Editing Yoel Sirkis (section)

= By Our Rebbeim =
The Alter Rebbe rules in his Shulchan Aruch in many matters like the Bach.

It is told that once the Tzemach Tzedek delayed the Shabbos day meal, and his son, the Maharash, wondered about this in his presence. At first, the Tzemach Tzedek did not wish to tell him why he was delayed, but finally told him that there is a question regarding the laws of treifos (non-kosher) birds, where all the decisors permit it but the Bach forbids it. When the Bach passed away, he was challenged for this ruling. Once, this question came before the Alter Rebbe, who permitted it like everyone else, but the Bach came to the Alter Rebbe and asked him to understand his reasoning and forbid it. That day, the Alter Rebbe came to his grandson the Tzemach Tzedek and said that when he ascended to the upper world, they examined his ruling, why he first permitted and tasted from the bird and then forbade it afterward, and asked the Tzemach Tzedek to provide a reason for this, which is why he was delayed.

The Tzemach Tzedek said about the Bach: "The Bach is authoritative. All tzaddikim must pass through Gehinnom, and when the Bach passed away, they cooled Gehinnom beforehand for sixty days."

Several times the Rebbe emphasized the words of the Bach regarding the intention required in Torah study:<blockquote>"His intention [Hashem's] from the beginning of time was that we engage in Torah study so that our souls would become unified with the essence, spirituality, and holiness of the source of the Torah... And if they had engaged in Torah with this intention, they would have been a chariot and sanctuary for His Divine Presence, for the Divine Presence would have truly been within them, as they are the sanctuary of Hashem and within them the Divine Presence would have established its dwelling place, and the entire earth would have been illuminated by His glory... But now that they have transgressed this law, by not engaging in Torah except for material purposes for their pleasure, to know the laws for business purposes, and also to be proud and display their wisdom... in this they created a separation that caused the Divine Presence to depart from the earth and ascend above, and the earth remained in its physicality without holiness, and this was the cause of its destruction and loss."   — Bach on Tur Orach Chaim section 47, s.v. "U'mah she'amar." See there at length.</blockquote>The Rebbe mentions these words saying: "The well-known explanation of the Bach on this (Tur Orach Chaim section 47) contains '''wonderfully deep concepts''', and their essence concerns the necessity of studying the inner dimensions of Torah, through which one arrives at 'the way of life of moral reproach.'" And in a talk on Simchat Torah 5720, the Rebbe said: "And as the Bach elaborates in explaining the concept of the blessing on the Torah in relation to the Divinity within Torah, in such a style that if we didn't see it explicitly in the words of the Bach, in the revealed part of Torah, one might think it was written by a Chassidic Rebbe..."

== External Links ==

* Rabbi Yoel Sirkis (the Bach)