Igrot Kodesh · Letter 198 — Rosh Hashana as the Head That Directs the Year
Volume 2 · Letter 30
By the grace of Hashem, 28 Elul 5705, Brooklyn,
To the very dear Mister Alexandre Cohen,
I greet you and bless you,
On behalf of Kehot* publishing and in my own name, I would like to wish you, and all of yours, a good and sweet year, success in all that you undertake.
The exact translation of Rosh Hashana* is "the head of the year." Our Sages explain why one speaks of a head and not a beginning of the year. For the head directs the entire body. Similarly, the good resolutions, the good behaviors to which one commits on Rosh Hashana* must direct the entire year.
This year, Rosh Hashana* will fall on Shabbat*. Now, during that day, a person rises above mundane existence and its preoccupations. He is then closer to moral existence.
Such, therefore, is our wish for the new year. May we all advance in our moral existence, draw our body closer to our soul, give all our good thoughts an expression in our lives.
With my blessing to be inscribed and sealed for a good year,
Menachem M. Schneerson, Director of the Executive Committee