Igrot Kodesh · Letter 2423 — Faith & Bitachon

B"H,

22 Shevat 5714,

Brooklyn,

Greetings and blessings,

I have duly received your letter of 17 Teves, in which you describe to me briefly your life and your studies up to now. I am surprised that you do not tell me whether you study chassidus* and Mussar* on a regular basis. For if such study was needed in every period, how much more so is it now, in this generation of ikvesa diMeshicha*, when the difficulties and obstacles to fearing Hashem and concretely fulfilling mitzvos* multiply. How much more so must this be in a place where there are only few observant Jews.

Among these difficulties and obstacles, there are also all the questions one poses regarding hashgachah pratis*. In fact, the issue is not to provide them with an answer, but only to find a pretext for departing from the practice of mitzvos*. Sometimes these questions are even the expression of a desire, emanating from the yetzer hara*, not to submit to Hashem.

Obviously, it is not easy in the framework of a letter to explain these questions, which are in fact those of the yetzer hara* — all the more so since, as I have said, those who pose them very often have no interest in the answers and seek only a subterfuge for departing from the straight path.

Nevertheless, I shall try to answer briefly the questions that have been put to you. How can one believe in hashgachah pratis*? How can one imagine that Hashem is the Master of the world and directs it? Has one not seen, for example, last year in Holland, a flood that made hundreds of victims — men, women, and children — in addition to all the material damage?

I shall give you an explanation by taking another profession as a reference. Imagine a man who has never known civilization, who grew up alone in a desert. Suddenly he is led into the office of a dentist or a surgeon. There he sees a child seated in the chair, hands and feet bound, and the dentist is pulling out a tooth while the child cries out.

It is the same with the surgeon. He will see a man bound to the operating table, unable to move, to defend himself, or to flee, undergoing a procedure and losing blood. It is clear that one to whom the idea that physicians are upright and just men eludes — and who, of course, has no notion of medicine — will reach the conclusion that the man harming the child or the operated patient is nothing but a criminal, inflicting terrible pains on those who fall into his hands.

It will not be the same if this guest from the desert has notions about how to heal the physical body, if he knows that it is sometimes necessary to undergo an operation or to extract a decayed tooth. At the moment the pain is great, but it is thus that a person may be preserved from a long and terrible suffering, that his body will remain in good health for tens of years.

Even if this man knows nothing of medicine, he will be able to verify that the dentist or the surgeon is a good man, who deplores the pain of the child or the operated patient but is convinced that this pain is necessary, at least passingly, to exercise its effect afterward, for tens of years.

The same is true for the matter under our discussion. Each of us is the spectator of passing events that unfold over a few days, a few months, or a few years, and one completely forgets that one's neshamah* already existed many thousands of years before this. Furthermore, this neshamah* is immutable. It will therefore be identical tomorrow and for eternity. By imposing on it a passing suffering — slight if one considers the life of this neshamah* before this event and after it — one can procure for it an advantage that will be eternal, for the past and for the future. In such a case, not only will one not call into question the principle of these sufferings, but, much more, in the words of the navi* Yeshayahu (12:1), one will say: "I praise You, Hashem, for having rebuked me."

Obviously, one can still pose another question. Why is the rule, in the creation, that one must pass through a phase that is not good in order to be able afterward to attain the good? Why must one pull a tooth, undergo an operation, as we have said — or, more generally, why does Hashem not satisfy, without counterpart, the needs of each person, with no effort on his part?

Now, in opposition to this conception, Chazal* affirm that the result is in proportion to the effort. And Hashem is the Essence of good. He should therefore have satisfied all needs without any effort on the part of men. Our holy seforim* also answer this question and we shall not do so here.

May Hashem grant that you study Torah while fearing Him in a pure manner, without undergoing the difficulties and questions. You will believe, with a pure and integral emunah*, that Hashem is the Essence of good — that one can therefore fully rely on Him, for all that He does is good and just; "He is the Rock, His work is perfect." Thus you will progress with assurance on the path of Torah and mitzvos*.

More deeply, it is possible to serve the Creator in this way, joyfully, by setting a fixed time for the study of chassidus*.

Regarding the means of providing for your mother's livelihood, I have asked my office to study the possibility of intervening on this matter. They will write to you about it.

With my blessing,

ב״ה ,י״ב אד״ר ,תשי״ד
ברוקלין.
שלום וברכה!
קבלתי מכתבו מה׳ אד״ר ,ונכון הדבר כפי שכותב שלהשתתף
בחתונה שעורכים הילדים זהו עונג גדול ,והרי מצפים לזה שנים רבות,
ולכן כתבתי במכתבי הקודם ,שכיון שזהו דבר ראוי ,בטח יתן השי״ת
עבור ההוצאות הקשורות בזה )ואם לא יסעו ,כסף זה בין כה וכה לא
יהי׳ .במלים אחרות :נוסעים על חשבון השי״ת ואין לזה שום קשר
לחובות אחרים שיש לשלם או לסייע לילדים האחרים שיחיו( ,אך
מאידך גיסא ,להשתתף בשמחה אצל הילדים זו זכות גדולה ,וזכות זו
ב׳תסג
נדפסה בלקוטי שיחות כרך ח עמוד .285
הפאה :ראה לקמן עמוד 146ובנסמן בהערות שם.
ג׳תסו
כתבתי :אגרות-קודש כרך ח אגרת ב׳שמט.
מרויחים ע״י אמונה ובטחון בהשי״ת ,אך כפי שהנני רואה ממכתבו,
ספק אצלי אם המצב הוא אכן כזה . . .
השי״ת יעזור ששניכם תהיו חזקים באמונה ובטחון כפי שראוי
להיות בבית חסידי ,והשי״ת יזכה אתכם בנחת חסידי מכל ילדיהם
שיחיו בבריאות טובה.
בברכה.
ב׳תפ
)כרך ח עמוד רלד[
ב״ה ,כ״ג אד״ר ,תשי״ד
ברוקלין.
שלום וברכה׳
. . .בנוגע לשאלתו האם לנסוע לארץ הקדושה ת״ו או להשתמש
בכסף לקניית ספר תורה.
לדעתי צריך הוא לתת את הכסף לקרן גמילות חסדים ,שאז ברוב
המקרים הכסף נשאר בשלימותו)כי אלו שאינם מחזירים גמילות חסד
הם רק אחוז נמוך ביותר( וזה משמש זכות נצחית לנותן הכסף ,ובזה
יתכנו שני אופנים ,לתת את הכסף במיוחד לקרן גמ״ח בארצנו הק׳ או
סתם ,היינו הן בעד אה״ק ת״ו והן בעד חוץ לארץ ,ואם הוא רוצה ,הוא
יכול למסור את הכסף לאחת מקרנות הגמ״ח הנמצאות במזכירות שלי.
יתן לו השי״ת ,ובהחלט יתן לו ,אריכות ימים ושנים טובות שיוכל
מזמן לזמן להוסיף לקרן הגמ״ח הן משלו והן מהכסף שיקח למטרה זו
מילדיו וידידיו שיחיו.
בברכה.
ו9 תשי״ג -תשי״ז