In the previous section we began the Compiler's Foreword (Hakdamas HaMelaket), and we saw how the Alter Rebbe addresses himself to every single person: the Tanya is a sefer for every Jew. Now let us look more closely at the Foreword itself, and see how the Alter Rebbe presents the objection the chassidim raised against the very writing of the sefer, and how he actually strengthens that objection himself.
Let us turn to the opening words of the Foreword:
"שמעו אלי רודפי צדק מבקשי ה'" ("Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek Hashem"), a word for word quotation from the prophet Yeshayahu. The blessing that follows, "וישמע אליכם אלוקים" ("and G-d will listen to you"), is likewise half a verse, this one from Sefer Shoftim, meaning that the Creator should hear their request. What is striking is that the verse in Shoftim which ends with "and G-d will listen to you" also opens with the very same words, "Listen to me." So the Alter Rebbe weaves together the verse from Yeshayahu and closes with the verse from Shoftim, which begins with that identical opening.
"למגדול ועד קטן" ("from the greatest to the smallest"), the letter is directed to everyone, to the great and to the small, and not only in age but in level of learning. He draws no distinctions: in his eyes they are all people of stature, and the Tanya belongs to all of them.
"כל אנשי שלומנו דמדינותינו וסמוכות שלה" ("all the anash of our lands and those adjacent to them"), and as we will see further on, with this term the Alter Rebbe is calling out to everyone who will ever learn the Tanya, even two hundred and three hundred years later, until the end of all generations.
"איש על מקומו יבוא לשלום, וחיים עד העולם נצח סלה ועד, אמן כן יהי רצון" ("each man will come to his place in peace, and life forever, eternally, selah, amen, may it be His will"). Here too the Alter Rebbe uses the language of a verse, but with a slight change.
What is the change?
When Yisro came to Moshe Rabbeinu with his well known suggestion to appoint officers of thousands and officers of hundreds, he concluded his words: "אם את הדבר הזה תעשה וציווך אלוקים ויכולת עמוד, וגם כל העם הזה על מקומו יבוא בשלום" ("If you do this thing, and G-d commands you, you will be able to endure, and this entire people too will come to its place in peace"). The verse says "be-shalom," while the Alter Rebbe writes "le-shalom." The reason for the change is explained in the Gemara: one who takes leave of his fellow should not say "go be-shalom" but "go le-shalom." And indeed we find this with Yisro and Moshe Rabbeinu, that the parting was expressed as "go le-shalom," and through that Yisro rose to greatness. Therefore, even though the Alter Rebbe wishes to use the language of the verses, in this verse specifically he changes slightly, so as to end with a good and positive expression.
That is the first passage of the Foreword, which serves as the opening of the letter the Alter Rebbe sent regarding the sefer haTanya. From here we move to the second passage, in which the opposition and the arguments of the chassidim are laid out: why the sefer did not find favor in their eyes, and why they would have preferred to be without it. The Alter Rebbe explains their claim thoroughly, even better than they themselves managed to formulate it: he takes their argument, which was on one level, and expands and strengthens it on two further levels. At the end of this passage the question will remain standing: if so, why did he write the sefer haTanya?
The chassidim's objection:
When a chossid has a question or a difficulty, when something is lacking in his avodas Hashem, or he is confused and wants to know what the proper approach is, he has an address. He comes to the Rebbe, prepares himself properly, enters into yechidus, and the Rebbe gives him a personal response according to his understanding, according to the root of his soul, and according to his past, present and future. He knows he is receiving exactly the right thing, and not as an experiment where, if it does not work, he will go ask someone else.
Once the Alter Rebbe wrote the sefer haTanya, the chassidim understood that from now on they would have guidance in avodas Hashem available in a written book, and they saw in this a kind of substitute for going in to yechidus. They felt as if the Alter Rebbe were telling them: I cannot receive all of you right now, turn to the sefer. That is why they were unhappy about the printing of the books. As long as the material was passed along in handwritten copies from one person to another, without publication, fine; but once it became printed and official, there is in that a certain barrier to entering yechidus.
