Mentioning one's teacher's name
[1] (Halacha 150)
Honoring One's Teacher
Question: Is it permitted to refer to one's Rav by his personal name?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Sanhedrin1 says: [What is an apikoros?] 'Rav Nachman said: This is one who calls his teacher by his name [who says "so-and-so" and does not say "my master, my teacher, so-and-so." Rashi]. For Rabbi Yochanan said: Why was Geichazi punished? Because he called his teacher by his name, as it says, ויאמר גחזי אדני המלך זאת האשה וזה בנה אשר החיה אלישע ("And Geichazi said: My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha revived.")' And so ruled the Shulchan Aruch2: 'It is forbidden for a student to call his teacher by his name, neither during his lifetime nor after his death.' And the Rema wrote: 'And all this is specifically when he mentions only his name alone, but it is permitted to say: "My teacher, my master, so-and-so."'3.
The Mechaber further wrote4: 'All these matters that we have said one must honor his teacher with were said only regarding one's primary teacher (rabbo muvhak), that is, one from whom the majority of his wisdom comes.'
Therefore, with regard to one's primary teacher (rabbo muvhak) it is forbidden to call him by his name unless one adds before the name "my teacher, my master."
Question: Why, in practice, is it the conduct of Chassidim to be careful not to mention the personal names of our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im, even when adding a title beforehand, but rather to refer to them only by an appellation such as the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe?
Answer: The Rebbe writes5: 'Now, the minhag of Chassidim regarding the Rebbeim is well known — that they are stringent in this even when not in his presence... But one can say there is a basis for this ancient minhag, and one can further say that it is not merely a stringency, based on what is written there in se'if 16, that the concern is that it not be "like the manner of the rest of the people." And if one were to conduct himself toward his Rebbe according to the aforementioned leniency "like the manner of the rest of" his teachers, this would fall into the category of what is forbidden in se'if 16. And what difference does it make whether this is in greeting or in speech and writing.'
That is to say, since the essence of the law of honoring one's teacher is that it not be like the manner of the rest of the people, therefore, since there are other Rabbanim who are called by their name with the addition of "Rav" and the like, it is not an honor that one's primary teacher also be called in this way, since ultimately one's teacher would be equated with the rest of the Rabbanim, and the student must give expression to a special honor that distinguishes his primary teacher from the rest of people; and therefore they were accustomed to be careful in this even when not in his presence.
And it should be noted that the Rebbe here explains the conduct of the Chassidim according to the halachos of honoring one's primary teacher (rabbo muvhak), and although the Poskim have discussed whether in these generations the halachic concept of "rabbo muvhak" applies6, nevertheless the Mechaber has already ruled7: 'If he is outstanding in wisdom, even if he is not one's teacher, his law is like that of a primary teacher (rabbo muvhak).' And the Rema added in his gloss: 'One who is the leading scholar of the generation and renowned in his generation for this is called outstanding in wisdom.'
And therefore, even within the halachic definitions, our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im, are in the category of a primary teacher (rabbo muvhak).
And as we stand on the eve of Yud-Tes Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus, it is fitting to note the words of the responsa Divrei Yatziv8: 'Now, there was one — the Baal Shem Tov — who, like a lion, descended from heaven to teach the sons of Yehudah the bow in the warfare of Torah, as he received and learned from the mouth of his teacher Achiyah HaShiloni; and with him and with his holy students after him the concept of a primary teacher (rabbo muvhak) was applicable, for through the light of their holiness they imparted from the spirit that was upon them onto their students who cleaved to them, and instilled within them holiness and purity, and implanted in their hearts an intense yearning with the flashes of the flame of G-d to set their hearts ablaze for the Torah of Hashem, and made them into a fitting vessel for the words of Torah to enter into their innards. And this was an innovation of the holy Baal Shem Tov — that the little that the teacher studies with the student is able to cause a blessing to rest upon his study, that it ascend ever higher, until spiritually the majority of his wisdom is from him, since he made him into a fitting vessel.'
And how much more so with our Rebbeim, the Nesi'im — the Nesi'im of Chabad — through whose way we have merited the depth of the words of the Baal Shem Tov, and in the language of the Rebbe Rashab9 regarding Yud-Tes Kislev: 'This day is the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus, which our holy forefathers, of righteous and blessed memory, the souls of the holy ones in Eden, may their merit protect us, bequeathed to us; and it is the very Torah of the Baal Shem Tov.'
Gut Yom Tov. May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year in the study of Chassidus and in the ways of Chassidus.
Notes:
1 ק,א ↩
2 יו"ד סי' רמב סט"ו ↩
3 וראה בש"ך ס"ק כג והפר"ח בליקוטים שנחלקו האם גם כשזה בפניו מותר להזכיר את שמו כשאומר רבי מורי פלוני ↩
4 סעיף ל ↩
5 אג"ק חי"ב עמ' יא ↩
6 ראה אורחות חיים הלכות ת"ת אות כא. וראה עוד הנסמן בפסקים ותשובות סי' רמ"ו ↩
7 סי' רמד ס"י ↩
8 חלק יו"ד סי' קלא ↩
9 אג"ק ח"א ע' רנט. הובא בפתיחה להיום יום ↩
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