Igrot Kodesh · Letter 6406 — Chinuch

By the grace of Hashem*,

19 Tammuz* 5718,

Brooklyn,

Greetings and blessings,

I am responding to your letter of 12 Tammuz*, the date of liberation of my father-in-law, the Rebbe*, whose merit protects us, head of Israel. You acknowledge receipt of my letter and you give me more details concerning your son and your family. At a propitious moment, I will mention your name at the holy resting place of my father-in-law, the Rebbe*, whose merit protects us, in accordance with what you write to me. I wrote to you that, in order to repair the past (note 1: Presumably the non-observance of family purity), you can exercise a positive influence on your grandchildren. Of course, this is the most important point, but you must not content yourself with this alone. In accordance with the injunction: "You shall love your fellow as yourself," you must also come to the aid of all those who are active in this matter, to every extent possible, and more generally, see to it that this concept of family purity spreads in the widest circles.

You know the power of repair and of teshuvah*. Not only is punishment thereby averted, which Hashem* forbid, but one also achieves increased success, and you know the explanation of our masters according to which those who attain teshuvah* are greater than the perfectly righteous (note 2: The tractate Berachos* 34b says, indeed: "The perfectly righteous cannot reach the place where those who have attained teshuvah* stand"). I hope that you observe the daily custom of reading Tehillim*, according to their monthly division, each morning after the prayer. You will also recite the Psalm corresponding to your age. Thus, after the Bar Mitzvah*, one begins to read, each day after the prayer, Psalm 14; then, the following year, one reads the next Psalm, and so on.

I send you my blessing to convey good news of all this and of your participation in the Chassidic* gathering of 12 Tammuz*, which surely took place in your city. May Hashem* grant that this be an opening for further good news.