Igrot Kodesh · Letter 2640 — Faith & Bitachon

B"H

7 Iyar 5714,
Brooklyn.

To the Rav, the distinguished Chassid* who fears Hashem and devotes himself to communal needs,

Rav S. (Rav Shlomo Matusof, of Casablanca; see letters no. 2273 and 2686),

Greetings and blessing,

You evoke the participation in the book of Vitebsk (giving the history of the city; see also letter no. 2329) which is being prepared for publication in our Holy Land, may it be rebuilt and restored. Your brother wishes to contribute to it by an article on the action of Chabad in that place.

In my opinion, this is a good initiative. Nevertheless, one must take account of the other participants and of the general aspect of the book in order to determine whether this participation should be declared or not, and this applies in the same manner to the chassidishe* communal officials and to chassidim* in general.

If there is a doubt on this subject, the situation prevailing there means that one cannot be sure of the positive character of this book until one knows the names of those who constitute the editorial committee. Henceforth, the responsibility is lesser if the signer of the article is not a Chabad communal official.

Consequently, I propose to write to the chassidim* of the Holy Land, may it be rebuilt and restored, who know the history of Vitebsk in connection with Chabad. They will take contact with your brother and they will organize all this in the manner just defined. Obviously, you may specify to these chassidim* that you are addressing yourself to them on my advice.

Furthermore, you will ask your brother to verify that his words are printed without having been the object of falsification.

In a general way, this is a good proposal, as I said.

In expectation of your good news, I conclude by addressing to you a blessing for success, material and spiritual,

M. Schneerson,

* * *

Letter no. 2641a — B"H

8 Iyar 5714,
Brooklyn.

To the Rav, the distinguished Chassid* who fears Hashem and devotes himself to communal needs,

Rav N. N. (Rav Nissan Nemanov, of Brunoy; see letters no. 2278, 2698, 2737, 2824, 2856, 2860 and 2928),

Greetings and blessing,

I duly received your letter of 2 Iyar, and I thank you for the good news you announce to me — the fact that an examination has shown the quality of the studies pursued by the pupils (of Yeshivas Lubavitch in Brunoy, in the Paris region, of which Rav Nemanov was the director). Doubtless their yiras Shamayim* is also satisfactory.

May Hashem grant you and them success, so that this effort, which is, in function of the situation prevailing here below, like the point of a needle, may open for them, on high, like the gateway of the Sanctuary — that is, capable of being qualified as such even according to the situation as it is on high.

It is surely useless to remind you of the absolute necessity of organizing oneself in time and with the appropriate energy, so that pupils may join the studies during the vacances* (the Rebbe writes the word "vacances" in French; see also letter no. 2676), or perhaps even before that. It is the same for the pupils of Beis Rivkah* (the girls' school of Yerres, near Brunoy), and if it is possible for you to invite them to eagerness, you will do so, although I have written to them directly on this subject (see letter no. 2802).

This (the registration of new pupils at the yeshivah* during the vacances*) must not seem secondary to you. First of all, a well-known proverb of the Baal Shem Tov* (see letters no. 2275 and 2655) attests that a neshamah* may descend into this world for seventy or eighty years solely with the goal of rendering a service, material or spiritual, to a single person. One may understand this idea in all its profundity in function of the explanation that the Alter Rebbe* gives at the end of chapter 25 of the Tanya*. He says: "This unity (that which is created between Hashem and man through the study of Torah), on high, is immutable and eternal."

If you make efforts with the appropriate eagerness, a great part of those who will come to spend the vacances* will engage themselves, subsequently, on the way of Torah and mitzvos*. And some among them will pursue their studies at Yeshivas Lubavitch. I await good news regarding what has just been said in general, and on this point in particular.

Furthermore, I cannot refrain from expressing my astonishment and my surprise on the following point.

