Hebrew Manuscripts : Miscellaneous hasidic texts

Folio 1a: Legal parameter for fulfilling commandment to love God, conveyed by the Baal Shem Tov to the Maggid of Mezritch (the leaders of the first two generations of Hasidism) to RSZ. Published: Rabbi Isaac ha-Levi Epstein of Homil, ‘The Two Great Luminaries’, f. 30b = p. 60.
Folios 12a-19b: צמח צדק, (דרך מצותיך), שרש מצות התפלה. Published: ‘The Way of Thy Commandments’, f. 115a = p. 229 and ff.
Folios 20a-27b: ‘The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives’ / ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדות העבריות. Note: At the bottom of 27b, where this discourse breaks off in the middle, there is a note in another hand stating ‘לצרף 10 בייגין’, viz. ‘to insert 10 folios [lit. folded sheets of paper, “baygen”]’. (Same handwriting has similar message in Gaster Hebrew 1359.) RMM. Published: Or Ha-Torah, Exodus vol. 7, pp. 2491 – 2496.
Folios 92a-94a: Responsum by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyadi addressing legal and communal-political concerns regarding the sharpening of knives used for kosher slaughter, in which he advocated the use of a sakin meluṭash / סכין מלוטש, lit. ‘polished’ or ‘honed’ knife. This became a point of contention between the Hasidim and their opponents (the ‘Mitnaggdim’). Published, Igrois Koidesh Admur Hazoken … Admur ha-Zaqen, Letter no. 61 (pp. 143 – 148). Also, as noted by the scribe of the manuscript, a synopsis of the letter is published in Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s Responsa (Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyadi, Shulchon Oruch volume five, Yoreh Deah, Kehot Publication Society, Brooklyn, NY, 2007, Responsum no. 7, pp. 505 – 506) .
Folios 94a-95a: Plea and warning by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyadi to the Hasidim not to speak ill of their opponents (the ‘Mitnaggdim’), particularly not of the late Gaon of Vilna (to whom Rabbi Shneur Zalman refers with superlative titles) and other pious rabbis; and indeed to feel and act with brotherly love towards these opponents. Published, Igrois Koidesh Admur Hazoken … Admur ha-Zaqen, Letter no. 41 (pp. 100 – 103).
Folio 95a-b: ‘The Enactments of Lyozna’: Rules of conduct for members of the HaBaD Hasidic brotherhood, particularly the youth, regarding prayer, and the procedure for collating (= checking the accuracy of) Hasidic texts. Reception at the Rebbe’s court is contingent on confirmation of adherence. Published, Igrois Koidesh Admur Hazoken … Admur ha-Zaqen, Letter no. 42 (pp. 103 – 105). (At the bottom of manuscript folio 95b, there is a catchword: ‘משיתחיל’, with which the paragraph in the middle of p. 104 of the printed edition begins. However, that leaf of this manuscript is missing, and thus the section preserved in this manuscript ends corresponding to mid p. 104 of the printed text.)
folio 96a-b: Warning against attempt to attain joy via silly amusements rather than via serous interior work. Published, Igrois Koidesh Admur Hazoken … Admur ha-Zaqen, Letter no. 84, 180 – 182. (The section preserved here begins mid p. 181.) As noted above, (at least) one leaf is missing from this manuscript. Thus, only a portion of this letter is preserved in this manuscript. The preserved section begins with שמחה האמיתי' להלהיב הנפשות האומללים in the manuscript, and, in print, mid p. 181, with the words שמחה אמיתית להלהיב הנפשות האומללות.
96b-97a: Against financial dissimulation even for the benefit of lofty causes. Published, Igrois Koidesh Admur Hazoken … Admur ha-Zaqen, Letter no. 68, pp. 154 – 156.
97b-104b: צמח צדק, (דרך מצותיך), (קע"ד) מצות תגלחת מצורע. Commandment 174: shaving the leper. (relevance to the previous item: this discourse discusses making one’s peace with what God set as one’s financial lot.) Published: D. M. pp. 208 – 215.
