By the Grace of G-d 20th of Iyar, 5720 Brooklyn, N. Y.
Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung
New York City, N. Y.
Greeting and Blessing:
As we are approaching the 200th Anniversary of the Histalkus of the Baal Shem Tov, which will take place on the first day of Shovuoth, the Season of Our Receiving the Torah, I take pleasure in sending you, under separate cover, the second volume of the Memoirs of my father-in-law of saintly memory, which we have recently published in connection with this Anniversary.
I am sure that you will find this volume both interesting and informative, inasmuch as it deals with the early history of the Chassidic movement.
I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a happy and inspiring Season of Our Receiving the Torah.
With blessing,
M. Schneerson
After dictating the above, I received the 3rd volume of Noam,1 and many thanks for your thoughtfulness in sending it to me. I note with special approval the good practice to give, at the end of the volume, a summation of the recent Responsa, compiled in N.Y.2
May I make the suggestion that it would be advisable, in addition to the above, to give more details about the authors,3 so that the reader may get a better idea as to the authority of the author. For although a point is made editorially4 not to rely on these summations, the fact is that in our day and age this precaution is not sufficient, and many readers do regard them all as authoritative. Of course, the editor cannot go into the question of evaluation of the authority of its contributors, however, if the reader would find some information about the background and standing of the editor, this would enable him to form his own conclusions, or, at any rate, to make further investigations.
I venture to suggest also that it would be advisable to have a listing of the Responsa accumulating during the period of one issue and the following. This is facilitated especially as in Eretz Yisroel, most published works are listed in the quarterly Hasepher edited by Dr. Zvi Harkavi.
Notes and sources
Rabbi Dr. Leo (Eliyahu) Jung (5652–5748) was a rabbi, scholar, and JDC leader. He maintained a close relationship with the Rebbe, corresponding frequently on matters of Jewish education and communal support. As Chairman of the JDC’s Cultural Committee, he collaborated with Chabad in strengthening Jewish life, particularly in North Africa and Iran. For more information and additional letters addressed to him, see letter dated 27 Iyar, 5713. He initiated the publication Noam (see below) and signed on each volume as the Chairman of the American Committee for Noam.
1) Jerusalem, 5720. Noam was a yearly Rabbinic journal for the clarification of contemporary Halachic problems edited by Rabbi Moshe Shelomo Kasher that ran from 1959 to 1984.
2) At the end of this volume a new section appeared titled Piskei Halacha. As Rabbi Jung writes in the preface:
A most welcome development in “Noam” is the new feature “digest of Halachoth”. This selection of Rabbinic decisions gleaned from current Responsa volumes call attention to the new “Piskei Halacha” of noted authorities. It will further stimulate practical consideration of problems in Jewish law which arise and confront Rabbis the world over.
In the introduction to this section, it was noted that they thank the Torah Sheleimah Institute of New York for compiling the digest of the Responsa.
3) This section provided a short bibliographical reference of each book of Responsa that this section quoted from which usually also noted what rabbinical post each author had.
4) In a note in the introduction to the said section. In future editions this clarification was placed more prominently
Source: Photocopy of Original.
Published: Rebbe Responsa Exclusive.
Photo Credit: Winner's Auction House.
A List Of Responsa
Booklet 3