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The Script of the Alter Rebbe

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This article is about the letterform system established by the Alter Rebbe. For the instructional book on the subject, see [[:Kesav Chabad (book)]].

Kesav Admur HaZaken (the script of the Alter Rebbe) refers to the specific letterforms used in Stam writing — sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls), tefillin, and mezuzos — according to the system established by the Alter Rebbe. This system synthesizes the two broad traditions of letterform design: that of the halachic authorities (the poskim) and that of the Kabbalists. It is the script used today by the overwhelming majority of Chabad sofrim (scribes trained in the laws of Stam). In many letters, the Rebbe encouraged sofrim to investigate the precise letterforms of this script and write accordingly, and urged Chabad Chassidim to purchase tefillin and mezuzos written in the letterforms transmitted from the Alter Rebbe.

Tefillin parchments attributed to R' Reuven HaSofer of Yanovitch — the personal scribe of the Alter Rebbe

History of the Script

The Letterforms

The visual form of the Assyrian letters (kesav Ashuris) used in Stam writing, and the manner of writing them, is a halacha leMoshe miSinai — a law transmitted to Moses at Sinai. It has been passed down among sofrim throughout the generations, person to person. Nevertheless, over the centuries variations developed in the form of some letters and in the manner of writing them.

The Main Traditions

  1. Ashkenazic script is divided into three types:
    1. Beis Yosef script — the standard Ashkenazic tradition.
    2. Ari script — based on the Kabbalah as set out in the works of the Arizal, particularly Etz Chaim and his interpretation of the Zohar. It differs from Beis Yosef script in several details and was adopted by some Chassidic courts. A major controversy surrounded this script when accusations arose that its promotion reflected Sabbatean influence, with those who favored it charged with harboring Sabbatean views.
    3. Admur HaZaken script — the Chabad tradition.
  2. Sephardic script — used by Mizrachi Jewish communities. It is also known as Vaelish script or by the name of the halachic work that describes it, Mor UKetzia.
  3. Yemenite script — the tradition of Yemenite Jewry, which includes certain distinctive letterforms.

The Ashkenazic script is generally considered more demanding to write than the Sephardic script.

Composition of the Letterforms

On one of the occasions when the Alter Rebbe visited his master the Maggid of Mezeritch, the Maggid instructed him to establish a letterform system that would accord with both the ruling of the halachic authorities and the teachings of the Kabbalistic literature.[1] In response to this directive, the Alter Rebbe remained in Mezeritch for an additional four weeks, during which he labored intensively over establishing the precise letterforms.

On his return journey home, the Alter Rebbe passed through the town of Anipoli, where he learned that R' Zusha of Anipoli had instructed his personal scribe[2] to write according to the new letterform system the Alter Rebbe had just established — because R' Zusha had heard a heavenly proclamation that from that point onward, this would be the form of the letters.[3]

The letterforms of this script were transmitted by the Alter Rebbe to his disciple R' Reuven HaSofer — a G-d-fearing sofer stam who wrote tefillin and mezuzos for the Alter Rebbe personally.

The letterforms as taught by the Alter Rebbe differ in several respects from the letterforms described in his own Shulchan Aruch HaRav.

Transmission of the Tradition

Despite the Rebbe's extensive efforts[4] to locate sofrim who had received the letterform tradition in an unbroken chain of personal transmission, these efforts did not succeed, and the transmission was interrupted at some point over the years.

Nevertheless, original tefillin attributed to R' Reuven HaSofer have survived.[5] These tefillin were preserved by the Gurary family and were presented before the Frierdiker Rebbe by Rabbi Shneiur Zalman Gurary.[6]

The Rebbe's library also contains a Megillas Esther written by the Rebbe Maharash; however, it is difficult to learn from it regarding the precise letterforms, because when the scroll required extensive restoration, the sofer who received it for repair did not preserve the original letterforms carefully. A second Megillah of the Rebbe Maharash is in the possession of descendants of the Ginzburg family — the Maharash's daughter's family.

The central difficulty in transmitting the tradition through surviving manuscripts is the lack of clarity about which features of the letterforms are essential and which reflect the particular sofer's personal style or aesthetic preference.[7]

The Rebbe's Position

Notwithstanding the difficulty in transmitting the tradition in an unbroken personal chain, halachic literature has ruled[8] that the letterforms of an expert sofer may be learned by studying that sofer's writings. On this basis, the Frierdiker Rebbe directed Rabbi Menachem Zev Grienglaz in his youth:[9] "It is a pity that you did not accustom yourself to beautiful writing in the letterform tradition of R' Reuven HaSofer, which is a very beautiful hand, for in this country sofrim are much needed."

On the practical level, the Rebbe explicitly directed Chabad Chassidim to purchase tefillin and mezuzos specifically in the Alter Rebbe's script. To one Chassid who was uncertain about which letterform tradition to use for tefillin he wished to purchase for his family, the Rebbe wrote in a particularly unambiguous letter:[10]

It is astonishing that there is any doubt in this matter, for the principle and ruling is: in the locale of Rav, follow Rav... Would that he would already abandon his habit of searching for difficulties and contradictions, and begin to walk the straight path — putting na'aseh (doing) before nishma (understanding) — which is the path that our holy Rebbeim have shown, and which is also the general path for all of Israel.

