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Translator's Introduction

Part A: Letters

   1.
"A guide for all the troops under your influence..."

2.
"Endeavors to create a medium within the natural order
do not contradict the concept of bitachon..."

3.
"One should not be too dejected or doubtful,
for this, too, is exploited by the [Evil] Inclination."

4.
"I do not know where you stand
with regard to bitachon."

5.
"If this blessing is sometimes delayed..."

6.
"In words that are appropriate to her present state of mind..."

7.
"One must have appropriate vessels to accommodate all these blessings."

8.
"Consider: Is G-d really in need of your worry...?
Or will He succeed in finding good solutions even without your worrying?"

9.
"I saw in a little book - it's called the Tanach..."

10.
"...a weakness in your trust, and
the remedy for this is to study Shaar HaBitachon."

11.
"And when a person is strong in his trust...,
he then sees [the result] with his fleshly eyes."

12.
"People study, and study - but when it comes to practical application, where's the trust?"

13.
"Just as He has a say in the big world,
He certainly has a say likewise in our little personal world."

14.
"This very thought - as to what will happen if,
G-d forbid, a misfortune occurs - is itself a misfortune."

15.
"Medical matters are not your Divinely-ordained mission in this world."

16.
"The income that G-d fixed for you [on Rosh HaShanah], which I am sure is generous,
no one can lessen and certainly no one can take away."

17.
"If you occasionally feel that this certain trust is wavering...,
you should avert your attention from this weakness, for it is no doubt only imagined."

18.
"Since you place your trust in G-d in questions of materiality and your livelihood,
surely that trust should be firm when it comes to one's children and their conduct!"

19.
"Several well-known incidents testify that
with staunch bitachon one can accomplish whatever is needed."

20.
"David HaMelech says, 'I will fear no evil, for You are with me.'
And 'for You are with me' relates to every single Jew."

21.
"Even when one does not see how this operates within the realm of nature,
G-d will carry out His [Will]."

22.
"It is disappointing and painful to encounter certain dispensable expressions in your letter.
Why do you do this?"

23.
"If a person thinks that his livelihood is meager,
he should donate more tzedakah than previously.
In that way he shows G-d that his charitable needs are greater than heretofore...,
and He will then provide a greater income."

24.
"At the same time, one must create a vessel on the natural plane
and follow the doctor's orders."

25.
"A man's trust is the measuring-stick..."

26.
"The tzitz was worn on the forehead,
and thus represents a trust that transcends mortal reason."

27.
"Not merely pushing through one day after another..."

28.
"You are already wealthy but do not know it."

29.
"One should not initiate - and introduce into the world - depressing lines of thought."

30.
"Especially in the present month of Elul, the month of Divine mercy,
each of you - or you together with your wife - should talk for at least a few minutes
on the subject of trusting in G-d."

31.
"It seems to me that this is the only organization within the precincts of Lubavitch
that is conducted in this way."

32.
"In the course of the year one only does accounting that will certainly not weaken
one's avodah, and - obviously - that will leave no room for the faintest trace of despair."

33.
A descent ought to arouse... greater powers of faith and trust,
whose external manifestation is a courageous spirit
and a lack of emotional reaction to an unpleasant phenomenon."

34.
"When you are firm in your trust and actually perceive the situation [as a trial],
the trial will cease to exist, and you will return to your former standing."

35.
"The Splitting of the Red Sea was actualized by [Nachshon's] strong trust and faith in G-d.
From this we learn the approach to be followed in finding one's match."

36.
"As I read there, you are worried about your children's health,
and you conclude by asking what you can do apart from weeping and lamenting.
First of all, one should stop weeping etc."

37.
"There is a well-known teaching of the Sages that
'a son can bring merit upon his father' - and upon his mother, too."

38.
"This is 'something concerning which none of us knows' - determining a specific time,
and not later, by which G-d, Who makes matches, should do so."

39.
"These days of Pesach are days of faith and trust,
when the Jews of those times went out with their wives and children
to a wilderness of venomous serpents and scorpions, relying only on a word from G-d."

40.
"Divine Providence applies in particular...
to a person whose position enables him to influence a certain circle.
After all, 'even the superintendent of the local irrigation well is appointed in Heaven.' "

41.
"We have seen it proved in practice that the greater a man's trust,
and the more he looks toward his future with joy,
the faster do these things materialize."

42.
"Let him take G-d as a partner, by pledging to contribute for tzedakah
a little more than a tenth of the profit, and preferably close to a fifth. His Partner will then undoubtedly bring him blessings and success."

43.
"The end of your letter, about your lack of joy, contradicts the beginning of your letter."

44.
"One states as a fact, and regards as certain (G-d forbid),
that in a month's time his father's health will not be as it ought to be?!"

45.
"The instances in which doctors are mistaken in such matters are innumerable."

46.
"And G-d, Who since the Six Days of Creation has been 'arranging matrimonial matches,'
will no doubt make available to you, too, the match that will be suitable for you,
materially and spiritually in unison."

