Weekly Letter: The Truth of the Jewish Faith

This weeks letter – written during these Seven Weeks of Consolation – with reassuring words to one with doubts, that the truth of the Jewish faith will soon be revealed, with our immanent ge’ula. The letter, written originally in English, is from the archives of the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel.

By the Grace of G-d
21st of Menachem Av, 5724
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr.
Toronto 2B, Ontario, Canada
Greeting and Blessing:
I received your two letters in which you ask various questions. Although it is difficult to answer such questions in a letter, and such questions are best discussed with your Rosh Yeshivah and mashpia of Chasidus, I will endeavor to give you some answers though very briefly.
You ask how would it be if you were born among non-Jews, G-d forbid, when you would have a different faith etc.?
Surely you know that we have a special brocho every morning in connection with our descent.
Your question has no basis to begin with. No Jew who knows anything about his faith can doubt the truth of the Jewish faith, as has been demonstrated in various Sources. One of the points in this connection was also mentioned in The Complete Story of Shovuöth Published by the Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch .At greater length these matters are discussed in the book of Kuzari and elsewhere.
Let me give you an illustration, which although in another area, can serve our purpose here. No doubt you know that some people are born color-blind, being unable to distinguish between certain colors. Suppose a person who is not color blind would declare that he refuses to recognize the existence of certain colors because they do not exist for the color-blind person. Surely this is no argument. If you reflect on this Illustration, you will see the similarity of it to your question.
There is also a connection between the subject and the Haftorah of Masei, where the prophet complains about those foolish people who abandon the fountains of living waters to seek water from broken cisterns which will not contain water very long. The person who is not familiar with the difference between the natural and inexhaustible well of fresh water and a temporary broken cistern of water may turn from the one to the other, as long as there is water in the latter, but he will find out his mistake before long.
We are now in the “Seven Weeks of Consolation,” following the period of Three Weeks commemorating the Destruction of the Beth Hamikdash. One of the promises of the Prophecies of Consolation is that though during this time of Exile truth is not in evidence, the time will come with the Geulo Shleimo when Truth will triumph again and all the nations of the world will recognize the truth of the Torah.
With blessing

P.S. I trust that you are taking advantage of your present stay in Toronto to spread and strengthen Yiddishkeit, and the fountains of Chassidus in particular.