The name of the recipient of this letter was not released.

ב"ה,
27 Sivan, 5711,
Brooklyn.

Greetings and blessings,

…I hope that while you cannot go to shul, you still keep up your fixed study sessions while at home, for this is also the advice and remedy so that you will soon be able to go to shul and teach these study sessions publicly.

You are certainly aware of the chassidic custom that the Baal Shem Tov instituted — to serve G‑d with happiness. It is possible to achieve more with this approach than through Divine service with the opposite attribute, because “joy breaks through barriers.”1 When the happiness is directed toward the will of G‑d — to the love of G‑d, the love of the Torah, and the love of one’s fellow Jew — G‑d then gives from His “full, open, holy, and generous hand,”2 making it possible that you will be satisfied without having to make any further reckonings.

I hope to hear good tidings from you, that your health has improved and that you are able to go to shul, following your good practice.

I will conclude with a blessing for long life and good years. The latter term has a twofold meaning: its simple meaning, long and healthy years; and also, years that are truly good, filled with goodness — and the only goodness is the Torah3 and its mitzvos.