105a-127a: Contemplative prayer, through which divine monism becomes one’s reality. Published: קונטריס ההתפעלות, p. 51 –185. in: Maamorei Admur HoEmtzoee Kuntreisim, Second Printing 2005 by Kehot Publication Society. (English translation: On Ecstasy: A Tract by Dobh Baer of Lubavitch Translated from the Hebrew with an introduction and notes by Louis Jacobs, ‘Introduction’, p. 57 onward). 2 copies are brought together, with some overlap. For example, the copy on 125 continues on 127a; while another copy is on 126. Both of these copies are represented on earlier folios.
129a: Seems to be a string of chapter-headings / brief reminders of spiritual / theological, non-literal interpretations of biblical verses.
Folio 129b: Letter to Rabbi Levi Isaac of Berditchev from his close friend and colleague Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyadi, founder of HaBaD Hasidism, upon the latter’s liberation from imprisonment due to calumny against Hasidism and Hasidic leadership; published, Igrois Koidesh Admur Hazoken … Admur ha-Zaqen, Letter no. 38 (Anno Mundi 5559), pp. 97-98.
Folio 130a: Letter of Rabbi Dov Ber of Lubavitch to one of his sons-in-law (possibly Rabbi Aaron of Shklov), containing a precis of the former’s fruitful Torah discussion with Rabbi Mordechai Banet (or: Benet; Marcus Benedict) of Nikolsburg (= Mikulov, Czeck Republic), in which the latter becomes greatly interested in HaBaD thought and literature. Rabbi Dov Ber asks his son-in-law to forward various additional HaBaD publications, requested by Rabbi Banet, from Shklov. (In the manuscript, allusively appended to the bottom of this despatch is the second half of Ecclesiastes 10:20 with illustration: ‘The bird of heaven shall carry the voice, and the winged creature will tell the matter’.) Published, Igrois Koidesh Admur Hazoken … Admur ha-’Emtzae, Letter no. 26 (summer 1825), pp. 285-288. The manuscript version and the printed version each include information not in the other.
Folios 132a-135b: At the end of the 8th item in this series (bottom f. 134b): ‘End of the teaching [or: teachings] of the Rebbe, may he live and be well’. 1. Relating to God’s absolute transcendence. 2. Only great people are on the level to be afflicted by the condition ‘tzara’at’, discussed in Leviticus chapter 13. 3. The meaning of ‘not for the sake of heaven’, and why even in that undesirable state one should nevertheless study Torah. 4. Spiritual / typological interpretation of Psalm 82:2: trying to overcome the body’s domination over the soul. 5. 2 types of love and awe of God: 1) felt in one’s heart, by one who has arrived at spiritual maturity; 2) struggle. 6. Dynamics of distraction during prayer; what parts of the fixed prayers do and do not need to be repeated when said in a distracted state, and why. 7. Position within the spiritual realms of the study of various parts of Torah, of the fulfilment of action-oriented commandments, and of the motivations underlying these. 8. Torah study nurtures one’s innate faith. 9. When yearning for God, one can grasp Him via his garment = Torah. 10. The People of Israel’s insatiable thirst for God, and their forging of a connection between God and the world. 11. Successive stages and types of love and awe of God. 12. Despite impieties, etc., the People of Israel are essentially, supra-rationally drawn towards God, their source; and this elicits a divine reciprocity. 13. Self-reliance on human intellect is hubris, the root of disbelief, and is spiritually akin to the worship of foreign gods / of idols. (Criticizes Aristotle.) 14. One’s body- (= self-) centred will is at odds with one’s God-centred will. Primarily, ‘self-sacrifice’ means the self-nullification of self-centred will to the God-centred will. This self-nullification is attained during prayer, particularly when reciting (Deut. 6:5) ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with … all your soul / self’. The self / body are nourished by food; thus, before the self-sacrifice of prayer, one is prohibited from eating, viz. enhancing the self-centred will. Only after transforming (= ‘sacrificing’) it can one nurture it.
