Approbation;) of the rabbis, long may they live, sons of the illustrious author, of blessed memory, whose soul is in Eden.
הַסְכָּמַת הָרַבָּנִים שֶׁיִּחְיוּ בְּנֵי הַגָּאוֹן הַמְחַבֵּר זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה נִשְׁמָתוֹ עֵדֶן.
Whereas it has been agreed by us to grant permission and authorization to bring to the printing press,
הֱיוֹת שֶׁהוּסְכַּם אֶצְלֵינוּ לִיתֵּן רְשׁוּת וְהַרְמָנָא לְהַעֲלוֹת עַל מַכְבֵּשׁ הַדְּפוּס,
for a remembrance for the Children of Israel
לְזִכָּרוֹן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל,
the written works of uprightness and truth,;) “words of the living G-d” (as Chasidic discourses are called) by our lord, our father, master, and teacher, of blessed memory,
כָּתוּב דִּבְרֵי יוֹשֶׁר וֶאֱמֶת, דִּבְרֵי אֱלֹקִים חַיִּים שֶׁל אֲדוֹנֵנוּ אָבִינוּ מוֹרֵנוּ וְרַבֵּנוּ זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה,
recorded personally by his own holy hand in his own saintly expression,
כְּתוּבִים בִּכְתַב יָדוֹ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה בְּעַצְמוֹ וּלְשׁוֹנוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ,
whose words are all like burning fiery coals, which ignite people’s hearts, to draw them near to our Father in heaven.
שֶׁכָּל דְּבָרָיו כְּגַחֲלֵי אֵשׁ בּוֹעֲרוֹת, יַלְהִיבוּ הַלְּבָבוֹת לְקָרְבָן לַאֲבִיהֶן שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם,
These discourses are collectively entitled Iggeret Hakodesh (“the holy epistle”), being mostly epistles sent by his holy eminence to teach the people of G-d the way by which they should walk and the deed which they should do.
וּבְשֵׁם אִגֶּרֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ נִקְרְאוּ, שֶׁרוּבָּם הָיוּ אִגֶּרֶת שָׁלוּחַ מֵאֵת כְּבוֹד קְדוּשָּׁתוֹ לְהוֹרוֹת לְעַם ה' הַדֶּרֶךְ יֵלְכוּ בָהּ וְהַמַּעֲשֶׂה אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשׂוּן,
“The way…” probably refers to the Chasidic paths of self-perfection, those letters offering guidance in attaining love and awe of G-d and in the proper service of G-d through prayer and Torah study, while “the deed…” refers to the inspirational letters dealing with charity and the like.
Inasmuch as [our father] has made reference, in many places,;) to his Sefer Likkutei Amarim, and since;) “the words of Torah are scanty in one place and ample in another” so that some subjects in Iggeret Hakodesh are more fully elucidated in Likkutei Amarim and vice versa—
וּמֵחֲמַת שֶׁבְּכַמָּה מְקוֹמוֹת הִצִּיב לוֹ צִיּוּנִים בְּסֵפֶר "לִקּוּטֵי אֲמָרִים" שֶׁלּוֹ, וְדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה עֲנִיִּים בְּמָקוֹם אֶחָד וַעֲשִׁירִים בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר,
especially also since the [Iggeret Hakodesh] introduces new material (pertaining to Likkutei Amarim) in the form of a Kuntres Acharon (“Later Booklet”) on certain chapters, which he wrote when he composed the Sefer Likkutei Amarim;
וּמַה גַּם בִּשְׁבִיל דָּבָר שֶׁנִּתְחַדֵּשׁ בּוֹ – "קוּנְטְרֵס אַחֲרוֹן" עַל אֵיזֶה פְּרָקִים, אֲשֶׁר כָּתַב בְּעֵת חִיבְּרוֹ הַסֵּפֶר "לִקּוּטֵי אֲמָרִים"
[the Kuntres Acharon] consists of profound discussions and insights in passages of the Zohar,Etz Chaim and Pri Etz Chaim, which appear to contradict one another,
– פִּלְפּוּל וְעִיּוּן עָמוֹק עַל מַאַמְרֵי זֹהַר וְעֵץ חַיִּים וּפְרִי עֵץ חַיִּים שֶׁנִּרְאִים כְּסוֹתְרִים זֶה אֶת זֶה,
and in his understanding spirit, [the author] resolves each passage according to its context as explained in Likkutei Amarim—and thus this part of Iggeret Hakodesh is certainly directly connected to Likkutei Amarim;)—
וּבְרוּחַ מִבִּינָתוֹ מְיַשְּׁבָם כָּל דִּיבּוּר עַל אוֹפְנָיו שֶׁכָּתַב בְּ"לִקּוּטֵי אֲמָרִים",
accordingly, we have deemed it proper to join [the discourses in Iggeret Hakodesh] to the Sefer Likkutei Amarim and Iggeret Hateshuvah of his saintly eminence our lord, our father, teacher, and master (i.e., to print them together).