47.
"You ask whether the gates of Heaven have been closed (G-d forbid)
and why the way of the worthless prospers."

48.
"There can be nothing that is not good,
for in that place no one has any dominion apart from G-d alone."

49.
"This [mood] itself will increase the good tidings."

50.
"And may G-d grant that my trust in the ultimate victory of good and truth will be vindicated -
even with regard to political parties."

51.
"Despairing, and seeking miracles especially for one's battles with the [Evil] Inclination -
these are simply the wiles and the incitement initiated by the [Evil] Inclination."

52.
"It is self-understood that one cannot point out to G-d on the calendar
that this must happen at the time that appears right to oneself."

53.
"Bitachon is the conduit through which one receives outstanding success from Above."

54.
"They're cutting him up! He's groaning in pain,
but he can't free himself from these kidnappers and murderers!"

55.
"You write that it appears to you that your lot does not bring you success, and so forth.
Avert your attention from all of that, because it is not true."

56.
"When there is a full measure of firm trust - without learned debates or explanations -
that He is 'my light and my salvation,' then 'whom shall I fear?' "

57.
"With regard to the temporary inadequacy in your income,
it is a pity that you are taking it so hard."

58.
"In the spirit of lechat'chilah ariber, it could be suggested
that rejoicing over the improvement in one's health
should be advanced ahead of time, even though the improvement is not yet manifest."

59.
"When there arrives a moment that is not as one would have liked it to be..."

60.
"If so, what room is left for worry?"

61.
"It is my unequivocal opinion that [involvement in the Chabad institution in your locality]
is also the conduit through which the local members of the chassidic brotherhood
will receive their material livelihood."

62.
"I hope, too, that you will participate in the farbrengens...,
which heal and strengthen and raise the spirits of those who are downfallen
and of those whose hearts are bruised."

63.
"When a person is weighing in his mind what he should decide and how he should act,
at that time, too, G-d is watching over him and helping him."

64.
"When one realizes that this is only a test, it utterly ceases to exist,
and what is revealed is the inner meaning of that phrase: 'For the L-rd your G-d is elevating you' - over all the obstacles that veil and obscure [His Countenance]."

65.
"If people had made a habit of sharing [their] good news and writing about it frequently,
they would have had less - or no - need to set up bonds of communication by writing about things that are the opposite of good news."

66.
"When a soldier sets out to the battlefield,
he strides forth to the joyful rhythm of a triumphal march."

67.
"And as it becomes increasingly engraved in one's understanding
that one is standing before the King of kings,
...there will be a corresponding decrease in one's anxiety
about what others will say about the manner of one's speech."

68.
Through the Zohar, G-d opened up a new wellspring that provides a profounder
G-dly understanding, and faith, and trust.

69.
"Repentance, too, must be done out of a firm trust in G-d, and not (G-d forbid) out of despair."

70.
"You write that you would like to have more children, but that there is a financial question."

71.
"There were a few reasons for my not answering your previous letters.
One of them was that I wanted to see how Divine Providence
would guide you in the course of the summer."

72.
"My intent [in writing of Divine Providence] is not to act as defense counsel (G-d forbid)
for the above-mentioned [medical] situation."

73.
"The stronger and more disproportionate is one's trust,
the more disproportionately will one's trust be manifestly vindicated -
by the bestowal of G-d's blessings, both material and spiritual."

74.
All the above [regarding responses to the Gulf War] relates to action.
As to how one should feel, I have made my position clear on several occasions.

75.
"You will then have less time to think the opposite of the directive to think only good."

76.
"You see miracles..., yet you insist on seeking out depressing subjects."

77.
"You have been promised that G-d is your guardian."

Part B: Talks

"A Weighty Task Indeed"
A Thought from the Rebbe Rashab

"When there is still a straw to hang on to"
A Thought from the Rebbe Rayatz

In Good Hands
100 Letters and Talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson
on Bitachon: Trusting in G-d
Part A: Letters
10.
"...a weakness in your trust, and
the remedy for this is to study Shaar HaBitachon."
Compiled and Translated by Uri Kaploun

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  9.
"I saw in a little book - it's called the Tanach..."
Search this book:
11.
"And when a person is strong in his trust...,
he then sees [the result] with his fleshly eyes."  

By the Grace of G-d
9 Sivan, 5711 [1951]
Brooklyn

Greetings and Blessings!

Your[92] letter of 25 Iyar reached me just now. You no doubt have long since received the booklet and the sichah together with my letter, and at auspicious times I mention your name and your wife's name at the holy resting place of my revered father-in-law with reference to your needs.

As I wrote you long ago, I have one thing to say: I do not understand your bitterness and melancholy at all. Since[93] "even the superintendent of a well is appointed in Heaven," it is certainly obvious that the rabbi of a Jewish community should be aware of the responsibility that rests upon him. It is even more obvious that if notions such as those [of which you write] bring you to bitterness and melancholy, they certainly stem from "the Opposite Side"[94] - or, to borrow the phrase of my revered father-in-law, "that smart little guy."[95] Accordingly, every time and every moment that you think such thoughts, these are thoughts that come from the chambers of "the Opposite Side" - and concerning a thought of this kind it is written[96] that "as soon as it rises there (i.e., to the mind), one thrusts it aside with both hands and averts his mind from it [...], and refuses to accept it."

