Seven years ago, Rabbi Avraham Katz launched Lessons in Likutay Torah, a project dedicated to explaining the Alter Rebbe’s maamarim and making them accessible to the English reader. He was inspired by the work of his friend, Rabbi Levi Gelb, who was publishing explanations on the same maamarim, in Hebrew.
These maamarim are essential; all of Chassidus is built on the concepts found within. Over the years, the Rebbe strongly pushed for Chassidim to learn the maamarim of Lekutay Torah/Torah Or.
At the same time, these maamarim can be quite difficult to understand. The style in which they are written often requires the reader to make connections between points presented and questions answered, connecting the flow of ideas with references that the reader may not be completely familiar with.
With Lessons in Likutay Torah, Rabbi Katz aims to make the maamarim easy to read and understand. In addition, he brings out practical applications of each maamar in a section titled “Lessons from the Maamar in our Service of Hashem.” These sections follow each maamar’s text and explanation.
At this time, 11 maamarim have been translated as part of the project. Rabbi Katz hopes to put out new maamarim on a regular basis over the coming years.
Download a Shavuos Maamer here
The maamarim and their explanations can be downloaded here. To donate towards the effort of translating new maamarim, click here.