5843 —תוצאות בחינה חלשות – קריאה לשיפור בפועל ע"י יגיעה ורצון

B"H, 13 Marcheshvan, 5718

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I was alarmed when I was shown the sheet of examination results of the students of Tomchei Temimim of ..., who visited here during this past month of Tishrei, as regards you. To explain the reason for the alarm is superfluous, since you were the one examined, and you surely also know the reasons for the results of the examination, the gist of which is the declaration of our Sages, of blessed memory, לא יגעת ומצאת אל תאמין "if you did not toil and found, do not believe it" (Megillah 6b). And what adds still more to the alarm is the question whether it is really so that everything written about this at the beginning of the past year was of no benefit at all.

I do not know to what extent the results of the examination have affected you, but I do know what they ought to accomplish. May it be G‑d's will that I receive good news: not only that you know what they ought to accomplish, but that this has come about in actual practice in all three lines of Torah, avodah and gemilus chassadim, acts of kindness (see Avos 1:2), which comprise the mitzvos as a whole. And אין לך דבר העומד בפני הרצון "there is nothing that stands in the way of the will" (see Zohar II, 162b), as in the well-known saying מאזשעס דא ניע חאטשעס "you can, but you do not want." May it be G‑d's will that you bring good news of the above, with kindness and mercy.

Awaiting good news.

Summary

This letter responds with alarm to a yeshivah student's poor examination results, which reflect a lack of toil, and calls on him to turn the lesson into real improvement in Torah, avodah and acts of kindness, since nothing stands in the way of true will.