Igrot Kodesh · Letter 1070 — Chinuch

B'ezras Hashem,

27 Sivan 5711,

Brooklyn,

To the distinguished chassid who fears Hashem

and devotes himself to communal needs,

Rav Boruch[1],

Greetings and blessings,

I learned with pleasure, from your letter, that you took an interest in the situation of our brethren, the children of Israel, in Eretz Yisroel — may it be restored and rebuilt — and that you acquired a good knowledge of it. This is one of the definitions of ahavas Yisroel*, which consists in concerning oneself sincerely with the other, as one would for oneself.

It would be a pity to lose the information and impressions that you may have gathered. You have surely noted them, at least in their broad outlines. If this is indeed the case, I would be grateful to you for sending them to me. Of course, I will return them to you.

In any event, I thank you for replying at least to the following questions, which I enunciate by taking up the order which you yourself adopted in your letter:

A) What impression did your visit to Kfar Chabad make on you?

B) In what spirit do the students of the various schools conduct their studies?

C) How many children are there in the schools that find themselves under the influence of the various parties[2]?

D) Do you have information about the spiritual life of the maabarot[3], in general, and about the schools that are found there, in particular?

E) You have no doubt meditated upon the content of the sidra* which we just read yesterday morning. The verse (Shelach 14:8-9) says: "If Hashem has chosen us, has led us toward this land and given it to us" — when He gives it to us in actuality, it will be "a land flowing with milk and honey." Nevertheless, an eternal condition is laid down for it to be so: "but do not rebel against Hashem." Children of Israel then cried out, as the verses 40-42 say: "Behold us, we shall go up... and Moshe said to them... do not go up." Do you know why? Because "Hashem is not in our midst."

These are the most important points that I am seeking to determine concerning the situation there. Do you have this information at your disposal? I am not concerned about the land of Canaan, nor even about Eretz Yisroel, but rather about the Holy Land, which will be rebuilt and restored, very soon and in our days, by our righteous Moshiach*.

The Jews, wherever they find themselves, in exile elsewhere or in exile in this country[4], must apply to their behavior what Moshiach himself says, that is, that he comes "today," but on one condition, "if you hearken to His Voice," as Sanhedrin 98a explains.[5]

In greeting the members of your family and extending my brochah,

Notes

[1] Rav B. Levitin. See, in his regard, letter no. 475.
[2] The religious political parties operating school networks in Israel.
[3] The barracks in which new immigrants lived during the first years of the State of Israel.
[4] In Eretz Yisroel.
[5] Sanhedrin 98a.