6825 —צער בן עזאי על שלא שימש את ר' ישמעאל, ומי שמסופק אם ספר ספירת העומר

B"H, 27 Nissan, 5719
Brooklyn, N.Y.

The young man Avraham Abush Mordechai, may he live long^[1]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your notification regarding your birthday:

Surely you observed the custom of Anash of recent times on the birthday.^[2] May it be the will of G‑d, blessed be He,^[3] that it be a year of success for you in the study of Torah and the fulfilment of the mitzvos in a beautiful manner.

With blessings for the study of Torah with the fear of Heaven,

In the name of the Rebbe, shlita,^[4]
Secretary

To your question: a) On Ben Azzai's anguish at not having served Rabbi Yishmael (Chullin 71a),^[5] when he is the one who said (Bechoros 58a) that all the Sages of Israel are to him, etc., except for Rabbi Akiva:^[6] – apart from the possible answer^[7] that his latter statement was made once he had grown in wisdom, etc. – the question does not arise in the first place, for Rabbi Yishmael was unique in the Mishnayos he had received, and [one went to him] to learn the received teaching, etc. (see Eruvin 13a)^[8] [even though he was also one who "uproots mountains" – Toras Kohanim on Tazria, 13:47^[9]]. And similarly in Avos, chapter 2, mishnah 9; see there.^[10]

b) You are in doubt whether you counted Sefiras HaOmer.^[11] – See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 489, se'if 8;^[12] it is also cited in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe there;^[13] and in the responsa Shoel uMeishiv, Mahadura 4, part 3, siman 127,^[14] [on the question] why we do not say that he certainly did not count if thirty days have not yet passed, etc. Likewise among the later authorities (several of them are cited in Orchos Chaim – the new one – siman 489 there, and in Sdei Chemed, Asifas Dinim, Maareches Berachos, siman 1, se'if katan 19)^[15] who left this in need of further study according to those who hold (and they are many) that a double doubt in blessings is also to be decided leniently.^[16] And although one could argue about their words – it is not because of argument that we depart from a clear ruling in the Shulchan Aruch.^[17]

Publisher's notes

Avraham Abush Mordechai (אברהם אבוש מרדכי): Perush-Glickman, Jerusalem. Further letters to him – above, vol. 16, letter 5791, and the references in the notes there; below, letter 6897.

Notes

1. Avraham Abush Mordechai (אברהם אבוש מרדכי): שי' = שיחי', "may he live long". Perush-Glickman, Jerusalem (per the publisher's note). Several letters on matters of study were written to him: vol. 14, letter 4993 (1 Teves 5717), answering his questions on the Gemara and on the Alter Rebbe's ruling that "one who spends should not spend more than a fifth" does not apply when it is done for the healing of the soul; vol. 16, letter 5791 (8 Tishrei 5718), on the source of the Alter Rebbe's words on this and on the order of his study of Chassidus; and letter 6897 below (17 Sivan 5719), on the reason for the custom of Anash to study Tractate Sotah during the days of Sefirah.

2. The custom of Anash on the birthday (מנהג אנ"ש ביום ההולדת): אנ"ש = אנשי שלומנו, "our fellow Chassidim". On the birthday see Hayom Yom, 11 Nissan: ביום ההולדת, על האדם להתבודד, ולהעלות זכרונותיו ולהתבונן בהם, והצריכים תקון ותשובה ישוב ויתקנם, "On one's birthday one should spend time alone, call up one's memories and reflect on them, and those that need correction and teshuvah one should repent and correct." Compare letter 6606 (18 Kislev 5719): "surely you will observe the custom of Anash of recent times on the birthday."

3. May it be the will of G‑d (ויה"ר מהשי"ת): ויה"ר = ויהי רצון, "may it be [G‑d's] will"; מהשי"ת = מהשם יתברך, "from G‑d, blessed be He".

4. In the name of the Rebbe, shlita (בשם כ"ק אדמו"ר שליט"א): כ"ק אדמו"ר שליט"א = כבוד קדושת אדוננו מורנו ורבנו, שיחיה לאורך ימים טובים אמן. That is, the letter was written by the secretary in the Rebbe's name; the reply to the recipient's questions is printed after it.

