What the Rebbe Said Was Pikuach Nefesh These Days

Welcome to our weekly program, the inside story of Chabad in America, through the Mindel archives.

A few weeks ago we mentioned in our program that when one says over a letter from the Rebbe, he should first of all say where the letter comes from, where it comes from, and we should read the letter the way the letter is. And then, if we have our own explanation, our philosophy, no problem — but at least we know what the Rebbe actually says, and that's the ikar — not to put words in what the Rebbe meant, because some people, you know, speak, and it's their own philosophy, and then the Rebbe says maybe differently, whatever it is. So they should read it the way it is inside.

So the next couple of programs I want to share with you some letters — answers from the Rebbe on different subjects, different questions that people asked — and to be accurate, so I will read the letter the way the Rebbe wrote it.

This week's program I want to read a letter, and this is also a lesson for people who are mekarvim of Jewish youth — people that save them from assimilation, from intermarriage, and bring them back — and they want to go to kollel. They feel that they did chinuch, and now they want to go back to learn, to learn Torah. So they're asking the Rebbe: is that a good idea? So this answer — this is probably the Rebbe's shitah — so I will read the letter the way the Rebbe writes it.

"Greeting and blessing. This is in reply to your letter, in reply to your inquiry about my opinion in regard to the idea of you joining kollel.

"It is of course well known — the Talmud speaks of this in another place, not here — Talmud is the highest inyan connected with Torah study; it says a person should learn day and night, it is the highest thing, to learn day and night. The ikar of everything is to sit and learn Torah. And as the Rebbe mentioned in another place, just like a person breathes — Torah is like breathing. A person breathes always; whatever he does, he's at home, he breathes; he eats, he breathes; he sleeps; he goes shopping, wherever — he has to breathe. The same thing also — Torah is like breathing. Everything a person does is for Torah. You can't say, 'Now I'm going to work and I'm going to stop learning' — no, you're working for the sake of learning Torah, you're working for teaching your children Torah, and everything is Torah.

"And as the Rebbe says in Tanya, the first perek shows that a person who wastes a minute from learning Torah — and that's why it's called yeshiva. Yeshiva means 'to sit.' What does it mean, 'to sit'? Some people stand while learning. 'Sit' means that it's a derech chayim, a way of life.

"So we see that Torah — it is known that Torah is the highest thing, which is said every single morning even before the regular prayer. Nevertheless, there can be a situation where other things take precedence over it. I have in mind particularly the situation of our present-day Jewish youth, a situation which is that of pikuach nefesh. And when it comes to pikuach nefesh, then you have to do what you have to do, and learning Torah cannot overpower pikuach nefesh."

And then he explains: "To be sure, a person considers what his special task is. There are generally three options, depending on the category he may belong to: for there are Jews whose main task is to study Torah; there are those whose main task is to engage in mosdos and communal activities; and those whose task is to engage in work with our Jewish youth, to bring them to a life of Torah and mitzvos. So each one has his own task.

"The said options, however, can be considered only when one is at the beginning of the road and has yet to make a choice." If somebody — let's say he's young and he's learning — that's what he should do. If it's communal work, that's what he should do. "But in your case, however, it is different, since you have already been active in youth work for a number of years and have seen that you have had hatzlacha in your work, and in an area where it is doubtful that anyone else could have had so much hatzlacha — namely, the area of academic youth — and moreover, in an area where the time element is important, since the sooner a Jewish boy or girl begins to observe the mitzvos, the more certain it is that they will be saved. Your option has already been decided by Providence. Consequently, I can see no justification for you to abandon this sacred work, God forbid."

So according to the Rebbe, if a person is already saving neshamos, and now he wants to go and learn Torah — even though we know Torah is the highest thing — but if he's going to leave work in which he already has hatzlacha, then he should not go to kollel, and he should continue doing what he's doing.

"If, as you write, you have a strong desire to learn Torah and increase your knowledge, you can do so by taking some time off from matters of reshus, but not at the expense of the time which you have to devote to — God's children, so to speak. Remember that we are speaking not of chinuch which aims at making a small lamdan into a bigger lamdan, which is also a great thing, but of the kind of work which must be done to preserve young people within the fold of our Jewish people, save them from assimilation — all of which need not be further elaborated to you."

So if a teacher wants to teach — he teaches his students, and the student becomes a lamdan — and he wants to leave and go into kollel, maybe he could get a substitute teacher, even if the substitute is not quite as good — that's different. But when a person is saving people from intermarriage or assimilation, and he has hatzlacha, he should not go to kollel — he should continue.

To summarize, the Rebbe says: "It is plain and clear that you should continue your chinuch activity without any diminishing from it, though you may explore the possibility of using your other available time for learning Torah. If this spare time is not sufficient, there is another option, and that is to find a part-time substitute for some of your activities, which you can safely transfer to such a substitute, under your supervision and responsibility."

Now one more paragraph that the Rebbe writes — let's see, if we read the letter the way the Rebbe writes it, we know it a hundred percent:

"You may still be apprehensive as to how much you can accomplish in your Torah studies under such limited conditions. I would like to remind you that the beginning of the Alter Rebbe's Sefer Likkutei Torah, which follows the sedras of the Torah — the first drush, on the first page, contains the quotation, and the Alter Rebbe writes, as it says: 'Tzedaka elevates man' — through giving tzedaka it purifies his heart and mind, 'and a thousandfold as much' — that's how it writes.

"And though in the plain sense it deals with ordinary tzedaka, it is clear that the Rebbe says that the posuk, hence the drush, encompasses also spiritual tzedaka, such as the activity in which you are privileged to engage. In other words, the great merit of your continuing in this area will bring you extraordinary hatzlacha in your own Torah studies, in your spare time, a thousandfold. According to the Tzemach Tzedek, in his commentaries on this drush, this phrase is not just a manner of speaking, but it actually means it — exactly, without any exaggeration."

So we see from here how the Rebbe — this is how the Rebbe signs this letter. So we see what the Rebbe feels: that if somebody does kiruv, and he saves people and brings people closer, this can overpower the limitation, and this is a lesson for everybody.

Thank you very much. We'll continue next week our weekly program.