Igrot Kodesh · Letter 1981 — Faith & Bitachon

By the grace of Hashem,

18 Teves 5713,

Brooklyn,

Greetings and blessings,

I am replying to your express letter of this Sunday, in which you mention the situation of the yeshivah* of your city. You complain of it and you solicit my counsel.

I have already clearly expressed to you my position regarding the yeshivah* you direct and, in particular, your mission within this institution. Nevertheless, I will repeat it once more, at least briefly, so that my opinion is quite clear. I will write in Yiddish, for perhaps you wish to read my letter to someone.

A preliminary notion must be introduced, before all that I will develop afterwards. As you know, the Baal Shem Tov stresses that one must serve Hashem joyously. You also know the ruling of the Rambam* in his Hilchos Deos*, that of the Tur Shulchan Aruch* Orach Chaim, in chapter 231, and of various texts of Chassidus*, according to which the service of Hashem must conform to the principle: "In all your ways know Him." It must be so in every act of daily life.

The various points constituting my position are the following:

A) The time has finally come to understand the following thing — and you yourself have doubtless already perceived it, since you can observe with your eyes of flesh that this is indeed so. One does not entrust the direction of the yeshivah* to a certain person in order to overwhelm him, or out of concern to send him to a remote corner. In fact, such is the mission devolved upon him here below, and therefore the channel through which Hashem has granted, grants, and will grant His blessing, satisfying all needs for him and for all the members of his family, materially and spiritually.

It is doubtless unnecessary to say more, for the slightest reflection on the evident miracles that have happened during these last two years, regarding you personally as in your communal occupations, allows one to understand and to observe that this is indeed so.

B) Since such is the mission entrusted to you and since you belong to the community of Chabad chassidim* who serve Hashem joyously, it is absolutely certain that, if you refuse to sink into melancholy and to blacken the situation, you will succeed in accomplishing everything with cheerfulness.

This does not exclude that certain accomplishments may sometimes require great effort. In fact, our Sages say: "He who tells you he has not made an effort and has nevertheless known success — do not believe him." For all that, effort and joy are not contradictory. On the contrary, in a general way — and this is exactly how it must be — what is obtained at the price of effort procures more pleasure and joy than what is given as a gift and is only "the bread of shame."

C) This institution is developing and wishes to do so still more, like everything that is alive. Consequently, it could, in the beginning and given the urgency, function thanks to a single person who shouldered full responsibility for it, without anything negative resulting for this institution or for this person. But it is quite clear that this can only be so at the beginning. And, in fact, I am not even sure that this is the case.

Indeed, the institution continues to develop, and it is therefore surely not good for such a situation to persist, neither for its development nor for the man who continues to bear the responsibility for it.

D) It is clear that whoever assumes a task hardly admits that it would be no less well realized if it had been entrusted to someone else. Such is precisely the origin of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Every being possesses a profound consciousness of himself.

In practice, it is true that things often unfold this way until the new person responsible becomes accustomed to this work. One then observes imperfections, and sometimes this can even last a certain time. Nevertheless, one must remember that it is judicious to lose a few cents in order to avoid the loss of a dollar. Now, between a few cents and a dollar there is only a quantitative difference.

How much more is it justified to lose a small acquisition — whether its smallness is quantitative or qualitative — rather than to lose an essential element, quantitatively or qualitatively.

E) Here is what follows from all that has just been said. It is absolutely indispensable that you devote all your time to public relations and ensure the overall direction of the yeshivah*, including for its internal decisions. In contrast, the setting of the program, the recruitment of male and female teachers, the questioning of the students must be done by others.

You can find, in the teaching staff of the yeshivah*, someone who assumes these functions, at least temporarily. If it is impossible to entrust these functions to a single person, you will distribute them among several. But, in any event, you must not devote yourself to them, nor, of course, personally take charge of teaching a class.

F) I hope you will not be hurt by my proposal. In fact, even if it were the case, my father-in-law, the Rebbe, reported a statement of his uncle, the Raza, according to which, when one becomes angry, one must wait at least sixty-one minutes. It is only at the end of this delay that one can find again an objective analysis of the situation.

You must not think — even if, to a certain extent, this is indeed the case — that such-and-such a person will not succeed, that such-and-such another is incapable of directing a class. As I said, one must know how to set aside what is of lesser importance in order to preserve what is fundamental.

With my blessing that you really know calm and broadness of mind, which will bring you success in your personal and communal preoccupations, in expectation of your good news,