The Rogatchover’s Analysis of the Rebbe Rashab’s Histalkus

Two months after the histalkus of the Rebbe Rashab, R’ Yehoshua Nimotin mentioned it in a letter to the Rogatchover, which spurred a discussion on the histalkus of tzaddikim and their continued presence afterwards. Presented in honor of the Rogatchover’s yahrtzeit.

In honor of the recent yahrzeit of the Rogatchover Gaon (11th of Adar), the Tzfunot Institute, headed by Rabbi Binyomin Bitton, is happy to present the attached Tzfunot article, adapted from the teachings of the Rogatchover, and related to the histalkus of a Tzadik.

The article, which unravels and simplifies the depths of the Rogatchover’s insights in a clear and easy fashion, is primarily based on a responsa that the Rogatchover sent to the rov and chossid Rabbi Yehoshua Nimotin, a few days before Shavuos 5680.

It seems that in his previous letter to the Rogatchover, Rabbi Nimotin mentioned about the recent passing of the Rebbe Rashab, which happened about two months earlier, on the 2nd of Nissan of that year.

This, however, raised the Halachic question whether one is allowed to discuss the passing of a niftar during the thirty days period preceding a yom tov.

In his unique style, the Rogatchover analyzes the issue and connects it to the chakira about the definition of the mitzvah of binyan Bais Hamikdash — whether it’s about the ‘action of building’, or to ‘have a Mikdash built’.

From this chakira, discussed a length in the teachings of the Rogatchover, several ramifications are evolving. Among them — is the mitzvah of building the Bais Hamikdash a ‘one time’ mitzvah, or a continuous one? And vice versa — should the churban Bais Hamikdash be considered a ‘one time’ event, which occurred more than 1950 years ago, or a ‘continuous’ one, which is happening again and again, including this very moment?

The conclusion of the Rogatchover is that the histalkus of a Tzadik, which is compared to the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, is a continuous event; for the Tzadik is still present among us and is only missing from us in a revealed way.

Therefore, he concludes, based on the various reasons about the aforementioned din on the mentioning of a niftar during the thirty days preceding a yom tov, with regards to a Tzadik, one is allowed to mention about the histalkus.

To download the kuntres, click here.