Group None

What can I add to my words from our discussion when [your] honor1“Kevod Torato” (lit. “the honor of his Torah”) is a traditional formal mode of address. In this letter, addressed to an individual, R. Salanter refers to the recipient in the third person, out of respect. Most letters in this collection are addressed to groups of disciples and friends and use the second person plural. We have translated the honorific as “your honor,” which preserves the formality of the original. visited me? Namely, that deed precedes thought; study precedes deed; mastering methods of learning is the entrance gate to methods of serving Him, blessed be His name.Since the time of the sealing of the Talmud, the Torah ways of understanding and instructing [directly] from Scripture, according to the [hermeneutic] principles given at Sinai, have been locked away. We can only look to the Talmud to draw therefrom God’s Torah and His ways. Even a giant of a person can only search and uncover her2I.e., the Talmud’s. hidden mysteries. One cannot add or subtract anything from the Talmud.3Compare Deuteronomy 4:2.

Thus, the Talmud for us is as Scripture was for the Sages, of blessed memory. Study of Scripture for us is in the same category as learning the alphabet in the days of the Sages, of blessed memory – a prerequisite for studying the Talmud. And the books of the great codifiers, Rishonim and Aḥaronim,4The great talmudic commentators and halakhic authorities of medieval times are called “Rishonim” (lit. “early ones”), and those since early modernity are referred to as “Aḥaronim” (lit. “the latter ones”). These titles signify their stature and highlight the periodization of halakhic authority, with each successive period considered less authoritative than earlier periods. are in the same category as the Mishna in the days of the Sages, of blessed memory – a person worthy and trained to do it can disagree and change things according to the desired conditions for rendering decisions, if he finds an authority upon whom to rely. And maybe a great man can even disagree [without an authority upon whom to rely] – as in “Rav is a Tanna and disagrees.”5See Eiruvin 50b. Rav, an early Amora (sage from the talmudic era), disagrees with a Tanna (sage from the mishnaic era, whose authority is greater than that of an Amora) even without the support of another Tanna, because his stature granted him the authority to dispute even a Tanna. After achieving awesome fluency in the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmudim, etc., proper knowledge of the great codifiers, etc., and, above all, the knowledge from learning the Tosafot, one can reach the study of Talmud (as the Talmud was [studied] in the days of the Sages, of blessed memory). This is the proper study to draw out the basic principles of the Talmud, through its details from scattered places, and thus to understand and instruct properly.This is the idea of “the Torah of truth,” mastered by [study of] Scripture (that is, [for us] fluency in the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmudim, etc.), and Mishna (that is, [for us] knowing the works of the greatest Rishonim and Aḥaronim, etc.). And this is “apprenticeship under Torah scholars.” For, “one who read [Scripture] and studied [Mishna] but did not apprentice under Torah scholars is an ignoramus.”6Berakhot 47b.

On top of all this, [he needs] keenness of reason and contemplation of the ways of character traits to know the nature of bias, so that reason can proceed straight on its path. “And the fear of God is his treasure”7Isaiah 33:6. to take on the yoke of the effort to delve deeply into the Torah of God, blessed be His name. Likewise, through close association with colleagues8I.e., exchanging views. and argumentation with students,9See Avot 6:6. with repetition and patience.

Now, thank God, a young man – may there be many like him in Israel – will know and understand his path: what is his nature and what activates his ideas and desires. May God grant that this young man grow into a vine as glorious as [yourself] – whose well-being is sought by [your] friend, Israel.10At first glance, this letter is intended to guide R. Salanter’s student as to how to initiate a new young student in the proper way of learning Torah and Mussar. However, one can speculate that this is also an answer to those who questioned the justification and the authority of R. Salanter and his students to add a major, new corpus (i.e., Mussar) to the curriculum and to judge and sometimes find inadequate the piety of those who do not learn Mussar.