Buying sifrei kodesh
[A] (Halacha 165)
In honor of the 5th of Teves, on which the Rebbe urged1 the purchase of holy books - 'a house full of books', let us explain which mitzvah we fulfill through purchasing holy books.
Question: The final mitzvah of the 613 mitzvos that the Jewish people were commanded is the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah. Is the way to fulfill it only through writing a Sefer Torah, or are there additional ways?
Answer: The Rosh wrote2: 'But nowadays, when people write a Sefer Torah and place it in synagogues to read from it publicly, it is a positive mitzvah upon every Jew whose means allow it to write Chumashim of the Torah, Mishnah, Gemara, and their commentaries, to study them, he and his sons. For the mitzvah of writing the Torah is to study it, as it is written, "and teach it to the Children of Israel, place it in their mouths." And through the Gemara and the commentaries he will know the explanation of the mitzvos and the laws in their fullness; therefore, these are the books that a person is commanded to write, and also not to sell them, except in order to study Torah or to marry a wife.'
And so wrote the Mechaber3: 'Nowadays, it is a mitzvah to write Chumashim of the Torah, Mishnah, Gemara, and their commentaries, and one should not sell them except in order to study Torah or to marry a wife.'
The poskim differed on this. Some say4 that even according to the Rosh, the essence of the mitzvah is fulfilled through writing a Sefer Torah, but there is also a mitzvah in purchasing holy books. And some say5 that today the mitzvah is fulfilled primarily through purchasing holy books and not through writing a Sefer Torah, which lies in the Holy Ark and from which we do not study. Their words accord with the language of the Rosh, and as is cited in the Tur, that the actual writing of a Sefer Torah 'was said only for the earliest generations.' And likewise with the language of the Kitzur Piskei HaRosh, who wrote that the essence of the mitzvah is in relation to writing holy books6.
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Question: Does one fulfill the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah through purchasing books?
Answer: In the Gemara, Tractate Menachos7, it is stated: 'And Rabbi Yehoshua bar Abba said in the name of Rav Gidel in the name of Rav: One who buys a Sefer Torah from the marketplace is like one who snatches a mitzvah from the marketplace; one who writes it - Scripture regards him as if he received it from Mount Sinai. Rav Sheshes said: If he corrected even a single letter, Scripture regards him as if he wrote it.'
The Rishonim differed in the interpretation of the Gemara as to whether the meaning is that every person is obligated to write it himself, or at least to hire someone to write it for him, and in any event to correct even a single letter in the Sefer Torah, but through purchasing a ready-made Sefer Torah one does not fulfill the mitzvah8, or whether even if one buys a Sefer Torah one discharges one's obligation, except that it is not the choicest form of the mitzvah9.
And in practice, the Rema10 ruled that through purchasing one does not discharge one's obligation; however, the Taz11, and the Bei'ur HaGra12 hold like Rashi, that one discharges one's obligation.
And according to this, there is room to consider: today, when the mitzvah is fulfilled through holy books, what is the law regarding purchasing books - do we fulfill the mitzvah even according to the view of the Rema?
Some say13 that this itself depends on the dispute between the Rambam and the Rosh as to whether today one can discharge one's obligation through holy books or whether one needs a Sefer Torah. According to the Rambam, who requires specifically the writing of a Sefer Torah - because the definition of the mitzvah is connected to the writing - therefore one does not discharge one's obligation through purchasing books; however, according to the Rosh, who holds that one discharges one's obligation through books - because the definition of the mitzvah is studying from books - if so, one discharges one's obligation through purchasing books.
And although the Rosh wrote that the mitzvah is to write books, the commentators have already explained14 that he did not mean specifically writing, but also purchasing, and he stated "writing" because of the Sefer Torah. And on this basis the poskim held that one discharges one's obligation through purchasing books.
But the Rebbe15 explains that through purchasing books one discharges one's obligation according to all the views16, since the definition of the mitzvah of writing the Torah is part of the fulfillment of the mitzvah of studying Torah: 'and teach it to the Children of Israel, place it in their mouths,' and through writing the Sefer Torah, the Torah will thereby remain with the Jewish people forever, since studying from the book enables constant review and prevents forgetting and errors. However, as long as it was forbidden to write the Oral Torah, then perforce the entire possibility of fulfilling the mitzvah was through the Written Torah, and the Written Torah has rules for how it is written (and according to the understanding of the Rambam and the Rema this itself became part of the definitions of the mitzvah, and therefore the purchaser does not discharge his obligation; whereas according to Rashi this is merely a law of how to create sanctity in a Sefer Torah, but not as part of the very mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah for the purpose of "placing it in their mouths"). And perforce, today, when we fulfill the mitzvah through printed books in which there are not the rules of the sanctity of a Sefer Torah, then perforce, according to all the views, one can discharge one's obligation through purchasing, and one need not print them oneself.