5. Ben Azzai's anguish (צער בן עזאי): Chullin 71a: חבל על בן עזאי שלא שימש את רבי ישמעאל, "Woe to Ben Azzai, who did not serve Rabbi Yishmael." Rashi: הפסד וחבלה היא בעולם, תלמיד ותיק כמותי אני בן עזאי שלא שמשתי את ר' ישמעאל, "It is a loss and a harm to the world that a seasoned student such as I, Ben Azzai, did not serve Rabbi Yishmael."

6. All the Sages of Israel... except Rabbi Akiva (כל חכמי ישראל דומין עליו כו' חוץ מרע"ק): רע"ק = רבי עקיבא. Bechoros 58a: בן עזאי אומר: כל חכמי ישראל דומין עלי כקליפת השום, חוץ מן הקרח הזה, "Ben Azzai says: All the Sages of Israel are to me like the peel of garlic, except for this bald one"; Rashi: "this bald one – that is, Rabbi Akiva." The question: if all the Sages of Israel, Rabbi Yishmael included, are to him "like the peel of garlic," why the anguish at not having served Rabbi Yishmael?

7. The possible answer (שי"ל): שי"ל = שיש לומר, "one could say". One could answer that Ben Azzai made the latter statement later, when he had already grown in wisdom; but the Rebbe explains that the question does not arise at all.

8. Eruvin 13a (עירובין יג, א): ר"י = ר' ישמעאל. Eruvin 13a, on Rabbi Meir, who served both Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yishmael: מעיקרא אתא לקמיה דר"ע, ומדלא מצי למיקם אליביה, אתא לקמיה דרבי ישמעאל, וגמר גמרא, והדר אתא לקמיה דר"ע, וסבר סברא, "At first he came before Rabbi Akiva, and since he could not grasp his reasoning, he came before Rabbi Yishmael and learned the received teaching; then he went back to Rabbi Akiva and learned reasoning." Rashi: "learned the received teaching – the Mishnayos he had received from his teachers"; "went back to Rabbi Akiva – who was sharp in dialectic and in examining what he had learned." Rabbi Yishmael's special distinction was the Mishnayos he had received; Rabbi Akiva's was reasoning. So there is no contradiction: in reasoning Ben Azzai had no equal but Rabbi Akiva, yet he grieved that he had not received from Rabbi Yishmael the Mishnayos in his hands.

9. Toras Kohanim on Tazria (תו"כ לתזריע יג, מז): תו"כ = תורת כהנים (the Sifra), on Parshas Tazria, on the verse Vayikra 13:47 ("And the garment in which there is a plague of tzaraas"). There (Sifra, Tazria, Parshas Negaim, ch. 13:2), after Rabbi Yishmael's exposition: אמר לו ר"א, ישמעאל עוקר הרים אתה, "Rabbi Eliezer said to him: Yishmael, you uproot mountains." Although Rabbi Yishmael was great in sharpness too, his special distinction lay in the Mishnayos he had received.

10. Similarly in Avos (ועד"ז באבות פ"ב מ"ט): עד"ז = על דרך זה, "similarly"; עיי"ש = עיין שם, "see there". Avos 2:8 (the Rebbe cites it as mishnah 9): אם יהיו כל חכמי ישראל בכף מאזנים, ואליעזר בן הרקנוס בכף שניה, מכריע את כלם. אבא שאול אומר משמו, אם יהיו כל חכמי ישראל בכף מאזנים ורבי אליעזר בן הרקנוס אף עמהם, ורבי אלעזר בן ערך בכף שניה, מכריע את כלם, "If all the Sages of Israel were on one side of the scale and Eliezer ben Hyrkanos on the other, he would outweigh them all. Abba Shaul says in his name: If all the Sages of Israel, Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanos among them, were on one side of the scale and Rabbi Elazar ben Arach on the other, he would outweigh them all." The commentary of R. Ovadiah of Bartenura there: ושניהם אמת, דלענין הבקיאות והזכרון היה רבי אליעזר מכריע, ולענין החריפות והפלפול היה רבי אלעזר בן ערך מכריע, "Both are true: in breadth of knowledge and memory Rabbi Eliezer outweighed, and in sharpness and dialectic Rabbi Elazar ben Arach outweighed." So too here: Rabbi Yishmael in the Mishnayos he had received, Rabbi Akiva in reasoning.

