The text of this letter was sent to various individuals, personally addressed to each one.

B”H, Rosh Chodesh Adar, 5710

Greetings and blessings,

Enclosed is the newly published sichah of Yud-Tes Kislev, 5710,1 [for you to] share with people at large. The introduction2 at the beginning of the pamphlet explains the reason for this printing.

In the present situation, it is very difficult to write and answer letters, and in particular to write about the Rebbe’s passing, for who will comfort us and with what shall we be comforted?

Who of us, however, comprehends the secrets of the Merciful One?3 But with regard to the matters that are revealed to us,4 each and every member of the Jewish people is “a day-worker.” According to the interpretation of the Tzemach Tzedek (quoted in the sichah of Simchas Torah, 5696),5 their work is to generate light.

As is well known, Sefer Yetzirah divides all existence into three categories: olam (place), shanah (time), and nefesh (soul).

[Now even] when a worker’s soul confronts ordinary conditions, our Sages warned and cautioned:6 “The workers are lazy.” Needless to say, such a warning is appropriate when there is a possibility of erring and [thinking] that it was only “previously,7 that the tzaddik —theleader of the generation — labored on behalf of the living, to every living being,... the soul of every living being that is bound up with his soul” ([Tanya,] Iggeres HaKodesh, Epistle 27).8

If in ordinary situations “the day is short,”6 how much more so does this apply when the year is lacking;9 [i.e., there has been] the passing of a tzaddik for which we cannot find any replacement” (Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachos 2:8; see also Eichah Rabbah 1:37).

Even when the world10 follows its ordinary pattern, “the work” — the light of Torah — “is extensive.”6 How much more so does this apply when “the sun” — which refers to the shining light of a tzaddik” (Moed Kattan 25b) – “sets in the afternoon” and the darkness and concealment in the world increases considerably. [As a result,] the tasks [incumbent on] the workers and their responsibility have increased and grown several times as much.

My revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, הכ"מ, instructed us that salvation will not come from sighing11 and that despair, Heaven forbid, sadness, and weakness is not the path to take one out of his straits and difficulties and bring him to abundance and light.

Our way and goal is actual practice: thought, speech, and deed. Or to refer to the wording of the master:12 “[The feelings in] the heart will be brought13 to the mind and this will be expressed in action.”

There is a well-paved path and a clear mission resting on the shoulders of every member of the chassidic brotherhood and the students14 who share a bond or a connection to my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, הכ"מ, “whose spirit is actually present among us,” to think deeply about the directives that he individually received from him or about the directives that are found in his maamarim, sichos, and letters, and to add strength to their actual fulfillment, “[going] deeper and deeper, [becoming] more truthful and even more truthful.”12

And the Torah has informed us (Zohar III, p. 71b) that a tzaddik who passes away is found more prominently in this world, [the world] of deed, than during his lifetime.

By following the straight path that he showed us, to bind and connect ourselves to him, we will merit to be comforted twofold with the fulfillment of the prophecy (Yeshayahu 40[:1-4]): “Take comfort, take comfort, My people.... For the appointed time [for her exile] has been completed.... Every valley will be raised.” [On that verse, our Sages comment] (Zohar III, p. 280a): “All those who are humble and lowly will be elevated for Your sake. This refers to the Jewish people who are humble.” And my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, will take lead of us and guide us upright to our land, as indicated by the verse:15 “He [will] come at the head of the nation, because he carried out G‑d’s justice and His judgments among Israel.”

With blessing and greetings to our entire fellowship,

M. Schneerson