Igrot Kodesh · Letter 1890 — Health

By the grace of Hashem,

4 Marcheshvan 5713,

Brooklyn,

To the distinguished chassid* who fears Hashem,

Rav Chaim Shaul Zev[1],

Greetings and blessings,

I received, in its time, your letter of 19 Elul. The occupations of the month of Tishrei, which has just passed, delayed my response. By contrast, you have surely received my letter wishing you a good year.

You do not have to apologize for sending me a detailed letter written in Yiddish. Only its content matters, and not the language in which it is written. Moreover, such a formulation is more warm, and it suppresses the barriers raising themselves between persons, reinforces what unites them.

I read with pleasure, in your letter, that you keep present in mind the enthusiastic contact which you had with my father-in-law, the Rebbe. Our Sages say that the tzaddik*, even after his passing, finds himself still in this world and grants there his blessing, well beyond the manner in which he did so when he possessed a physical body. Even if he then knew the highest elevation, he was nevertheless limited by what surrounded him.

By contrast, when the tzaddik*, in particular if he is the leader of the generation, no longer undergoes the limits of his body, he exists only by his soul, and the latter has the power to act in the world, much more than previously. All the blessings, material and spiritual, which my father-in-law, the Rebbe, granted you, for yourself and for your family, therefore still preserve all their force. If some among them have not yet been realized[2], you will soon be able to ascertain with your eyes of flesh that they will effectively be accomplished.

Do not therefore become upset and do not take all this to heart, as you say in your letter. You find yourself, each day, only a short moment in your business, whereas you were there previously from morning until late in the evening. Indeed, this short moment is sufficient when Hashem decides to grant someone opulence and wealth. Your wife and your children will be able to be present for the rest of the time.

On the one hand, one must not desire to possess more than what Hashem intends to grant. Moreover, such a desire is vain, and it is therefore unnecessary to remain in your business more than what your state of health permits you.

It matters above all that you not diminish your positive practices, your tefillah*, your reading of Tehillim*, your contribution to tzedakah*. Indeed, Hashem submits all these conducts to the free will of man. All depends on his will to enlarge and broaden his good accomplishments, which are the receptacles and the channels conveying the blessing and the success granted by Hashem to those who are attached to Him.

With my blessing of good health and that you conceive Jewish satisfaction from yourself, your wife, and your children,

M. Schneerson,

[1] Rav Ch. Sh. Z. Bacher.
[2] In this case, those concerning commercial success, as the continuation of this letter shows.