Brief 1
Brief 2
Brief 3
Brief 4
Brief 5
Brief 6
Brief 7
Brief 8
Brief 9
Brief 10
Brief 11
Brief 12-1
Brief 12-2
Brief 13
Brief 14
Brief 15
Brief 16
Brief 17
Brief 18
Brief 19
Brief 20
Brief 21
Brief 22
Brief 23
Brief 24
Brief 25
Brief 26
Brief 27
Brief 28
Brief 29
Brief 30
Brief 31
Brief 32
Brief 33
Brief 34
Brief 35
Brief 36
Brief 37
Brief 38-1
Brief 38-2
Brief 39
Brief 40
Brief 41
Brief 42
Brief 43
Brief 44
Brief 45
Brief 46
Brief 47
Brief 48
Brief 49
Brief 50
Brief 51
Brief 52
Brief 53
Brief 54
Brief 55
Brief 56
Brief 57
Brief 58
Brief 59
Brief 60
Brief 61
Brief 62
Brief 63
Brief 64
Brief 65
Brief 66
Brief 67
Brief 68
Brief 69
Brief 70
Brief 71
Brief 72
Brief 73
Brief 74
Brief 75
Brief 76
Brief 77
Brief 78
Bibliothekchevron_right
Rabash/Briefe
chevron_right
Brief 42
 

Letter No. 42

Hello and all the best to my friend,

I wrote you a letter before Passover, but since the address was incorrect, the letter returned. Now, before the festival of Shavuot, which is the time of the giving of our Torah, I shall write you a few lines…

The preparation for the Torah, as it pertains to us, is the matter of fear, as it is written, “And the people encamped, as one man with one heart.” This means that they all had one goal, which is to benefit the Creator. It follows…

We should understand how they could be as one man with one heart, since we know what our sages said, “As their faces are not similar to one another, their views are not similar to one another,” so how could they be as one man with one heart?

Answer: If we are saying that each one cares for himself, it is impossible to be as one man, since they are not similar to one another. However, if they all annul their selves and worry only about the benefit of the Creator, they have no individual views, since the individuals have all been canceled and have entered the single authority.

This is the meaning of what is written, “The view of landlords is opposite from the view of Torah.” It is so because the view of Torah is cancelling the authority, as our sages said, “‘If a man dies in a tent,’ the Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death,” meaning he puts himself to death, namely his self-gratification, and does everything only for the Creator.

This is called “preparation for reception of the Torah,” since it is written that it is forbidden to teach idol-worshippers the Torah, as it is written, “He shall not do so to any nation, and they do not know the ordinances” …