7199 —אודות האנציקלופדיה התלמודית, מימון, וקדושת העשירי

B"H, 19th of Shevat, 5720.

Brooklyn.

Haraha"g Haraha"ch iy"a nu"n oseik b'tzt"z tznm"s etc. Maharashi Zavin

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I acknowledge receipt of your letter from the eve of Shabbat Shirah, after an unusually long pause in your correspondence, which had even caused some concern—perhaps due to what you wrote at the end of your letter about your brother's passing. May it be G‑d's will that from now on you will only share good news, visibly and tangibly good, speedily.

Regarding your question about the Chief Rabbi: I agree with your decision for the reasons you wrote and more. Thank you for sharing these details.

Last night, a few hours before receiving your letter, I was visited by representatives of the Claims Conference as well as Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner—separately and without knowledge of each other's visit. Naturally, I spoke with both regarding the Talmudic Encyclopedia. The aforementioned representative reiterated their position: they value the project and want to help; hopefully it will appear more frequently—though this is also cited as a reason for not increasing their allocation. When I presented this argument to Rabbi Hutner, he said that one matter is not dependent on another; even for preparing entries, increasing the budget is very important—as more people involved will speed up preparation. To my question about its benefit since this is a second edition of an entry and you wrote that the pace of volumes appearing is already quite rapid given your capabilities—he replied that he hopes as writers become accustomed to their work and more engaged in it, less time will be needed from you for editing or revising entries—even rewriting them. He also added that apparently in this second edition entries have already been written up to the letter Ayin; if funding suffices, it is hoped that within three or four years—the duration of the Claims Conference's activity—they will be able to complete this second edition entirely.

Of course I do not know how accurate this is, but immediately I told him—knowing the perspective of those at the Conference—that such news would make a very good impression on them: both points—that entries have already been written up to Ayin (though they may want proof), and even more so that there is a plan to finish writing this edition within three or four years. We agreed that as application time approaches they will update on progress—and perhaps send a copy of their application to the Claims Conference. And if you agree—it would help if you could also report on current status; also confidentially—whether among those involved in Jerusalem there are some who are gradually advancing in such a way that your workload decreases and volume publication speeds up.

Regarding "the tenth shall be holy": when there are nine below, ten is revealed from above. From your wording it seems you wish to compare this to counting fifty days—even though verbally we only count forty-nine. Seemingly, automatic effect appears only with number fifty (in Sefirot—Binah) but not with ten (Malchut). As with all matters in inner Torah there is a parallel in revealed Torah: sanctity of day fifty comes entirely automatically (and precisely so—not because it comes automatically per se since then there would be no difference between day fifty and previous days), whereas with tithing at least some action occurs—not by man but by what becomes sanctified itself; or by an animal leaving its pen (a change of place) [or leaving its group by being counted].

From what is explained in Chassidus one could explain "the tenth shall be holy regardless" as answering why only three elements are listed in Sefer Yetzirah—not earth—which is included within them; when water is boiled over fire with air connecting them all three reveal earthiness within water—and further discussion is needed. Especially since I have not yet found this stated explicitly.

I conclude echoing your opening: I saw you wrote 5720 with a final Kaf—and I can say that long ago I answered similarly to those who asked me; afterwards I heard that even around final or regular Kaf a dispute has flared up in Eretz Yisrael! See Likkutei Torah Shir HaShirim 35c; Shu”t HaShiv Moshe siman 61. Enclosed is a copy of my recent letter on this topic.

Blessings for good news in all mentioned matters—both general and specific.

Summary

The Rebbe addresses practical challenges facing Torah scholarship projects like the Talmudic Encyclopedia—including funding logistics and editorial workflow—and explores deeper Torah concepts about sanctity emerging through both human effort and Divine influence.