By the Grace of G-d
3rd of Menachem Av, 5741
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Rabbi Dovid Rosen
Chief Rabbi of Ireland
Herzog House, Zion Rd.
Rathgar, Dublin 6, Ireland
Greeting and Blessing:
This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of July 20th.
Although I have heard a great deal about you and your work in South Africa through our people there, it is not the same as coming in direct contact. I was particularly gratified to note how dedicated you are to strengthen and spread Yiddishkeit in your city and country. This, of course, is very much in the tradition of your late father [ח״לח] ןיב[ ליד]בהל, of saintly memory, with whom we had a very close relationship, and who was very dedicated to the cause of Yiddishkeit, Torah and Mitzvot.
It is also in keeping with the timely message of the Three Weeks, especially as your letter was written on the day after the 17th of Tammuz. For this period reminds every one of us most forcefully that it is the duty of every Jew to do his utmost to minimize, and help offset, the only cause of the Churban and Golus which is, as we say in our prayer, “Because of our sins we have been exiled from our land.”
At first glance, it calls for an explanation why the text reads, “Because of our sins,” considering that the exile started more than 1900 years ago. It would have been more reasonable to say, “Because of the sins of our fathers.”
The simple explanation is as follows: inasmuch as the only cause of the Golus was the alienation from the way of the Torah and Mitzvoth, the way to do away with the cause, and hence with the effect, is through strengthening everyone’s commitment to Torah and Mitzvoth in the everyday life. It is thus within the capacity of every generation since the Churban to rectify the cause and bring an end to the Golus. This is why our Sages declared that any generation in whose time the Beis Hamikdash was not rebuilt, it was deemed as if it was destroyed by them (Yerushalmi, Yoma 1:6)...
May G-d grant you much hatzlocho in all your endeavors to strengthen and advance the level of Yiddishkeit, Torah and mitzvot, in your community and in the spirit of the message of these day, help bring about all the sooner the fulfillment of the prophecies that these days will be transformed into days of gladness and rejoicing, with the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily in our time.
With blessing,
Source: Carbon copy.
Rabbi David Shlomo Rosen (b. 5711/1951) served as Chief Rabbi of Ireland from 5739 to 5745 (1979–1985).
A phrase used when referring to a living and deceased individual in the same sentence (half of the Rebbe's handwritten addition is cut off in the available photocopy – see attached photocopy).
For the continuation of this letter, on the question of establishing a Kollel in Ireland, see the Rebbe Responsa app.
