In the previous section we saw how much weight rests on every single detail in the Tanya. Now, before we enter chapter one, let us pause at one of the opening stages of the sefer, the two approbations (haskamos) printed at its start, and see how they too are filled with precision and hidden allusions.
On page four (folio 2b), still before chapter one, we find two approbations given by two of the Maggid of Mezritch's disciples, colleagues of the author of the Tanya. One is signed "הקטן משולם זוסיל מאניפולי" ("the small one, Meshulam Zusil of Anipoli"), and the other "יהודה לייב הכהן" ("Yehuda Leib HaKohen"). Both of these tzaddikim lived in the same town, Anipoli: Reb Meshulam Zusil, known as Reb Zusha of Anipoli, brother of Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk, and Reb Yehuda Leib HaKohen.
The background to the printing of the Tanya and to the approbations:
At first the Tanya circulated from hand to hand in manuscript. The Alter Rebbe gave permission to copy the chapters of the sefer, and the chassidim copied them and learned from those copies. To printing the sefer he would not agree at all; in his great humility he argued that printing would turn these writings into an official sefer.
But there were those who wanted to cast a shadow on the sefer, as was the way of many opponents of the teachings of chassidus in that period, and they saw to it that copies were made with deliberate errors. This was not a matter of a garbled word here and there. Concepts were inserted that flatly contradicted what was written explicitly, so that students would conclude that the ideas do not hold together and would distance themselves from learning it. Once the copies had reached a state where the Tanya was going out corrupted and misleading, the Alter Rebbe ruled that there was no choice: the Tanya had to be printed in an official, orderly form, and thereby all these mishaps would be avoided.
Still, in his humility the Alter Rebbe did not want to take the responsibility for the printing upon himself, and he asked that at least two great men give their approbation to it. Three of his disciples were therefore sent, Reb Moshe Vilenker, Reb Pinchas of Shklov and Reb Yitzchak Moshe of Yas, to bring the manuscripts to the two tzaddikim in the town of Anipoli, and to ask them to review the writings and give their approbation.
The two of them went through the writings that very night, and the next morning each wrote his approbation, on the same day and with the same date. Each of them gave voice to a different expression at the sight of the Tanya:
Reb Meshulam Zusil of Anipoli: he was beside himself with excitement and wonder, and said that with the sefer haTanya we will go out to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu.
Reb Yehuda Leib HaKohen: he said that the Tanya is like the ketores against every possible plague in the soul of man. Just as Aharon HaKohen ran with the ketores and halted the plague, so the Tanya is the remedy for every difficulty of the soul and for every evil plague.
Both of these expressions are hinted at within the approbations themselves, as we will now see.
The approbation of Reb Meshulam Zusil of Anipoli:
The first approbation, on the right side of the page, is headed: "הסכמת הרב החסיד המפורסם איש אלוקי קדוש יאמר לו מורנו הרב רבי משולם זוסיל מאניפולי" ("The approbation of the renowned rav and chassid, a man of G-d, who shall be called holy, our teacher Rav Reb Meshulam Zusil of Anipoli"). And this is how he opens: "הנה בראותי את הכתבים של הרב איש גאון, איש אלוקים קדוש וטהור, אספקלריא מאירה" ("Behold, when I saw the writings of the rav, a man of genius, a man of G-d, holy and pure, a luminous mirror").
The title 'aspaklarya hame'irah', a luminous mirror, is the loftiest of all the titles that precede it. Our Sages said that Moshe Rabbeinu was set apart from all the prophets: all the prophets prophesied through an aspaklarya that does not shine, while Moshe Rabbeinu prophesied through the aspaklarya hame'irah, the highest level of prophecy, whose greatness the Rambam too dwells upon in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah. With this Reb Zusha is saying that the Alter Rebbe is the Moshe Rabbeinu of the generation, and that his words were written out of a divine revelation of the aspaklarya hame'irah.
Reb Zusha continues: "וטוב אשר עשה ואשר הפליא ה' חסדו ונתן בלבו הטהור לעשות את כל אלה להראות עם ה' דרכיו הקדושים" ("And good is what he has done, and how wondrous is the kindness of Hashem, who placed it in his pure heart to do all this, to show the people of Hashem His holy ways"), meaning: it is very good that he wrote his sefer to show Yisrael the true path in the service of Hashem. "ורצונו היה שלא להעלות את הכתבים ההם לבית הדפוס מחמת שאין דרכו בכך" ("and his wish was not to bring those writings to the printing house, since this is not his way"): the Alter Rebbe was content with handwritten copies and did not want to print at all. "רק מחמת התפשטות הקונטרסים ההם בקרב כל ישראל... בהעתקות רבות מידי סופרים משונים" ("only because of the spread of those pamphlets among all Yisrael... in many copies from the hands of assorted scribes"). In the phrase "סופרים משונים", "assorted (strange) scribes", there is an allusion to those copyists who deliberately introduced corruptions into the writings.
