3858 —התוועדות והתעוררות לזקנים במושב זקנים, וברכה ליום הולדת

B"H, 5 MarCheshvan, 5716.

Brooklyn.

The Rav and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, engaged in communal affairs, Reb Shmuel Yosef [Findrik]

Greetings and blessing!

I was pleased to receive your letter of the 25th of Tishrei, with its good news of the farbrengen held at Simchas Beis HaShoeivah and the words of inspiration you spoke before the elderly Jewish men and women in your surroundings. May it be G‑d's will that you recognize the greatness of having been chosen to be a channel for bringing matters of Chassidus and its customs into this environment, among hundreds of Jews. For if our Sages said of one who sustains a single Jewish soul, "המקיים נפש אחת מישראל... כאילו קיים עולם מלא" ("One who sustains a single soul of Israel... it is as though he sustained an entire world" — Sanhedrin 37a), how much more so, etc. Surely you have already seen that success is granted to your activities, and if you continue in this in the future, "בדרכי נועם" ("in ways of pleasantness" — Mishlei 3:17), but with the appropriate firmness, the success will certainly grow as well. May it be G‑d's will that through this your holy appetite to expand these activities will also grow.

As to your notice about your birthday: may it be G‑d's will that for many more years you merit to be occupied with spreading "נר מצוה ותורה אור" ("For a mitzvah is a lamp and the Torah is light" — Mishlei 6:23) and the "light within the Torah" — that is, the inner dimension of the Torah — among those around you.

With blessing for a year of success, with joy, together with your wife, may she live and be well.

P.S.

Of course I would be pleased to receive your (and your wife's) photograph, as you suggested, and many thanks in advance.

Publisher's notes

Reb Shmuel Yosef (מו"ה שמואל יוסף): Findrik, the old-age home in Netanya. Further letters to him: above, vol. 11, 3617; below, 4005, 4177.