בְּסֵפֶר הַחֲקִירָה (דֶּרֶךְ אֱמוּנָה) לְהַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק הַנִּדְפָּס — חֲסֵרִים הַרְבֵּה הֲגָהוֹת. הַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק חִבְּרוֹ בְּיַחַס עִם נְסִיעוֹתָיו לְפֶּטֶרְבּוּרג, שֶׁשָּׁם הָיָה צָרִיךְ לַעֲנוֹת עַל כַּמָּה שְׁאֵלוֹת בְּעִנְיָנִים אֵלּוּ.

The published text of the Tzemach Tzedek’s Sefer HaChakirah,1 also called Derech Emunah,2 lacks many glosses. The Tzemach Tzedek composed it in connection with his journeys to Petersburg, where he was required to reply to several questions on these themes.3

To Fill In the Background

Writing in HaTamim,4 R. Yechezkel Feigin, informally known among chassidim as Chatshe Feigin, contrasts Chakirah and Chassidus.

Chakirah is born out of a mortal’s conceptualization of G‑d. Thus, even works of Chakirah that were written with ruach hakodesh, with Divine inspiration,represent man’s perception of G‑dliness (Elokus), and thus reflect the limited nature of mortal intellect.

Chassidus, by contrast, expresses G‑dliness as manifest within mortal thought. Because G‑dliness is essentially unbounded, it can be expressed not only in a transcendent manner, but also within the limits of the intellect. Thus a person who studies Chassidus can — to a certain extent — grasp the infinity of G‑d with his limited mind.

This fusion of Infinity and the finite mortal intellect is embodied in the Torah as a whole.5 Nevertheless, each particular approach to Torah interpretation, whether pshat, remez, derush or sod,6 is confined to a particular thought structure which can obscure the essential G‑dliness within the Torah.7 In Chassidus, by contrast, that essence is revealed and can be perceived and sensed.8

Sefer HaChakirah by the Tzemach Tzedek interweaves Chassidus and Chakirah, bringing the essential G‑dliness of Chassidus into the intellectual system of Chakirah.