8901 —מקור לדברי אדה"ז על כניסת נפש הקדושה בעת המילה

B"H, 20th of Marcheshvan, 5725.

Brooklyn.

Haraha"g vavac"h iy"a nu"n oseik b'tzt"z Mohe Shmuel Yalov

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I acknowledge receipt of your letter from Tuesday with its enclosures, and I am attaching the receipt. The pan will be read at an auspicious time at the holy resting place of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, of blessed memory.

Thank you for your comment regarding a source for the words of the Alter Rebbe in his Shulchan on gold concerning the timing of when the holy soul enters a person, referencing Sefer HaChinuch in his reasons for the mitzvah of circumcision.

Although one does not respond to a derush (homiletic teaching), this matter—the entry of the holy soul—has halachic relevance as written in Shulchan Aruch HaRav there. In Sefer HaChinuch, however, it appears that on the contrary, the time of circumcision is not specifically connected to the entry of the soul in both reasons he writes: (a) That circumcision distinguishes them in their physical form (which occurs at circumcision) just as they are distinguished in their souls (past tense relative to time of circumcision); (b) To hint that when one completes his bodily form through (at circumcision), so too it is in his power to complete his soul’s form through proper actions (much later when he becomes obligated in mitzvos; this is clear). Also see Reasons for Mitzvas Milah according to Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim Part III end of Chapter 49.

I was pleased to read at the end of your letter that your book’s printing is progressing. May it be G‑d’s will that you soon bless over its completion for these volumes and continue to go from strength to strength as Torah commands; for Torah’s command is also an empowerment.

Summary

The Rebbe clarifies that while some sources connect circumcision with receiving a holy soul, Sefer HaChinuch suggests otherwise. He encourages careful study and wishes success in Torah endeavors.