign of the covenant^[13], although it is explained that it is a phenomenon of nature. See the commentators on the Torah, Parshas Noach^[14].

The above wording can also be explained according to what Bachya writes (Beshalach 14:27): "It was placed in the nature of the water", etc.^[15]

See there^[16].

I take this opportunity to rouse you to the necessity of setting times for studying the inner dimension of the Torah, which in our generation has been revealed in the teachings of Chassidus. If at all times and in all places this was a necessity, how much more so in our time and this era of ours, and especially in the Holy Land, may it be built and established speedily in our days, amen^[17].

With blessings for good news^[18],

In the name of the Rebbe shlita^[19]

Secretary

Publisher's notes

Mr. Yaakov (מר יעקב): Zakbach, Jerusalem.

Notes

1. Mr. Yaakov (מר יעקב שי'): Zakbach, Jerusalem (as in the publisher's note).

2. The second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar I (בדר"ח אד"ר): בדר"ח אד"ר = ב' דראש חודש אדר ראשון, i.e. 1 Adar I (Monday, 9 February 1959).

3. The book Baal Shem Tov (ספר בעל-שם-טוב): Sefer Baal Shem Tov: an anthology of the Baal Shem Tov's teachings as quoted in various books, arranged by the weekly Torah portions, with the compiler naming at the end of each passage the book it was taken from (printed in Lodz, 1938). Hence the Rebbe's remark below: "the above book is compiled from a number of books."

4. In a number of places… the splitting of the Sea (בכ"מ… קרי"ס): בכ"מ = בכמה מקומות; קרי"ס = קריעת ים סוף.

5. In the vernacular (בלע"ז): בלע"ז = בלשון לעז: in the spoken language (Yiddish), not in the Holy Tongue.

6. The Alter Rebbe's Iggeres HaKodesh, section 25 (141a) (אגרת הקודש לרבנו הזקן סכ"ה (קמא, א)): Folio 141a in the Tanya. There: להבין אמרי בינה, מ"ש בספר הנקרא צוואת ריב"ש הגם שבאמת אינה צוואתו, ולא ציוה כלל לפני פטירתו. רק הם לקוטי אמרותיו הטהורות, שלקטו לקוטי בתר לקוטי. - ולא ידעו לכוין הלשון על מתכונתו, אך המכוון הוא אמת לאמיתו, "To understand what is written in the book called Tzava'as HaRivash, though in truth it is not his testament at all and he gave no instructions before his passing; they are only collections of his pure sayings, gathered collection after collection, and they did not know how to render the wording precisely, but the intent is utterly true." There too the Alter Rebbe testifies that the compilers did not render the Baal Shem Tov's wording precisely, though the content of his words is true.

7. In our case (בנדו"ד): בנדו"ד = בנדון דידן.

8. Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, chapter 2 (שער היחוד והאמונה פרק ב'): ועיג"כ = ועיין גם כן. There: והוא פלא גדול, יותר מקריעת ים סוף... ואילו הפסיק ה' את הרוח, כרגע, היו המים חוזרים וניגרים במורד כדרכם וטבעם, ולא קמו כחומה, בלי ספק, "It is a great wonder, greater than the splitting of the Sea of Reeds… had G‑d stopped the wind for a moment, the waters would have returned and flowed downward according to their way and nature, and would not have stood like a wall, without doubt." The Alter Rebbe brings the splitting of the Sea as the example of a great wonder that depended on G‑d's power at every moment.

9. Someone (שמי שהוא): את"ל = אם תמצי לומר, "if you will say". The Rebbe stresses "someone", since, as he has just said, it is not certain that the words were said in this form by the Baal Shem Tov himself.

10. According to the other's view and reasoning (לשטתך ולטעמך): That is, one often answers a questioner according to his own view and premise, even though the one answering does not hold that view himself.

