Remaining positive despite Holocaust; An intrinsically good world with free choice; Survivors have divine purpose to carry on work on greater scale.
[5734]
Mr. ...
Minneapolis, MN 55421
Greeting and Blessing:
Thank you very much for your letter with enclosure, and may G-d grant that henceforth our correspondence will deal exclusively with happy events.
I was particularly impressed with the final paragraph which contains the significant words about your father’s remaining “absolutely positive about life and about his usefulness in it.” This is highly significant, considering how much a Jew of our time has had to go through the wars and the holocaust, etc. — yet nothing has weakened his faith.
Of course, the basis of this unshakable Jewish faith has already been pointed out in our Torah, which states and emphasizes many times, right in the beginning, “And G-d saw that it was good.”
Thus we are assured that the world that G-d created, and the life which He has given, are intrinsically good, notwithstanding the apparent contradictions that one sees in this world, in terms of wars, holocausts, etc., as mentioned above. But one of the explanations is that G-d has left human conduct to man’s own free choice of action. If men would only resolve to act in accordance with the will of G-d, there would be no room for moral evil and suffering caused by man's inhumanity to man in disregard of G-d’s will.
Your father has shown remarkable strength of faith, and his firm resolve was obviously rewarded with G-d’s help.
In light of the above, there is also the obvious inference that since G-d is the Master of the world, those who have been fortunate enough to survive the holocaust must recognize that there is a divine purpose in their particular destiny, namely to carry on the good work, and indeed to do so on a much greater scale in order to make up for those who can no longer do this work themselves. In the final analysis, it is all a matter of one’s will and determination.
You will no doubt suspect, and with good reason, that I have in mind particularly you and your family, who have the good fortune and opportunity to accomplish a great deal for the strengthening of Yiddishkeit. This is not a matter of conjecture in your case, for you have already seen the good results of your work in this direction. I will, therefore, express the prayerful wish that it should be a case of, “He who has one hundred, desires two hundred, and having achieved two hundred, desires four hundred,” to quote our Sages. In other words, every achievement in the past should stimulate a desire for greater achievements in the future.
With blessing,
