The Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch: Difference between revisions

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== Composition ==

When the [[Maggid of Mezeritch]], Rabbi Dovber, sought to commission a new Shulchan Aruch written in the style of "laws with their reasoning," he had five disciples in mind as candidates for the task: the [[Alter Rebbe]], Rabbi [[Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev]], Rabbi [[Elimelech of Lizhensk]], Rabbi [[Pinchas of Frankfurt]] (the author of the ''Hafla'ah''), and his brother Rabbi [[Shmelke of Nikolsburg]]. In the end he assigned the work to the Alter Rebbe, who was then only twenty-five years old.

When the [[Maggid of Mezeritch]], Rabbi Dovber, sought to commission a new Shulchan Aruch written in the style of "laws with their reasoning," he had five disciples in mind as candidates for the task: the [[Alter Rebbe]], Rabbi [[Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev]], Rabbi [[Elimelech of Lizhensk]], Rabbi [[Pinchas Horowitz|Pinchas of Frankfurt]] (the author of the ''Hafla'ah''), and his brother Rabbi [[Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg|Shmelke of Nikolsburg]]. In the end he assigned the work to the Alter Rebbe, who was then only twenty-five years old.

The Alter Rebbe labored over the composition for a number of years. His sons describe the commission in the preface they wrote to the work:

:"Heaven agreed through the aforementioned holy Rabbi [the Maggid] to search diligently among his disciples to find a man in whom the spirit of G-d rests, who could understand and teach clear law… and arrange all the legal rulings found in the Shulchan Aruch and in all the later authorities in clear, reasoned language — each matter properly set forth — and the final ruling that emerges from the words of all the decisors of our generation… and he chose our revered father of blessed memory and pressed him insistently, saying: There is none as discerning and wise as you to plumb the depths of the law and perform this holy work…"

:<blockquote>"Heaven agreed through the aforementioned holy Rabbi [the Maggid] to search diligently among his disciples to find a man in whom the spirit of G-d rests, who could understand and teach clear law… and arrange all the legal rulings found in the Shulchan Aruch and in all the later authorities in clear, reasoned language — each matter properly set forth — and the final ruling that emerges from the words of all the decisors of our generation… and he chose our revered father of blessed memory and pressed him insistently, saying: There is none as discerning and wise as you to plumb the depths of the law and perform this holy work…"</blockquote>

The first section to appear in print was the Laws of Torah Study (''Hilchos Talmud Torah''), which was published anonymously. It provoked considerable debate in the wider Jewish world, as it presented these laws with a level of systematic clarity not seen since the era of the [[Rambam]]. This section was ultimately not included within the Shulchan Aruch itself.

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 == Composition ==
-When the [[Maggid of Mezeritch]], Rabbi Dovber, sought to commission a new Shulchan Aruch written in the style of "laws with their reasoning," he had five disciples in mind as candidates for the task: the [[Alter Rebbe]], Rabbi [[Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev]], Rabbi [[Elimelech of Lizhensk]], Rabbi [[Pinchas of Frankfurt]] (the author of the ''Hafla'ah''), and his brother Rabbi [[Shmelke of Nikolsburg]]. In the end he assigned the work to the Alter Rebbe, who was then only twenty-five years old.
+When the [[Maggid of Mezeritch]], Rabbi Dovber, sought to commission a new Shulchan Aruch written in the style of "laws with their reasoning," he had five disciples in mind as candidates for the task: the [[Alter Rebbe]], Rabbi [[Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev]], Rabbi [[Elimelech of Lizhensk]], Rabbi [[Pinchas Horowitz|Pinchas of Frankfurt]] (the author of the ''Hafla'ah''), and his brother Rabbi [[Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg|Shmelke of Nikolsburg]]. In the end he assigned the work to the Alter Rebbe, who was then only twenty-five years old.
 The Alter Rebbe labored over the composition for a number of years. His sons describe the commission in the preface they wrote to the work:
-:"Heaven agreed through the aforementioned holy Rabbi [the Maggid] to search diligently among his disciples to find a man in whom the spirit of G-d rests, who could understand and teach clear law… and arrange all the legal rulings found in the Shulchan Aruch and in all the later authorities in clear, reasoned language — each matter properly set forth — and the final ruling that emerges from the words of all the decisors of our generation… and he chose our revered father of blessed memory and pressed him insistently, saying: There is none as discerning and wise as you to plumb the depths of the law and perform this holy work…"
+:<blockquote>"Heaven agreed through the aforementioned holy Rabbi [the Maggid] to search diligently among his disciples to find a man in whom the spirit of G-d rests, who could understand and teach clear law… and arrange all the legal rulings found in the Shulchan Aruch and in all the later authorities in clear, reasoned language — each matter properly set forth — and the final ruling that emerges from the words of all the decisors of our generation… and he chose our revered father of blessed memory and pressed him insistently, saying: There is none as discerning and wise as you to plumb the depths of the law and perform this holy work…"</blockquote>
 The first section to appear in print was the Laws of Torah Study (''Hilchos Talmud Torah''), which was published anonymously. It provoked considerable debate in the wider Jewish world, as it presented these laws with a level of systematic clarity not seen since the era of the [[Rambam]]. This section was ultimately not included within the Shulchan Aruch itself.