WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO
THE YOM TOV OF כ"ו תמוז?
In 1916, a bookseller named Naftali Zvi Shapiro offered to sell Abraham Kahan a collection of letters attributed to the Baal Shem Tov that had reportedly been stored in a Geniza (a cache of old documents).
There was considerable confusion regarding the location of this Geniza. Various accounts placed it in St. Petersburg, Kiev, or Kharkov.
In 1921, the letters resurfaced in Odessa, supposedly originating from the government archives in Kherson. According to the story, this cache had originally been confiscated from the Ruzhiner Rebbe zt"l during his imprisonment.
The narrative continued that, amid the chaos following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the manuscripts were removed from the Kherson Archive and transported to Odessa.
There, most of the letters were reportedly purchased by the wealthy Chassid Shmuel Gurary, who presented them to his Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber (the Maharshab) zt"l.
Publication of the Letters
During the 1930s, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (the Frierdiker Rebbe) zt"l published approximately 300 letters, purportedly written by the Baal Shem Tov and other early Chassidic figures, in the Chabad journal Hatamim.
Questions Begin to Surface
It soon became apparent that the authenticity of these manuscripts was highly questionable.
Scholars closely examined the contents, writing style, paper, and historical details. They concluded that there were numerous reasons to doubt that the letters were genuine.
Among the most significant problems:
- Some letters were dated on Shabbos and Yom Tov, making them historically implausible.
- The type of paper used in the manuscripts was not yet available during the lifetime of the Baal Shem Tov.
- Additional inconsistencies in language and historical references raised further doubts.
Who Rejected the Letters?
Among the prominent Rebbes who questioned the authenticity of the Kherson Geniza were:
- The Imrei Emes (Gerrer Rebbe)
- Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach (Belzer Rebbe)
- The Minchas Elazar (Munkatcher Rebbe)
Today, outside of Chabad, there are virtually no authorities who maintain that these letters are authentic. They are generally regarded as forgeries.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Position
The last Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l, who possessed extensive expertise in ancient manuscripts and rare seforim, firmly maintained that the letters were authentic and did not accept the conclusions of the academic scholars who argued otherwise.
The Mystery of כ"ו תמוז
Within Sefer Hatamim appear two letters from the Kherson Geniza which proclaim a Yom Tov on כ"ו תמוז.
Yet, an obvious question remains...
If these letters established a new Yom Tov...
Why does virtually nobody observe it?
As far as I am aware, not even Chabad celebrates כ"ו תמוז.
❖ What ever happened to the "Yom Tov of כ"ו תמוז?" ❖
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