By the Grace of G-d
10th of Iyar, 5729
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Greeting and Blessing:
This is to confirm receipt of your letter, which was, in a way, supplementary to the article about you by your father, which appeared in the Post and Opinion.
Needless to say, I was gratified to read in your letter many additional personal details of your wanderings (spiritually speaking) until you found the right direction.
Inasmuch as you are fortunate to arrive at your destination, namely the Torah, Toras Emes—and emes [truth] ...you will now enjoy the relief that comes after such a journey, and will utilize all your capacities in the “four cubits” of Torah and mitzvoth.
And although the expression speaks of “four cubits,” these are the four cubits that embrace the whole world. I have already had occasion many times to emphasize that precisely in our day and age... We have seen the destructive forces that can be realized from a very small quantity of several pounds of atomic material.
If this is so in the negative and destructive aspect, how much more so is it in the good and constructive aspect, since the forces of good are intrinsically stronger than those of evil.
This is why the “four cubits” of Torah and Mitzvoth, even of one single individual, can have a tremendous effect on the whole world. Here again we can see the effectiveness of a single individual who brought about such destruction and the death of many millions of people, while other millions, of people stood by doing nothing.
This can serve as an illustration of what a good individual can do in the realm of goodness.
I am impelled to add a further point, namely that there are people who think that in order to bring about change in the world, it is necessary to do this through violent revolutions and loud propaganda, etc. This is not the way of our Torah, Toras Emes, which teaches us that great things can be accomplished by comparatively small efforts.
A clear illustration of this can be found in the balances of a scale. When both sides of the scale are balanced, a small weight can radically tip the scale. And as always in Torah, where truth is embodied not only in an instructive way, but also in a practical way, we can see this principle as part of the Halacha, as we find in the code of the Rambam (Hil. Teshuva, ch. 3:4): “A person should consider himself equibalanced and all the world equally balanced, thus at any time (during the entire ear) when a person commits a good deed he tips the scale in favor for himself as well as for the whole world, and vice versa.”
I trust therefore that you and your friends, in the midst of all our people Israel, will fulfill what is expected of you, namely to live a life of Torah and mitzvoth, fulfilling the mitzvoth with hiddur [glory], and without weighing the importance of mitzvoth since all come from the same Source.
In your case there is the additional consideration...For if the mitzvah of v’ahavta l’reacho komocho [loving your fellow neighbor] applies in relation to all Jews, it is even more so in regard to one’s own parents, brothers and sisters.
Moreover, such influence assumes even greater importance in regard to your parents, since each of them has a circle of friends and readers much greater than the average person, who are influenced by them. Consequently, every additional good aspect of Torah and mitzvoth in their life, is compounded many times in those who are influenced by them.
And insofar as your brothers and sisters are concerned, considering that they are still young and have yet to settle down in life, every advancement in their religious and spiritual life is likewise compounded when they will get settled and establish families and set the pattern of living for their children and offspring.
You may, of course, show this letter to anyone you think could benefit from reading it, including those mentioned in this letter, if thereby you will not lessen the influence on them in the desired direction.
As you no doubt expect me to, I will conclude my letter with the prayerful hope that you are making additional efforts in the study of the Torah, and the fulfillment of the mitzvoth, going from strength to strength, in accordance with the promise, “He who is determined to purify himself (and others), receives help from On High.”
