Igrot Kodesh · Letter 660 — Faith & Bitachon

By the grace of Hashem,

3 Menachem Av 5710,

To the Chassid* who fears Hashem, ...

I greet you and bless you.

You have no doubt received my letter of 6 Tammuz, and I hope you will reply to the questions I asked you in it.

Your son told me that, from time to time, your daughter does not feel well. She has surely consulted a doctor and conforms to his prescriptions. She lights candles on erev Shabbos and yom tov. Until her eighteenth birthday, before doing so she will place three coins in a tzedakah box for the tzedakah of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess.[1] Likewise, it would be good for you to read each day, until Rosh Hashanah, Tehillim chapter 71.[2]

Your son also spoke to me of his aunt, who is also not in good health. It is also necessary to transmit to her that she should conform to the prescriptions of a specialist doctor and give three coins to the tzedakah of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess before lighting the candles. At least once a week, she will also give food to someone — a guest or a poor person.

Healing comes from Hashem,[3] but it can be obtained through an intermediary — in this case, a doctor. Nonetheless, He has indicated that the best medicines for a Jew are tzedakah, good deeds, and a Tehillim.

I hope to learn that your state of health has improved and that it goes from better to better.

For Rav Menachem Schneerson,

his secretary,

Rav A. Kwint