This letter was sent to Yeshivas Achei Temimim, Tel Aviv; R. Yerachmiel Benjaminson, a prominent member of the chassidic community in London, and R. Yitzchak Goldin, a distinguished elder chassid, residing in Prague at that time.

[Elul, 5707?]

On 13 Elul of this year,1 my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe Shlita, said:2 “Intellect is an intermediary. Intellect exists for the sake of actual Divine service: loving a simple person.”

It is possible to explain that this concept shares a particular connection to Rosh HaShanah. For on Rosh HaShanah, we must “all stand together today (i.e., on Rosh HaShanah),”3 from “your leaders” to “your water-drawers,” to be joined in oneness and unity, as explained in Likkutei Torah at the beginning of Parshas Nitzavim.

Therefore the mitzvah of the day involves a simple voice, without letters to give it form.

Moreover, in this itself, it is not the sounding of the shofar — which requires expertise — that constitutes the fundamental [dimension of the] mitzvah, but instead, listening to [that sound]. In our Divine service, this refers to kabbalas ol, the acceptance of G‑d’s yoke, as it is written:4 “Is not listening preferable to a sacrifice?” The kabbalas ol [of Rosh HaShanah] is of a simple and encompassing nature, rather than [involving] particulars. For as is well known, this is the difference between the kabbalas ol of Rosh HaShanah and that of the entire year, as explained in the maamar entitled Shofar Shel Rosh HaShanah, 5702, et al.

With wishes for a kesivah vachasimah tovah,

Rabbi Menachem Schneerson