Letter & Spirit: Tefillin, Oil Exploration and the Besht
In this week’s edition of Letter & Spirit, we present an intriguing letter from the Rebbe in which he makes a connection between tefillin, oil and gas exploration in the Land of Israel and a teaching of the Baal Shem Tov. The letter was written through the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel, and was made available by the latter’s son-in-law, Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro.
This weekly feature is made possible by a collaboration between CrownHeights.info and Nissan Mindel Publications. Once a week we publish a unique letter of the Rebbe that was written originally in the English language, as dictated by the Rebbe to Rabbi Mindel.
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By the Grace of G-d
7th of Tammuz, 5742
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr.
New York, N.Y.
Greeting and Blessing:
This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter. I appreciate your thoughtfulness in letting me know the good news that your son began to put on tefillin and this occasion was duly and fittingly celebrated by your family.
There is certainly no need to emphasize to you at length the great significance of the mitzvah of tefillin – with the hand tefillin being placed on the left arm facing the heart, the seat of the emotions, and on the head facing the brain, the seat of the intellect, which, our Sages point out, have a direct impact on bringing the emotional and intellectual powers into the proper harmony. No less important is the impact of the mitzvah of tefillin, placing the Jew’s heart and mind – the whole person – in the service of Hashem, since the brain and the heart control and direct all the organs and functions of the physical body. The corresponding impact spiritually is that the whole being of the Jew is permeated with Torah and mitzvos, in fulfillment of the imperative, “All your actions should be for the sake of Heaven.”
May G-d grant that you and your wife should have much true Yiddish nachas, namely Torah nachas, from each and all of your children, in good health and in happy circumstances, both materially and spiritually.
With blessing,
P.S. I noted with special interest your P.S. about your project involving oil and gas exploration in the land of Israel. As you know of course, the need for it has become enormously urgent in recent years, so that it is of vital importance.
In keeping with an old Jewish custom to connect matters which do not seem to have a connection on the surface, I take this opportunity to share with you the following thought on the connection between your P.S. and the main body of your letter.
It is based on the teaching of the Baal Sham Tov, which has often been quoted by my father-in-law of saintly memory in connection with the verse, “And you shall be unto Him a desirable land” (Mal. 3:12). The Bal Shem Tov explains that the earth is the repository of the greatest natural resources such as oil, gas, metals, gems and so on. Similarly, in spiritual terms, every Jew is the possessor of the highest spiritual qualities, which are sometimes on or near the surface, sometimes deeper below. It is only necessary to discover them, refine them and polish them, to obtain the most desirable and delightful treasures. And the Baal Shem Tov concluded: “I want to help Jews produce these treasures which Hahsem has implanted in each of them.” (Hayom Yom p. 54).
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The above letter is from a forthcoming volume of The Letter and the Spirit Series, two volumes of which have been published to date, with volume three coming out shortly, IYH. The letters are from the archives of Rabbi Dr. Nissan Mindel, a personal secretary to the Previous Rebbe and The Rebbe, whose responsibilities included the Rebbe’s correspondence in English.
We thank Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro, director of Nissan Mindel Publications and the one entrusted by Rabbi Mindel, his father-in-law, with his archives, for making these letters available to the wider public. May the merit of the many stand him in good stead.