רָאוֹ רָאִינוּ, שֶׁרָאוּי וְנָכוֹן לְחַבְּרָם עִם סֵפֶר "לִקּוּטֵי אֲמָרִים" וְ"אִגֶּרֶת הַתְּשׁוּבָה" שֶׁל כְּבוֹד קְדוּשַּׁת אֲדוֹנֵנוּ אָבִינוּ מוֹרֵנוּ וְרַבֵּנוּ זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה.
Therefore we hereby place a great fence (i.e., prohibition) and the ;)נח"ש(i.e., excommunication) of the Rabbis for which there is no remedy,
אֵי לָזֹאת, בָּאנוּ לְהָטִיל גּוּדָא רַבָּה וּגְזֵרַת נִדּוּי־חֵרֶם־שַׁמְתָּא דְּרַבָּנָן דְּלֵית לָהּ אַסְוָותָא,
that no man lift his hand;) to print [these discourses] in their present form together with the Likkutei Amarim, or one without the other,
שֶׁלֹּא יָרִים אִישׁ אֶת יָדוֹ לְהַדְפִּיס כְּתַבְנִיתָם אוֹ זֶה בְּלֹא זֶה
for a period of five years from the date below.
מֶשֶׁךְ חֲמִשָּׁה שָׁנִים מִיּוֹם דִּלְמַטָּה.
This, however, must be made known:
בְּרַם, כְּגוֹן דָּא צָרִיךְ לְאוֹדוֹעֵי,
To our misfortune,;) the manuscripts written by his personal saintly hand, which were composed with great precision without a superfluous or deficient letter, have become extinct.
שֶׁבַּעֲוֹנוֹתֵינוּ הָרַבִּים, סָפוּ תַמּוּ כִּתְבֵי יָדוֹ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה בְּעַצְמוֹ אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ בְּדִקְדּוּק גָּדוֹל לֹא חָסֵר וְלֹא יָתֵר אוֹת אַחַת,
All that has remained from the abundance of material is this small number of writings, which have been collected one by one from the copies spread among the disciples.
וְלֹא נִשְׁאַר, כִּי אִם זֶה הַמְעַט מֵהַרְבֵּה אֲשֶׁר נִלְקְטוּ אֶחָד לְאֶחָד מֵהַעְתָּקוֹת הַמְפוּזָּרִים אֵצֶל הַתַּלְמִידִים,
Should, therefore, an error be discovered—for “who can avoid errors?”;)—the obvious error will be identified as deriving from a scribal slip, but the meaning will be clear.
וְאִם הִמָּצֵא תִמָּצֵא אֵיזֶה טָעוּת, "שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי יָבִין?", יִמָּצֵא הַטָּעוּת דְּמוּכָח מִטָּעוּת סוֹפֵר, וְהַכַּוָּונָה תִּהְיֶה בְּרוּרָה:
Today is the 5th day [Thursday], 22 Iyar, in the year 574 of the [sixth] millennium.;)
הַיוֹם, יוֹם ה' כ"ב אִיָּיר תקע"ד לִפְרָט קָטָן.
