Igeret ha-yeshiva (Epistle on the Yeshiva)

Our dear brethren, Children of Israel, perhaps the time has now come to repair the breaches in our ranks; let us return to uphold the Torah of the Almighty with all our strength. Who will be the volunteers to teach the students? Who to be activists in this meritorious deed? Who to form part of the student body? Who to be supporters of the Torah with their wealth? Every single individual who comes close to the Torah of the Almighty shall be everlasting, for the donation of money is a defense against Divine retribution and the acquisition of wisdom is likewise a defense, and both of these preserve those who possess them in equal measure.

I am going to be the first of those volunteering to be among the teachers—without my taking a solemn vow in this regard; and by the mercies of the Almighty, who has cared abundantly for me throughout my life, in Him do I trust and in Him do I take refuge. He will furnish me generously with the wherewithal to meet the material needs of the students in accordance with each one’s requirements.

Now I know that I have not merited possession of the attribute of humility, but it is laid down in the Gemara, in the Palestinian Talmud, at the end of tractate Shevi‘it, and also adduced by Ra”sh [R. Samson of Sens] ad loc. that one who is well-versed in just a single Talmudic tractate and sees that people are according him honor in larger measure than would rightfully be due to him for this is obliged to inform them of the truth; and I have heard that my name is being associated with the name of our teacher, the greatest of our rabbis, whose name is known throughout the Jewish diaspora—our teacher and our master, the holy one of Israel and its light, our most illustrious teacher, Rabbi Elijah—may his soul repose in Paradise—the saint of Vilna; and I have enjoyed the merit of his good name being associated with myself, through people saying that I was his disciple, and hence I acknowledge a personal obligation to make it genuinely known in Israel that far be it from me to diminish the honor due to the master and great and holy rabbi—may his soul repose in paradise—by having my own name associated with his; I know for a certainty that anyone saying that I was his disciple is entirely in error; for our most illustrious master—may his soul repose in paradise—had his learning laid out in perfect order before him, with a crystal-clear knowledge of halakhah throughout the Torah in its entirety, without his entertaining any doubts whatsoever in regard thereto—in scripture, in Mishnah, and in the Babylonian and the Palestinian Talmuds, and the Mekhilta, the Sifra, and the Sifrei and the Tosefta, and Midrashim and Zoharic material, and all the words of the Tanna’im and the Amora’im in our possession; and in all of these, he merited having his due portion among them, enabling him to decide as between the various matters of doubt arising from their statements, and to introduce novel elements into them; to be someone who hears and adds thereto mounds upon mounds of halakhot and homiletic items and expositions, as well as the most enigmatic of the divine mysteries; how then can I lift up my face like a flint and not be ashamed to be called his disciple, since I have not had the merit to receive even a small portion of his splendor, neither have I had the merit to possess a clear mastery of the halakhah in respect of even a single tractate, as the instances of doubt are numerous and the final rulings, reconciling differing views, are few. In the short time during which I had the merit of attending upon him, I did not merit obtaining anything from him other than my becoming acquainted with the general thrust of a halakhic discussion, after the exertion of a great deal of mental toil; in this regard, a binding promise has been made to all our brethren, the Children of Israel, in accordance with the assurances of our sages of blessed memory, that if someone were to declare: “I labored hard, but met with no success therein,” do not believe him! Furthermore, I did not have the merit of attaining the level of mental toil and effort exerted by our great Master—may his soul repose in paradise—as the immense amount of mental toil and effort expended by our great Master—may his soul repose in paradise—can neither be appreciated nor measured, nor believed by anyone who has not personally witnessed his vast amount of mental exertion over every single detail of the Torah, until such time as he was able to grasp it with full clarity.