Igrot Kodesh · Letter 983 — Faith & Bitachon

By the grace of Hashem,
13 Nissan 5711,
Brooklyn,

To the members of the kehilla* and the leaders of the shul* of Arizal* rite, in Montreal, may Hashem grant them long life,

Greetings and blessings,

I received in its time your letter of 29 Shevat. I was satisfied to learn that the words of encouragement spoken before you by the distinguished chassid* who has yiras Shamayim*, Rav Moshe Chaim Sapotshinski, met with a favorable echo. In fact, I had no doubt about it, for, commenting on the verse "I sleep, but my heart is awake," our Sages say: "I sleep in galus*, but my heart is awake for the Torah and the mitzvos*."

I hope also, and this is the most important point, that this favorable echo will have a concrete effect, in the three areas whose importance my father-in-law, the Rebbe, often underscored: ahavas Hashem*, ahavas haTorah*, and ahavas Yisroel*.

We are approaching Pesach*, and you no doubt know the account of our Sages concerning the Exodus from Egypt. The six hundred thousand of the children of Yisroel had to all be present then. If a single one of them had been absent, this would have affected all the others, chas v'shalom*.

A lesson for us follows from this. We must keep present in mind the necessity of bringing every individual closer, man or woman, young or old, to Torah and Yiddishkeit*. One must invest all one's strengths in this, for such an action concerns not only the person to whom it is addressed, but also all the others.

A practice from the very start of Pesach* alludes to all this. Before beginning the Seder*, one proclaims: "Whoever is hungry, let him come and eat; whoever is in need, let him come and observe Pesach*." These words must be understood in their literal sense, alluding to material aid, but they apply equally to the moral aid one can bring to others. It is only after saying this that one can affirm: "Next year in the land of Yisroel. This year we are slaves, but next year we shall be free."

I wish each of you and the members of your family a kosher and joyous Pesach*. I hope to have your good news in all areas. Very soon, we will have the merit to witness the realization of the promise according to which "next year we shall be free, in the land of Yisroel," with our righteous Moshiach*, very soon and in our days, Amen.

With my blessing for a kosher and joyous festival,