He goes on: "או מחמת ריבוי העתקות שונות רבו הטעויות סופר במאוד" ("or because of the multitude of different copies, the scribal errors multiplied greatly"). Some were ordinary technical copying errors, of the kind found in any transcription, and some were deliberate. "והוכרח להביא הקונטרסים ההם לבית הדפוס" ("and he was compelled to bring those pamphlets to the printing house"): he was forced to print, because the writings had reached such a corrupted state. "והעיר ה' את רוח השותפים" ("and Hashem aroused the spirit of the partners"), the two partners who undertook the printing of the sefer:
"הרבני המופלג הוותיק מורנו הרב שלום שכנא בן מורנו הרב נח" ("the distinguished and venerable Rav Shalom Shachna son of Rav Noach"), the Alter Rebbe's son-in-law and the father of the Tzemach Tzedek.
"הרבני המופלג הוותיק מורנו הרב מרדכי בן מורנו הרב שמואל הלוי" ("the distinguished and venerable Rav Mordechai son of Rav Shmuel HaLevi"), his partner in seeing to the printing.
And the two of them brought "הקונטרסים ההם לבית הדפוס בסלאוויטא" ("those pamphlets to the printing house in Slavita"), a well known press in those years.
He continues: "ולפעלא טבא אמרתי יישר חילא" ("and for a good deed I say: may your strength be firm"), for such a good deed they deserve a hearty yasher koach. "אך עלו בליבם מגור מסביב מן הדפוסים אשר רבו, שדרכם להזיק ולקלקל המאושרים" ("but fear from all around arose in their hearts because of the presses that have multiplied, whose way it is to damage and ruin those who have received approbation"). The partners were afraid to invest in the printing, which in those days was an enormous investment, since every single letter was set in lead by intense manual labor. Their worry was that after all that investment, other printers would come along and print the sefer anew, and all the profits would be lost to them.
He therefore continues: "אי לזאת גמרנו בליבנו ליתן הסכמה לבל ירים איש את ידו ואת רגלו לגרום למדפיסים הנ"ל שום נזק חס ושלום בהשגת גבול בשום אופן" ("therefore we have resolved in our hearts to give an approbation that no man raise his hand or foot to cause the aforementioned printers any harm, G-d forbid, by encroaching on their domain in any manner"), and "ואסור לשום אדם לדפוס הספר הנ"ל בלתי ידיעת המדפיסים הנ"ל" ("and it is forbidden for anyone to print the aforementioned sefer without the knowledge of the aforementioned printers"): without explicit permission from the two partners no one may print the sefer, and this "עד משך חמש שנים רצופים מיום דלמטה" ("for a period of five consecutive years from the date below"), a sort of copyright for five years. And in closing: "ושומע לדבריי אלה יבוא עליו ברכת טוב. אלו כל דברי הדורש זאת לכבוד התורה. היום יום ג' שנכפל בו כי טוב, פרשת תבוא, שנת פדותינו לפרט קטן" ("and whoever heeds these words of mine, may the blessing of good come upon him. These are the words of one who asks this for the honor of the Torah. Today, Tuesday, in which 'it is good' is doubled, Parshas Tavo, the year of 'pedauseinu' by the smaller reckoning"). The word 'פדותינו' has the gematria of 5556, the year the approbation was given, two hundred and eleven years ago. In choosing this word Reb Zusha hinted at what he had said: with the appearance of the Tanya, the Holy One, blessed be He, will redeem Yisrael from exile and we will go out to greet Moshiach. And he signed: "הקטן משולם זוסיל מאניפולי" ("the small one, Meshulam Zusil of Anipoli").
Why did they give their approbation specifically in Parshas Ki Savo?
The date too was chosen deliberately, and both approbations were given in that same week. There are two allusions in this:
The parsha opens with the words "כי תבוא אל הארץ" ("when you come into the land"). Of Eretz Yisrael our Sages said: "למה נקרא שמה ארץ? שרצתה לעשות רצון קונה" ("why is it called 'eretz'? Because it desired to do the will of its Maker"). 'Eretz' comes from the word ratzon, will, and one who wants to do the will of Hashem is called 'eretz'. "When you come into the land" thus alludes to entering into the divine will, and the way to do so is by learning the Tanya.
