1920 —ברכה לבנים זכרים וחיזוק אהבת ישראל, אהבת התורה ואהבת השם

B"H, Eve of Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5713.

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In response to your letter in which you request... to be blessed with sons who are kosher and upright: It is proper that you increase your strength in Ahavas Yisrael (love of fellow Jews), love of Torah, and love of Hashem, as is known from the books of Kabbalah and Chassidus that giving birth to love in spirituality is a segulah (spiritual remedy) for giving birth to a son physically. Thus it is understood that maintaining and strengthening this spiritual love—which is achieved through contemplation on the greatness of the Blessed One, as Maimonides writes (Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah ch.2)—draws down long life for sons who are male in the physical sense. Therefore, without making a vow, until after your wife gives birth to a son, you should give every weekday before Shacharis a franc or two to charity. It is best if this charity is connected with food and drink for poor students. When a son is born to you, give him the name after my revered father-in-law the Rebbe—Yosef Yitzchak—and may Hashem grant you the merit to share good news in all the above matters...

With blessings for success in general matters and in your personal affairs.

Summary

The Rebbe teaches that strengthening spiritual love—Ahavas Yisrael, Torah, and Hashem—brings physical blessings such as sons. Acts like daily charity before Shacharis and naming a child after a tzaddik further draw down these blessings.