Letter and Spirit

As we read in this week’s parsha about the start of our enslavement in Mitzrayim – we share a letter in which the Rebbe deals with the question of tragedies and suffering which we have endured during our long history. Both Moshe Rabbeinu and the prophet Yirmiyahu had asked the time-honored question of why the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.

With the beginning of the second chumash, Sh’mos, begins the history of the Jewish People. In this letter, the Rebbe advises an author on his project to write a book on Jewish history. So that this book reflects an authentic view of Jewish history, says the Rebbe, it should emphasize the Divine Providence throughout our history as well as its uniqueness. In addition, the Rebbe cautions not to draw from “broken vessels” and to avoid the predictions of the prophets of doom.

As we read this week about the final, good years of Yaakov’s life in Mitzrayim and the blessings he gives his children before his passing – we share a letter of the Rebbe in which he gives suggestions in regard to preparing a Jewish will. With some basic and interesting points to make it a truly Jewish document.

Now that Yaakov Avinu goes down to MItzrayim to be reunited with Yosef, he is preparing the ground for his family’s move. He sends Yehudah ahead of the others to establish a yeshivah. This week’s letter is the advice the Rebbe gives to an orthodox Jew on where he should settle with his family.

In connection with the forthcoming “yom tov of the s’forim”/Hey Teves, we share a fascinating letter in which the Rebbe thanks a devoted friend who volunteered his services, with success, and exerted great efforts to redeem some of the books and manuscripts of the Schneerson Library. Many of them were pillaged during World War Two and some, like the ones discussed in this letter, found their way to the Holy Land after the war. In the letter the Rebbe uses Chassidic concepts to explain the truly great significance of his noble mission to “redeem the captive” books and manuscripts.

As we celebrate Chanukah, we share a letter the Rebbe addresses to the participants of a Chassidic Concert honoring Jews who were liberated from religious oppression in a repressive regime – in which he points to the eternal message of Chanukah and the reliving of the miracles in our days. 

In celebrating Yud Tes Kislev this Shabbos, we share an interesting letter of the Rebbe to an author of a newspaper article about the Old Rebbe – in which the Rebbe corrects some inaccuracies.

In connection with the main theme of the parsha this week, Vayetze, in which Yaakov Avinu goes to Charan and establishes a family – the foundation of the Jewish People – we share a fascinating letter to an Educational Therapist […]

Our parsha teaches about the children of Yitzchak and Rivkah – brothers raised in the same home yet taking different paths in life. How do we raise our children? In answer to this question – the Rebbe gives clear guidelines for raising Jewish children.

The topic of a shidduch plays a central role in our parsha this week, where Eliezer, servant of Avraham, goes on a mission to find a wife for Yitzchak, son of Avraham. The first Jewish match is made. We present a letter of the Rebbe in which he gives important advice to a young lady regarding a shidduch.

In the week of the reading of the destruction of S’dom and Amora – and in the present time when we are experiencing a global pandemic – we share a letter in which the Rebbe addresses the question of reconciling the attributes of G-d’s mercifulness and kindness with cosmic catastrophes. The Rebbe guides us on how we are to view world events.

As we begin this week the history of the Jewish people with our Patriarch, Avraham, known for his teaching of “monotheism” to a society steeped in idolatry, we present a letter from the Rebbe contrasting the idea of “faith” and “reason”.

In this weeks letter, the Rebbe discusses the obligation of Yidden to promote the Seven Noahide Laws – and to emphasize their Divine origin, as mandated by the Creator and not legislated by human beings.

Belief in the literal meaning of the Torah – including the creation of the world, is a premise for our belief and observance of the mitzvos. In this letter, the Rebbe reassures the writer that there is no need for “novel analysis” nor for apologetics of those who try to interpret Torah to fit science.

With the beginning of the school year, we are sharing a letter of the Rebbe to the chairman of the Major Conference for the Jewish Community on Issues and Needs of the Jewish Retarded, in which he addresses the education of our children with special needs.

Why does Chabad not decorate the succa nor sleep in it, as is customary for so many Jews to do? The Rebbe gives some Chassidic insights into this question.

As we prepare for Yom Kippur and are fulfilling the custom of kapporos, in light of the protests by “animal-rights” advocates these past years, we present a letter in which the Rebbe explains the function of shechitah and its Chasidic dimension.