Translation

B”H
4 Kislev, 5741
[November 12, 1980]

Greeting and Blessing!

I confirm receipt of your letter from 24 Mar-Cheshvon, etc.

It is an auspicious time – the beginning of the period of “and Jacob went on his way etc.” of the year of Hakhel.

The P”N in your letter will be read at the Ohel at an auspicious time.

With a blessing for success and to hear good tidings,

M. Schneerson

P.S. The following comes in English, in response to your English letter, and particularly as it comes in reference to your remark that, “nearly everyone who was in New York during Succos returned with a Cold.”

I was, of course, taken aback by this development. While 770, especially in the crush of Zman Simchoseinu, could cause some discomfort, I had not expected that it could be the cause of a widespread Cold (with a capital C). I am used to receiving reports about returning from 770 filled with warmth and bursting with enthusiasm and energy which – if it had any physical effects – no doubt raised the body temperature1 several degrees. But to return from here with a “Cold”?! Granted that England's climate is on the cold side all year round, and that Englishmen are basically conservative, reserved and cool-headed, not given to a display of exuberance and over-reacting, I had thought that things had changed a bit in England in recent years.

Of course, your statement implied no fault, certainly not intentionally. However, the association of a Cold with 770 seems quite incongruous, especially as Lubavitch here, as well as in Manchester, Great Britain and elsewhere, has, with G‑d's help, succeeded in breaking the ice-age.

Be it as it may, there are certainly no קפידא כלל2 but rather in the spirit of some פדיונות that I have seen, expressing the prayerful wish that “it should have an impact on me and on others.” I pray that what has been said above should have an impact on myself, that my conduct should leave no room for any possibility of a Cold in others.