[Avodah] Who First Said it?

[Zev Sero]

Micha Berger wrote:

> BH there is a copy of Maaseh Rav at
> http://download.hebrewbooks.org/downloadhandler.ashx?req=31538
> (thus proving that Lub has forgiven the Gra?).

Lub has always respected the GRA, even at the height of his persecution.  
He was always assumed to have been making a terrible mistake, and that
while his actions were wicked and against halacha his motivation was
genuinely lesheim shomayim, so it wasn't held against him.  It was
believed that he had been misled by false witnesses reporting serious
breaches of halacha, and that had he known the truth he would not have 
acted as he did.

When the Chevraya Kadisha wanted to put him in a strong cherem that would
cut him off from the shoresh of his neshama and guarantee that he would
shmad, ch"v, the Alter Rebbe refused to join them, and he suffered from
their kepeida as a result, but the cherem did not proceed.  When the GRA
died, the AR issued a public letter referring to him as "hagaon hechasid",
and warning chassidim not to rejoice at his passing.

So it's not at all surprising that hebrewbooks.org should have Maaseh Rav.
There's nothing to forgive.

-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                     - Margaret Thatcher