This letter was sent to R. Yaakov Katz of Chicago, one of the initial supporters of Lubavitch activities in America.

ב"ה,
15 Menachem Av, 5711,
Brooklyn.

Greetings and blessings,

I just received the letter you sent yesterday and I am hurrying to answer [and share with you] another miracle inspired by my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe זצוקללה"ה, נבג"ם, זי"ע.

I was distressedthe entire time that, on the day before Rosh ChodeshMenachem Av, at the Ohel,1 I was not able to convey that you had sent your regular check for the Rebbe’s concerns. Since the Rebbe once told me not to press you for money — as I once related to you — I wasn’t able to do anything about this. Now, I see that the Rebbe gave you the idea directly — or to employ the wording you used in your letter — “my heart troubled me.” This can be understood as being similar to [the effects of] the proclamations from Above2 which bring about good thoughts and resolutions in a person’s [mind] that he had not prepared himself for, as explained in Likkutei Torah, Parshas Ki Seitzei (p. 36d), and at greater length in the maamar entitled AzYashir, 5700.3 I assume that you are in possession of that maamar….

May G‑d help you, not only not to minimize your good practices, but rather to increase them, as our Sages state:4 “Proceed higher in holy matters.”

In particular, Divine providence is evident in this in the fact that all this transpired on 15 Av, concerning which our Sages state with regard to Torah study (the conclusion of tractate Taanis): “From this date onward, one who increases, will have increases granted him.” From this it is understood that Torah study has an effect on the person’s conduct with regard to the mitzvos and, in particular, the mitzvah of tzedakah. Thus, when the term mitzvah is used without any modifier, the intent is the mitzvah of tzedakah5 which is equivalent to all the other mitzvos (see Tanya, ch. 37; Iggeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 3; Iggeres HaKodesh, Epistles 3-4, the conclusion of Epistle 5, Epistles 6, 8-10, and 12).

With blessings for success in your personal concerns; may you, with happiness and gladness of heart, transform the material into spiritual.6