Using one's stay in the DP camps for spreading the teachings of Chassidus

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How studying the teachings of the Rebbe Rayatz is a medium for success and health

No. 681

The name of the addressee was not released.

B"H, 18 Menachem Av, 5710

Greetings and blessings,

I acknowledge receipt of your letter of 13 Menachem Av, together with the three checks. Please advise me to whom the receipts should be made out — to the synagogue or to private individuals — and for what sums. Thanking you in advance for your efforts in all the above.

With regard to the contents of your letter: In my letter of erev Rosh Chodesh Tammuz,[720] I was not speaking as a fundraiser acting on behalf of a very important institution that exists among other important institutions. Instead, I was calling to mind and raising the awareness of the obligation and opportunity facing us: to take upon ourselves the financial responsibility for Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, Machne Israel, and Kehot. [For previously,] my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, hk"m, had personally taken upon himself the effort of finding the necessary means for their expenses and had also organized a large number of his secret activities through these [institutions].

There are several ways in which one person can establish a bond (hiskashrus) with a colleague, a student to his teacher, or a chassid to his Rebbe, and there are several levels in this.[721]

In general, bonding comes about through "walking in his paths."[722] There are three basic approaches, [listed in] ascending order, which are dependent on the paths of the one with whom one seeks to bond:[723]

1. He[724] asks or orders others to act — a bond is established by carrying out this command and directive;

2. He acts in cooperation with others — a bond is established by participating in these joint efforts;

3. He acts on his own initiative — a bond is established when the opportunity is given to take over the activities of [the person with whom one desires to bond].

In my letter of erev Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, I wrote to encourage the chassidim who are bonded with or connected to my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, hk"m, [explaining that] now there is an opportunity to establish a bond on the third level, a bond of [all five levels of] their [souls]: nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, and yechidah,with the Nasi, the head of our generation, my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, hk"m.

After all the above, consider the impression the reply in your letter made upon me.

I am not speaking about the sum [of the donation] — that you apologize for [its size], for with regard to that, our Sages (the conclusion of Menachos) established a general principle: [It does not matter] whether one gives abundantly or minimally as long as one directs his heart [to Heaven]. And as to "with all your means,"[725] the intent is "your means" at present, even though with regard to another person or in another situation, this would not be "with all your means."[726]

My intent is to [highlight] your [response after] reading my letter that when my letter was read, "Since it is impossible to discharge [the obligation] without doing anything, we made a special appeal, [along] with [offering] assistance to so-and-so for whom a request to help was previously made."

A tiny [statement] that speaks much.

What I labored at for some time was how to explain, first to myself how to maintain a bond with the Rebbe; afterwards, to finding the [appropriate] words for my ideas regarding one of the ways [to accomplish that,] and then to choose what to include in that letter (with some of the remainder included in this letter).

With those two lines of your letter you informed me of your appreciation of all the above[727] and gave me a complete answer to my letter, on what was meant between the lines, and to a certain extent, also to what I could write in a second letter.

Our Sages say:[728] "[Different people's] thoughts are not the same." Apparently, at times, they can be diametrically opposite.

Please send greetings to our entire fellowship.

Concluding with blessing and wishes for all forms of good,

Menachem Schneerson

   

Notes:

720. (Back to text) [Letter No. 633 above.]

721. (Back to text) [See Letter No. 662 above which expresses similar ideas.]

722. (Back to text) [See Tanya, Iggeres HaKodesh, Epistle 27.]

723. (Back to text) [I.e., the Rebbe is mentioning three ways in which a Rebbe acts and thus three ways for his followers to bond with him.]

724. (Back to text) [I.e., the one with whom one seeks to bond.]

725. (Back to text) [The interpretation of the phrase (Devarim 6:5), u'vchol me'odecha, offered by Berachos 54a.]

726. (Back to text) [I.e., for one person even a small gift to tzedakah may express an unbounded commitment, while for another, a gift of that size would be of no consequence.]

727. (Back to text) [I.e., the efforts the Rebbe undertook.]

728. (Back to text) [Berachos 58a.]

Using one's stay in the DP camps for spreading the teachings of Chassidus

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How studying the teachings of the Rebbe Rayatz is a medium for success and health