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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
15.
"Medical matters are not your Divinely-ordained mission in this world."
Compiled and Translated by Uri Kaploun

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

By the Grace of G-d
27 Teves, 5712 [1952]
Brooklyn

Greetings and Blessings!

I[128] received your letter of 24 Teves in which you describe your situation - how you saw the doctor's report, how it affected you, how you imagine the future, and how you therefore recite Tehillim and make your requests of G-d. You then ask for my view of the subject.

In reply: The fact that you say Tehillim and make your requests of G-d is certainly a good thing, for He is the master[129] over the whole world and over every single person in all his particulars. However, with regard to your description of how you became absorbed in the doctor's report and how you envisage the future, I do not share your approach, because this is not your affair at all. Not for this were you created.

As the learned R. Dov Yehudah Schochet writes to me, you are a person who is committed to the Torah and its commandments. It is therefore certain that you believe that G-d is the L-rd of the universe, the master of the world. We observe that even in the administration of a mortal undertaking, a good manager has everything departmentalized so that no factor interferes with another, and every component serves its intended purpose. If this is true of management by a mortal, who is finite in every respect and accordingly can sometimes err, it is most certainly true with regard to G-d's management: everything, wherever it may be, must find its aim and its consummation in its mission. If a person grasps and tackles something else, this entails two drawbacks: (a) since he is not suited to that task he can only do damage, and (b) this involvement diverts him from fulfilling the mission for which he is in fact designated.

All of the above is applicable to your case, because of a number of circumstances that are certainly determined by Divine Providence: your profession is not that of a doctor, and you were brought up as an observer of the Torah and its mitzvos. From this we learn two things: (a) medical matters are not your Divinely-ordained mission in this world, and (b) your goal, the mission for which you were created, is the observance of the Torah and its commandments. This includes the commandment that[130] "you shall love your fellow as yourself" and that[131] "you shall surely rebuke [your colleague]." It also includes the interpretation appearing in Tanna dvei Eliyahu[132] on the verse,[133] "If you see a naked man, clothe him." On this verse the Sages teach: "If you see a fellow Jew who is naked of Torah and its mitzvos, endeavor to clothe him with Torah and its mitzvos."

From the above it is clear that when you express your evaluations and opinions in matters of medical science, first of all this deflects you from the fulfillment of the mission for which you were designated. Secondly, as to your medical treatment, you can only (G-d forbid) cause harm, but on no account improve things. The harm here can be brought about (G-d forbid) because, as a result of aggravation, you imagine things that will not be. This weakens [the conduit of your blessings][134] and also your trust in G-d, when you are engrossed in the contemplation of what this doctor said, and what that other specialist thought up, and so forth.

Since you ask my view, I am telling you: You should conduct yourself as the holy Torah requires you to do, and in the spirit of what the Torah states - that it has given permission to heal.[135] This means that the Torah has given people permission to consult doctors, and has granted doctors the permission and the possibility only to heal and rectify them. This is why people commonly consult doctors and then follow their instructions. There is nothing more for you to do in this matter: you should leave it all to the doctor. What you should do is to place your certain trust in G-d that you will be blessed with many long years.

It is written,[136] "The awe of G-d [leads] to life." Accordingly, the stronger your trust in G-d, and the fewer your doubts in that trust, and the more you devote yourself to fulfilling your above-stated mission in this world of observing the Torah and its mitzvos and also of influencing others to do likewise, the more long years will you be granted. This is to be understood literally, without resorting to any ingenious interpretations.[137]

Completely forget about the report and about what you have been reading in medical books, because that is not your mission and is altogether not your affair. Accordingly, it cannot improve things for you; generally, doing this only achieves the opposite, G-d forbid.

See to it that every morning, after davenen,[138] you read the daily portion of Tehillim (as it is divided up for the days of the month), and study Chumash with the commentary of Rashi every day. You should also participate in the local group sessions of Torah study, with at least one of those sessions being devoted to the study of Chassidus. And it goes without saying that you should set yourself the goal - as the Baal Shem Tov expected of chassidim - of fulfilling the command of the verse, "Serve G-d with joy." The obligation to "serve G-d" applies not only to praying and studying Torah but also to eating and drinking and whatever else a person does (including even sleeping), as Rambam writes in Hilchos De'os.[139] If you act in this way, you will begin to feel better and better and will become healthier and healthier, and will be able to give me good news about this.

It would be appropriate to donate a few pennies to tzedakah before the morning and afternoon prayers every day (excepting, of course, on Shabbos and Yom-Tov).

I hope, and I am certain, that you will accept my above suggestion and directives, and that you will keep me informed as soon as possible.

With blessings for good health and a speedy recovery - and for many long and goodly years may you fulfill your mission in this world with a peaceful mind and a restful body, and may you be a real chassid.

[...]
P.S. You no doubt participate in the chassidishe farbrengens that are held [...] in your city.[140]

   

Notes:

  1. (Back to text) Igros Kodesh, Vol. 5, p. 156, Letter 1362.

  2. (Back to text) In the original, baal habayis (or in Yid., which is the language of the original text: der baalebos) - lit., "the master of the household"; by extension, also the manager of a concern.

  3. (Back to text) Vayikra 19:18.

  4. (Back to text) Loc. cit., v. 17.

  5. (Back to text) Tanna dvei Eliyahu Rabbah, ch. 27.

  6. (Back to text) Yeshayahu 58:7.

  7. (Back to text) In the original, "your mazal." A person's mazal is his individual soul-root Above.

  8. (Back to text) Bava Kama 85a, on Shmos 21:19.

  9. (Back to text) Mishlei 21:21.

  10. (Back to text) In the original whimsical Heb./Yid., "without pshetlach."

  11. (Back to text) I.e. (Yid.): praying; the prayers.

  12. (Back to text) Cf. sec. 5:1.

  13. (Back to text) See also Letter 10 above.


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