Folios 136a-137b: Running Kabbalistic / Hasidic commentary on the ’Ašrē prayer (= Pslam 145 preceded by 84:5 and 145:15, and followed by 115:18). This is part of the ‘verses of praise’ in morning prayer, repeated in afternoon prayer. (possibly a continuation of the previous entry). (Folio 136 is bound in reverse order: 136a should be 136b; and vice-versa.)
Folios 138a-139a: Discourse for Purim. (Excerpt; lacking the beginning) RDB. Published: RDB vol. 15: Prophets and Hagiographa, mid p. 512 – p. 516.
Folios 139b-140a: What occurs here as a single textual unit occurs in the printed sources as two separate items: [a] = manuscript 139b – 140a mid line 2 (למקורה הראשון); and [b] = manuscript from 140a, end line 2 (אף אם הוא רעב). RSZ. Published: [a] RSZ Hagiographa, p. 48 – top p. 50; [b] RSZ, Short Discourses, p. 106, lines 12 – 22.
Folios 140b-141b: ‘The concept of the recital of the “Hear (Shema) … you shall love the Lord your God”’ (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) / ענין ק”ש [=קריאת שמע] … ואהבת. (Excerpt) RMM. Or Ha-Torah, Deuteronomy vol. 5, bottom p. 2002 – top p. 2006.
142a-150b: ‘When she came before the king’ (Esther 9:25) / ובבואה לפני המלך. (Excerpt) RDB. Delivered on Purim 5586 AM = 1826 CE. Published: RDB vol. 15: Prophets and Hagiographa, p. 468, line 14, with the parentheses, – p. 503, mid line 14.
Folios 151a-158a: ‘The Concept of Prayer – in Judeo-German' [i.e. Yiddish], (here translated into Hebrew) RDB. The Yiddish has been published multiple times (most recently with an introduction discussing the textual history, including the present manuscript [there referred to as no. 815]: RDB Booklets, pp. 577 - 607), but the Hebrew has never been published.
Folio 159a: On Psalm 85:12 (on the capacity to worship God during the exile). RSZ. Published: Short Discourses, bottom p. 221 – p. 222.
Folio 159b: Bottom folio 159a - top folio 159b. On Deut. 30:4 (on becoming centred). RSZ. Published: Short Discourses, mid p. 122.
Folio 159b: (Humility and intellectual synthesis in attaining depth in understanding Torah) RSZ. Published: Short Discourses, pp. 327 – 328, and elsewhere.
Folio 159b: (Goal of Torah study: union with the Infinite) RSZ. Published: Short Discourses, bottom p. 347 – top p. 348.
Folios 160a-162b: ‘You shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the way’ (Deuteronomy 6:7) / ודברת בם בשבתך בביתיך ובלכת בדרך.
Folios 164a-167b: ‘These are the journeys’ (Numbers 33:1) / אלה מסעי.
Folios 167b-168a: ‘Return, Israel’ (Hosea 14:2) / שובה ישראל.
Folios 168b-171b: ‘I am unto my beloved and my beloved is unto me, who pastures among the lilies (or: roses)’ (Song of Songs 6:3) / אני לדודי ודודי לי הרועה בשושנים.
Folios 172a-179b: ‘Your name will no longer be called “Abram”; your name will be “Abraham” ...’ (Genesis 17:5) / ולא יקרא עוד שמך אברם והי’ שמך אברהם. Note: Breaks mid-discourse; at bottom of 179b, note to add more sheets of paper. RS. Published: Liqqute Torah on 3 Torah Portions, ff. 90a – 91c = pp. 179a – 182a.
Folio 180a-b: (Excerpt exploring divine providence over details.)
Folios 184a-186b: ‘For your Husband is the One Who made you; the Lord of Hosts is His name’ (Isaiah 54:5) / כי בועלייך עשייך ה' צבאות שמו.
