Igrot Kodesh · Letter 2175 — Faith & Bitachon

By the grace of Hashem,

23 Tammuz 5713,

Brooklyn,

Greetings and blessings,

I hope that, since your departure from here, your trip has gone well, and that on receipt of this letter, you will already be, according to the program you have set, in our Eretz HaKodesh*, which will be restored and rebuilt by our righteous Mashiach*, very soon and in our days, amen. And I have good hope that you have known how to take advantage of your trip in Eretz Yisrael* to strengthen Jewish practice in all the places where you have stopped, in keeping with the local conditions.

In follow-up to the conversation that we had before your departure, I would like to repeat to you here briefly what I had then said and to specify also certain points. I will introduce my remarks first.

It is a well-known principle of our holy Torah* that everything is the effect of hashgachah pratis*. A famous teaching of our Sages affirms that all that Hashem does is for the good. And hashgachah pratis* is marked particularly in an event that is unexpected or that occurs in an unusual manner. Now, this is exactly how to define our meeting, which took place a few days before your departure, at an unforeseen moment. I therefore consider that there is indeed a direct intervention of hashgachah pratis*. Accordingly, we must, you and I, strive to make use of it for the true good, in a domain that concerns the greatest number.

It is doubtless unnecessary to describe to you the difficult situation, in the financial domain, which the holy yeshivos* in our Eretz HaKodesh* are experiencing. True, this problem also arises in all the yeshivos* of the world, and it is also well known here, in New York. However, it is, in Eretz Yisrael*, much more acute and serious, for various reasons.

The situation is all the more dramatic in that it is not improving — moreover, new obstacles are arising, preventing the yeshivos* from righting their material situation. Of course, the number of talmidim* attending these yeshivos* suffers, whatever the spirit of mesirus nefesh* shown by Yidden* in general and the youth in particular.

Up to a certain point, certainly limited, some parents experience, from this fact, fears about sending their children to the yeshivos* of our Eretz HaKodesh*. For all these reasons, every talmid* of a yeshivah* in Eretz HaKodesh* has an increased value. All means must therefore be taken so that the number of these talmidim* not diminish — moreover, that it increase.

One of the ways of attaining this is to improve the material situation of the yeshivos*. It is clear that one cannot at all permit that which will reduce the number of talmidim*. One must therefore struggle to this end, even when doubt remains. For the recent past has shown that, when it concerns the yeshivos*, all the doubts prove to be justified.

Accordingly, it is surely unnecessary to emphasize to you that it is a mitzvah* and an obligation, incumbent upon every Jew, to be vigilant and to support the yeshivos* of our Eretz HaKodesh*, in the critical situation they are currently experiencing. This duty is heightened when it concerns persons exercising influence over many people. It is all the more so for those who play a determinant role in the Jewish organizations and count among those who sustain the life of the yeshivos*.

After this introduction, I come to what concerns the project of a school in which one would combine sacred studies, such as Gemara*, Tosafos*, on the one hand, and secular studies, on the other, in order to train those who will accede to high positions: engineers, doctors, lawyers.

I will not consider here the intrinsic question, that is, the usefulness and raison d'être of such a mixed institution. For the opinion of the gedolei Yisrael* on this subject has been well known for several generations. I will therefore consider the problem solely from the standpoint of the situation of the yeshivos* in our Eretz HaKodesh*. From this perspective, without a shadow of a doubt, the existence of such a school will have the effect of drawing talmidim* away from these yeshivos*. Yet upon them, and upon them alone, depends the perpetuation of our people.

I take the responsibility of telling you all this in a blunt manner, for I have had occasion, when I found myself in Russia, then in Poland, in Germany, in France, and in America, to observe at close quarters to what extent such institutions have influenced the youth. The precise information that I possess, emanating from various circles and concerning the diverse categories of youth in Eretz Yisrael*, allows me to say that there will result from it a deterioration and devastation, chas veshalom*, infinitely more considerable than what they would be if such an institution were located in another place — for example, in America, where conditions are totally different, for various reasons.

With my brachah*,