This parsha contains the tochacha, the rebuke, with its ninety eight curses, and it is the study of Tanya that transforms the curse into blessing. This is the ketores spoken of in the second approbation.
The approbation of Reb Yehuda Leib HaKohen:
On the left side of the page: "הסכמת הרב החסיד המפורסם איש אלוקי קדוש יאמר לו מורנו הרב יהודה לייב הכהן" ("The approbation of the renowned rav and chassid, a man of G-d, who shall be called holy, our teacher Rav Yehuda Leib HaKohen"). And this is how he opens: "חכמת אדם תאיר פני הארץ" ("the wisdom of a man illuminates the face of the earth"): the wisdom of the Alter Rebbe, stored away in those manuscripts, lights up the entire world. "בראותי ידי קודש המחבר הרב הגאון איש אלוקים קדוש וטהור, חסיד ועניו אשר מכבר נגלה מסתריו" ("when I saw the holy handwriting of the author, the rav, the gaon, a man of G-d, holy and pure, a chassid and humble, whose hidden depths were revealed to me long ago"): his secrets and his greatness had been known to him for a long time already, for he was his colleague and they had learned together by the Maggid of Mezritch.
He continues: "יושב בשבת תחכימוני אצל אדוננו מורנו ורבנו גאון עולם" ("who sat in the seat of the wise by our master, teacher and rebbe, the gaon of the world"), meaning the Maggid of Mezritch, at whose feet they sat together. "ודלה מים מבאר מים חיים" ("and drew water from the well of living waters"). On the simple level, the Maggid is the well and the Alter Rebbe drew water from him. But there is a further hint here: the Maggid of Mezritch had a son, Reb Avraham HaMalach, who was the Alter Rebbe's chavrusa, and the letters of "מבאר" are the letters of "אברהם", an allusion to the chavrusa with whom he learned.
He continues: "וכעת ישמח ישראל בהעלות דברי קודשו" ("and now let Yisrael rejoice as his holy words are brought forth"). 'Yisrael' alludes to the Baal Shem Tov, who rejoices that his holy words are now coming out into the light of the world. "המחובר להביא לבית הדפוס, ללמד לעם ה' דרכי קודש, כאשר כל אחד יחזה בפנימיות דבריו" ("which has been composed to be brought to the printing house, to teach the people of Hashem holy ways, as each one will see in the inwardness of his words"): whoever learns and delves into the inner dimension of these words will see the power stored within them. "והמפורסם אין צריך ראיה, רק מחשש קלקול הדבר שלא יגרום היזק למדפיסים, באתי ליתן תוקף ואזהרה לבל ירים איש את ידו ורגלו לדפוס עד משך חמש שנים מיום דלמטה, ושומע לדברי אלה יבוא עליו ברכת טוב. אלו כל דברי המדבר זאת לכבוד התורה. היום יום ג' פרשה תבוא תקנ"ו לפרט קטן" ("and what is well known needs no proof; only out of concern that the matter be spoiled and cause loss to the printers, I have come to give force and warning that no man raise his hand or foot to print for a period of five years from the date below, and whoever heeds these words of mine, may the blessing of good come upon him. These are the words of one who speaks this for the honor of the Torah. Today, Tuesday, Parshas Tavo, 5556 by the smaller reckoning").
And what is "תקנ"ו"? An acronym: תניא (Tanya), קטורת (ketores), נשמה (neshama), רוח (ruach), exactly as he had said, that the Tanya is the ketores that nullifies every difficulty of the neshama and the ruach.
In summary: in this section we learned about the two approbations at the opening of the Tanya, given by Reb Meshulam Zusil of Anipoli and Reb Yehuda Leib HaKohen. We saw how the Alter Rebbe at first refused to print the sefer and was content with handwritten copies, and how the deliberate corruptions brought him to print it in an official form while asking for the approbation of two great men. We looked at the content of the approbations, at the deliberate choice of a date in Parshas Ki Savo, and at the allusions hidden in them: 'aspaklarya me'irah', the gematria of 'pedauseinu', and above all the acronym תקנ"ו: Tanya, ketores, neshama, ruach.
In the next section we will continue with the opening of the sefer: the story of the printing of the Tanya and the words of the Compiler at its beginning.