Editor’s note: This letter is a postscript to the traditional Hebrew blessing the Rebbe would send to newlyweds. See also the Rebbe’s letter to the bride’s parents.

By the Grace of G‑d
3 Shevat, 5738
[January 11, 1978]
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Miss ——

. . . P.S. For understandable reasons I preferred to express my prayerful wishes to you and your fiancé in the original and traditional text hallowed over generations, especially as it would represent no language problem for you.

However, I would like to add some thoughts also in English for the benefit of those who are more fluent in it, with whom you may wish to share them. Though what follows is no doubt superfluous in your case, I am prompted by the saying of our Sages, “Encourage the energetic.”

As you know, a Jewish marriage is called a Binyan adei-ad, “an everlasting edifice.” It means that the Jewish home and married life must be built and structured on the foundations of the Torah and Mitzvos, as emphasized by our Sages, whose saintliness was matched by their true wisdom.

The metaphor is meaningful in that when it comes to laying the foundation of a building, it is of no concern what neighbors or passersby might think of the outer attractiveness of the foundation, much less what scoffers might say about it. What is important is that the foundation be of tested and durable material that can withstand any erosive elements, and that it should be strong enough to support the upper floors that will be added to it.

The same is true of the “foundations of Torah and Mitzvos.” There is no better test than actual experience, and our Jewish people have the wisdom and conviction of thousands of years of experience, ever since Mattan Torah [the giving of the Torah] at Sinai, that it is adherence to the Torah and Mitzvos in the daily life that has preserved our people—both collectively and individually—through all possible crises, and made us the “Eternal People.” This is particularly relevant in our day and age, when all sorts of “isms” have brought so much confusion and disturbance into the lives of the young generation. With the Torah and Mitzvos illuminating their way of life, young people starting out on their own can follow this path with a profound feeling of security and confidence, and it is also rewarded with hatzlocho [success] in terms of well-being, both materially and spiritually.

Since your letter and my reply have been written in proximity to Chanukah, may G‑d grant that all the above come to you and your husband-to-be in a manner of increasing brightness—on your part, by increasing the light of Ner Mitzva vTorah Or [the lamp of the mitzvah and the light of the Torah] in a steadily growing measure, and on G‑d’s part—increasing His blessings to Ner Hashem Nishmat Adam [the lamp of G‑d which is the soul of man], to the soul and body together, likewise in a manner of increasing brightness.