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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
45.
"The instances in which doctors are mistaken in such matters are innumerable."
Compiled and Translated by Uri Kaploun

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  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?!"
Search this book:
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."  

By the Grace of G-d
28 Tishrei, 5715 [1954]
Brooklyn

Blessings and Greetings!

This[258] is to acknowledge receipt of your undated letter. I am replying ahead of its turn, as you requested, even before letters received by express mail, and in the order of the topics in your letter.

The beginning of your letter is surprising - that the last spark is extinguished, etc. How can a mortal know things like this? It seems that you base yourself entirely on the consideration of your age. This proves nothing, for, as is stated in the teachings of the Sages and as may clearly be seen, women older than yourself do give birth to sons and daughters.

Moreover, whoever observes G-d's world sees that because (in the words of the Tanach) "Your works, O G-d, are manifold"[259] and "Your works, O G-d, are mighty,"[260] no single individual can encompass and grasp all subjects. Indeed, no individual can grasp even a significant part of them, nor even most of the matters that are in his immediate vicinity[261] and that affect his own life. This is why there is a diversity of specialists in the various disciplines, and no honest man will express a definite opinion except within his own field, while in other fields he relies on their respective experts.

With regard to our subject: It is true that the Torah takes into account the opinions of doctors, which determine certain rulings in the Shulchan Aruch, and that every man and woman is obligated to follow doctors' orders when it comes to actual practice. At the same time, however, every individual must know clearly in his heart that it is G-d Who is the Healer of all flesh, and it is He Who literally conducts the world - that is, in the daily life of every man and woman, down to the last detail, and obviously in more basic matters.

From what you write it appears that no medical specialist's opinion was involved in the above instance. But even if someone had been in this situation, the instances in which doctors are mistaken in such matters are innumerable, and the matter depends only on the strength of a person's trust and his bond with the Creator of the Universe.

(This is attained by living a life of trust day by day, which as a matter of course arouses joy. There is also the joy that comes from one's ability to do something for those in one's environment, the merit of which is beyond measure. As the Baal Shem Tov used to say, a soul can come down to This World for 70 or 80 years - in order to do a single favor to a fellow Jew, materially or spiritually. And who more than the Baal Shem Tov could appreciate the enormity of the soul's descent as it arrives in This World, "from a lofty height to a lowly pit."[262] Yet notwithstanding this, he made the above statement and handed it down to the succeeding generations, the generations of those who live in this ever-intensifying exile. [The challenge articulated by the Baal Shem Tov] surely applies particularly to a young woman who has not yet fully maximized her capabilities in influencing those around her, arousing within them the good that is in their souls and fortifying it with Torah - and "good signifies nothing other than the Torah"[263] and its commandments. [And the obligation to do so] applies not only on Shabbos and on the Days of Awe and in exceptional circumstances, but especially and specifically in one's everyday life, the days that some people mistakenly call "the gray days."[264])

In fact there is no need for any lengthy exposition to explain such a simple point. One thought suffices: Every man and woman of the Jewish people, being descended from Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov, is part of the link that bonds the Creator and Creation - by living his life as it is, and especially by activities such as those described above. And this link is the ultimate purpose of the entire Creation.

It is surely superfluous for me to add that in the above words I do not intend to minimize (G-d forbid) the subject of having a son and daughter. My only purpose is to point out the absolute truth - that there is no justification for melancholy, and certainly not (to borrow your word) for despair. Quite the contrary.

You ask about changing your place of residence, and secondly, more importantly, about taking a child into your home and raising him. This depends on the way it will influence yourself and your husband. If doing this will make you happier and will fortify your trust in G-d that He will fulfill your request by granting you healthy and viable offspring, it is certainly a sound idea.

I believe that I once wrote to you,[265] basing myself on one of the talks of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz], that even though one must do a spiritual stocktaking, one must also not do it except at certain times. Otherwise, the loss outweighs the gain. Refrain from taking stock every day or even once a week. Better to invest your gifts in positive activities directed towards influencing your environment - and the Holy One, blessed be He, recompenses "measure for measure,"[266] but many times multiplied.

With blessings for joy and for good news regarding all the above,

[...]

   

Notes:

  1. (Back to text) Igros Kodesh, Vol. 10, p. 21, Letter 2985.

  2. (Back to text) Tehillim 104:24.

  3. (Back to text) Op. cit., 92:6.

  4. (Back to text) In the original, "within his daled amos" (lit., "his four cubits") - a familiar halachic idiom.

  5. (Back to text) Lit., "from a high roof..." (Chagigah 5b).

  6. (Back to text) Avos 6:3.

  7. (Back to text) The Heb. idiom signifies a dull, humdrum routine.

  8. (Back to text) See Letter 32 above.

  9. (Back to text) Nedarim 32a.


  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?!"
Search this book:
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."  
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