Igrot Kodesh · Letter 719 — Faith & Bitachon

By the grace of Hashem,
11 Elul 5710,

Greetings and blessings,

You ask me why people entrust me with requests for blessing, in order to read them at the gravesite of my father-in-law, the Rebbe. In fact:

1. you must pose this question to those who entrust them to me, and not to me myself;

2. it was already so during the lifetime of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, in this world, and people would already entrust me with such letters then;

3. you say that I, in this manner, dispense the one who entrusts me with the letter from coming to Teshuvah* and shedding tears. This is in no way my intention, and it even happens that I signify it clearly to those who entrust me with such missions. Often, I accept to read the letter on the condition that the one who entrusts it to me commit himself to a practice of Torah or a Mitzvah*. Hashem be thanked, I have already seen the fruit of many people who kept their word and continue to do so.

In all the letters that you write me, you never evoke the fact of exerting a positive influence on others, of bringing them closer to Chassidus* and of binding them to our leader, my father-in-law, the Rebbe. This could be compared to a king who entrusts a mission to a servant, while the latter devotes himself to something completely different. It is clear that the latter does not have the time and concentration necessary to carry out the mission that the king entrusts to him.

The Rebbe Rashab says that the students of the Yeshivah are "candles to illuminate" [1]. This is therefore the specific mission that their masters entrust to them. And, even according to the revealed part of the Torah, one who teaches Torah to the son of his friend is considered as if he had begotten him. Even more, when it concerns a Chassid* and his Rebbe, one may think that he truly begot him. Now, the Rebbe says that his children must be "candles to illuminate."

Very simply, this means that the place in which you find yourself must become luminous. This is the mission entrusted to your soul, the reason for which it descended, "from a high peak toward a deep pit."

There are, in your city, thousands of Jews who have never heard of Chassidus or of the Rebbe. Those who have heard of it do not possess the knowledge they ought to have. Now, near them is found a man, who was among the first students of the Yeshivah, who has received many accounts, explanations of Chassidus. And this one says to himself that he has nothing to do with them! Certainly, the Rebbe asks him to be a light to illuminate, but he can do it another time.

It is now the month of Elul. Throughout the year, I do not like to ask questions. How much more so is it not my intention to develop all this in Elul [2].

Nonetheless, if you permit me, I would like to propose that you fix a time to study the teaching of my father-in-law, the Rebbe [3]. And, several times a week, you will teach it to others. You will make the appropriate effort to bring others closer to Torah and the Mitzvos*, in general, and to the Chassidus of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, in particular.

I am certain that, if you devote yourself to this, the Rebbe will come to your aid and you will put his will into practice.

Wishing you to be inscribed and sealed for a good year,

Menachem Schneerson

Notes:
[1] See Letter 445.
[2] When it is a question of defending and not of accusing, so that each one is granted a good and sweet year.
[3] See Letter 713.