Igrot Kodesh · Letter 1718 — Teshuvah

By the grace of Hashem,

21 Tammuz 5712,

Brooklyn, New York,

Greetings and blessings,

In reply to your letter of erev Shabbos Shelach, in which you tell me about your life, the way in which you came close to the Chassidim, and what still remains in you of the opposite of good, of your inability to master yourself.

You can see that Hashem caused you to leave the place of darkness and placed you in a ray of light, that of Torah, mitzvos* and Chassidus* in particular. You see, then, that you have passed from one extreme to the other[1]. Your discouragement and your feeling that your teshuvah* is not sincere come from the yetzer hara*, which wishes to draw each person from the straight path by every possible means.

You must keep the well-known three studies, instituted by my father-in-law, the Rebbe—namely, Tehillim, according to its monthly division, each day, after the morning prayer; a parsha of the Chumash of the Sidra of the week with the commentary of Rashi; and a portion of Tanya, according to its yearly division. Each day, before davening, you will give a coin to tzedakah*—except, of course, on Shabbos and Yom Tov*. In this way your yetzer tov* will have the strength to overcome the yetzer hara*.

When one speaks of women, one must say to oneself that the entire Knesses Yisroel*, and each Jew in particular, is the wife of the King, the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He. And when one asks Hashem to grant favorably the requests of the Jewish people, whom He calls "My beloved," one must know that every blessing He grants depends on the effort introduced by men. One must therefore adopt the same attitude toward one's own wife. The Gemara states that one must honor her more than one's own person.

Moreover, one must say to oneself that we are approaching the end of golus*, that the complete redemption is near, very soon and in our days. When it is obtained, the woman will find herself above her husband. To think of all this enables one to respect her, to show her deference. One must see in her a daughter of Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov. And when she has a fault, this depends, very often, on the conduct of the husband. She is then the wife of a brigand[2]. But she may also be the wife of a chaver*[3], who is herself a woman of learning.

You must have the mezuzos* of your house checked, to make sure they are all kosher. You will also check your tefillin*. Surely you check each day the tzitzis* of your tallis gadol*, as well as those of the tallis katan*, as halachah* and common practice require. You will also sleep with your tallis katan*. These principles, and what was said before, foster yiras Shamayim* and harmony of the couple. I await good news from you regarding all that has just been said.

I enclose the note that was published for the auspicious days of 12-13 Tammuz. You will surely make it available to as many as possible. You will also explain its content to your wife.

With my blessing,

[1] Literally, "from left to right."
[2] It is then her husband's fault that reflects back upon her.
[3] Literally, chaver, one who possesses perfect knowledge of the laws of agricultural tithes. His wife is also considered to possess this knowledge.