4147 —תחרות, חיקוי, ורצון ליובאוויטש למעורבות רחבה

B"H, 2 Adar, 5716.

Brooklyn.

Haraha"g vavac"h iy"a nu"n baal middot Yitzchak Eizik Smal

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I was pleased to receive regards from you through Haraha"ch iy"a nu"n Rav Pe'alim Shlomo Zalman Hecht, and as you requested, you and your family will be mentioned at the holy resting place of my father-in-law, the Rebbe zatzal.

Knowing your connection to Lubavitch and Chabad matters—as our Sages say, "one ascends in holiness," and what greater holiness is there than a positive attitude toward fellow Jews, which is a great principle in Torah as Rabbi Akiva said about the verse "Ve'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha" (You shall love your fellow as yourself)—I hope you will strengthen this attitude. Especially now that the time for discussion regarding Keren Hatzalah of Machaneh HaTeshuvah and its distribution is approaching, I am certain you will turn your good intentions into action. This is particularly important as the need for such assistance continues to grow—as you surely know—even to the point that newspapers have broken their usual boundaries and begun to take interest in the situation of hundreds of thousands of Jews of Sephardic descent.

On matters like these I recall a saying of my father-in-law, the Rebbe: When he came to America for the second time—even though it is human nature not to want competition or imitation—Lubavitch’s approach in general, and mine in particular, is: May there be ever more people who wish to work in his fields of activity and in his manner.

It is remarkable that even in this work—just as with many aspects of my father-in-law’s activities—we see a similarity with our generation’s leaders. The leader of our generation is described in Tikunei Zohar as "his extension is that of Moshe," so even Yehoshua his attendant who never left the tent was told nonetheless: "Restrain them!" Or at least as our Sages say: "Impose upon them tzt'z." And immediately after speaking these words, Moshe—the faithful shepherd—responded: "Would that all of G‑d’s people were prophets; may G‑d put His spirit upon them." This means he did not insist it be done only in the way previously stated by G‑d—“I will draw from your spirit and place it upon them”—but rather wished His spirit would rest upon them directly...

As above, thank you in advance for your utmost efforts in allocating assistance for our work mentioned here—and to the greatest extent possible.

Summary

The Rebbe teaches that while people naturally resist competition or imitation, Lubavitch seeks broad participation. True growth comes when many join together for communal good without concern for exclusivity or personal credit.