Igrot Kodesh · Letter 1309 — Health

By the grace of Hashem,
26 Kislev 5712,
Brooklyn,

To the distinguished chassid* who fears Hashem,
Rav Zalman Zerach[1] HaKohen,

Greetings and blessings,

It was with joy that I received your letter in its time. You inform me there that you are feeling better. I hope that since then your state of health has improved still further, and that you will be able to convey good news to me in this regard.

You have surely received my regards, transmitted through the rav*, distinguished chassid who fears Hashem and devotes himself to communal needs, Rav Yosef HaLevi Weinberg, emissary of the chachamim*[2]. I imagine that you participated in the chassidishe* gathering of Yud-Tes Kislev*. In one of his letters, my father-in-law, the Rebbe, writes that every chassidishe gathering should be the occasion for good resolutions concerning Torah, mitzvos*, and in particular ahavas Yisroel*. But what matters above all is that this be concretely followed up in deed.

I took pleasure in reading your letter, in noting that the good years remain engraved in your mind — those when you were in Lubavitch. Every memory awakens a longing of the soul. It is therefore certain that the attraction your soul feels for that fruitful period will not remain without effect; it will result in a strengthening in the chassidishe ways and in the study of Chassidus*.

Thus the Alter Rebbe writes that he will lead from constriction to expansiveness, from materiality toward spirituality, anyone who grasps the handle of his door. He affirms that he will free him from Gehinnom*. And the Rebbe Rashab explains that this Gehinnom is the Gehinnom of the gross material things of this world.

How much more so for those who had the merit to live for many years near the Rebbe. It is certain that in the end this will have its intended effect — it will place them in a beam of light, will bring them material and spiritual good.

I hope to hear good news from you, and I conclude with my blessing for good health, physical and spiritual,

Notes
(1) Rav Z. Z. Gefenovitch, of Johannesburg, South Africa.
(2) Who had traveled to South Africa, sent as a delegate by the central Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch yeshivos. See letters no. 1287 to 1289.