6816 —אחריות המחבר לרושם ספריו על הקורא, ואין להכיר טובה ולא ללמד זכות בשטח האמונה

B"H, Erev Pesach, 5719^[1]
Brooklyn, N.Y.^[2]

To Mr. Eliezer Steinman, may he live long^[3]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

It is a very long time since I have received any news from you, even though I take an interest in what is happening with you through Anash in the Holy Land, may it be built and established^[4].

As Pesach approaches, the season of our freedom, which comes upon us and upon all Israel for good, I send you my blessing for true freedom – freedom, materially and spiritually, from all matters that distract from serving G‑d with joy and with gladness of heart^[5] – and to draw from this freedom and joy into the whole year.

Allow me to enclose herewith a copy of my general letter for Pesach^[6], for in truth the whole year is its time; and I hope it will interest you^[7].

With respect and esteem, and with blessings for a kosher and joyous Pesach.

As to what you write in your last letter, that you see no blessing in polemics, and that one must keep away from all controversy, even for the sake of Heaven^[8], etc.: you will surely forgive me if I do not entirely agree with you in this. Not that, G‑d forbid^[9], I am a devotee of controversy for the sake of Heaven; but in the case at hand, this is not the point under discussion. For the suggestion concerned the prevention of a conclusion that is in no way desirable, which the reader of your books would innocently draw on seeing a certain name mentioned in them. As is the nature of people from of old, and especially in our generation, the reader does not search and investigate the depth of the matter, or the precise meaning of every word, to see how much of praise there is in them in the mention of So-and-so, and to discern whether they contain a reservation. Our Sages, of blessed memory, have already informed us in their Mishnah: "Be careful with your words, lest… you be exiled to a place of evil waters, and the disciples who come after you drink…"^[10] Now every author and writer invests a part of his soul – or at least^[11] ought to invest a part of his soul – in his books and writings, and wherever the book is exiled, the author is exiled with it; and if it is a place of evil waters, then the disciples too are of that kind. Therefore extra and extra caution is required. And so it is in the case at hand.

That I return once again^[12] to this matter is simply not, G‑d forbid, to vex you, but to express my opinion with regard to future occasions of the kind mentioned. Also, it is possible that there will be an opportunity to explain the reservation of which you write in your letter, in a suitable manner and in a suitable place.

As to what you continue in this matter, that one must be grateful to everyone from whom one has learned more than a single letter, and even more than a single word, etc.^[13], and that one must not withhold the reward of any creature^[14]: the instruction of our Torah, the Torah of life, in this is that there is one exception to the above, and that is with regard to the realm of faith and its opposite – incitement to another religion. And how wondrous are the words of the great teacher, the Rambam, at the end of his book Mishneh Torah (Laws of Kings, end of chapter 11)^[15], concerning Jesus and Muhammad, that they "only serve to clear the way for the King Moshiach and to perfect the whole world to serve G‑d together"; and at the same time, three times a day they are mentioned in the Aleinu prayer by the well-known epithets^[16]; and those words of the Rambam have almost been forgotten (because of the censorship – ? – and the like). And it is a great principle in the laws of Israel that one does not plead in favor in matters such as these^[17]. And whoever contemplates the history of Israel throughout the time of its wanderings sees that it is precisely this zeal that has stood by us, so that we are "standing this day, all of you, before G‑d your G‑d", in the words of the verse^[18].

Publisher's notes

Printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 16^[19], p. 561, and completed from the secretariat's copy.

Mr. … Steinman (מר.. שטיינמן): further letters to him – above, 6563, and the references in the notes there.

Notes

1. Erev Pesach, 5719 (ערב פסח, ה'תשי"ט): 14 Nissan 5719, Wednesday, 22 April 1959.

2. N.Y. (נ.י.): נ.י. = ניו יורק, New York.

3. Mr. Eliezer Steinman, may he live long (מר אליעזר שי' שטיינמן): שי' = שיחי', "may he live long". The writer Eliezer Steinman of Tel Aviv, author of the series Be'er HaChassidus (see vol. 22, letter 8238), with whom the Rebbe corresponded for many years about his books and the spreading of Chassidus. In his previous letter to him (22 Cheshvan 5719, letter 6563) the Rebbe answered his question about "triumphalism" in the struggle over religious matters: one may not be content with "I have saved my own soul", but must take a stand, "וכמובן בדרכים שלא בנצחנות" – "though of course in ways that are not triumphalist". In his last letter Steinman wrote that he sees no blessing in polemics, and the Rebbe answers this later in the present letter. His book is also mentioned in the secretariat's letter shortly before this one (letter 6777).

4. Anash in the Holy Land, may it be built and established (אנ"ש באה"ק ת"ו): אנ"ש = אנשי שלומנו, "our fellow Chassidim"; באה"ק ת"ו = בארץ הקודש תבנה ותכונן.

5. With joy and with gladness of heart (בשמחה ובטוב לבב): From the verse Devarim 28:47: "תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' אלהיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב" – "because you did not serve the L‑rd your G‑d with joy and with gladness of heart".