Let us look at the Alter Rebbe's own words:
"הנה מודעת זאת" ("it is known"), this is a familiar matter, "כי מרגלא בפומא דאינשי בכל אנשי שלומנו לאמר" ("that it is commonly said among all anash"), it is on the lips of all the chassidim to say, "כי אינה דומה שמיעת דברי מוסר לראייה וקריאה בספרים" ("that hearing words of mussar is not comparable to seeing and reading them in books").
The expression "hearing is not comparable to seeing" usually means that seeing is stronger than hearing, that there is nothing like seeing with one's own eyes: what the eye sees is tangible, powerful and true, whereas a report can be refuted. But here the intent is the reverse: hearing is greater than seeing.
The chassidim's claim is that "hearing" means hearing from the mouth of the Rebbe: one who stands before the Rebbe and hears from him receives the words internally and understands them, for the Rebbe speaks in his language and within his vessels. "Seeing," by contrast, means seeing the matter in a printed book: you have a question? Open the sefer and there you will find the answer. And that is not comparable at all.
What is the drawback in reading from a book?
"מפני שהקורא קורא לפי דרכו ודעתו ולפי השגת ותפיסת שכלו באשר הוא שם" ("because the reader reads according to his own way and his own mind, and according to the grasp and comprehension of his intellect, wherever he is holding"). Two distinct drawbacks are hinted at in these words:
"לפי דרכו ודעתו" ("according to his own way and his own mind"), the reader reads according to his path in avodas Hashem and according to his level. Two people can look at the very same words: the one who stands at a high level in avodas Hashem sees depth in them, while the one at the beginning of the road sees only the most elementary level, and is incapable of seeing anything beyond it.
"לפי השגת ותפיסת שכלו" ("according to the grasp and comprehension of his intellect"), it is possible that his path in avodas Hashem is lofty, that he works on himself and is immersed in G-dly matters, yet his intellectual grasp and comprehension are limited, and so a second limitation stands before him.
The one reading in a sefer must therefore take into account both his level in avodas Hashem and his intellectual level.
From here the Alter Rebbe goes on to spell this out. First regarding the intellectual drawback: "ואם שכלו ודעתו מבולבלים" ("and if his intellect and mind are confused"), if his understanding is not clear and he does not see things sharply, a whole process is needed before matters become clarified and explained for him. And then regarding the level of avodas Hashem: "ובחשכה יתהלכו בעבודת השם" ("and they walk in darkness in the service of Hashem"). And when both drawbacks are found in him together, his intellectual level is low and in avodas Hashem he walks in darkness, what good does it do to tell him: here is a treasure before you, the sefer haTanya? He will barely manage to see the light at all.
"כי טוב הגנוז בספרים" ("for the good is hidden away in the books"), true, there is a hidden light in the sefer. As is known, the light that the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day was stored away for the tzaddikim, and with that light one sees from one end of the world to the other; but what use is the hidden light if the reader cannot see it? "אף כי מתוק האור לעיניים" ("even though the light is sweet to the eyes"), it may well be that the light in the sefer is sweet, and everything is clear and within reach, "ומרפא לנפש" ("and a healing for the soul"), all the remedies are found in it; but what use is that if he cannot decipher what is written?
This was the chassidim's argument. In hearing directly from the Rebbe neither of these two difficulties exists: the Rebbe speaks with each person in his own language, on his level and within his understanding, and there is no problem of his being unable to see. The Alter Rebbe quotes their claim clearly, and does not evade it but presents it in its full force.
And seemingly the question arises: if so, why was the sefer written at all?
In summary: in this section we learned the opening of the Foreword, in which the Alter Rebbe weaves together verses from Yeshayahu and from Shoftim, and addresses every single person, "from the greatest to the smallest," in all generations. We noted the precision of his language in changing "be-shalom" to "le-shalom," and we saw how the Alter Rebbe presents the chassidim's argument: hearing from the mouth of the Rebbe is superior to seeing in a book, since the reader reads according to his own way and mind and according to the grasp of his intellect, whereas the Rebbe speaks with each person in his own language and on his own level. And so we are left with the question: why, then, did the Alter Rebbe write the sefer?
In the next section we will take up the continuation of the Compiler's Foreword: the bond of every Jew with Torah, and out of that it will become clear why the sefer haTanya is needed by every single person.