In the previous section we studied the essential nature of the Tanya as "incense for the soul," and the unique power that is invested in it. In this section we turn to the history of the printing of the Tanya and the haskamos (approbations) that accompanied it, with special attention to the haskama of the sons of the Alter Rebbe and to the remarkable precision of their signatures.
Until the two sides issued their declarations, throughout all those years nobody printed the Tanya without the permission of the one who had made the copy. The copies were made deliberately, and for the sake of peace, but no one dared invest actual money in the printing itself, and the whole matter went through many turns. The period of five years fixed in the haskamos was set, it seems, according to a calculation of how much time a printer needs in order to cover the costs of printing.
The meaning of the term 'lifrat katan' ("by the smaller reckoning"):
When we count the years of the world's existence, we usually use the year as everyone says it. The year תשס"ז, for example, has the gematria of seven hundred and sixty seven, and obviously the intention is not that only seven hundred and sixty seven years have passed since the creation of the world, for one must add five thousand to that figure. One who states the number in full is using the "greater reckoning" (perat gadol) and says: "five thousand seven hundred and sixty seven." But one who writes "lifrat katan" does not count the thousands at all, since it is known and understood that we stand within the fifth millennium, and within it we are in such and such a year. That is what is hinted at by the words "lifrat katan" appended to the letters תקנ"ו.
The first encounter of the great ones with the manuscripts:
The well known chassid Rabbi Yitzchak Horowitz, known as R' Itche der Masmid, related that there is a tradition that the two emissaries mentioned above arrived late at night with the manuscripts: one copy for Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, and a second copy for Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen. On behalf of the Alter Rebbe they asked them to review the writings and to give a haskama to the sefer, and each of them sat in his own home and began to study it.
Both of them emerged from that study utterly overwhelmed. Toward morning Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli said: "I cannot contain myself" - he had to run to his friend Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen and tell him what lies hidden in this sefer. At that very same hour Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen rose and said: "Such a sefer! I cannot contain myself, I must go out to Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli and show him what I have received." The two of them met in the middle of the road, and about that meeting R' Itche said: "All of Anipoli was ablaze" - the dancing and the joy born of that encounter with the Tanya set the hearts of the entire town on fire.
We merit today to learn this very sefer: the haskamos that accompany it, and the sefer itself.
The haskama of the sons of the Alter Rebbe:
This haskama was not given on the same occasion when the manuscripts were sent to Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli and Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen. It was written when the sefer Likkutei Amarim was printed in its complete form, one year after the passing of the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe passed away in the year 5573 (תקע"ג), and in 5574 (תקע"ד) the Tanya was printed as we have it before us, with all five of its parts. Until then the Tanya had never been printed with all its sections together, and therefore his three sons wrote an explanation, which is this haskama, of why they were printing all the parts of the sefer as one.
These are the words of the haskama: "הסכמת הרבנים שיחיו בני הגאון המחבר ז"ל נשמתו עדן. היות שהוסכם אצלנו ליתן רשות והרמנא" ("The agreement of the rabbis, may they live, sons of the gaon, the author of blessed memory, his soul in Eden. Since it has been agreed among us to grant permission and harmana") - harmana meaning the power of authorization - "להעלות על מכבש הדפוס לזיכרון לבני ישראל כתב דברי יושר ואמת דברי אלוקים חיים של אדוננו אבינו מורנו ורבנו ז"ל" ("to bring to the printing press, as a remembrance for the children of Israel, the written words of uprightness and truth, the words of the living God, of our master, our father, our teacher and our Rebbe, of blessed memory"). This language itself proves that the words were written after the passing of the Alter Rebbe, and that is why it was the sons who granted the permission to print.
What, then, were the sons granting permission to print?
For the section of Likkutei Amarim their permission was not needed, since it had already been printed in the lifetime of the Alter Rebbe, and Iggeres HaTeshuva too had been printed earlier. The new element was the printing of the final two parts: Iggeres HaKodesh and Kuntres Acharon.
Regarding the reason for printing Iggeres HaKodesh and Kuntres Acharon, the sons write: "כתובים בכתב ידו הקדושה בעצמו ולשונו הקדוש, שכל דבריו כגחלי אש בוערות ילהיבו הלבבות לקרבן לאביהם שבשמים" ("written in his own holy handwriting and in his holy language, whose every word is like burning coals of fire that inflame hearts to bring them near to their Father in Heaven") - one who reads them is set aflame with a powerful enthusiasm to draw close to the service of Hashem. And why are they called by the name "Iggeres HaKodesh" (holy letter)? "שרובם היו אגרת שילוח מאת כבוד קדושתו להורות לעם ה' הדרך ילכו בה והמעשה אשר יעשון" ("for most of them were letters sent out by his holy honor, to teach the people of Hashem the way they should go and the deeds they should do") - these are letters and correspondence that he sent to the chassidim.