We know the astonishment of Moshe Rabbeinu, "Where shall I find meat?" (see letter no. 2632), which was in no way of his rank (such a material preoccupation should have devolved upon someone else). Now, this argument was very strong, and, in fact, he was asked because of this: "Gather for Me seventy persons" (the seventy elders were to take charge of these preoccupations). Despite this, it was thanks to him that the people received meat, even though his intervention passed through an intermediate stage.

One can conclude from this, as is moreover established by many texts of Chassidus*, that all the blessings granted to those who are bound to the Rebbe and to chassidim* must, in a certain manner, pass through their leader.

Our generation has had the merit of having for leader and shepherd my father-in-law, the Rebbe, whose merit will protect us. Everything must therefore, in one manner or another, be linked to him. How much more so must this be the case for chassidim*, former pupils of the yeshivah*, with the members of their family. This is even more clearly the case when it concerns Torah and mitzvos*, especially for what has a collective bearing, and most particularly for what concerns emunah*, as it is said: "They believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant," and the Mechilta* explains that one who has emunah* in the faithful shepherd is as if he believed in the Word of the One Who, by it, created the world.

Consequently, I have been particularly surprised to learn (see also letters no. 2679 and 2774) that a portion of the chassidim* have made the choice, precisely concerning the food of emunah* (the Matzos Shemuros* for the festival of Pesach*), to go and procure it elsewhere, when it was possible to obtain it from the office (the European bureau for refugee aid in Paris, directed by Rav Binyamin Eliyahu Gorodetsky) created by my father-in-law, the Rebbe, whose merit will protect us. Now, the actions of the tzaddik* are eternal. This office therefore remains his still at the present time.

Doubtless there are reasons for this, and perhaps even strong reasons. Their price was perhaps high, or else they were not well baked. Perhaps there was an enmity between the seller and the chassidim*; or yet, as some say, this (the fact of buying other matzos*) was only for the members of the family and not for oneself — as if, for what concerns emunah*, a difference could be made between the greatest Yid* and the most humble.

Moreover, this concerns, in this case, the festival of Matzos*, that of the most reduced understanding (the matzos* evoke submission), and one cites in this regard the image of a child who consumes a food made of wheat (Chazal* teach that "the child cannot call his father until he has tasted wheat"; on Pesach*, a Yid* tastes matzah*, and he thereby begins to recognize Hashem — there is therefore here only the beginning of understanding).

Despite all this, my surprise remains entire. Must one also call into question this means of binding oneself to my father-in-law, the Rebbe — even if there were only the doubt of a doubt (of obtaining such a result) — to take an initiative that in no way delivers from this doubt, and obtain the Matzah Shemurah*, the food of emunah*, from another origin?

I do not wish to designate by name those who did so. It is for this reason that I address myself to you. For I am certain that you yourself and your disciples bought the Matzah Shemurah* from the bakery linked to the office. It will therefore be possible for you to explain all this at a chassidishe* gathering, as you know perfectly how to do.

Doubtless one also knows in France the proverb of my father-in-law, the Rebbe (see letters no. 673 and 2203), that "what is most mediocre by us is preferable to what is best by them." May Hashem grant each of us the merit and the success of drawing down all the blessings of Pesach* for the entire year, in the most evident manner, in daily existence.

With my blessing,

ב'תרמ

ב"ה, ז' אייר, תשי"ד
ברוקלין.
הרה"ח הוו"ח אי"א נו"נ עוסק בצ"צ מוהר"ש

שי'

שלום וברכה!

... מ"ש אודות השתתפות בספר וויטעבסק שמתכוננים להו"ל באה"ק ת"ו ואחיו ברצונו להשתתף במאמר אודות פעולת חב"ד שמה.

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המחכה לבשו"ט וחותם בברכת הצלחה בגו"ר.

מ. שניאורסאהן
ב'תרמ
מוהר"ש שי ': מטוסוב. אגרות נוספות אליו - לעיל ח"ח ב'רעג, ובהנסמן בהערות שם.

לקמן ב'תרפו.

השתתפות בספר וויטעבסק: ראה גם לעיל ח"ח אגרת ב'שכט.