This letter was sent to R. Shmuel Betzalel Althaus.

ב"ה,
19 Tammuz, 5711,
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greetings and blessings,

In response to your undated letter:

In my opinion, your desire to open a wholesale business is a proper idea. There is a renowned saying of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, in the name of the Rebbe Maharash:1 “When confronted by an obstacle, the ordinary approach is to try to crawl under it, and if you can’t crawl under it, you try to climb over it. But I say, Lechat’chilah ariber: one’s initial response should be to climb over!” May G‑d grant you much material success and may you transform the material into the spiritual.2

Enclosed is a letter to Mr. Neuman together with an enve­lope addressed to him. Act according to your understanding whether to deliver the letter to him personally or to mail it.

For the occasion of your son Shimon’s fourteenth birthday, I would like to extend my blessings that he become G‑d-fearing, a chassid, and well-learned (a lamdan). May you and your wife derive much satisfaction and pleasure from him and your other children.

Certainly, farbrengens were held during the days of the Festival of Redemption, [Yud-Beis/Yud-Gimmel Tammuz,] and there was an arousal to strengthen [the observance of] the Torah and its mitzvos, including “the luminary of the Torah.”3 Thanking you if you could inform me of particulars regarding this.

With greetings to all members of our brotherhood; with blessings and wishes for success,