Yud-Tet Kislev, the "Rosh Hashanah of the Chassidic year", is the yahrzeit of Rabbi DovBer (c.1700-1772), the "Maggid" of Mezritch, successor to the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760), founder of the Chassidic movement. It is also the anniversary of the miraculous release of the founder of the Chabad dynasty, Rabbi Shneur Zalman (1745-1812), from Russian prison in 1798 on charges of treason - and the publication date in 1796 of his famous book of Chassidism (and Kabbalah, psychology and ethics): Tanya.

The three events are not unconnected, as we shall see by examining two interesting episodes in the history of the Chassidic movement.

One day during Rabbi Shneur Zalman's imprisonment, he was "visited" by the spirits of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid. He asked them for the spiritual explanation of his arrest. They explained that a serious accusation had been brought against him in Heaven for revealing secrets of Torah, intensified by the publication of the Tanya. When he then queried if that meant he should cease, they responded that at this point not only must he not stop, he should continue with increased effort.

This is an amazing story. However, some students of Chassidic annals find a contradiction between this story and another episode that took place a generation previously, when Rabbi Shneur Zalman was a young disciple in the court of the Maggid. The main ingredient of this remedy was the ground-up particles of a certain precious stone…

Rabbi Pincus of Koritz, a distinguished disciple of the Baal Shem Tov and a spiritual giant in his own right, objected to the Maggid's public expositions of the "inner dimensions". Once, when he visited him, he found a page containing notes on a Chassidic discourse of the Maggid's lying on the ground. He was incensed. His ire aroused a heavenly accusation against the Maggid which was only neutralized when Rabbi Shneur Zalman appeased Rabbi Pincus with his now-famous parable:

There was a king who had an only child that became deathly sick and fell into a coma. The royal physician announced that there was only one hope. If the prince could be made to swallow a few drops of a special medicine, perhaps it would help. The main ingredient of this remedy was the ground-up particles of a certain precious stone. The jewel was so rare, however, that there was only one in the entire kingdom: the central and most beautiful gem of the king's crown.
His advisors told the king not to risk destroying the crown, because the chances of success were much too small. Without the slightest hesitation the king dismissed them, exclaiming, "If the prince doesn't survive, of what value is the crown?"

The two stories seem to clash. Given Rabbi Shneur Zalman's successful defense of his master, isn't the seemingly identical charge against him decades later a clear case of double jeopardy?

The key is to isolate two different approaches to the study of the mystical teachings, each of which is an outgrowth and embodiment of one of two justifications for the spread of this study in our times. Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote in the name of the holy Ari of Safed, that the spread of the hidden wisdom is indispensable…

Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote in the name of the holy Ari of Safed, that the spread of the hidden wisdom is indispensable for two reasons: to overcome the increasing spiritual darkness of the modern environment, and to help usher in the Era of Mashiach. For the first purpose the best approach is to search the literature for those sparks that impact meaningfully for you - or in terms of the parable, to assimilate a few drops. The latter purpose, however - to prepare for and elicit the Messianic redemption - mandates a more explicit, detailed knowledge than the first, scanning approach. Here the goal is not illumination but saturation - until "the world be full of the knowledge of G‑d as the waters cover the seabed" (Maimonides, Mishna Torah (end), from Isaiah 11:9).

Now the two stories can be understood in sequence, resolving the apparent contradiction. The "crown prince" parable effectively defended the "spark-gathering" approach. The second accusation, a generation later, was not a repetition of the first; rather it focused on the intellectual explicitness of Rabbi Shneur Zalman's public teachings.

Both approaches are, of course, important and necessary. However, the imminent arrival of Mashiach would seem to add emphasis to the attainment of deep, full knowledge of Torah's inner dimensions. A great way to begin on this Yud-Tet Kislev, is with the new cycle of daily Tanya study.

Copyright 2003 by R. Yerachmiel Tilles, Ascent of Safed. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof, in any form, unless with permission, in writing, from Ascent of Safed.