מִסִּפּוּרֵי אַאַזְמוּ"ר: א) מִתְּחִלָּה הָיָה אִגֶּרֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ קָטֹנְתִּי מְסַיֶּמֶת "וְרוּחַ נְכֵאָה כו'", וְאַחֲרֵי אֲשֶׁר אָמַר רַבֵּנוּ הַגָּדוֹל שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים — בְּלִיאָזנָא — הַמַּאֲמָר כַּמַּיִם הַפָּנִים גו' כְּפֵרוּשׁ רַשִׁ"י וְלֹא כְּתַּרְגּוּמוֹ, אָז הוֹסִיף הַתֵּבוֹת "וְכוּלֵי הַאי — הַפָּנִים וְגוֹ'", וּבָזֶה נָטַע בְּהַחֲסִידִים מִדּוֹת טוֹבוֹת. ב) וועֶן דעֶר רֶבִּי וואָלְט נִיט געֶשׁטעֶלְט דִי דְרַיי וועֶרְטעֶר "בְּמִדַּת אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב" — בְּאִגֶּרֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ קָטֹנְתִּי — וואָלט עֶר געֶהאַט נאָךְ פוּפְצִיג טוֹיזעֶנט חֲסִידִים, אָבּעֶר דעֶר רֶבִּי מאָנט מִדַּת אֱמֶת.

The following traditions were handed down by my revered grandfather, the Rebbe [Maharash]:1

(a) At first, the epistle beginning Katonti2 concluded with the words veruach neche’ah (“and with a restrained spirit”). But after the Alter Rebbe had delivered the maamar entitled Kamayim hapanim (“Just as water [reflects] one’s face”3 ) three times in Liozna, explaining the verse according to the interpretation of Rashi andnot according to the Targum,4 he appended [to the epistle beginning Katonti]the following words: “And through all that,5 perhaps G‑d will put [a conciliatory and loving response] into the hearts of their brethren, for ‘as water [reflects] one’s face, [so too does the heart of one man reflect the heart of another].’”

And by adding those words, the Alter Rebbe implanted positive middos, character traits, in his chassidim.

(b) If the Alter Rebbe had not inserted in that letter the three [Hebrew] words that mean “according to the attribute of truth personified by Yaakov,” he would have had another 50,000 chassidim. But the Alter Rebbe demands the attribute of truth!

A Mini-Farbrengen

The Alter Rebbe’s demand for uncompromising truth relates to the plea that lies at the heart of this epistle — that his chassidim find it in their hearts to speak humbly to their opponents, the very men who had brought about the incarceration and capital sentence from which he had just been saved. He expected his chassidim to speak to them “with humility, with ‘a soft answer [that] turns away anger,’6 and with a restrained spirit.” And this, he insisted, had to be done truthfully.

Looking at oneself in the mirror of truth means rejecting all the falsehood and semi-truths that are part of our lives. This means being genuine and open at all times. Such an approach is hard to maintain, for it is like exposing raw skin. It is highly sensitive and carries the chance that we will be hurt. Therefore, while no one would admit to preferring falsehood over truth, one might tend to shy away from the above approach. On the other hand, we are also drawn to the truth, for we know that if we could attain it, we would uncover an inner peace and satisfaction that can never be taken away.

*

The passage in Likkutei Dibburim from which the above teaching is taken continues as follows: “The Maggid of Mezritch endowed the Alter Rebbe with the gift of a smile with which he could have captured the entire world. Since, however, the entire mission of the Alter Rebbe was to inculcate in chassidim the practice of avodah pnimis (i.e., avodah which the individual himself generates at will from within7 ), he did not want to make use of that smile, for it was an expression of the makkifim of the soul, stemming from the soul’s superrational and transcendent faculties.”8