Likkutei Torah for Three Parshiyos

Likkutei Torah for Three Parshiyos is a Chassidic sefer by the Rebbe Maharash, which was published in 1884. The sefer is based on the Chassidic maamarim of the Alter Rebbe in his sefer Torah Ohr for the first three parshiyos in the Torah: Bereishis, Noach and Lech Lecha. Due to the schemes of his opponents, most of the notes and explanations of the Rebbe Maharash were removed from the sefer, leaving mainly the notes and explanations of his father the Tzemach Tzedek.

Background and History

The opponents removed most of the notes and explanations of the Rebbe Maharash from the sefer, leaving mainly the notes and explanations of his father, the Tzemach Tzedek.

In the sefer Torah Ohr of the Alter Rebbe (on Chumashim Bereishis and Shemos), only the maamarim of the Alter Rebbe are printed, almost without additions and notes from the Tzemach Tzedek - unlike the parallel sefer Likkutei Torah (on Chumashim Vayikra, Bamidbar, Devarim). The Rebbe Maharash, son of the Tzemach Tzedek, began preparing the maamarim from Torah Ohr on the parshiyos of Sefer Bereishis with notes and explanations from the Tzemach Tzedek as well as many of his own notes and explanations. In this way, maamarim on the first three parshiyos of Chumash Bereishis were arranged and prepared for print: Bereishis, Noach and Lech Lecha.

The Rebbe Maharash did not manage to print the sefer before his histalkus. However, the Rebbe relates that this sefer is hinted to in the words he said to his wife Rebbetzin Rivka before his histalkus: "I will ascend 32 levels above, and you will ascend 32 levels below." The Rebbe Rayatz who related this, explained that the 32 levels below of the Rebbetzin - these are the 32 years of her life from her husband's histalkus until her passing; and the 32 levels above - these are the 32 maamarim that were printed in the sefer Likkutei Torah for 3 Parshiyos.

The Printing of the Sefer and the Schemes

After the histalkus of the Rebbe Maharash, his wife the Rebbetzin appointed Reb Meshulam (Shillem) Reich, son-in-law of Rabbi Boruch Shalom son of the Tzemach Tzedek, to handle the printing of the sefer. Reb Shillem traveled to Vilna to print, but he was negligent in his role and the matter dragged on for much longer than expected. Meanwhile, the Chassidim of Kopust - a court that split from Chabad-Lubavitch and disputed the leadership of the Rebbe Maharash - intervened and decided to act against the printing of the Rebbe Maharash's sefer. Through their schemes, they managed to insert errors into the sefer, remove the maamarim of the Rebbe Maharash and insert other maamarim in their place.

After printing the sefer, this was an opportunity for them to mock the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidim and attack them: How can they print a sefer of the Tzemach Tzedek, when the words of the Rebbe Maharash himself are only a few parts in the sefer - and this under the name of the Rebbe Maharash! The Rebbe Rabbi Shlomo Zalman of Kopust issued a letter of protest against the sefer. It can be assumed this is the reason the sefer did not spread.

The maamarim in the sefer were not printed again in such an edition by Kehot Publication Society, but were included within the series Ohr HaTorah of the Tzemach Tzedek, where in the Rebbe's note on the first maamar he indicates: "The maamar was printed in Likkutei Torah for 3 Parshiyos instead of a maamar about this from the Rebbe Maharash through the schemes of so-and-so etc. as is known from the story of the Rebbe (Rayatz)." And similarly in the margins of the following maamarim, the publishers noted where they were printed in Likkutei Torah for 3 Parshiyos.

Additional Reading

Reb Yosef Yitzchak Keller, The Composition and Editing of "Likkutei Torah for 3 Parshiyos", in Heichal HaBaal Shem Tov Issue 6, p. 155