Good morning rabbosai. I apologize for the delay. This meeting is being recorded. מעלת כבוד סגן ראש המועצה הרב אברהם מכתבך הגיעני. שבתי ושניתי למקרא דבריך המחוכמים. והנני בזה להבהיר את כוונתי באותו ענין שבין חנוכה לפורים.
And then in response and comment which later was published in the series of Pachad Yitzchak: הנני בזה להודיעך כי מעולם לא עלה על דעתי להפקיע את נס פורים מחובת הודאה. וזהו דבר שאינו צריך להיאמר.
I never ever intended or ever said such a thing that there's no chiuv hoda'ah klapei the nes of Purim. כוונתי הייתה על דרך שמצינו בחובת הלל. I was transposing a distinction which we find legabei Hallel to the realm of hoda'ah. Right, so this is a I mean at the time this letter was written, the Reb Velvel's sefer on the Rambam hadn't been published. But now we sort of associate this distinction with something that Reb Velvel has there, the Rav has it in the Yortzeit Shiurim as well, that there are two different triggers as it were for chiuv Hallel. There's Hallel which is call it a scheduled Hallel, that the zman is mechayev in Hallel, Yom Tov. And then there's Hallel al hanes where the event triggers Hallel. It's not something which is the calendar day per se that's mechayev in Hallel, but it's the event, the nes which is mechayev in bolet hu hadavar and if one really wants to see this sharply, this distinction, ההבדל שבין ההלל דלילי פסחים וההלל דיומא של פסח. The Hallel at the Seder as opposed to the Hallel in the day of Pesach. ההלל של לילי פסחים אינו בא מצד חובת הרגל. That it's not a Hallel again which is the day that the day is mechayev. Look at Yom Tov, the Hallel of Yom Tov at night. ממזרח שמש עד מבואו mehulal shem Hashem. When the sun is up, so then we say Hallel. mehulal shem Hashem ממזרח שמש עד מבואו. But there's no Hallel at night. That means when the Hallel is mitzad hazman, when the zman is mechayev in Hallel. And the Hallel Pesach night therefore is in reaction to the nes of yetzias mitzrayim. אלא שההלל דלילי פסחים על הנס הוא בא ואילו ההלל של חג הפסח הוא מצד המועד. וכוונתי הייתה איפה ובאיזו יש מקום לחילוק זה.
That within chiuv hoda'ah there's an analogous distinction. דבעוד שההודאה דפורים היא מצד הנס גרידא. The day of Purim doesn't have the inherent quality in terms of the zman to be mechayev in hoda'ah. הרי ההודאה דחנוכה היא באה מצד קדושת הזמן עצמו. ומצד זה נאמרו הדברים כי הודאה מיוחדת היא לחנוכה.
And that's what I was saying that there's something special about the hoda'ah of Chanukah, meaning that the zman of Chanukah is a zman which is mechayev in hoda'ah. Okay. It's an important yesod which really we actually encounter outside of... Again, in terms of hallel, sometimes the zman of Yom Tov is mechayev and sometimes an event of a nes is mechayev. Again, in terms of hallel, sometimes the zman of Yom Tov is mechayev and sometimes an event of a nes is mechayev. Similarly legabei hoda'ah, the zman of Aseres Yemei Teshuva is mechayev inherently. It doesn't matter what's happening in terms of geopolitics, what's happening socially, the zman of Aseres Yemei Teshuva is mechayev in teshuva, it's mechayev in nachpisa deracheinu venachkora. The zman in Olam Hazeh, the zman is mechayev. But then that same chiyuv of nachpisa deracheinu venachkora, that same chiyuv of there being a tzara, an event can be mechayev also. And clearly we're living through something of that sort. So it's an important yesod to recognize. Again, it's not only, doesn't only pertain to Chovas Hallel, to Chovas Hoda'ah, but in other tchumei HaTorah as well. Sometimes the zman is mechayev, just independent of anything and everything else. The zman is mechayev. Doesn't matter what's around us, and sometimes no, there's an event which is mechayev. And the analog to the nes legabei hoda'ah and hallel is the tzara legabei the chiyuv teshuva and legabei the chiyuv of nachpisa deracheinu venachkora. והנה אף על פי שכתבתי לך Rabbi, Rabbi, I don't think we can hear you. Sorry about that unscheduled coffee break, rabosai. והנה אף על פי שכתבתי לך שהתענגתי הרבה על הערותיך בדברי הקונטרס, מכל מקום האמת ניתן להיאמר כי הרבה יותר הייתי מתענג והייתי מודה לך כי הקונטרס פעל עליך התעוררות בקיום של עבודה ממש.