Why, then, were Iggeres HaKodesh and Kuntres Acharon not printed as a separate sefer of their own, but were specifically attached to Likkutei Amarim?
"ומחמת שבכמה מקומות באיגרת הקודש הציב לו ציונים בספר ליקוטי אמרים שלו" ("and because in a number of places in Iggeres HaKodesh he set down references to his sefer Likkutei Amarim") - in Iggeres HaKodesh the Alter Rebbe refers the reader in various places to study the matter at length in Likkutei Amarim.
"ודברי תורה עניים במקום אחד ועשירים במקום אחר" ("and the words of Torah are poor in one place and rich in another") - it is the way of Torah that a given subject is presented briefly in one place and at length in another. The place where it is written briefly is in the category of "poverty," and the place where it is written expansively is in the category of "wealth," and in order to grasp the matter in its completeness one must learn both together.
"ומה גם בשביל דבר שנתחדש בו קונטרס אחרון על איזה פרקים אשר כתב בעת חיבור הספר ליקוטי אמרים" ("and all the more so on account of the new material in Kuntres Acharon on certain chapters, which he wrote at the time he composed the sefer Likkutei Amarim") - Kuntres Acharon was written at the very time Likkutei Amarim was being composed, as explanations that the Alter Rebbe wrote on the side to those chapters. One does not print explanations without their source, and the source itself would remain incomplete without them, and therefore they were joined together. In their words: "פלפול ועיון עמוק על מאמרי זוהר ועץ חיים ופרי עץ חיים שנראים כסותרים זה את זה" ("deep analysis and study of passages in the Zohar, Etz Chaim and Pri Etz Chaim that appear to contradict one another"), "וברוח מבינתו מיישבם כל דיבור על אופניו" ("and with the spirit of his understanding he resolves them, each statement in its proper setting") - with the greatness of his understanding the Alter Rebbe reconciles all those passages that appear to contradict each other.
From here follows their conclusion: "ראו ראינו שראוי ונכון לחברם עם ספר ליקוטי אמרים ואגרת התשובה של כבוד קדושת אדוננו אבינו מורנו ורבנו ז"ל" ("we have clearly seen that it is fitting and proper to join them together with the sefer Likkutei Amarim and Iggeres HaTeshuva of his holy honor, our master, our father, our teacher and our Rebbe, of blessed memory"). This is the explanation of why the Tanya was printed for the first time with all its parts bound together as one.
They then go on to impose the same warning their predecessors had imposed: "אי לזאת באנו להטיל גודא רבה וגזירת נח"ש דרבנן" ("therefore we come to impose a great fence and the rabbinic decree of nacha"sh"). "נח"ש" is an acronym for nidui, cherem and shamta (excommunication, ban and anathema), sharp terms indeed, which one who transgresses the warning, God forbid, brings upon himself, "דלית ליה אסוותא" ("for which there is no remedy") - a nidui or cherem for which there is no cure - "שלא ירים איש את ידו להדפיס כתבניתם, או זה בלא זה, משך חמשה שנים מיום דלמטה" ("that no man raise his hand to print in their format, or one without the other, for a period of five years from the date below"). That is to say, no one should print the Tanya in its complete form, nor even one part of it without its companion, for five years. As for "the date below," the date does not actually appear here as it did in the earlier haskamos, but as mentioned, the year is 5574.
The sons add one further important notice: "ברם כגון דא צריך לאודועי, שבעוונותינו הרבים ספו תמו כתבי ידו הקדושה בעצמו" ("however, this must be made known, that because of our many sins the manuscripts in his own holy hand have been lost and finished"). Iggeres HaKodesh, which is essentially what they were about to print, is based on copies of letters that the Alter Rebbe wrote and sent to various communities; the original manuscripts were not in their hands at the time of printing, and they gathered together the copies that were scattered about. In their words: "אשר היו בדקדוק גדול, לא חסר ולא יתר אות אחת, ולא נשאר כי אם זה המעט מהרבה שנלקטו אחד לאחד מהעתקות המפוזרים אצל התלמידים" ("which were of great exactitude, not one letter lacking and not one extra, and there remained only this little out of much, gathered one by one from the copies scattered among the students") - the original was astonishingly precise, and therefore they made every effort to be exact and to set the words down with precision.
