Editing Joseph Dov Soloveitchik (Boston) (section)

==== The Rebbe Is Truth Itself ====
In 5725 (1965), Rabbi Soloveitchik came to comfort the Rebbe on the passing of his mother, Rebbetzin Chana, and a halachic conversation about mourning developed between them that lasted a long time. Both were Sinai-type scholars (comprehensive knowledge) and mountain-uprooting scholars (sharp analysis), debating with each other, and the style of the conversation was the citing of source references in the air almost without mentioning the content itself.

Among other things, they discussed the opinion that aninut (the period of acute mourning before burial) ends at burial and not at the end of the day of death. During the conversation, the Rebbe mentioned that Maimonides also writes this. When Rabbi Soloveitchik heard this, he said with great astonishment: "Lubavitcher Rebbe, Lubavitcher Rebbe, I think there is no such Maimonides!" (I think this thing does not appear in Maimonides' book). The Rebbe answered: "Correct, it does not appear in Maimonides' 'Yad HaChazaka,' my intention was to Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah."

At the end of the shiva, the Rebbe wrote a letter to Rabbi Soloveitchik, and in the margin noted that "following our discussion," the Maimonides reference is "in the commentary on the Mishnah to Demai 'I did not eat in my mourning' means before burial." However, the Rebbe noted that in the edition of the Mishnah commentary published by Rabbi Kafih, it states that Maimonides retracted this interpretation, and in his own handwriting erased the words "as long as he is not buried."

When Rabbi Soloveitchik received the letter, he exclaimed enthusiastically: "Er iz emes allein!" (He is truth itself!). He immediately explained that he was impressed by the fact that on one hand, the Rebbe was indeed correct, as it is explicitly stated in the printed commentary on the Mishnah, and on the other hand, he took the trouble to inform him that according to Rabbi Kafih's version, Rabbi Soloveitchik was right.