31. “It seems to me that this is the only organization within the precincts of Lubavitch that is conducted in this way.”

By the Grace of G‑d
27 Nissan, 5713 [1953]
Brooklyn

To the Administration of the Students’
Provident Fund1 of the Lubavitch
Tomchei Temimim Yeshivah:

Greetings and Blessings!

It2 was a pleasure to receive your letter with its description and report of your work, and may G‑d grant it material success together with spiritual success.

What is amazing is that an organization connected with my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz], should limit its outlay to such an extent, so that it should not exceed its income. It seems to me that this is the only organization within the precincts3 of Lubavitch that is conducted in this way. I would not intervene in this matter if not for my concern that due to [this] policy, you limit your activity even where it is very much needed.

There is surely no need for me to remind you of the attribute of bitachon in general. My present remarks are intended only to suggest that it would be a good idea to draw on this attribute in this particular matter, too, and to observe that if you make a relative increase in your outlay, you will certainly be provided with greater sources of income. In fact, it could well be that this is the path [in that direction]. This may be seen in the distinction drawn in the teachings of Chassidus34between [living] organs and [inanimate] vessels — for organs not only receive their vitality: they elicit it. From this it is self-evident that when you expand the conduits [that supply] the organs, you call forth increased animating force.

In the spirit of all the above, in order that you should have the necessary means in the event of a deficit, enclosed you will find a loan4 from one of the funds administered by me in the sum of $200.5 So now you will immediately be able to increase your outlay — at least to the extent of $200 — beyond your income.

Let me conclude with a blessing to all those who work for this fund, and to the [donors] whose participation assists them: May G‑d grant that the entire house of Chabad be found worthy of being compelled to give loans not by material need, but only in order to become thereby a vehicle6 for the Sefirah of Chessed of the World of Atzilus — as in the episode related in a sichah85of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz], in the year 5701 [1941].7

With blessings for success and all manner of good,

[...]

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30. “Especially in the month of Elul, of Divine mercy, you — or you together with your wife — should talk at least a few minutes on trusting in G-d.”

32. “One only does accounting that will certainly not weaken one’s avodah, obviously — that will leave no room for the faintest trace of despair.”

Footnotes

In the original, Kupas Bachurim.

Igros Kodesh, Vol. 7, p. 229, Letter 2090.

In the original, “within the daled amos” (i.e., the four cubits) — a familiar halachic idiom.

In the original, gmach (acronym of gemilus chessed — lit., “a kindly deed”); often used to signify an [interest-free] loan.

In the Old World original, “two hundred shekels.”

In the original, merkavah (lit., “a chariot”) — i.e., like a vehicle, which has no will other than that of its driver.

The Rebbe recounts this episode in another letter (Igros Kodesh, Vol. 7, p. 164):

“My revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz], once described the stature of the mitzvah of gemilus chassadim, as it was grasped bya storekeeper from Polotzk — Reb Yisrael, a chassid of the Tzemach Tzedek.

“One Shabbos (it was Parshas Vayeira) when Reb Yisrael was visiting Lubavitch, he hearda maamar in which the Tzemach Tzedek spoke of how Avraham Avinu was generous with his body, with his money, and with his soul. The Tzemach Tzedek went on to explain that though Avraham Avinu was down here in This World, by means of his physical acts of kindness he took the place of the Sefirah of Chessed of the World of Atzilus. From this it follows, concluded the Tzemach Tzedek, that Avraham Avinu was superior to that attribute, and so on.

“Now, the whole maamar was over Reb Yisrael’s head — but those few words captivated him. As soon as he came home he repeated them at a chassidic farbrengen, and then went off to his store. Though he was not short of money, he dropped in to see a fellow storekeeper called Nachman and asked him for a loan — only because he wanted him to earn the merit of fulfilling the mitzvah of gemilus chassadim. Other storekeepers, hearing about this lofty mitzvah, also began to take loans from each other, day after day.

“On his next visit to Lubavitch, the Tzemach Tzedek invited him to his study and inquired about this custom of his. The Tzemach Tzedek’s son, later known as the Rebbe Maharash, asked his father afterwards what was it about Reb Yisrael that he had seen. And the Tzemach Tzedek replied that over the head of Reb Yisrael the storekeeper he had beheld a pillar of light — the light of Chessed of the World of Atzilus.”