Igrot Kodesh · Letter 1425 — Chinuch

By the grace of Hashem,
18 Shevat 5712,
Brooklyn,

To the distinguished chassid* who fears Hashem and
devotes himself faithfully to communal needs,
Rav Yaakov HaKohen[1],

Greetings and brachos*,

You will find enclosed my reply to the request for brachah* that you transmitted to me for Mrs. .... Of course, you will know how to find the right terms to explain it to her, if that is necessary.

I learned with pleasure, in reading your letter, that you taught the chassidishe* maamar* of 13 Shevat at the seudah shlishis* of Shabbos[2]. The Tzemach Tzedek explained to the tzaddik*, Reb Hillel[3], that "the neshamos* understand"[4]. I hope it was not so for you, and that these neshamos, finding themselves in bodies, also obtained that the latter understand — if not in totality, at least partially — in accordance with the verse of the Torah: "I will send him away little by little"[5].

You also evoke in your letter the problems of poor understanding between Mr. ... and his wife. One must explain to the father what I wrote to him when they were engaged. They must base their home on Torah, which conditions happiness not only moral but also physical. Whether one understands or not makes little difference in this case.

When one conforms to the prescriptions of a great teacher, one benefits from them, even if one does not know why. How much more so when it concerns an Injunction of the Creator of the world, Who is also He Who heals all flesh.

Obviously, when I go to the tziyun* of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, I will mention the name of ... and of his wife, so that shalom* may be established between them. But one must not forget the essential. They themselves must establish shalom between their body and their neshamah*. From then on, harmony in the home will be infinitely easier.

Shabbos Parshas Yisro is the one that recounts matan Torah*. You will surely take advantage of it to transmit, in your shul*, what is recounted in the kuntres* of 18 Elul 5703[6], on p. 36. There it is said that, at matan Torah, Hashem took the six hundred thousand Yidden*, apart from the elders[7], led them to school, and taught them that a kamatz and an aleph are read 'A.' Such is precisely the first letter of the word Anochi[8]. You will consult the long explanation given on this subject.

In wishing you a good Shabbos,

Notes
(1) Rav Yaakov Katz of Chicago. See, on his subject, letter no. 1294.
(2) In the shul, before all those who were there.
(3) Of Paritch, who asked him whether he should teach Chassidus to those who did not possess its fundamental notions.
(4) Failing the intellect. See, on this subject, letter no. 1392.
(5) The evil of personality. Likewise, the acquisition of knowledge can be progressive.
(6) 1943, of the Frierdiker Rebbe.
(7) Of women and children.
(8) 'I,' first word of the Aseres HaDibros*.