6829 —חובת ההשפעה על הצעירים – לא די בעשיה, צריך לעשות כדבעי

B"H, 28 Nissan, 5719
Brooklyn.

The Gaon, the veteran and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, etc.,^[1] Reb Yitzchak HaLevi, may he live long^[2]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

After a very prolonged interruption your letter of 27 Nissan was received, with its enclosure.

At an auspicious time it will be read at the holy resting place of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, of sainted memory.^[3]

Surely for one such as you^[4] it is superfluous to dwell at length on the saying of our Sages that doing alone is not enough, but the doing must be specifically in the manner in which it ought to be done.^[5] It is understood that I mean this with regard to you: even after what you write, that when you find an hour you study the revealed and the hidden parts of the Torah, etc. – one who has been graced with the power to influence others, clearly this is part of his inner mission; and not only that, but specifically, as said, in the manner in which it ought to be done. If at all times and in all places the approach of "I have saved my own soul"^[6] was contemptible (see Zohar I, 106a),^[7] how much more so in our time and in the United States,^[8] where in these years a strong awakening is noticeable among the young toward return to G‑d, to His Torah and to His commandments, except that someone is needed to show them the way. And we see tangibly that when they hear things not in their spoken language, or from someone decades older than they, it does not have as much effect as when they hear it in the language of the country and from someone close to them in age; and this is easy to understand,^[9] and there is no need to dwell on what is plain.

May it be G‑d's will that at least^[10] from now on you begin to influence others, and add to this more and more; and the merit of the many will assist you.

Awaiting good news^[11] in all the above.

Publisher's notes

Reb Yitzchak (מו"ה יצחק): Levi, Long Beach. A further letter to him – above, vol. 11, letter 3634.

Notes

1. The Gaon, the veteran and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored (הרה"ג וו"ח אי"א נו"נ): הרה"ג = הרב הגאון, "the Gaon"; וו"ח = ותיק וחסיד, "the veteran and Chassid"; אי"א = איש ירא אלקים, "a G‑d-fearing man"; נו"נ = נעלה ונכבד, "distinguished and honored".

2. Reb Yitzchak HaLevi (מו"ה יצחק שי' הלוי): מו"ה = מורנו הרב ר'; שי' = שיחי'. Levi, Long Beach (per the publisher's note). In the Rebbe's earlier letter to him (vol. 11, letter 3634, 14 Tammuz 5715), when he was in Reading, Pennsylvania (as noted there: "Levi, Reading, Pa."), the Rebbe wrote, among other things, about building the mikveh in his community, and sent him the booklet of the Previous Rebbe's account of his imprisonment, "with whose contents he will surely benefit the public, and the merit of the public depends on him."

3. My father-in-law, the Rebbe… (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר = כבוד קדושת מורי וחמי אדונינו מורנו ורבנו, the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn; זצוקללה"ה = זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה לחיי העולם הבא, "may the memory of the righteous and holy one be for a blessing, for the life of the World to Come"; נבג"מ = נשמתו בגנזי מרומים, "his soul is in the hidden treasuries on High"; זי"ע = זכותו יגן עלינו, "may his merit protect us".

4. One such as you (לדכוותי'): לדכוותי' = "for one like him".

5. In the manner in which it ought to be done (כדבעי למיעבד): רז"ל = רבותינו ז"ל, "our Sages"; צ"ל = צריך להיות, "must be". The expression is the Gemara's, Kesubos 66b-67a, on Nakdimon ben Gurion, whose daughter was found gathering barley in poverty, and Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai wept over her. The Gemara asks: ונקדימון בן גוריון לא עבד צדקה? והתניא: אמרו עליו על נקדימון בן גוריון, כשהיה יוצא מביתו לבית המדרש, כלי מילת היו מציעין תחתיו, ובאין עניים ומקפלין אותן מאחריו, "Did Nakdimon ben Gurion not give charity? But it was taught: when he went from his house to the study hall, garments of fine wool were spread beneath him, and the poor came and folded them up behind him!" And it answers: איבעית אימא לכבודו הוא דעבד, ואיבעית אימא כדבעי ליה למיעבד לא עבד, כדאמרי אינשי לפום גמלא שיחנא, "If you like, say he did it for his own honor; or if you like, say he did not do as he ought to have done – as people say, according to the camel is its load." Although he gave charity lavishly, he did not fulfil his duty, since he did not do what was fitting for him according to his wealth.

6. "I have saved my own soul" (אני את נפשי הצלתי): The wording follows Yechezkel 3:19: ואתה כי הזהרת רשע ולא שב מרשעו ומדרכו הרשעה, הוא בעונו ימות, ואתה את נפשך הצלת, "But if you warned the wicked, and he did not turn from his wickedness and from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, and you have saved your soul." The "approach of 'I have saved my own soul'" is being content to save oneself alone, without working to influence others.

7. Zohar I, 106a (זהר ח"א ק"ו א'): In the Zohar there (Parshas Vayera), on "And Avraham drew near and said: Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?": אמר רבי יהודה: מאן חמא אבא דרחמנותא כאברהם. תא חזי, בנח כתיב ויאמר אלהים לנח קץ כל בשר בא לפני וגו', עשה לך תבת עצי גפר, ואשתיק ולא אמר ליה מידי, ולא בעא רחמי, "Rabbi Yehudah said: Who has seen a merciful father like Avraham? Come and see: of Noach it is written, 'And G‑d said to Noach, the end of all flesh has come before Me... make yourself an ark of gopher wood,' and he was silent and said nothing to Him, and did not ask for mercy." And Rabbi Elazar said: נח לא עביד מידי, לא האי ולא האי, "Noach did nothing, neither this nor that." Noach, who saved himself and did not plead for his generation, is counted to his discredit.

8. How much more so... in the United States (עאכו"כ... ובארצוה"ב): עאכו"כ = על אחת כמה וכמה, "how much more so"; ארצוה"ב = ארצות הברית, "the United States"; כ"כ = כל כך, "as much".

9. This is easy to understand (וק"ל): וק"ל = וקל להבין. Since the young are influenced precisely when they hear things in the language of the country and from people close to them in age, one who can influence them in this way has this as his task, and may not be content with his own study.

10. At least (עכ"פ): עכ"פ = על כל פנים, "at any rate, at least".

11. Good news (בשו"ט): בשו"ט = בשורות טובות.

Summary

The recipient wrote that he studies the revealed and hidden Torah whenever he finds time. The Rebbe answers that one graced with the ability to influence others must do so, and as it ought to be done: being content to "save one's own soul" was always contemptible, and all the more so now, when American youth are awakening to Torah and are best reached in their own language by people close to their age.