11. That is to say (ז.א.): ז.א. = זאת אומרת.

12. Nevertheless, etc. (בכל זה כו'): The Rebbe does not spell it out, but hints with "etc.": even on that premise it is still a miracle, as in the words brought there in the Baal Shem Tov's name, that the miracle is that "at the beginning of creation the Holy One, blessed be He, embedded in nature that on a certain day the sea would split".

13. A sign of the covenant (אות ברית): Bereishis 9:12–13: ויאמר אלהים זאת אות הברית אשר אני נתן ביני וביניכם ובין כל נפש חיה אשר אתכם לדרת עולם. את קשתי נתתי בענן והיתה לאות ברית ביני ובין הארץ, "And G‑d said: This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for everlasting generations. I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth."

14. The commentators on the Torah, Parshas Noach (מפר' התורה פ' נח): מפר' = מפרשי. See the Ramban on Bereishis 9:12: ואנחנו על כרחנו נאמין לדברי היונים, שמלהט השמש באויר הלח יהיה הקשת בתולדה, "We are compelled to accept the words of the Greeks, that the rainbow comes about naturally from the heat of the sun in the moist air", and therefore he explains the verse: "the rainbow which I set in the cloud from the day of creation shall be, from this day on, a sign of the covenant between Me and you"; and: ובין שתהיה הקשת עתה בין שהיתה מעולם בטבע, הטעם באות שבה אחד הוא, "whether the rainbow came into being now or was always in nature, the meaning of the sign in it is the same." Though the rainbow is a natural phenomenon, this does not contradict its being a sign.

15. What Bachya writes (Beshalach 14:27) (עפמש"כ בבחיי (בשלח יד, כז)): עפמש"כ = על פי מה שכתב. Rabbeinu Bachya ben Asher, in his commentary on the Torah, on the verse (Shemos 14:27) "and the sea returned at daybreak to its strength (לאיתנו)". He brings the Midrash "The Holy One, blessed be He, made a condition with the sea that it would split before Israel" (likewise Bereishis Rabbah 5:5: "The Holy One, blessed be He, made conditions with the sea that it would be split before Israel; as it is written, 'and the sea returned to its strength' (לאיתנו), to its condition (לתנאו) that He had made with it"), and writes: המדרש הזה מוכיח שכל הנסים והנפלאות שעשה הש"י בכל הדורות על ידי הנביאים כבר הושמו בששת ימי בראשית בטבעי הדברים שנבראו כגון שתאמר ביום שני שנבדל הים הושם בטבע המים שיקרע לפני משה הים, "This Midrash proves that all the miracles and wonders that G‑d performed in all generations through the prophets were already placed, in the six days of creation, in the nature of the things created; for example, on the second day, when the sea was separated, it was placed in the nature of the water that the sea would split before Moshe." Yet it is a miracle, "for so it was in His primordial will that nature would change at its time before the eyes of the beholders." This is exactly the wording brought in the Baal Shem Tov's name, that G‑d "embedded in nature" from the outset that the sea would split.

16. See there (עיי"ש): עיי"ש = עיין שם.

17. How much more so… may it be built and established speedily in our days, amen (כו"כ… באה"ק תובב"א): כו"כ = כמה וכמה; באה"ק תובב"א = בארץ הקודש, תבנה ותכונן במהרה בימינו אמן.

18. Good news (בשו"ט): בשו"ט = בשורות טובות.

19. In the name of the Rebbe shlita (בשם כ"ק אדמו"ר שליט"א): כ"ק אדמו"ר שליט"א = "our holy master, teacher and Rebbe, may he live long and good days, amen". The letter was written and signed by the secretary in the Rebbe's name.

Summary

Answering a Jerusalem correspondent troubled by a teaching in Sefer Baal Shem Tov that seems to make the splitting of the Sea a natural event, the Rebbe explains that the anthology may not render the Baal Shem Tov's Yiddish words precisely, that such a statement may have been an answer on the questioner's own premise, and that the commentators explain the rainbow and the splitting of the Sea in the same way: embedded in nature from creation, yet a sign and a miracle. He urges fixed study of Chassidus.