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Question: Does one discharge one's obligation with books that are not in Lashon HaKodesh, such as English and the like?
Answer: The poskim wrote17 that one discharges one's obligation in any language. And so writes the Rebbe18: 'It is seemingly understood that one fulfills the mitzvah of "and teach it" with Torah, Mishnah, Gemara, and their commentaries in whatever language it may be, even though it was not written in Lashon HaKodesh; and likewise one fulfills the positive mitzvah of "and write for yourselves" when he purchases these books in any language.'
**
Question: According to the views that one does not fulfill the mitzvah of Sefer Torah through purchasing books, is there value in buying books?
Answer: The Rebbe said in a sicha of the 5th of Teves 574919: 'And even according to the view of those who disagree and hold that through purchasing holy books there is no fulfillment of a positive mitzvah of the Torah, even according to their view one fulfills through this at the very least a mitzvah of the words of the Sages, of which "the words of the Sages are beloved to me" and "the words of the Sages are weighty upon me." It emerges that (according to all) there is a special significance in purchasing holy books (at this time).
And more than this: in purchasing holy books there are both elevations together, both the elevation of a positive mitzvah of the Torah (according to the view of the Rosh), and the elevation of a mitzvah of the words of the Sages (according to the second view).
And this matter - holy books - applies to each and every one, men, women, and children, as is fitting for the year of "tismach" and "tismach," the year of Hakhel - in which it is stated "Assemble the people, the men, the women, and the children." And in particular since it has recently become customary that the young children have holy books of their own (and not only foods and clothing of their own), which adds strengthening and pleasantness to their lives.
If so, in practice there is a mitzvah of the Torah, and at the very least of Rabbinic origin, to purchase holy books for men, women, and children.
Notes:
1 ש"פ ויגש ה' טבת תשמ"ח. ה' טבת תשמ"ט. ש"פ ויגש ז' טבת התשנ"ב ↩
2 הלכות קטנות הלכות ס"ת סי' א. וכתב רבינו ירוחם נ"ב ח"ב יז, ב שכן כתבו הגאונים ↩
3 שו"ע יו"ד סי' רע ס"ב ↩
4 ב"י. ב"ח. ט"ז ס"ק ד. ברכ"י יוסף סק"ט ושכן מוכח מגורי האריז"ל. ולהעיר משו"ת שאגת אריה סי' לו ↩
5 דרישה ופרישה שם סק"ח. ש"ך סק"ה. שו"ת פנים מאירות ח"ג סוס"י כ. נמוקי רי"ב ↩
6 גם הט"ז שם הסכים שכך נראה יותר בלשון הרא"ש ↩
7 ל, א ↩
8 רמב"ם ריש הל' ספר תורה - עפ"י מנ"ח מצוה תריג אות ב. לקו"ש חכ"ג חג השבועות אות ג ע' 20 וראה הערה 32. וברביד הזהב כתב שזו דעת הרי"ף ↩
9 רש"י מנחות ל, א ד"ה כחוטף. נמוקי יוסף ורבינו יהונתן ריש הלכות ספר תורה ↩
10 יו"ד סי' רע ס"א בהגה ↩
11 סק"א ↩
12 אות ג ↩
13 שאגת אריה סי' לו. מנ"ח. שו"ת שמן רוקח ח"ג יו"ד סי' יז. כלי חמדה פר' וילך ↩
14 לבוש יו"ד סי' רע. שלחן גבוה יו"ד שם ס"ק יג. לקו"ש חכ"ג שם ע' 24 אות ט. אורחות יושר פכ"ב. שו"ת סמיכה לחיים יו"ד סי' ו ↩
15 לקו"ש חכ"ג שם. ובלקו"ש חכ"ד וילך ב ס"ד ע' 210 ↩
16 וכ"כ בדעת קדושים על הלכות ס"ת ס"ק ז ↩
17 פלא יועץ ערך ספר. ולהעיר מצפנת פענח הל' תפלה פי"ב ה"י. מקור חסד לספר חסידים סי' תד ↩
18 לקו"ש חכ"ג שם ע' 25 הערה 67 ↩
19 תו"מ תשמ"ט ח"ב ע' 103 (בלתי מוגה) ↩
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