The name of the recipient of this letter was not released.

B”H, 27 Adar I, 5711,
Brooklyn

Greetings and blessings,

I was aggrieved because of your long period of silence, during which I did not receive any news from you. Therefore, I was very happy to receive your letter with the information that, thank G‑d, you feel that your situation has improved. As is self-evident, I will read the pan that you sent at the gravesite of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe.

I will repeat [my suggestion] again that you meditate in a manner that involves firmly affixing your thought to the concept that G‑d rules over His world and over each and every one of us individually. As a natural consequence, this will remove worry from your heart. For G‑d will certainly arrange your affairs in the best way possible; [how to manage them] is not our responsibility. What is relevant to us are the Torah and its mitzvos which were given to us and our free choice [in observing them].

I am not coming to develop a new idea. [On the contrary,] these matters are straightforward and known to all. If, however, [these ideas] are left on the abstract plane, and when it comes down to practice, one carries out his life as if his affairs are dependent on himself alone, one makes his life harder. In simple terms, this refers to one’s life in this material world. In contrast, when one is permeated by the concept that “G‑d is my shepherd,”1 then even the body and the animal soul feel that “I will not lack” [anything].

I am not, Heaven forbid, coming to preach. I am simply pained by the aggravation and sorrow you feel due to factors that have no foundation and, which, certainly, do not reflect reality. As is well known, there is a difference between [the service of G‑d] in response to challenges and the service [of G‑d] involving the refinement [of the sparks of G‑dliness invested in material existence], as explained in Chassidus.2

Hoping to hear good tidings regarding the improvement of your health and that of my relative, your wife.

With blessing,