As much as I enjoyed the divrei Torah and the sharp penetrating haros, I would have been happier to hear that the kuntres had some practical effect on you, that it translated into some kind of aliyah that you had, some kind of improvement, some kind of upgrade into your actual avodah. Bederech dugma, I would have been happier to hear, happier to hear she'hirgashta ilu bitefillah. That you felt a certain, again, upgrade in your tefillah or in yiras shamayim. Sorry rabosai, let's try one more time. If we get cut off again, then we'll just end it for now. הלא אתה יודע מחמדי כי בעל מוח אתה. You're cerebral, that's your natural strength. וממילא לעולם אשמח יותר לראות אצלך צד עליה בהנהגת החיים של דרכי עבודת השם מאשר דברי שכל הנובעים מן המוח.
Which is why it will always be a source of greater simcha for me to see improvement and growth in that area of your life which isn't your strength, which doesn't come as easily and as naturally to you. There is a balance that a person has to strike in life on the one hand... On the one hand it's true that a person should play to his strengths, that a person should recognize where his כשרונות lie and emphasize them. מאידך גיסא, it doesn't mean that what isn't naturally an area of strength is something that a person can just sort of allow to vegetate and just allow that to remain on whatever level it naturally is. No, a person has to look to improve and grow there as well. And that's what the balance that's reflected in this letter. A person can be naturally more נמשך to תפילה and not so נמשך to learning. So אדרבה אדרבה he should take advantage of those כוחות הנפש for תפילה. But simultaneously he has to make an extra concerted effort to try to grow and develop in his learning as well. A person can be more נמשך to בין אדם למקום not so נמשך בין אדם לחברו. And another person can have the opposite natural inclination and natural sense of strength. And in each case on the one hand yes, the כוחות הנפש a person has been given he should try to utilize fully and take full advantage of. But מאידך גיסא a person also has to be שלם. To be שלם it means that a person has to try to develop himself in those areas where he's weak as well. This need for שלמות there's a ווארט from רב ישראל סלנטר. רב ישראל סלנטר was once I don't know asked, asked is probably doesn't quite capture it was more challenged. I think it was about his תלמיד רב איצל'ה. And he was said you know רב איצל'ה is such a tremendous בעל כשרון. If he wouldn't be spending the time on the מוסר but just on the learning he'd be such an even greater גדול. But because he's sort of spreading himself out more thinly so that's detracting from the מידה of גדלות. So רב ישראל סלנטר answered in הלכות ברכות הנהנין you have the following דין. Let's say you have a small חלה, a complete small חלה. And then you have one of these wedding size חלות but it's only four fifths of the wedding size חלה, a piece has been cut off of it. So the question is and you gotta eat both. So which do you make the ברכה on initially? You make the ברכה on the שלם albeit in כמות smaller or do you make the ברכה on what's bigger albeit that it's not שלם? So the דין is that you make the ברכה on the שלם not on the גדול. So רב ישראל סלנטר answered שלמות has a דין קדימה over גדלות. That it's more important that a person aspire for שלמות than aspiring for that extra מידה of גדלות. And part of the שלמות, or not part of it but a major major focus within that quest for שלמות is the recognizing the areas within עבודת השם