6. My general letter for Pesach (מכתבי כללי לחג הפסח): The Rebbe's general letter for Pesach 5719 (11 Nissan, letter 6805). "For in truth the whole year is its time": as that letter itself explains, the Exodus "מען דארף עס דערמאנען יעדען טאג" – "must be recalled every day".

7. You (כב'): כב' = כבודו, "his honor", i.e. "you"; likewise כ' below.

8. For the sake of Heaven (לש"ש): לש"ש = לשם שמים. See the Mishnah, Avos 5:17: "כל מחלוקת שהיא לשם שמים, סופה להתקים. ושאינה לשם שמים, אין סופה להתקים" – "Every controversy that is for the sake of Heaven will in the end endure; and one that is not for the sake of Heaven will not endure in the end."

9. G‑d forbid (שח"ו): שח"ו = שחס ושלום.

10. "Be careful with your words…" (הזהרו בדבריכם שמא כו'): The Mishnah, Avos 1:11: "אבטליון אומר, חכמים, הזהרו בדבריכם, שמא תחובו חובת גלות ותגלו למקום מים הרעים, וישתו התלמידים הבאים אחריכם וימותו, ונמצא שם שמים מתחלל" – "Avtalyon says: Sages, be careful with your words, lest you incur the penalty of exile and be exiled to a place of evil waters, and the disciples who come after you drink and die, and the Name of Heaven be found desecrated." The commentary there explains: "Be careful with your words" – "שלא תניחו מקום למינים לטעות בדבריכם", "so as not to leave room for heretics to err through your words"; the "evil waters" are "אנשים שמראים פנים בתורה שלא כהלכה", "people who interpret the Torah not in accordance with halachah", "ויבינו מתוך דבריכם דברים שאינם הגונים", "who will understand from your words things that are not proper". The Rebbe applies this to an author: his books are "exiled" everywhere, to readers too who may draw an undesirable conclusion from them; hence the need for extra caution.

11. At least (עכ"פ): עכ"פ = על כל פנים.

12. Once again (עוה"פ): עוה"פ = עוד הפעם.

13. More than a single letter, and even more than a single word (יותר מאות אחת ואף יותר מדבור אחד): From the Mishnah, Avos 6:3: "הלומד מחברו פרק אחד או הלכה אחת או פסוק אחד או דבור אחד או אפילו אות אחת, צריך לנהג בו כבוד" – "One who learns from his fellow a single chapter, or a single law, or a single verse, or a single word, or even a single letter, must treat him with honor."

14. One must not withhold the reward of any creature (אין לקפח שכר כל ברי'): ברי' = בריה. From the saying of the Sages, Bava Kamma 38b: "אין הקב"ה מקפח שכר כל בריה, אפילו שכר שיחה נאה" – "The Holy One, blessed be He, does not withhold the reward of any creature, even the reward for a fitting word." The recipient's argument is that one must be grateful to anyone from whom one has learned even a little, and not deny him his due.

15. Laws of Kings, end of chapter 11 (הלכות מלכים סוף פ' י"א): So in the uncensored text of the Rambam (the passage is missing from the censored printings): "וכל הדברים האלו של ישוע הנוצרי, ושל זה הישמעאלי שעמד אחריו – אינן אלא ליישר דרך למלך המשיח, ולתקן את העולם כולו לעבוד את ה' ביחד" – "All these matters of Jesus the Nazarene, and of this Ishmaelite who arose after him, only serve to clear the way for the King Moshiach and to perfect the whole world to serve G‑d together."

16. The well-known epithets (בכנויים הידועים): In the text of Aleinu, said at the end of every prayer: "שהם משתחוים להבל וריק" – "for they bow to vanity and emptiness".

17. One does not plead in favor in matters such as these (אין ללמד זכות בענינים כהאמורים): The law of the inciter (meisis), Sanhedrin 29a: "ואין טוענין למסית... שאני מסית דרחמנא אמר (דברים יג, ט) לא תחמול ולא תכסה עליו" – "One does not plead on behalf of the inciter… for the inciter is different, since the Merciful One said (Devarim 13:9): You shall not pity him, nor shall you shield him." So rules the Rambam (Laws of Idolatry 5:4): "ואסור למוסת ללמד עליו זכות שנאמר ולא תחמל" – "the one incited is forbidden to plead in his favor, for it says: 'You shall not pity'."

18. In the words of the verse (כלשון הכתוב): The verse Devarim 29:9: "אתם נצבים היום כלכם לפני ה' אלהיכם" – "You are standing this day, all of you, before the L‑rd your G‑d."

19. Likkutei Sichos vol. 16 (לקו"ש חט"ז): לקו"ש חט"ז = לקוטי שיחות חלק ט"ז.

Summary

With Pesach blessings for true freedom and a copy of his general Pesach letter, the Rebbe answers the writer's view that one should avoid all polemics. The point, he writes, was to prevent readers from drawing an undesirable conclusion from a name mentioned in his books, for an author's words travel everywhere; and the duty of gratitude to every teacher has one exception – the realm of faith and incitement to another religion – where Jewish law allows no pleading in favor, a zeal that has preserved the Jewish people.