Rabbi Motti Wilhem
Those davening in 770 last shabbos, may not have noticed an inconspicuous white booklet on some of the tables. For a group of bochurim, however, the seemingly modest publication was the culmination of months of hard work. Over the past months, they have spent many hours digging through teshuros, magazines, and publications, calling and researching, all for the purpose of collecting “ma’anos” from the Rebbe in order to publicize them as befits the Rebbe’s writings.
Over the year of 5779, the team published three installments of ‘Likkut Ma’anos Kodesh’ covering the years 5749-5751. In honor of Vov Tishrei the fourth installment was published, containing over 500 ma’anos from the year 5752, the last year we had the merit to receive written responses from the Rebbe.
What are ma’anos? As the years went by, and the amount of letters sent to the Rebbe increased, it was no longer possible to respond with a letter to everyone who wrote. Instead, most answers were given in the way of a few words jotted by the Rebbe on the letter sent to him. These were then given verbally over the telephone, or copied down by the recipient, with the original staying by the Rebbe.
By definition, many ma’anos are terse, containing only a few short words of advice or a bracha, and indeed, these ma’anos constitute a large portion of this booklet. Other ma’anos are lengthier, perhaps a few lines long, often containing a thought-provoking response to a query or request, while still retaining the concise format typical of a ma’ana.
Some of the noteworthy ma’anos in the current publication include a response to a bochur who complained that mashpi’im today are out of touch, replies to questions regarding accepting the Rebbe as Moshiach, and even a ma’ana to a young man who wanted to explain to the Rebbe the benefits of a certain cult.
Over the next few weeks, Anash.org will be posting highlights from the newly published kovetz, along with Engish translation for the benefit of our readership. Keep an eye out for the ma’anos column where these fascinating ma’anos will be presented.
Many thanks go to the team behind Likkut Ma’anos. Even with the successful publication of 4 years of ma’anos, they do not intend to rest. They have already started working on Likkut Ma’anos 5748 and plan to publish it for Rosh Chodesh Kislev.
The team has just one request. Please help them publish every single ma’ana. Those that merited to receive ma’anaos are requested to please share them by emailing [email protected]. Those who do not have ma’anos, but wish to support this worthy cause, can do so by donating, helping defray the high costs of printing.
To download the Kovetz click here.
Amazing! Great work Mendel Levinson and Berl Namirovski!!