Igrot Kodesh · Letter 5481 — Health

B"H

25 Iyar 5717

Brooklyn

To Mr. Yosef Alter, who is called Dr. Tumarkin,

Greetings and blessings,

I have received news of you through the distinguished Chassid* who fears Hashem, a student of the Yeshiva* Tomchei Temimim*, Chanoch Hendel Liberman, and also through the distinguished Chassid who fears Hashem, who devotes himself to communal needs, of manifold accomplishments, Rav Avraham Dov Kremer. They also informed me of your state of health.

At a propitious moment, I will mention your name at the holy resting place (Ohel*) of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, whose merit protects us, so that you may enjoy better health. Moreover, you had the merit of being a student of the Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim. Now, nothing is ever lost, materially, and all the more so spiritually — especially since our holy masters, whose merit protects us, invested so much strength in this Yeshiva.

It is therefore certain that even at this very hour, they invoke the profound Divine mercy for each of its students, in all their needs, particularly for their physical and spiritual health. The well-known statement of our holy Sages establishes a correspondence between the two hundred and forty-eight limbs of a person and the two hundred and forty-eight positive commandments (mitzvos*), on the one hand, and the three hundred and sixty-five sinews and the three hundred and sixty-five prohibitions, on the other. You yourself are a physician, and it is surely unnecessary to emphasize to you that if a limb of the body is not as it should be, one should not despair of healing it. How much more so is this the case in spiritual matters.

One must add, as the Alter Rebbe* explains, that there are deficiencies in physical health that one does not know how to treat. In contrast, this is not so in spiritual matters. Morally, there is nothing that cannot be healed. Moreover, the treatment can even lead to a condition similar to what one would have had if the ailment had never manifested. For nothing stands in the way of the will, and nothing stands in the way of teshuvah* (repentance).

I am certain that it is unnecessary to elaborate on all that has been said. I will add only one point, though you surely know it already. It is the emphasis placed by the Chassidus* of the Baal Shem Tov* and our holy masters of Chabad* on the commandment: "Serve Hashem with joy" (Tehillim 100:2), in all matters concerning a person. When one is joyful in recognizing that Hashem gives the opportunity to serve Him, one can observe success in all domains, material and spiritual.

I await good news from you regarding all that has been said. And as Shavuos* approaches, I express the wish that, among all of Israel, you receive the Torah, according to the formulation and blessing of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, with joy and in a profound manner.

With my blessing for your recovery,