By the Grace of G‑d
23 Teves, 5715 [1955]
Brooklyn

Greetings and Blessings!

In1 reply to your letter of Motzaei Shabbos: There is doubtless no need to alert you to the fact that the luminaries of Israel held melancholy and depression in extreme disfavor. This is also discussed in Tanya, ch. 26, and in many other places. In addition, one can plainly observe that not only does such an attitude fail to correct any situation, but in fact it does quite the opposite. This is also true with regard to the matters with which you are occupied. It is especially true in this country, where a happy approach strikes a responsive chord in people’s hearts, whereas its opposite does not.

Above all, there is no basis for your melancholy, for it is written that “a wise wife comes from G‑d.”2 And the way to arrive at this is to follow the advice of the Sages — to seek and seek, as one does when looking for lost property.3 In such a case, this is obviously done energetically, albeit in accordance with the custom of upstanding Jews4 to do so through intermediaries. You should continue to engage in this, with firm trust.

And G‑d, Who since the Six Days of Creation has been “arranging matrimonial matches,” as the Sages teach in Bereishis Rabbah,5 will no doubt make available to you, too, the match that will be suitable for you, materially and spiritually in unison. [After all, you are] involved in bringing the hearts of the Children of Israel close to our Father in Heaven through the study of the inner dimension of the Torah,6 and through a lifestyle directed by the inner dimension of the Torah — and the inner dimension of the Torah brings about the marriage7 (and not only the betrothal8 ) of the Community of Israel with the Holy One, blessed be He. Accordingly, may the merit of this involvement help you speedily find that which is lost. May you soon find a match that is good in every particular and build — in a spirit of joy — a chassidic9 home, “an everlasting edifice....”10 [...]

As to the participants in the study circles, concerning whom you wrote, I mentioned them each by name at the holy resting place of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz]. A holy and righteous man [even after his physical passing] is called “alive”11 — and, as Ramban writes (on Bamidbar 1:45; see there), “If a person comes before [Moshe and before Aharon,] the holy man of G‑d, and is known to them by name, this will accord him merit and life.”

With blessings for success in the near future,

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