By the Grace of G-d
24th of Adar, 5734
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. . . .
Clevland, Ohio
...A third point and this is also essential, is this: Jews have always been a minority among the nations and are of course a minority in the United States. Regardless of the democratic principles which are professed in this country, with emphasis on conventional values, it is natural for a minority to develop an inferiority complex in relation to the majority. Therefore, it is necessary to implant in the Jewish child from earliest youth a feeling of pride in the heritage and tradition of his parents and ancestors and a strong feeling of Jewish identity. Thus, instead of hiding his or her Jewishness they will be able to be proud of it without any inhibitions, despite any derision by non-Jewish neighbors or any prejudiced individuals. This calls for, above else, instilling into the child the right sense of true Jewish values, with priority of the spiritual over the material, as well as of inner peace and harmony over materialistic considerations of career, which predominate in the non-Jewish environment.
* Published: The Letter and the Spirit, Vol 5 (Nissan Mindel Publications, 2019), 80.
Note: Letters printed in "The Letters and the Spirit" are from the Archives of Rabbi Nissan Mindel A"H, the Rebbe's secretary entrusted with writing up the Rebbe's orally dictated responses. The “Nissan Mindel Archives” are comprised of secretarial copies, including first drafts, and may have subsequently been published with editorial changes. Therefore, the letters as they appear in the book may not be the final signed version.
Needless to say, all the above is written not merely for the purpose of pointing out what the past should have been. We have a clear directive in the Torah that a Jew should never despair and there are ways of rectifying the past, to some extent at least. Thus, in the light of all that has been said above, it is clear that the parents must at least henceforth conduct their lives in accordance with the points mentioned above, by strengthening their own commitment and adherence to the Torah way of life, in the daily life in every respect and detail. For Judaism is not a way of life that is limited to three days in the year, or one day in a week or on special occasions, but it is a daily experience.
Much more could have been said on such an important matter but I trust the above will suffice to realize the importance of ordering the daily life in accordance with the Torah and mitzvos in the fullest measure. Finally, since a Jewish family is like one unit and one body, where a benefit to one part of it is a benefit to the whole, the strengthening of the daily conduct, permeated with yirat Shomayim, on the part of the parents, is bound to reflect favorably on the children, either consciously or unconsciously or both.
May G-d grant that you have good news to report in all above.
With blessing,
