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Yehuda Leib Ungar is addressed in the correspondence of the Lubavitcher Rebbe as an individual engaged in business and involved in the communal life of his Jewish community. The Rebbe writes to him with warm greetings and offers spiritual guidance in connection with Ungar's new business venture.
The Rebbe’s letter to Yehuda Leib Ungar (dated 25 Iyar, 5711/1951) is prompted by a greeting delivered through Rabbi Eliyahu Simpson, who reported on a recent farbrengen (chassidic gathering) held in a warm, chassidic atmosphere. The Rebbe emphasizes the transformative power of such gatherings, quoting his father-in-law, the Rebbe Rayatz, that a farbrengen brings warmth and light into one’s home and life.
The Rebbe draws a parallel between Ungar’s new business—dealing with the cleansing and reuse of sacks previously contaminated by bacteria—and the spiritual life of a Jew. Just as the sacks require a process of purification to be fit for use again, so too does a person require spiritual warmth and renewal, especially after being influenced by negative tendencies (the yetzer hara) before the age of bar mitzvah. The Rebbe encourages Ungar to seek spiritual warmth through immersion in Torah, prayer, and the chassidic environment, so that one’s thoughts, speech, and actions remain pure and beneficial.
The Rebbe concludes with a blessing for Ungar’s success in his new venture, expressing the hope that Ungar will merit the fulfillment of the teaching from the Alter Rebbe (author of the Tanya): that G-d grants Jews material sustenance in abundance, and it is their task to transform the material into the spiritual by using it for kosher livelihood, supporting Judaism, and spreading Torah.