By the Grace of G‑d
12th of Shevat, 5721 [January 29, 1961]
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Greeting and Blessing:
This is to acknowledge receipt of your recent letters. As requested, I will remember you all in prayer when visiting the holy resting place of my father-in-law of saintly memory. Especially that the wedding of your daughter take place in a happy and auspicious hour, and that she and her chosen partner in life should build their home on the foundations of the Torah and Mitzvoth.
May G‑d grant that you will have good news to report also about an improvement in Parnosso.
With regard to your sister, I am enclosing herewith a copy of my letter to her, which I am sending to you confidentially. From this letter you will gather my views on the subject.
Hoping to hear good news from you in all above, and
With the blessing of Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov,

It is sometimes difficult to help a person who acts in a way which is contrary to what we would call cooperation. I refer to the matter of learning Chassidus, about which you wrote to me once, saying, why should we bother about the Supernal Worlds ('אצילות כו) when there are so many things connected with this world?
Actually, the situation is the reverse, since everything in this world is derived from the Supernal Worlds, for, as is explained at length in Chassidus, all things in this world, even the most material and corporeal, are directly related to their spiritual sources in the higher order of things, and derive their existence and their being through a series of channels and vessels of purity and holiness.
Thus, while the Old Rebbe wrote in the Tanya (chapter 6), quoting the Eitz Chaim כל מעשה עולם הזה קשים ורעים והרשעים גוברים בו yet the Torah says אם בחוקותי תלכו כו' ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם גו' how is this to be reconciled? The answer is that through the Torah and Mitzvoth the Jew elevates himself above this physical world and transcends its boundaries, so that, instead of being subject to its laws and limitations, he can become master and ruler of the world, the reason being that the Torah and Mitzvoth are connected with the Supernal Worlds, which are completely good, and this world is only the last in the chain of transformations from the spiritual to the material, beginning with the world of Atzilus, of which it is written לא יגורך רע , or as our religious philosophers call it "The World of Souls," descending from the World of the Angels to the World of the Spheres, which is our physical world.
On the other hand, if a Jew is reckless enough to cut himself off from the Supernal Worlds, he is left only with this physical world, which has been described by the Old Rebbe as above, where "The affairs of this world are difficult and evil, and where the wicked ones have supremacy," etc. but being he is a believing Jew, and consequently prays to G‑d, the Creator and Master of the world, Whose Providence extends to every-one individually, there are ways whereby G‑d's blessings descent even to those who are ignorant of the ways of Providence, and who know nothing about the relationship of this world to the Supernal Worlds. However, one to whom a greater measure of knowledge has been revealed about G‑d and G‑d's ways, yet refuses to acknowledge the channels and vessels through which G‑d's blessings necessarily come down, but insists on receiving G‑d's blessings directly from G‑d, it means that he wants to receive such blessings by way of an open miracle, not through a miracle which is clothed in natural garments. And it is well-known that in order to receive the benefit of an open miracle, one must have extraordinary merits, and even in such a case, the miracle is debited to the account, and as our Sages have taught "One should not rely on a miracle."

I trust that for a person of your background it is not necessary to elaborate at greater length, what should be quite obvious.
It should also be self-evident that my intention in writing the above lines is not in order to admonish you or to cause you any pain, G‑d forbid. I only wanted to throw some light on the subject, for, apart from the knowledge itself that this subject contains, it also has a direct bearing upon the daily affairs of one's life. In a similar sense our Sages explained "He who is engaged in the study of a Burnt Offering is deemed as though he has actually offered it." Similarly, when one is engaged in the study of the process of Creation and Divine Providence, it has a direct bearing on the benefits to be derived thereby, both material and spiritual.
May G‑d grant that you learn with vitality and for their own sake, both Nigleh and Chassidus, and may G‑d channel His blessings to you and yours in all your needs, materially and spiritually, from His full, open and ample Hand.
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