The Rebbe’s incredible expertise in every halacha in the Rambam is clearly evident to the student from the very outset. What is even more incredible is that the Rebbe succeeded in granting some of that expertise to those who study his commentary.
In every place that the Rebbe comes upon a halacha that appears in the Rambam in an additional place or places – he immediately points it out, and delves into a deep, detailed explanation, proving that in each such instance, the Rambam introduces a novel concept or definition, proving so in astonishing fashion from seemingly minor differences in terminology between the different halachos.
The student, who enthusiastically delves into the Rebbe’s wonderful commentary, may not even be aware that in the course of study, the Rebbe is leading him on a journey through the other books of the Ya”d, and that on the way, he acquires impressive breadth of knowledge of additional volumes of the Ya”d Hachazakah.
An example thereof is the Rebbe’s explanation of the Rambam at the beginning of chapter two of the Laws of Shabbos: Why did the Rambam need to quote the exegesis of the passuk “asher ya’aseh osam ha’adam vachai bahem,’ which man shall fulfill and live by them, to prove that Shabbos is deferred in cases of danger to human life, when he already detailed the very same halacha in the beginning of chapter 5 of Hilchos Yesodei Hatorah? The Rebbe demonstrates that the Rambam applies a new delineation for the deferral of Shabbos in cases of life-threatening danger, entirely distinct from the delineation for deferral of mitzvos in cases of life-threatening danger elsewhere in the Torah.
Another example is his eye-opening explanation of the halacha that ‘it is forbidden for a person to be cruel by refraining from granting forgiveness,’ which the Rambam brings in three separate instances – in Hilchos De’os, in Hilchos Teshuvah, and in Hilchos Chovel u’Mazik. The Rebbe infers, by a precise reading of slight changes in the Rambam’s terminology in each of the three instances, that there are three forms of forgiveness of progressively higher levels, offering a marvelous explanation as to how the first is appropriate for Hilchos Teshuvah, the second for Hilchos De’os, and the third for Hilchos Chovel u’Mazik.
In this manner, when the student completes his study of one portion – he has gained expertise in two additional areas of the Rambam.