11. Sefiras HaOmer (ספה"ע): ספה"ע = ספירת העומר, "the counting of the Omer".

12. Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, 489:8 (שו"ע או"ח סתפ"ט ס"ח): שו"ע = שולחן ערוך; או"ח = אורח חיים; סתפ"ט ס"ח = סימן תפ"ט סעיף ח. There: אם שכח לברך באחד מהימים... סופר בשאר ימים בלא ברכה, אבל אם הוא מסופק אם דילג יום אחד ולא ספר, יספור בשאר ימים בברכה, "If he forgot to count on one of the days... he counts on the remaining days without a blessing; but if he is in doubt whether he skipped a day and did not count, he counts on the remaining days with a blessing."

13. The Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe (שו"ע לאדה"ז): אדה"ז = אדמו"ר הזקן, "the Alter Rebbe". Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Orach Chaim 489:25: וכל זה כשברי לו שלא ספר בלילה אחד, אבל אם הוא מסופק בדבר... יספור בשאר לילות בברכה, דכיון שיש להסתפק שמא ספר בלילה, ויש להסתפק גם כן שמא כהאומרים שכל לילה ולילה היא מצוה בפני עצמה ואינן תלויות זה בזה, נמצא שיש כאן ספק ספיקא להחמיר להצריך ברכה וספירה בשאר הלילות, "All this is when he is certain that he did not count on one night; but if he is in doubt about it... he counts on the remaining nights with a blessing. For since there is a doubt whether perhaps he counted on that night, and a further doubt whether perhaps the halachah is like those who hold that each night is a mitzvah in its own right and they do not depend on each other, there is here a double doubt for stringency, requiring a blessing and counting on the remaining nights."

14. Shoel uMeishiv (שו"ת שואל ומשיב): שו"ת = שאלות ותשובות, "responsa"; ח"ג = חלק ג, "part 3"; סקכ"ז = סימן קכ"ז. There: נשאלתי באחד שספק לו אם סיפר תמול ספירת העומר אם רשאי לספור היום בברכה, והשבתי בפשיטות שמותר לספור בברכה. וחכם אחד שאל אותי, דבעוד שאינו עוד שלשים יום מהראוי לומר שבודאי לא ספר, כמו דקי"ל בכ"מ דעד שלשים יום בחזקת שלא אמר, כמבואר בסי' קי"ד לענין משיב הרוח וכדומה, "I was asked about one who was in doubt whether he had counted the Omer yesterday, whether he may count today with a blessing, and I answered plainly that he may count with a blessing. A certain scholar asked me: as long as thirty days have not yet passed, it would be right to say that he certainly did not count, as we hold in several places that within thirty days one is presumed not to have said it, as explained in siman 114 regarding 'Mashiv HaRuach' and the like."

15. Orchos Chaim... Sdei Chemed (ארחות חיים... שד"ח): סתפ"ט = סימן תפ"ט; שד"ח = שדי חמד, Sdei Chemed; אספ"ד = אסיפת דינים, Asifas Dinim; מע' = מערכת, Maareches; ס"א ס"ק יט = siman 1, se'if katan 19.

16. Left this in need of further study (הצ"ע): הצ"ע = הצריכו עיון, "left in need of study"; ג"כ = גם כן, "also". According to those who hold that even with a double doubt no blessing is said ("in doubt about blessings, be lenient," even in a double doubt), the Shulchan Aruch's ruling that one in doubt counts the remaining days with a blessing is difficult.

17. A clear ruling in the Shulchan Aruch (פס"ד ברור בשו"ע): פס"ד = פסק דין, "ruling". Although there is room to argue and raise difficulties, one does not depart from a clear ruling of the Shulchan Aruch because of argument; therefore one in doubt whether he counted counts the remaining days with a blessing.

Summary

After a brief birthday blessing written by the secretary in the Rebbe's name, two questions are answered. Ben Azzai's regret at not having served Rabbi Yishmael does not contradict his saying that all the Sages were like garlic peel to him except Rabbi Akiva: Rabbi Yishmael excelled in the Mishnayos he had received, Rabbi Akiva in reasoning. And one unsure whether he counted the Omer continues counting with a blessing, as the Shulchan Aruch clearly rules.