Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter

In the book 'Collection of Letters' by Rav Yaakov Meir Schechter shlit"a, in a letter written on the 28th of Sivan 5731 to R' Chaim Shlomo, the Rav wonders about the difficult dispute, "How do the great and holy disagree with the true tzaddik in the aspect of Mashiach ben David."

Below are selected parts of the letter that reached us:

To the honorable, dear friend, the holy Rav R' Chaim Shlomo, may his peace increase greatly,

Regarding the matter of the holy tzaddikim who did not know of our holy Rebbe, yet they were holy and awesome. And we, too, must be careful not to blemish our faith in the tzaddikim, in the faith in the tzaddik who is "wounded because of our transgressions"[a] (Isaiah 53:5). And this can cause, G-d forbid, a blemish in the faith in the tzaddik who is the aspect of Moses himself. And in contrast, we see that there were simple people who did merit to be with the tzaddikim during the time of concealment.

And regarding the dispute of Korach and his congregation against Moses and Aaron, it is told of the holy Rav, the author of 'Yismach Moshe' z"l, that he merited to remember all his incarnations, and he said that he remembers the dispute of Moses with Korach, and he was among those who did not want to get involved in this dispute. And it is possible that there were many much smaller ones who knew the truth. For we see that he succeeded in enticing 250 heads of the Sanhedrin, whereas the simple folk were with Moses our teacher.

And if so, such is the matter even with the great and holy who do not know entirely of the tzaddik. And in contrast to them, there are simple people who do know of him, and the secret in this is hidden from us.

It is known that the Baal Shem Tov did not want to descend into this world until they promised him sixty mighty men (see Avneiha Barzel, Shevachei HaBesht 1, 331), and were it not for that, he would have remained hidden in this world.

In any case, I have brought you several examples that there can be tzaddikim and holy men and miracle workers who do not know entirely of the secret of Mashiach, the one "wounded because of our transgressions," and that each time this secret was hidden in a completely different way. And see in the Zohar (Ki Teitzei, page 282) that Rashbi requested that Elijah the Prophet reveal the Ra'aya Meheimna (Moses our teacher), because the Tannaim, the masters of the Mishnah, do not know of him and do not recognize him, and about him it is stated, "And he was wounded because of our transgressions."

Download Rav Yaakov Meir Schechter's letter

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[a] This is a verse in the Tanakh (Isaiah 53:5) "But he was wounded because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement of our welfare was upon him, and with his wound we were healed," and in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 98b) it interprets this regarding Mashiach, that he suffers illnesses for the sake of the entirety of Israel. And see in Likutey Moharan (Lesson 118) where he wrote that every tzaddik of the generation also suffers afflictions for the sake of the entirety of Israel to lighten them from upon them, for he is the aspect of Mashiach.