Weekly Letter: A Month of Divine Grace and Favor

As we approach the beginning of the month of Elul, we present a letter from the Rebbe in which he underlines the significance of managing a Jewish home with its many benevolent acts, however insignificant they may seem, and especially in this month of special Divine grace and favor. The letter, written originally in English, is from the archives of the Rebbe’s personal trusted secretary, Rabbi Nissan Mindel.

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Mrs.__________

New York, N.Y.

Blessing and Greeting,

Rabbi Mindel conveyed to me the contents of your letter, with the enclosure.

Remembering our meeting, and from what I know about your background, I was greatly surprised at the pessimistic tone of your letter.

It is surely unnecessary in your case to labor the point that a person cannot properly evaluate the importance of even a single act, much less of many actions. The importance of even a single act has been pointed out by the Baal Shem Tov–as I heard it from my father-in-law, of saintly memory–to the effect that: “A neshama may come down to the earth for sev­enty or eighty years for the sole purpose of doing a single fa­vor to a Jew, materially or spiritually.” ¹

If you will therefore consider the many benevolent acts that you have done in the past, and will continue to do in the days and years ahead, in behalf of your fellow Jews, directly or indirectly, your will surely realize that there is a great deal of meaning to life. When I say “indirectly,” I mean that the very fact of managing a Jewish home, and living the Jewish way of life here in the U.S., is of great benefit to Jewish friends and neighbors, since people are usually much more influenced by example than by admonition. Thus, I am quite certain that you have many opportunities to help others both directly and indirectly–and who can estimate the true value of a single good act, as mentioned above?

If at no time in the year could there be any justification in following a line of thought of the kind to be found in your letter, it is most certainly out of place in the present days of the month of Elul, which is a month of especial Divine grace and favor. The significance of this month has been illustrated by the famous parable of the Alter Rebbe: 2 When a king is in his palace, it is not easy to approach him in person and deliver a petition. On the other hand, when the king goes out into the fields to meet his people, everybody can approach him with­out difficulty, even in work clothes, and present a petition to him personally, which the king will accept, and grant gra­ciously.

Similarly, the month of Elul, the last month of the year, has been set aside as a period of special Divine grace, in preparation for Rosh Hashanah and the new year.

I would like to make one further point. One can well un­derstand and sympathize in connection with the various ad­versities that you have suffered in the family, etc. On the other hand, it is necessary to bear in mind that you as parent can always exercise a certain amount of influence over your children, even if there is no direct contact, simply by strength­ening your own faith in G-d. For all the members of a family are like one body, and as in the case of a body, an added bene­fit to any part of the body benefits the whole. Indeed, it may often happen that one good deed alone will tip the whole scale.

May G-d grant that you should have good news to report about yourself and the members of the family.

With prayerful wishes for a good and sweet New Year,

With blessing,

[Sign.]

P.S. A receipt is enclosed for your tzedakah, and may it additionally stand you and yours in good stead.

1. Hayom Yom 5th Iyar.
2. Likutei Torah, Re’eh.

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The above letter is from Volume I of The Letter and the Spirit by Nissan Mindel Publications (NMP).

These letters were written originally in English and were prepared for publication by Rabbi Dr. Nissan Mindel, whose responsibility it was the Rebbe’s correspondence in English and several other languages.

We thank Rabbi Shalom Ber Schapiro, who was entrusted by his father-in-law Rabbi Mindel with his archives and who is Director of the Nissan Mindel Publications (NMP), for making the Rebbe’s letters available to the wider public. May the merit of the many stand him in good stead.