Part VII

The [Previous Rebbe’s] maamar continues, [focusing again on the beginning of the verse,] “I will create the fruit of the lips. Peace... to those who are far,” [stating] that the medium for a person who was far removed, a baal teshuvah, to correct and amend [his circumstance] is “the fruit of the lips,” verbal confession. The expression “the fruit of the lips,” which alludes to [— as explained at the beginning of this maamar —] the sponta­neous expression of speech, is used, because the confession of a baal teshuvah pours out spontaneously, as a result of the anguish felt in the depths of his heart.

The interpretation that “the fruit of the lips” refers to confession follows the interpretation of the Talmud that “peace to those who are far” refers to baalei teshuvah. In regard to the interpretation of the Radak, that “peace to those who are far” refers to those who are distant from Jerusalem, the [Previous Rebbe’s] maamar explains that Jerusalem refers to yiras shamayim, “the fear of heaven.”1 A person who is “distant from Jerusa­lem,” is one whose nature is not inclined to the fear of heaven. The advice [offered] to correct [this tendency] is “the fruit of the lips,” the study of the Torah.

It is possible to explain that Torah study is called “the fruit of the lips,” [which as above] refers to the spontaneous expression of speech, to allude to the concept that a person must be so im­mersed in the study of the Torah that speaking words of Torah will be a spontaneous reaction.2 (In a like vein, our Sages3 state that bowing [when hearing the prayer modim should] be a reflex reaction.)

This concept can be related to the explanation given previously by the maamar regarding the phrase “says G-d. ‘I will heal him,” that the words of the Torah should be engraved in one’s memory. When [letters] are engraved, they become one with the substance on which they are engraved.4 When a person becomes one with the Torah, the Torah becomes his very being. And then, everything that he says, even when he is not explicitly quoting words of Torah, are Torah words. This is the meaning of “the fruit of the lips,” that the fruit of a person’s lips (speech which is expressed spontaneously, without intention) will be words of Torah, because the person has become transformed into a new entity; [his] being [is] the Torah.

On this basis, we can appreciate why the [Previous Rebbe’s] maamar mentions the interpretation of the Radak [in regard to the phrase “those who are far”] before the interpretation of the Talmud. In regard to the advantage of “the fruit of the lips” (the first concept highlighted in the maamar), the interpretation of the Radak is of greater relevance.

In regard to the interpretation of the Talmud that “those who are far” refer to baalei teshuvah, the “fruit of the lips” refers to confession. In contrast, the concept that “the fruit of the lips” refers to the words of Torah follows the interpretation of the Radak, that “those who are far” refers to those distant from Jeru­salem. [This interpretation is preferable,] because the primary advantage of “the fruit of the lips” (spontaneous speech) is when one speaks words of Torah without premeditation. For this reflects how the person has become a new entity, [how his] being [is] the Torah.