Declared by DovBer, the son of my lord, father, teacher, and master, gaon and Chasid, saint of Israel, our teacher and master Schneur Zalman, of blessed memory, whose soul rests in the hidden treasure houses of heaven.
נְאוּם דּוֹב בֶּער בֶּן אֲדוֹנִי אָבִי מוֹרִי וְרַבִּי הַגָּאוֹן הֶחָסִיד קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל מָרָנָא וְרַבָּנָא שְׁנֵיאוֹר זַלְמָן זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה, נִשְׁמָתוֹ בְּגִנְזֵי מְרוֹמִים.
Declared also by Chaim Avraham, the son of my lord, father, teacher, and master, gaon and Chasid, our teacher and master Schneur Zalman; may the memory of the tzaddik be blessed, whose soul rests in the hidden treasure houses of heaven.
וּנְאוּם חַיִּים אַבְרָהָם בֶּן אֲדוֹנִי אָבִי מוֹרִי וְרַבִּי הַגָּאוֹן הֶחָסִיד מָרָנָא וְרַבָּנָא שְׁנֵיאוֹר זַלְמָן זֵכֶר צַדִּיק לִבְרָכָה, נִשְׁמָתוֹ בְּגִנְזֵי מְרוֹמִים.
Declared also by Moshe, the son of my lord, father, teacher, and master, gaon and Chasid Schneur Zalman, of blessed memory, whose soul rests in the hidden treasure houses of heaven.;)
וּנְאוּם מֹשֶׁה בֶּן אֲדוֹנִי אָבִי מוֹרִי וְרַבִּי הַגָּאוֹן הֶחָסִיד שְׁנֵיאוֹר זַלְמָן זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה, נִשְׁמָתוֹ בְּגִנְזֵי מְרוֹמִים.
Footnotes
17.
First published in the Shklov, 5574 (1814) edition. See above, p. 5, note 8.
18.
Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 12:10.
19.
In Epistles 3, 5, 6, 17, 18, 20, (25?), 29, and in Kuntres Acharon, sec. beg. “And charity like a mighty stream….”
20.
Paraphrase of the Jerusa lem Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 3:5, which is quoted in Tosafot on Keritot 14a,s.v. אלא.
21.
However, see the passage that introduces Kuntres Acharon, Essay One, in Vol. V of this series, p. 616.
22.
נדוי, חרם, שמתא—three forms of excommunication, which also form in acrostic the word נחש—“snake,” hence the expression “for which (i.e., ‘for whose bite’) there is no remedy” (cf. Shabbat 110a)").
23.
From Genesis 41:44; i.e., “shall take any liberties.”
24.
Literally, “on account of our many sins.”
25.
Psalms 19:13.
26.
The Shklov, 5574 (1814) edition bears the date “Thursday, the 22nd of lyar, 5574,” subsequently omitted but reinstated here, according to Luach Hatikkun (List of Text Ememdation in the Tanya) by the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
27.
“To date, I have found no explanation for the variations in the titles with which each of the Alter Rebbe’s sons describes his father in his signature and why each in succession omits two words from the signature of the one before him (as the text appears in all editions beginning with that of 5660 [1900]). “It has been suggested that at the time of signing the approbation, the first signatory, as the Alter Rebbe’s successor, was himself a Rebbe, a ‘‘saint in Israel”; he therefore emphasizes the Alter Rebbe’s greatness in being a “saint in Israel.” The second signatory was at the time a rav and a halachic authority, and he therefore places the emphasis on the Alter Rebbe’s greatness as “our master and teacher.” The third signatory was then a gaon and a Chasid (as is known from the traditions handed on by the leaders of Chabad), and he therefore emphasizes the Alter Rebbe’s greatness as a gaon and Chasid. “In the same vein, we could also understand the distinctive phrase, “the memory of the tzaddik be blessed,” in the second signature—based on the tradition that the second signatory was outstanding in his righteousness and humility.” (—Note by the Rebbe.)