Igrot Kodesh · Letter 1062 — Faith & Bitachon

B'ezras Hashem,

23 Sivan 5711,

Brooklyn,

Greetings and blessings,

On the occasion of your bar mitzvah*, which was celebrated during Shabbos Parshas Shelach, I would like to reiterate to you herewith the brochos* which I gave you in person when you were here. May the day of your bar mitzvah be the beginning of a Yiddishe* life, filled with Torah and mitzvos*. Indeed, you become on this day an adult Jew, in the full sense of the term, possessing all the prerogatives and all the duties of the rest of the Jews, who are obligated to study Torah and put the mitzvos into practice.

One of the first bar mitzvos of which we have knowledge is described by the Midrash Bereishis Rabbah*, in Parshah 53.[1] It is that of our father Yitzchak. The Midrash relates that Avraham organized, on this occasion, a great feast. He invited many people to it. In fact, Avraham, being himself a king, invited there all the other monarchs of his time. Among them was also Og, king of Bashan.

The Midrash further reports that Og, the mighty king of Bashan, observing the joy of our father Avraham, who was already aged, since he was at that time one hundred and thirteen years old, and of his only son, then said: "What do Avraham and Yitzchak represent, as well as the values which they have adopted and for which they fight, when they are so small and so weak? I can crush them with a single finger!"

The Holy One, blessed be He, replied to him: "When the time comes, Og, king of Bashan, will see tens of thousands of descendants of this child, and they will defeat him."

Each of us must derive from what has just been said the following lesson. One can sometimes think that the Jews are materially only a small and weak minority among the nations. All the more so since all the ideals for which they are ready to give their lives find but few adherents. In every generation there are Ogs, that is, vigorous and powerful men in the realms of the world, who mock them and say: "What are you capable of accomplishing? We can, with a single finger, crush you, with your ideals!"

Our ancestors, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, taught us not to fear them. "Avraham was unique," alone in the world, when he discovered the Divine. He was not ashamed, did not hide. He walked with his head held high, wherever he went. "He called there upon the Name of Hashem." He taught all the existence of Hashem and the manner of serving Him.

Accordingly, when his only son, the only child of Sarah, became bar mitzvah, our father Avraham organized a great feast, although he was surrounded by so many children and so many peoples who had adopted other beliefs and lived in other lands. He nevertheless seized this occasion to make known the existence of Hashem.

So that we should not think that the sacrifice of one's own person is in vain, chas v'shalom*, the Midrash specifies that by being sufficiently strong not to be affected before the mockers, by putting Torah and mitzvos into practice in the eyes of all, one can indeed carry the victory, not only morally, but also physically. Indeed, Og, king of Bashan, met his downfall in the battle which he waged against the children of Israel, descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.

I hope that you will demonstrate the necessary determination in the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos. Thus, Hashem will give you success, and you will exercise a positive influence on those around you, drawing them closer to Yiddishe values and illuminating them.

With my brochah that your parents and grandparents conceive from you much nachas*, Yiddishe nachas,

Notes

[1] Midrash Bereishis Rabbah, Parshah 53.