6798 —לא להימשך אחרי הרוב: עמידה איתנה בין חברים שאינם שומרי מצוות

B"H, 5 Nissan, 5719
Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of 29/3^[1], which arrived late, in which you write that you find yourself among friends who are not religious, and that this has affected you too, since it is hard to struggle against people one meets at work, etc.; and you ask what one can do in such a case. You also mention that you have a university education, but do not write in which field.

In general, it hardly needs emphasizing that the conduct of an individual (a single person) can in many cases be learned from the conduct of a community (many people) – meaning the Jewish people as a whole. If one were to accept the approach (direction) you write of – that when one finds oneself in a certain surrounding (environment) one must also behave like the environment – then it would be doubtful whether the Jews would have become a people at all, right at the beginning. And even had it happened despite that line of direction, then – according to what you write – as soon as they came out of the desert and entered the land of Canaan, no remnant or survivor (no remainder at all) would have been left of them as a whole, for they have always been "the fewest of all the peoples"^[2] (the smallest physical number among the nations), and they have kept this up – being different – in the course of the three thousand years that have passed since then.

The outcome of such conduct (as you write), had they followed it on entering the land of Canaan, would be that they too would have shared the fate of the seven nations after whom they would have trailed, of which not one exists today. And so too with regard to the exile of Babylon (after the destruction of the Second Temple) and the exile of Rome: of them – meaning Babylon and Rome – nothing remains but ruins; and so it would have been with those who trailed after their way of life.

But holding fast, with G‑d's help, to the right conduct – that one must keep the true outlook and the Jewish view of life (which is the inner, essential "I" of a Jew) – ensures steadfastness and endurance. And the fact that the environment behaves differently, and one wishes to imitate them – on the contrary: by imitating them one loses one's standing in their eyes; for after all, trailing after others cannot awaken honor and respect, neither in others nor in oneself.

The Jewish way of life, as a whole and as individuals, has outlived Babylon and Rome and the like. All the nations that were greater in number and oppressed us with various decrees – great nations – have been wiped out, while the Jews stand firm, "You are standing this day, all of you"^[3]; and of those nations, as said above, nothing has remained but ruins and museum relics.

What is said above is true even when one finds oneself in an environment of decrees and persecution, may the Merciful One save us, as our brothers are in the countries under Bolshevik influence and the like. But those who have not been put to such a test, and are in a country where one can conduct oneself as one wishes, and want only to run after the majority throughout, without any rational motive for it, but only because the majority is so – the negativity of this is surely understood.

It is understood that it does not always come easily to be different from the majority. But neither is it always easy to conduct oneself with righteousness and honesty and not transgress "You shall not covet," "You shall not steal," even when one refrains from "You shall not rob"^[4] out of fear of the police; yet no one will say that one should choose the things that come easily.

An example can also be brought from childhood: every child would rather play than learn and study year after year, and now, in later years, one only sees the difference it would have made had one chosen the lighter road of playing, etc.

The conviction mentioned, that "after the majority to incline"^[5] is always right, also brought the decent Germans under Hitler to the argument: since tens of millions of Germans are burning Jews in Auschwitz, why should he be different? It is, after all, "after the majority to incline."

I do not wish to dwell at length on the matter mentioned above, for I reckon that a young person need not be convinced with proofs that the task of life is not to seek whatever needs the least effort and to blend in as quickly as possible with the surroundings.

Also known is the additional comparison: the inanimate (stones and the like^[6], creations) are greater in number than the vegetative (plants), plants are greater in number than the animate (living creatures), and the animate are greater in number than the speaking (those who speak, human beings)^[7]; and among the speaking themselves, the other nations are greater in number than the Jews, and among the Jews themselves, etc. Yet no one will say that the task and purpose of the plant is to become inanimate, or that a speaking being should strive to become an animal, etc.

May it be G‑d's will that G‑d, blessed be He, give you the strength to follow true intellect, and not trail after desire, seeking the easier, which is also the cheapest.

With blessings for good news and for a kosher and joyous Pesach,

In the name of the Rebbe shlita^[8]

Secretary

Notes

1. 29/3 (29/3): 29 March 1959, Sunday, 19 Adar II 5719. This letter was written on Monday, 5 Nissan, 13 April.

2. "The fewest of all the peoples" (המעט מכל העמים): The words of Devarim 7:7: לא מרבכם מכל העמים חשק ה' בכם ויבחר בכם, כי אתם המעט מכל העמים, "Not because you are more numerous than all the peoples did G‑d desire you and choose you, for you are the fewest of all the peoples."

3. "You are standing this day, all of you" (אתם נצבים היום כולכם): The words of Devarim 29:9: אתם נצבים היום כלכם לפני ה' אלהיכם, "You are standing this day, all of you, before G‑d your G‑d."

4. "You shall not covet," "You shall not steal"... "You shall not rob" (לא תחמוד, לא תגנוב... לא תגזול): "You shall not covet" (Shemos 20:14); "You shall not steal" (Shemos 20:13); "and you shall not rob" (Vayikra 19:13). Even one who refrains from actual robbery out of fear of the police does not find it easy to refrain from coveting and stealing; yet no one says he should choose the easy way.

5. "After the majority to incline" (אחרי רבים להטות): The words of Shemos 23:2: לא תהיה אחרי רבים לרעת ולא תענה על רב לנטת אחרי רבים להטת, "You shall not follow the majority to do evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute to incline after the majority to pervert justice; according to the majority you shall decide." Whoever argues that one must follow the majority takes the end of the verse, said of a court, and ignores its beginning: "You shall not follow the majority to do evil."

6. And the like (א.ד.ג.): א.ד.ג. = און דאס גלייכן, "and the like."

7. The inanimate... the vegetative... the animate... the speaking (דומם... צומח... חי... מדבר): The four kinds of created beings: inanimate, vegetative, animate and speaking (man).

8. In the name of the Rebbe shlita (בשם כ"ק אדמו"ר שליט"א): כ"ק אדמו"ר שליט"א = כבוד קדושת אדוננו מורנו ורבנו, שיחיה לאורך ימים טובים אמן. The letter was signed by the secretary in the Rebbe's name.

Summary

To a university-educated young man swayed by non-religious friends at work, the Rebbe answers that Jewish survival has always depended on refusing to imitate the majority; the nations the Jews could have copied are gone, while the Jews endure. Where one is free to live as he wishes, conformity without reason is plainly negative, and "follow the majority" once led decent Germans to accept Auschwitz.