In addition, the Rebbe encouraged[11] several sofrim stam to study the letterforms of the Alter Rebbe's script from the tefillin parchments attributed to R' Reuven HaSofer, and to follow them in practice.

The Ongoing Debate

Notwithstanding the Rebbe's many statements on this script, a number of influential sofrim and rabbis[12] maintain that this script should not be used because of the absence of a clear, unbroken tradition. To support their position, they cite letters of the Rebbe in which he investigates specific details of the Chabad script.

Those who favor use of this script respond in several ways:

A. While the Rebbe was investigating details of the script, he simultaneously issued private instructions to numerous Chassidim to use this script specifically.

B. None of the Rebbe's references to this script contain any statement ruling against its use — every relevant response points in a positive direction.

C. The script known as the Arizal script — used by those who oppose the Alter Rebbe's script — also lacks a clear unbroken transmission and has itself undergone several changes over the years,[13] particularly in the aftermath of the Second World War.[14]

D. The Rebbe's inquiries about the script date only up to approximately 5730–5731 (1969–71). Following the wave of emigration from the Soviet Union at that time — which included Chabad sofrim who carried authentic traditional knowledge — the outstanding uncertainties were resolved.

A wide-ranging debate on the use of this script was conducted in 5766 (2005–06) across several Chabad Torah forums, including Kovetz He'aros UBiurim Ohalei Torah,[15] Kfar Chabad Weekly, and Kuntres HaHiskashrus.[16]

Further Reading

  • Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Osios HaRav, 5751 (1990–91).
  • Rabbi Avraham Levi, Kesav Chabad, 5769 (2008–09); revised edition 5775 (2014–15).
  • Rabbi Menachem Mendel Blinov, BeAsrihe DeRav, 5778 (2017–18).
  • Tikkun Korim in the Script Attributed to the Alter Rebbe, Chazak Publications, 5780 (2019–20).
  • Rabbi Yissachar Dovid Kloizner, "Shelillas Kesiva BeKesav HaMeyuchas LeAdmur HaZaken," Shaarei HaTemimim, no. 11, p. 65.

External Links

Notes

  1. ↑ In the letter cited in the following note, the Frierdiker Rebbe (the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn) emphasizes: "that he should arrange the letterforms according to the method of the Kabbalists in the Chabad way."
  2. ↑ The saintly R' Dovid HaSofer of Anipoli, of whom it is told that the Maggid commanded him to devote himself to the craft of writing and instructed his disciples to reveal to him the mystical secrets of the letters and their inner intentions.
  3. ↑ See at length in Yada Am, vol. 5, p. 71. For further detail, see Igros Kodesh of the Frierdiker Rebbe, vol. 9, p. 53, and the references in the notes there.
  4. ↑ See Igros Kodesh of the Rebbe, vol. 6, p. 69; vol. 8, p. 141; vol. 9, p. 199; Yagdil Torah, no. 26, §6; and other sources.
  5. ↑ When Rabbi Menachem Zev Grienglaz showed photographs of these letters to the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe remarked that he was uncertain whether these letters were written by R' Reuven HaSofer himself or by his disciple, since their handwriting was so remarkably similar that the two could not be distinguished.
  6. ↑ This appears to be an additional pair of tefillin beyond those of R' Reuven HaSofer that were in the possession of his relative R' Yehoshua Falik Gurary, whose authenticity was attested by the Rebbe Rashab.
  7. ↑ Some argue that the Rebbe's extensive investment in this matter was not to determine whether these letterforms are definitively accurate and reliable, but rather to assist sofrim in writing in the Alter Rebbe's script. This reading helps explain why the Igros Kodesh contains both letters in which the Rebbe investigates specific details of the script and letters in which he directs sofrim to write in the Alter Rebbe's script and instructs Anash (Chabad Chassidim) to endeavor to purchase tefillin and mezuzos in the Alter Rebbe's script specifically.
  8. ↑ Sha'arei Teshuva, beginning of §32: "One may take care to follow the letterforms written by prominent and renowned sofrim who were men of piety and deed."
  9. ↑ Igros Kodesh of the Frierdiker Rebbe, vol. 6, p. 95.
  10. ↑ Igros Kodesh of the Rebbe, vol. 15, p. 316.
  11. ↑ Among the sofrim who received guidance from the Rebbe: Rabbi Eliezer Zvi Tzirkinד (Crown Heights), Rabbi Menachem Mendel Aharonov (Canada), Rabbi Chaim Uzer Marinovksy, Rabbi Eliyahu Gabai, Rabbi Shimshon Kahana, and others. See the sources cited in full in the introduction to the book Kesav Chabad.
  12. ↑ The sofer Rabbi Yisrael Mordechai Lishner (Kfar Chabad) testified in the name of Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi that the latter instructed him to write only in the Arizal script.
  13. ↑ According to this view, this is in fact the original reason the Maggid of Mezeritch asked the Alter Rebbe to establish a new letterform system.
  14. ↑ See at length on this point in the pamphlet BeAsrihe DeRav.
  15. ↑ Issue 891 and Issue 888, among others.
  16. ↑ Issue 237, Issue 409, Issue 735.
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