Folios 194a-195a: ‘The Lord restores the humble’ (Psalm 147:6) / מעודד ענווים ה'. (Excerpt)
Folios 196a-199b: ‘Do not defile yourselves by means of them, lest you become defiled by means of them’ (Leviticus 11:43) / ולא תטמאו בהם ונטמתם בם.

Folios 203a-205b: Shulhan Arukh Yoreh De‘ah 94:1, Sifte Kohen (שלחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן צ”ד סעיף א’ וש”ך ע”פ הרש”ל). If one stuck a ladle that had absorbed milk into a pot in which meat is cooking, when calculating the ratio of milk to meat (to see whether the milk is nullified, and the food is thus kosher), if one is certain how much of the ladle he stuck into the pot, he need not calculate against the entire ladle, but only against the amount that he stuck in. Based on Talmudic precedents, the author explores the propriety of being lenient and relying on someone’s feeling of certainty as to how much of the ladle was inserted. Then the author applies the question of relying on someone’s feeling of certainty to other areas of Jewish law.
Folios 206a-207a: Tur Yoreh De‘ah 93, investigation of the view put forth in the name of the author of the Ittur (טור יורה דעה סימן צ”ג, בשם בעל העיטור): It is prohibited to cook milk in a pot in which meat had been cooked. If within 24 hours of the cooking of the meat one cooked milk therein, the dish is prohibited – unless the milk was less than 1/60. The Ittur writes that if the milk was less than 1/60 and the dish is permitted, in the process the meat flavour in the pot has become neutralized, and the pot may now be used to cook milk.
Folio 207a-b: Exploration of Beit Yosef on above-mentioned Tur, who cites the view of the Rashba (Rabbi Shelomo ibn Aderet) that if one cooked neutral substance in the above-mentioned meat pot, the neutral substance nullifies the meat flavour, and now the pot may be used to cook milk. The Beit Yosef investigates whether this case differs from that of the author of the Ittur (above).
Folios 208a-209a: Exploration of the way in which Rabbi Nissim of Gerona (RaN; f. 42b) presents the prohibition of cooking all meat, including that of fowl and wild animals, in milk, despite the fact that the prohibition in the Torah mentions a kid (goat, a domestic animal) in its mother’s milk. In the process, the author explores the nature of the prohibition of cooking milk with meat even without eating the cooked mixture.
Folios 209a-210b: Idem, ibid. f. 43, exploring the question of whether or not fully-developed fowl eggs that have not been laid are considered to be meat and thus non-mixable with milk, further nuancing the question by whether those eggs are still internally attached to the hen.
Folios 212a-215b: מרו”מ מהרא”ל? of Lyozna on debate regarding a drop of milk that fell onto a piece of meat in a pot. In which case was the ruling that in order for the milk to be nullified, the piece itself needs a volume of 60 times that of the drop, and the other items in the pot do not help to nullify the drop? Was it in the case that that piece is entirely out of the broth? Or was it even in the case that that piece is partially submerged in the broth?
Folios 215b-216a: Shulhan Arukh Yoreh De‘ah chapter 90: the udder in relation to the prohibition to mix meat and milk.
Folios 217a-218b: Shulhan Arukh Yoreh De‘ah chapter 91 section by section, on the overall theme of milk and meat that mixed together.
Folios 218b-219a: Ibid. chapter 92.
Folios 219a-223b: Ibid. Chapter 92 section 4: Can a drop of milk that was absorbed into a piece of meat be extracted therefrom? From the above-mentioned מרומ”ל’s latter version.
Folios 224a-231a: On Babylonian Talmud, Hullin 108a. In a forbidden mixture of foods, is it by Torah law or only by Rabbinic injunction that the mixture will be prohibited even if it is only the taste but not proportionally significant substance of the one that is discernible in the other?

Two paper labels on spine: the bottom one with number 1355.
Front paste-down: Handwritten in blue ink number 1355.
Folio ia: Handwritten in black ink "M.Gaster / 1355".