3067 —התמדה בשליחות, הערך הנצחי של כל מאמץ

B"H, 29th of Iyar, 5715. Brooklyn.

Blessings and greetings!

In response to your special delivery letter, in which you write that you have already been in... for several years and see no hope for a good future as it should be, because the youth are not very connected to the charedi community, and the older ones are becoming weaker, etc.

Actually, this is a question you should have asked those who are in your city and not asked here in New York. For knowing the principle that efforts for spreading Torah never return empty-handed, how is it that after five years of work in the city, the situation is as you describe in your letter?

I think that one of the reasons for this is that unfortunately you have viewed... as a temporary position (job), and each time you can hardly wait for summer to think about and look for another city. And it is human nature that something one considers only for a few months does not arouse interest or full investment of energy, because one thinks soon they will leave.

It is well known the saying of my father-in-law, the Rebbe zatzal: One must learn from the Mishkan (Tabernacle) that when they were in the desert there were places where they stayed only a day or a night; nevertheless, they set up the Mishkan with all its details exactly as they did in places where they stayed eighteen years. This is a lesson for every Jew—to conduct oneself in their service to Hashem and fulfill their mission from Hashem in this world without looking at calendars or clocks or calculations—whether it is for eighteen years or only a day or night makes no difference. Just as Hashem is eternal, so too are all actions of a Jew connected with Hashem also eternal.

Even when within minutes the Jew is already occupied with something else, these actions remain forever and ever, as explained in Tanya chapter 25.

Practically speaking—as far as I know—your husband Rabbi sh'y has energetically sought other positions both last year and also in previous years. The fact that nothing suitable has worked out should serve as proof that both of you still have more to accomplish in...—in fulfilling your mission from the Creator blessed be He. And Hashem—when He gives a mission—also gives the ability for the person to fulfill it; "and none among us knows how far." But it stands to reason that the more effort you put into fulfilling your mission properly (which for every Jew—and especially a rabbi and rebbetzin—consists of spreading Torah and Judaism), all the sooner you will be able to move to a place with more advantages than....

May Hashem grant success so you do this with joy according to the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov for all Jews and in all matters: "Serve Hashem with joy."

Summary

The Rebbe teaches that every sincere effort made in fulfilling one's Divine mission has lasting value. Even temporary assignments should be approached with full dedication; true commitment brings both success and inner joy.