Recitation of the Nesi'im
[א] (halacha 239)
The Shelah wrote1: 'It appears to me, in my humble opinion, that it is a good minhag to recite each and every day the portion of the Nasi (prince) of that day, for each and every Nasi had great secrets, through which they each drew down spiritual abundance to his tribe for all eternity .. and on the 13th of Nissan, it appears to me to recite the portion of Beha'aloscha, until .. "so he made the menorah," which corresponds to the tribe of Levi'.
And so too wrote the Alter Rebbe2: 'It is customary from Rosh Chodesh onward to recite the portion of the Nasi who brought his offering on that day, and on the 13th day the portion of Beha'aloscha until "so he made the menorah," which corresponds to the tribe of Levi'. According to this, on the 12th day one recites the tribe of Naftali and continues until the conclusion of Parshas Naso, and on the 13th day one begins Parshas Beha'aloscha.
In the Alter Rebbe's Siddur he did not bring this minhag at all; rather, it was added in the later Chabad siddurim, Siddur Torah Or and Tehillas Hashem, and there it is brought that on the 12th day one recites only the offering of Nasi Naftali, and on the 13th day to begin from "this was the dedication of the altar," and in Sefer HaMinhagim3 in a note the Rebbe brings that Rav Chaim Naeh wondered about this, but in practice the Rebbe said in a sicha of the 13th of Nissan 57454 that with regard to practice the simple minhag is to recite as printed in the Chabad siddurim'.
There are those who had the minhag to read this from a Sefer Torah5, but the Rebbe wrote6: 'To read the portion of the Nesiim (at the beginning of Nissan) from a Sefer Torah - my revered father-in-law the Rebbe did not practice thus .. And it is known that the practices of my revered father-in-law the Rebbe were like the practices of his father and higher in holiness. - And the Sages already said, נהרא נהרא ופשטיה ("Each river follows its own course")'7.
Reciting the Yehi Ratzon
The Mekubalim wrote8 that after reciting the Nasi one should say a Yehi Ratzon.
Indeed, the Alter Rebbe in the Shulchan Aruch did not mention reciting the Yehi Ratzon, but in Siddur Torah Or, which Rav Lavut published, he inserted the text of the Yehi Ratzon. And in connection with this, it is brought in the record of the Gaon HaChassid Rabbi Yaakov Landau9: Once, at the Shabbos meal, the Rebbe Rashab complained that Rav Lavut had inserted the 'Yehi Ratzon' of the 'Nesiim' into Siddur Torah Or, and to the question of the aforementioned Rabbi Yaakov as to whether it need not be recited, the Rebbe replied (in free translation): Ah! Who says it? .. The 'Yehi Ratzon' of the 'Nesiim' is not recited10!
However, in a letter of reply to Rabbi Yaakov Landau, the Rebbe writes11: 'Regarding what you noted concerning reciting the Yehi Ratzon after the portion of the Nasi and the omission of the word "al" in the first Yehalelucha - all the practices that I printed in "HaYom Yom" I entered according to the directive of my revered father-in-law the Rebbe shlita, and before the printing they were once again before his eyes (and there are some of them that he directed to omit, saying that they are not a directive for the masses) - regarding the two aforementioned: we also saw, several times, my revered father-in-law the Rebbe shlita reciting the Yehi Ratzon and omitting the word "al," and perhaps there were variations in this, or that it is a matter upon which a person does not place [importance], etc.'12.
And so it was brought in practice also in Sefer HaMinhagim – Chabad there: After reciting the Nasi one says the Yehi Ratzon (printed in Siddur Torah Or), and Kohanim and Leviim also recite it13.
In the sicha of Shabbos Parshas Tazria, the 3rd of Nissan 574914, the Rebbe writes: 'And to note that the Alter Rebbe in his Siddur did not bring this minhag [and to note that there are other matters that he did not bring in his Siddur, even though they are practiced thus . and this is not the place to elaborate] and even after this was added in Siddur Torah Or and Tehillas Hashem (and likewise in additional siddurim) - it was added at the end of the Siddur, after all the tefillos, and even there it is only indicated in a marginal note to the readings of the days of Chanukah (which these readings too are a later addition), and afterward the addition - of the 'Yehi Ratzon' (which is recited after the Nasi). And perhaps because of this a weakening, G-d forbid, came about in the observance of this minhag of reciting the Nesiim (and particularly with regard to reciting the Yehi Ratzon, which although it was brought similarly in the works of the great ones of Israel, it is not mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch as is the recitation of the Nasi, which was brought in the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch as above). And it is a mitzvah to strengthen the minhag, in a manner of "they are stringent upon me and they are beloved to me," etc., to the point of the belovedness of a minhag of Israel (similar to what is explained with regard to the minhag of Hakafos on Simchas Torah - Likkutei Torah Sukkos 80, 3)'.
Notes:
1 מסכת פסחים פרק נר מצוה ↩
2 סי' תכט סט"ו ↩
3 ע' 36 ↩
4 תו"מ תשמ"ה ח"ג ע' 1758 ואילך. ולקו"ש חל"ב ע' 19 הערה 1 ↩
5 ראה הנסמן בפסקי תשובות סי' תכט אות ז ↩
6 אג"ק חט"ז עמ' קפט ↩
7 וראה עוד שם בהמשך האגרת ↩
8 ספר יסוד יוסף למקובל הרב יוסף יוסקא פרק פג, והביאו תלמידו בספר קב ישר פרק פח. ובספר מקדש מלך לזח"ג קצו, ב ↩
9 הובאה בשוה"ג באג"ק שם, ונדפסה בשלימות באוצר מנהגי חב"ד ניסן ע' ה. והוסיף הגר"י לנדא ואמר, שאין לכך סתירה מהאמור בלוח היום יום: ש'ציוה [מוהרש"ב] לגיסו הרמ"ה הכהן לאמר ה'יהי רצון' שאחר הנשיא' - שהרי הרמ"ה הנ"ל לא היה מגזע אנ"ש ולא נהג במנהגי חב"ד ↩
10 וראה עד"ז גם בקונטרס הסידור להגר"ח נאה ז"ל, עמ' כט ↩
11 אג"ק ח"ב ע' קמו ↩
12 ולהעיר גם מאג"ק ח"ו ע' סה ↩
13 וראה באריכות בלקו"ש חלק לב עמ' 20, ובספה"ש תשמ"ז ח"א עמ' 372 ביאור דברי הרבי הרש"ב בהטעם שגם כהן ולוי אומרים שבאם אני משבט ↩
14 תו"מ ח"ב ע' 530 הערה 76 ↩
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