023 Letter 150

Michtav Kuf Nun. הנני משיב בזאת קבלת מכתבך, I acknowledge, I confirm receiving your letter. והתענגתי לראות דברי תורתך בפנקס הכתבים ששלחת לי and in that compendium of ktavim of divrei torah that you sent me. A pinkas

הפנקס הזה מעט כמאה עדים על היותך שקוע בדברי תורה.

A person can be learning Torah, a person can be shakua b'divrei torah. To be immersed in divrei torah. There is a certain continuity in his involvement.

ולא עוד אלא שעבודתך מורה באצבע על כשרון מאד נעלה,

it's as if it points with a finger, it points out the special ability

והצטיינות מרובה ברוחב הידיעות המתגלגלות בדבריך. כל אוהב תורה שש ושמח בראותו אילן יפה העולה ומשגשג ועתיד להביא פירות מתוקים בשדה התורה,

anyone who loves Torah rejoices seeing a nice tree which is blossoming and destined to bring sweet fruit in the field of Torah. ועל אודות שאלתך בנוגע לפרסומם של כתבים הללו, you asked about publishing these ktavim. בודאי שיש בהם כדי להביא תועלת למעינים. Yes, it would be productive for people, it would be helpful, stimulating for people. Aval atzati ne'emana, my faithful advice to you is שתמנע את עצמך לעת עתה מקביעת הדברים בדפוס from publishing these things. הדרך הנכונה בשבילך הוא להרבות בקנייני אוצרות התורה to increase your acquisition from all the treasuries, all the storehouses of Torah ולהיות נכון לעריכת חידושיך בכתב and you should be working on compiling, composing, editing your written chidushim, again without publishing, עד שתגדל ותשתנן ותגדל מאד בתורה until you'll become older and become very great in Torah. רק אז יהיה מועד לחזון של קביעת דבריך בדפוס, then it will be the appropriate time of publishing your words. הגבר נא שכלך על רצונך. Let your seichel prevail over your ratzon, over your will, and don't rush ואל תהי אץ להפצת דבריך ברבים to disseminate your words in public. הנח להם לחידושיך שיתבשלו בבישולא בישל בקרבך פנימה. Let them ripen time after time inwardly within you עד שיתקדשו הדברים במלואם ואל יפגמו ביציאה לחוץ until they'll be sanctified by their completion through their completion and let them not be blemished by being put out prematurely. There are sort of two considerations that reading the letter brings to mind. One is on a simpler level. The issue is as any anyone older can attest from experience is that divrei Torah an insight if Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives a person an insight into a sugya a he'arah a chiddush it grows organically. All of Torah is is intertwined. A he'arah in one sugya which is meaningful, which is worth sharing, but later a person will then see how that he'arah is even more significant, more repercussive, runs deeper than he realized when he sees how it sheds light on another sugya. And that process continues and and that's the way a he'arah a chiddush or or something grows organically. Almost every shtickel in Reb Chaim's sefer is composed of multiple chiddushim. And and that's for this reason, because of this interplay within different sugyos in Shas. Because of this interconnectedness of divrei Torah, a chiddush in one sugya, again, very meaningful, very meaningful בוודאי יש בהם כדי להביא תועלת leads to a chiddush in another sugya which makes one also more fully appreciate, understand that original he'arah. So that's on on one level what what we're talking about here what what's lost in in the premature publication is that it's sort of putting things out in a truncated form. But again, I don't know which of these Rav Hutner intended in this context, but whichever of the whichever he was thinking of, certainly both ideas we're going to talk about are true. But then there's another consideration in such a case also. They they tell the story, I don't know this through family chains so I can't vouch for it, but but the it has a ring of authenticity to it the story. That they asked the Beis Halevi after Reb Chaim had become who he was maybe at the time he was already the Rosh Yeshiva together with the Netziv in Volozhin. And they said to the Beis Halevi, you know amongst children there were lots of illuim. Lots of big illuim. And and when they're five, when they're seven, when they're eight you hear about this illuy, that illuy from here, from there. And then rubba derubba fifteen twenty years later you don't hear anything about them. They fizzle. They just don't they don't develop. How is it that that your son that that didn't happen, he didn't suffer that fate? How is it that that שמו הולך לפניו מסוף העולם ועד סופו? And the Beis Halevi answered, because I kept him hidden. I kept him hidden as a child. That doesn't mean that he, chas veshalom, locked him in a room, right? That's obviously not what the Beis Halevi was saying. I kept him hidden. I was as tzanua as possible about who he was.

אין לך יפה מן הצניעות. אין לך יפה מן הצניעות.

Obviously at a certain point, at a certain age, at a certain stage, and at a certain point it's it's an incorrect application of tznius for a person to say, you know, I can't draw on what I know. and let anyone realize that. So Reb Moshe Feinstein is not going to write shailos u'tshuvos because אין לך יפה מן הצניעות. So obviously that's not a correct application of tznius. That's not what what tznius means. And the Rav is not going to give shiur because אין לך יפה מן הצניעות. Obviously, that's not a correct application. But there is an age and stage of life where it is a kiyum in אין לך יפה מן הצניעות to remain hidden. Chazal say that phrase on the luchos rishonos that shenitnu bekoli kolos. So what happened to the luchos rishonos? Nishtaber. And the luchos shniyos, there was no fanfare. Shenitnu betzina, so it was davka the luchos shniyos sheniskayemu. That's another consideration that can be relevant. Again, which of the two the Hofetz Chaim was thinking of, was he thinking of both? I don't know. But that's another cheshbon. That a person always has to try to figure out, to try to intuit what the right balance is between on the one hand, a person has a mitzvah to teach Torah. A person has a mitzvah to share whatever insight Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives him. It's true in general with whatever abilities a person has in all areas, that a person has a mitzvah to use and share and a person always has to be looking for that correct balance between doing that and between the tznius. My brother Hashem yikom damo commented, I think it was during the shiva for our grandfather. He said that generally in his shiurim in the yeshiva, when he came to the Kodshim'dike sugyas, he used to skip them. Okay, so he figured Rosh Yeshiva, they know how to say a perek in Nezikin. Who says shiurim on Kodshim? So then my brother said that when he was learning bechavrusa, he was learning the Kodshim'dike sugyas. So he would go over to our grandfather and ask him and he was nishtomem at how fresh and crisp his command was of all the sugyas. So why did he skip them when they came up in yeshiva? Because it wasn't necessary. It wasn't necessary to learn davka those sugyas. So that was a way of striking a balance between on the one hand, a person has to be melamed Torah. It's the ikar mitzvah. On the other hand, the אין לך יפה מן הצניעות. Okay, so as indicated in the email, so im yirtzeh Hashem we're beginning hazara today. So for the balance of the week, the shiurim will be this morning slot. I don't know, maybe to be determined whether on Thursday we learn Pirkei Avos as well. Okay rabosai, be well, be safe, have a good productive day, kol tuv.