Now, this is speaking of every man, for[97] "the rank of Beinoni is one that is attainable by every man, and every man should strive after it." (This is not contradicted by the statement in Tanya[98] that the Beinoni "has never committed any transgression," whereas chapter 14 states that "every person can, at any time or hour, be a Beinoni." The meaning [of the former statement] is that the Beinoni's present spiritual state is such that transgressing has no place in his life, neither in the future nor in the past.[99] This will suffice for the present.)

From all the above it will be clear that I am not at all comfortable to read in your letter that you are seeking a different position. You ought to remain in your present post, and to trust firmly that G-d will lead you in the path of truth[100] and bless your holy work with success. If doubts on this enter your mind, this does not indicate a doubt as to your ability, but a weakness in your trust. The remedy for this is to study Shaar HaBitachon in Chovos HaLevavos,[101] and, more broadly, to be bound to the Tree of Life, i.e., the study of Chassidus, and to participate frequently in a chassidic farbrengen[102] with genuine chassidic joy - to be happy and to make others happy.

Now, since you have moved into your new apartment, the thing to do would be to organize a chassidic farbrengen there, truly and properly - to recall the good old days, when a chassid at a farbrengen would speak [candidly], without hesitating to consider what this one or that one would say, or what his own left side or right side[103] would say. A chassid only knew that a chassidic farbrengen - listening to a discourse of Chassidus, a chassidic vort,[104] or an anecdote about one of our Rebbeim - lights a man up, and[105] "a little light dispels a great deal of darkness."

Furthermore: Why should one think about darkness? Let's think more about light - especially now, when we are at the time at which the first Tablets of the Law were given.[106] And, [interpreting] the phrase[107] "engraved (charus) on the Tablets" [on the non-literal level called derush], the Sages taught:[108] "Do not read charus ('engraved'); read cheirus ('freedom')."[109]

May it be G-d's Will that your new apartment exemplify the adage[110] that "he who changes his place changes his fortune" - in a good direction. May your home be a warm home and a happy home, filled with[111] "a commandment [that] is a lamp and the Torah [that] is light." May it be filled with the luminary within the Torah, i.e., the teachings of Chassidus, and the spiritual lifestyle of Chassidus, and the customs of chassidim. And you should hold a chassidic farbrengen there from time to time.

I look forward to hearing glad tidings regarding an improvement in your frame of mind, and to hearing that at long last - even if only as an [unenthused] assumption of responsibility[112] - you have undertaken that henceforth you will fulfill the Torah's command that one should serve G-d "with joy and with a gladsome heart."[113]

[...]

   

Notes:

  1. (Back to text) Igros Kodesh, Vol. 4, p. 318, Letter 1042.

  2. (Back to text) Bava Kama 27b.

  3. (Back to text) In the Aram. original, sitra dile'umas zeh (from Koheles 7:14: "G-d created this [side] opposite that [side]"): the evil counterpart to the holy aspect of the universe; a chassidic euphemism for the forces of evil.

  4. (Back to text) In the original Yid., dem kluginken; i.e., the wily Evil Inclination.

  5. (Back to text) Tanya, ch. 12 (see Lessons In Tanya (Kehot, N.Y., 5742/1982), Vol. 1, p. 182).

  6. (Back to text) Op. cit., ch. 14 (see Lessons In Tanya, Vol. 1, p. 203).

  7. (Back to text) Ch. 12 (see op. cit., pp. 170-171).

  8. (Back to text) I.e., from the perspective of his present state he has never sinned.

  9. (Back to text) Cf. Bereishis 24:48.

  10. (Back to text) A medieval classic (in Eng. translation: Duties of the Heart) by Rabbeinu Bachaye.

  11. (Back to text) In the present context, a comradely gathering at which chassidim encourage each other's efforts at finetuning their own spiritual sensitivity.

  12. (Back to text) I.e., his own Evil Inclination or Good Inclination, respectively (see Tanya, ch. 9).

  13. (Back to text) Lit., "word" (Yid.): a teaching that is brief, quotable and insightful.

  14. (Back to text) Tzeidah LaDerech, ch. 12.

  15. (Back to text) This letter is dated two days after Shavuos.

  16. (Back to text) Shmos 32:16.

  17. (Back to text) Avos 6:2.

  18. (Back to text) I.e., studying Torah liberates a man.

  19. (Back to text) In the original, Meshaneh makom meshaneh mazal; cf. Rosh HaShanah 16b.

  20. (Back to text) Mishlei 6:23.

  21. (Back to text) In the original, bekabbalas ol.

  22. (Back to text) In the original, besimchah uvetuv leivav (Devarim 28:47).


  9.
"I saw in a little book - it's called the Tanach..."
Search this book:
11.
"And when a person is strong in his trust...,
he then sees [the result] with his fleshly eyes."  
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