And since, in the end, the original itself was not in their hands, they preface a caution: "ואם ימצא איזה טעות שיהא ניכר שהוא מהעתקה בלתי מדויקת, שגיאות מי יבין, ימצא הטעות דמוכח מטעות סופר והכוונה תהיה ברורה" ("and if some error be found which is recognizably the result of an inexact copy, 'who can discern errors' - the error will be evident as a copyist's error, and the intent will be clear") - when it is apparent that the error stems from an inexact copy and the intent is clear, one should receive it with understanding and grasp what is meant. In other words, a precise detail of a letter that looks like a mistake may well stem from the fact that the copy was not exact.
At the close, the three sons of the Alter Rebbe sign their names: "נאום דוב בער בן אדוננו אבינו מורנו ורבנו הגאון החסיד קדוש ישראל מרנא ורבנא שניאור זלמן זכרונו לברכה נשמתו בגנזי מרומים. ("So says Dov Ber, son of our master, our father, our teacher and our Rebbe, the gaon, the chassid, the holy one of Israel, our master and our teacher Shneur Zalman, of blessed memory, his soul in the treasuries on high.")
ונאום חיים אברהם בן אדוננו אבינו מורנו ורבנו הגאון החסיד מרנא ורבנא שניאור זלמן זכר צדיק לברכה נשמתו בגנזי מרומים. ("And so says Chaim Avraham, son of our master, our father, our teacher and our Rebbe, the gaon, the chassid, our master and our teacher Shneur Zalman, may the memory of the tzaddik be for a blessing, his soul in the treasuries on high.")
ונאום משה בן אדוננו אבינו מורנו ורבנו הגאון החסיד שניאור זלמן זכרונו לברכה נשמתו בגנזי מרומים". ("And so says Moshe, son of our master, our father, our teacher and our Rebbe, the gaon, the chassid, Shneur Zalman, of blessed memory, his soul in the treasuries on high.")
The precision in the signatures of the three sons:
It is worth noticing that each of the sons refers to his father with a different set of titles: the first uses many titles, the second fewer, and the third fewer still. The Rebbe explained the meaning of these differences on the basis of what each of the sons represented at the time the haskama was written, a year after the passing:
Rabbi Dov Ber: he is the one who took his father's place, he is the Mitteler Rebbe, and he was already serving as Rebbe when the haskama was written. The title that belongs to a Rebbe is "kedosh Yisrael," the holy one of Israel, and out of his great humility he is the only one who writes this title, and he attributes it to his father rather than to himself.
Rabbi Chaim Avraham: he was known as a rav and a practical posek, and it was to him that people came with their questions and their halachic rulings after the passing. "Marana verabana" is the title of a posek, and out of humility he attributes this title to his father rather than to himself.
Rabbi Moshe: he was known for the greatness of his chassidus; he was not a Rebbe and not a halachic authority, but a gaon and a chassid, and therefore he wrote that "the gaon, the chassid" is his father.
There is one more interesting variation: the only one who writes of the Alter Rebbe "zecher tzaddik livracha" (may the memory of the tzaddik be for a blessing) is Rabbi Chaim Avraham, while the other two write "zichrono livracha." The reason is that "tzaddik" is the title of a person who is humble and lowly in the midst of his greatness, and Rabbi Chaim Avraham was famous through the stories told of his humility and his exceedingly great self effacement, to a degree that is astounding. He himself was worthy of the title "tzaddik," and he too hands the title over to his father.
It emerges that each of the sons reveals his own true essence precisely in the title he gives his father: the title that he himself deserved is the very title he transfers to his father, as though it were not his at all but belonged entirely to his father. This is the wondrous precision in the form of expression and in the signing of the haskama.
In summary: in this section we learned about the history of the printing of the Tanya, and in particular about the haskama of the three sons of the Alter Rebbe, written a year after his passing, when the sefer was printed for the first time in its complete form with all five parts. We explained the term "lifrat katan"; we told the story of the encounter of Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli and Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen with the manuscripts; and we studied the sons' explanation of why they attached Iggeres HaKodesh and Kuntres Acharon to Likkutei Amarim: the cross references found in Iggeres HaKodesh, the principle that "the words of Torah are poor in one place and rich in another," and the time at which Kuntres Acharon was written. We also studied the warning they imposed, their notice concerning the copies, and the wondrous precision of their signatures, in which each one humbly hands over to his father the title that was truly fitting for himself.
With this we have completed the haskamos given by the great ones of the generation to the sefer of the Alter Rebbe. In the next section we will turn to the haskama of the melakket, the compiler, the Alter Rebbe himself, who calls himself nothing more than "the melakket," as one who merely gathered the material and did not originate it on his own.