0584 - Not to Sell Kids Sefer Torah in Display

00:00 Reb Yesev Yitzchak Bronstein, who was a shliach in Hollywood, Florida, used to years ago have a Judaica business. So once he came up with a hamsah, with an idea that he would take the little sifrei Torah that are made for children, the little ones, which is just a photostat of real sifrei Torah. It's made on paper, printed, and it has a din like a Chumash because it has the words of the pesukim. And he would manufacture a case made of lucite, looking like a shtender, a few inches high, and he would put the sefer inside open, put the sefer Torah there open, and he would sell it for a showpiece that people could buy it and that would stand on the, or the coffee table or on some, on the side in the room. This is something that he could sell or make some money from, but it would be a very nice item to sell. So he made a few, manufactured a few, and he sent one into the Rebbe asking for a bracha. After he sent it in, he waited for a while. There was no answer. He put it, sent it in during summertime someplace, sometimes, and the Rebbe did not answer. He got in touch with the maskirim, and they said they don't know why. It's standing the whole time on the Rebbe's desk in his room, but the Rebbe's not answering. Till finally, it came Chanukah time, which is quite a few months after he sent it in. They called

01:22 him up that the Rebbe answered, and this is what the Rebbe wrote, "Harei behanal shemos hakdeshim vechulu." That in the hanal, in this that you gave me, in the above mention, meaning in this item, there are holy names of Hashem, et cetera. And this is underlined, the word shemos hakdeshim vechulu underlined. "Ubeotiyos meruboyos davka vechulu," and with blocked letters, davka, et cetera. "Umi yocheli es ha'achrai," who could take responsibility, "sheyishmeru k'dorosh?" That they're gonna watch it, they're gonna keep it, and keep it the way you're supposed to. Because this has shemos hakdeshim, they have to have the proper respect, and it has to be a proper way. So who could be responsible that they're gonna guard it, protect it, keep it like you're supposed to? And then in parentheses, "Afilu shelo k'dorosh," even if not exactly the way it's supposed to, to bechalal have a shemirah on it, watch it, vechulu, et cetera. And therefore, the Rebbe was saying basically that you can't do that. And then the Rebbe added, "Vaharei kama vekama ifaneh paroseh, panoseh yeshnom." There are many, many different ways of panoseh. "Velo yodei inyonim kehanal," but not through things like this, like these things. "Vekal vedal." Vekal means vekal hovain, it's easy to understand. Vedal, vedal amevin, it's enough for someone to understand these words are enough. In other words, the Rebbe's saying this is not a good idea because it's gonna be in a place that people will not properly keep it with the right respect. And then the Rebbe

02:51 wrote concerning the ones that he did manufacture already, "Ve'yasiyayed berav yirei shamayim." You should get advice from a Rav who's a yirei shamayim. "Meira irov bepeil," a Rav who paskens l'maaseh halochas bepeil. "Ma ayaseh bekesher hakol hanal," what you should do with all this. In other words, with the ones that you have, what you should do with it. And he actually got in touch with a Rav, and the psak din was that he could sell those that he had. I don't know how many. It wasn't so much that he could sell, but he has to have a sticker on it and whole thing to write about the shemirah, how you could watch it, et cetera, et cetera. I don't know exact details, but this was the Rebbe's answer, that since this has holy names, and it's even the black letters, which is like the letters of a sefer Torah, so that's even holier. So who could be achrai that someone, that the people who will buy it will keep it k'dorosh, they will protect it, they will respect it the way you're supposed to, and even, not even the way you're supposed to bechalal to protect it, and therefore you shouldn't do it. And you'll find panos in another way. This is a lesson in bechalal when it comes to these things, how a person should behave legave selling things which might cause that people will not respect it k'dorosh.