The seventy-third "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Monday, 3 Adar I, 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Terumah, Sheini, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 3rd of the month, from chapter 18 through and including chapter 22.
Tanya, the continuation of chapter 27, from the word "v'adraba". We conclude the shiur on page 34 with the words "adayin kanal".
The source of today's saying is a letter written by the Rebbe Rayatz on 3 Teves 5698. I will give a little background about this interesting letter. It is addressed to the directors of an organization called "Agudas Taharas Bnos Yisrael" in Vienna, who put a question to the Rebbe: there are women who observe the required separations during their time of niddah and so on, but they ask why one must specifically immerse in a mikveh; and they say that if it would be explained to them in a way that makes sense - they would immerse in a mikveh as well, since they wish to understand the idea. And the organization felt that if they would indeed know the reason behind it, they would keep it.
So they ask the Rebbe, first: should one indeed make the effort to explain it to them logically; and second: how can it be explained to them. The Rebbe Rayatz answers them in the continuation of the letter and gives them foundations for what can be explained in this matter, but before he touches on the question itself, he prefaces with the subject of the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael.
He says there that ahavas Yisrael is a mitzvah that applies in every place and at every time: to pay attention to what is happening to another person - whether a man or a woman, an elderly man or an elderly woman, a young man or a young woman, a boy or a girl; and whether the matter concerns the body or whether it concerns the soul. Everything that concerns another person is included in the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael, and it is an obligation upon every single person. And he brings several proofs that this is a very important mitzvah - that it is the gateway to entering into prayer, and so on.
And then he brings that he heard from his father, the Rebbe Rashab, who heard from his father, the Rebbe Maharash, who heard in the name of the Alter Rebbe - and here comes today's saying. But before we read the saying, let us add a passage written later in the letter, in which he speaks about the importance of the separations and immersion in a mikveh.
He says that there are many mitzvos in the Torah and many halachos - hundreds of halachos - that testify to how much the Holy One, blessed be He, wants to protect the body of a Jew. And he brings an example: the laws of forbidden foods, family life and the like, all of which are for the protection of the Jew's body. He brings a further proof from the principle "chamira sakanta mei'isura" - danger is treated more stringently than a prohibition; therefore, with things that are forbidden one sometimes finds situations in which they can be permitted, but something whose problem stems from danger - one is far more stringent about it and does not permit it, because it involves danger to the body, which is very important.
And then he says that the prohibition of niddah is not only a prohibition but also a danger. Besides being a Torah prohibition, there is danger in it: the sons and daughters born from family life without purity and without immersion - aside from the prohibition - for the most part, he says, are sickly and have defects, in body or in spirit, whether at birth or afterwards; they have a psychological or physical problem. Therefore, how much must one make an effort with ahavas Yisrael and explain the importance of the matter, since it concerns the birth of healthy children and the like. That is the content of the letter.
In the middle of the letter, as I noted, the statement of the Alter Rebbe is brought. Now let us read its wording: "The Alter Rebbe said: The mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael applies to one born of the Jewish people whom one has never seen" - the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael is directed toward a Jew who was born into the Jewish people, even if you have never seen him; since he is a Jew, you have a mitzvah to love him, regardless of whether you know him, whether you have seen him, or whether anything will come to you from him. And from here: "and all the more so to a fellow member of the Jewish community in his place of residence, who is a son or daughter of his community" - if there is a fellow Jew who is in your place of residence, certainly and surely the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael applies to him, since he is a son or daughter of your community.
Sometimes this is harder, since here ahavas Yisrael is demanding - you have to get along with him and live with him; whereas toward a person one does not know, and whom one may never encounter again, it is easier to cultivate love, since it is less demanding. Therefore the Alter Rebbe says that the mitzvah applies toward every single person - whether one knows him or not.
It is known that on the day he accepted the nesius in 5711, in the Rebbe's words, he laid down several foundations, and one of them was the matter of ahavas Yisrael. The Rebbe said that there are three things - love of G-d, love of the Torah and love of a fellow Jew - that cannot be separated from one another; and moreover, it is ahavas Yisrael that will bring one to love of G-d and love of the Torah, and not necessarily the reverse. For it is possible that you have love of G-d, but if it is not strong enough, you will not arrive at ahavas Yisrael. Ahavas Yisrael is a very great foundation.
As for why the saying is connected specifically to this day, 3 Adar I, it seems to have a connection to the daily shiur in Chumash. This day is Sheini of parshas Terumah, in which the keruvim are discussed, and the Torah says that the keruvim must be "with their faces one toward another". There are commentators - and especially the "Kli Yakar" - who explain that this idea, that the keruvim have their faces one toward another, indicates the peace and friendship that must prevail among Jews, expressed in the peace and connection between the keruvim. There is a thematic connection here.
And now, regarding the sequence of the books of Mishneh Torah of the Rambam - how does this fit with the sayings? We are at the beginning of Sefer Kedushah, and as we already saw in the previous saying about the title of Sefer Kedushah, this book includes Hilchos Issurei Biah, Hilchos Maachalos Assuros and Hilchos Shechitah. Accordingly, today's saying corresponds to Hilchos Issurei Biah.
First, if one knows the background in which the letter was written - the entire letter was written on exactly this subject, to arouse Jews regarding the matter of issurei biah. And besides that, in the Rambam, in Hilchos Issurei Biah, there is discussion of those born from issurei biah, who have various halachic definitions and statuses, such as a mamzer and the like; and nevertheless, if he is one born of the Jewish people - born to a Jew - the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael applies to him, as the statement puts it, "to one born of the Jewish people". In whatever situation he may be, there must always be the matter of ahavas Yisrael. This is the general connection to the subject of Hilchos Issurei Biah.