This letter was addressed to R. Chayim Plotkin, an active member of the Lubavitch community in Toronto.

B”H, 23 Teves, 5711,
Brooklyn

Greetings and blessings,

I was happy to receive timely greetings from you via the chassidic mentor, R. Eliyahu Simpson. Certainly, in the future, you will bring happiness to me through letters sent [by you] directly, with good news concerning .... and all of his household and their welfare in material and spiritual matters. Thanking you in advance.

As R. Eliyahu Simpson stated, there is ample opportunity for the spreading of Chassidus in your community in Toronto. It is both correct and necessary that you take counsel with the people suitable for this [endeavor] in your community and that together you undertake to fulfill in the most fitting manner G‑d’s intent: that the Holy One, blessed be He, desired a dwelling in the lower realms. [See Tanya, ch. 36, based on Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas Naso, sec. 16.] As is well known, Chassidus1 explains that the concept of a dwelling is a place where a person dwells without constraints, without concealment or hiddenness. [This relates to the study of Chassidus. For] with regard to the Holy One, blessed be He, [it is said,]2 “No thought can grasp [Him] at all,” except through the Torah and its mitzvos,3 for “the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one.”4

With regard to the teachings of Nigleh, [the revealed realm of Torah Law, this unity] is hidden. Thus it is only through the teachings of Chassidus that concerns itself with the love of G‑d, the fear of Him, and the contemplation of His greatness — this alone is the medium to create a dwelling in the lower realms.

Awaiting good news, and with greetings to our entire fellowship,

Menachem Schneerson

Enclosed is a publication for the 24th of Teves5 and a communal letter relevant to it.6