028 Rav Twersky 900AM Mussar Rav Hutner Letter 213 May 20 2020

Good morning, Rabosai. I hope everyone's well. Michtav Reish-Gimmel, 213. החודש הזה לכם ראש חודשים, Rosh Chodesh Nissan, תשל"ו, Brooklyn. אדלג הפעם על המליצות ועל התוארים. I'll skip the flowery language and the various titles

ואשתמש במילה פשוטה אשר הפעם היא עמוקה, הלא היא המילה אהובי,

ne'imas bimincha netzach. הנה ידידנו חבר אנשי סגולתנו, my closest intimates,

טוענים וחוזרים וטוענים כי אין להם מנוח עד אשר יצליחו למצוא איזה חפץ שתהא ראויה להקריב לפניך בתוס' כוח ותודה על חסדך הגדול והמופלא שגמלת אתנו.

I don't know, the letter doesn't specify what what this clearly extraordinary chesed was, but that's the context of this letter. And the Rebbe says that you know his bnei bayis, his intimates are saying that they have to somehow or other give him some kind of present. ואני ברצון הנני מסרב להאזין לדבריהם, I refuse to go along with that.

ואין דמיוני יכול לצייר לי את החומר הזך והמצוחצח אשר ממנו עלול לכם למצוא חפץ זה להימצא.

I can't I don't have the imagination to to see the the pure material from which such a present could could come to existence.

מרגיש אני בזה מעין דברי המפורשים המימרא שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא.

He quotes a gevaldige pshat. What's pshat in that שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא? What's pshat in that? So he quotes beautifully, מפני שאין בהאי עלמא שיווי היכול לשמש כשכר מצוה. Because the sechar mitzvah is so great that there's nothing in in this world there's nothing in this world that can possibly possibly serve appropriately as sechar mitzvah. Gevaldige pshat, gevaldige pshat. לבשר ודם יש לדבר בהיקף של האי עלמא. A person can't talk about the entire world, the Rebbe says, but I can talk about my my world, my microcosm.

אבל בודאי שיכול אני לדבר במונחים מעולמי שלי. בעולמי אני שכר גדול חסדך ליכא.

In my world, I I can't imagine anything that that wouldn't that would again be an appropriate expression. ומפני כך אני מסרב לטענתם של חבר אנשי סגולתנו. Sometimes an inappropriate token really diminishes the in this context the chesed. It's a very very important sensitivity. Omnam kein,

עד הנה דברתי אודות הטוב וחסד שגמלת אתי בבחינת היגיעה והעבודה והמסירות המרעידה מיתרי הלב.

Aval lekushta demilsa, the truth of the matter is, יש לי בלבי מדור הרבה יותר עמוק. There is a a a compartment in my heart much deeper אשר הכרת טובתך שוכנת בו. Where my hakaras hatov towards you resides.

הכרת טובה זו מכוונת. הכרת הטוב הזו מכוונת היא אליך עבור השיעור בשימושה של מידת החסד שלמדתי אצלך.

So if one says besides being makir tov to you for the chesed, I am makir tov to you for teaching me what chesed means, how to impart, how to practice chesed. והלא משנה יתירה היא להזכיר כאן את המימרא, it's unnecessary because it's self-understood the relevance of גדולה שימושה של תורה יותר מלימודה. To see firsthand the implementation of Torah, right? גדולה שימושה של תורה יותר מלימודה means to see Torah applied, to see Torah implemented. Not just to see Torah presented, explained, discussed, but to see it applied, to see it implemented. There's an extra dimension of learning again in seeing the actual implementation rather than just the theoretical discussion of the shiurim. האמן לי כי בכל ימי טיפולך—maybe Rav Hutner had been very sick and he had cared for him, I don't know—האמן לי כי בכל ימי טיפולך, believe me, האמן לי כי בכל ימי טיפולך during throughout the days of your treating me, וראיתי קמטי פניך כאות גווילין של ספר תורה, I saw the wrinkles of your face like the parchment of sefer Torah אשר פרשת החסד כתובה בו on which the parsha of chesed was written. דומים היו עלי שתי זרועותיך, your two arms for me resembled

כשני עמודי עצי חיים המחזיקים את הקלף אשר תורת החסד חרותה בו

as the two atzei chayim, the two poles at the side which support the sefer Torah.

כל זה היה לי שיעור נפלא בדמותה של מידת החסד.

All this was a remarkable shiur for me, meaning that you delivered not orally but in a more powerful way through your actions.

כל זה היה לי שיעור נפלא בדמותה של מידת החסד

and hineni mispa'er lefanecha, I as it were, I brag, I praise myself, right? Obviously in a type of quotation, כי למדתי את השיעור הזה בשקידה ובעיון that I studied this shiur that you gave in depth. Tehillah lashem and Baruch Hashem,

שאני מרגיש בקרבי בחוש ובמסוים תועלת רבה במידת החסד שלי.

I find that I've grown in middas hachesed from what I learned from being on the receiving end and seeing how you practiced chesed. There's an important again just havanah in what גדולה שימושה של תורה יותר מלימודה means. Again to see the actual application of divrei Torah, the actual implementation of divrei Torah, which is what someone who is being meshamesh is positioned to do as opposed to someone who's just lomed. A, B, there's also here especially when it comes to something such as a middas hachesed, the living example, the difference between just an oral presentation, discussion, description, etc. and between a living example is very significant. And the way we learn the most is through and from the living example. Chazal say the Why? Because the story of Eliezer, so the Torah tells us the story twice. Once as it happens, once as Eliezer retells it. And harbe gufei Torah of Hilchos Shabbos is contained within a smichus haparshiyos between the Mishkan and Shabbos. So what does that mean? So I once heard a very beautiful peshat from Rav Nissan Alpert zecher tzaddik livracha. So he said as follows. He said amongst gedolei Yisrael we find different styles. He says the Vilna Gaon wrote chidushim atzumim in three words, Ayin. In juxtaposing a certain Gemara to a certain din in Shulchan Aruch, so the Gaon compressed the whole extraordinary shtikel Torah into that Ayin. So brief, so terse. Me’idach gisa, we find from בעל שם טוב הקדוש. The Baal Shem Tov used to tell stories. Much more expansive, much more elaborate. Says, what’s the peshat? Says the peshat is that the style has to fit the subject matter. It’s not just a question that different people have different styles, but it’s rather that the style has to be adjusted to the subject matter. When the Gaon said ma’arachot and chidushei Torah atzumim with an Ayin or something, again he was talking about clarifying what the halacha is in a certain case. Baal Shem Tov was trying to teach midos. Baal Shem Tov was teaching emunah. There the style that’s appropriate is takeh the story, because what a story tries to do, it’s the closest thing that a person can do by word of mouth to providing the living example. The closest thing to a living example in the context of oral communication is to describe, to depict through words, a living example, to tell a story. And that’s what’s reflected here as well, that as much as a person can learn and know and internalize from learning הלכות בין אדם לחברו, but the living example, the living application and implementation teaches us something and makes an impression and an impact upon us that only it is able to do. Okay rabosai have a good productive day, be well, be safe. Thank you, kol tuv.