This letter was sent to R. Shlomo Zalman Hecht, the Rabbi of the Lubavitch community in Chicago.
ב"ה,
26 Tammuz, 5711,
Brooklyn.
Greetings and blessings,
…d) With regard to what you wrote in your letter from the days of the Festival of Redemption, [Yud-Beis/Yud-Gimmel Tammuz,] that you desire to participate in giving maamad 1 to me individually and that you hope to emerge from [your financial] straits to a situation of prosperity: Behold, you are certainly aware that I do not accept money for maamad due to several factors. Consequently, the checks that you sent have been set aside until you send notification as to what should be done with them.
It is self-understood that regarding emerging from the straits in which you are presently found to one of prosperity, your intent is desirable. May it be G‑d’s will that speedily, in the near future, G‑d will take you out from the straits to prosperity, from material boundaries and limitations to a state of material prosperity in the most literal sense. From your side, you should do what is dependent on you to take yourself out of your spiritual straits to a state of spiritual prosperity. You have certainly heard the adage of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, in the name of his grandfather, the Rebbe Maharash:2 “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!”The matter is dependent solely on one’s individual strength. As explained in the farbrengen of the Festival of Redemption, a person’s individual strength and bittul are the mediums with which to overcome all the concealments, hindrances, and veilings. Then it will be seen that all this was no more than a challenge. It is self-understood that the awareness of this contributes zest to one’s Divine service.
With blessings for a healthy summer that serves as a fitting preparation for the coming year,
Enclosed is a receipt from Lishkas Chasha’in3 for the sums you sent.
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