New book; Visit to Eretz Yisrael; Explanation of newly launched campaign, personal encouragement and gift of Tefillin
By the Grace of G-d
23rd of Shevat, 5728
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. J. Stulman
Greeting and Blessing:
Thank you very much for your volume Evolving Mankind's Future, just received, as well as for your preceding letter and enclosure. Your thoughtfulness is truly appreciated.
Rabbi Nissan Mindel has conveyed to me the gist of your telephone conversation with him pertaining to your recent visit in Eretz Yisroel. I will be glad to hear of the developments. May G-d grant that your dedicated efforts and concentrated thinking in behalf of the public weal should bear good fruits, of the right kind and at the right time.
To turn to a more personal note, the following may come as a surprise to you, and I am not sure if you will consider it a pleasant surprise. Nevertheless, I trust you will accept it in the spirit in which it is proffered.
You may have heard that in the extremely crucial days preceding the Six Day War, I initiated what has since become known as the Tefillin Campaign. Its task is to bring to the attention of Jews in the Holy Land and everywhere else the importance of observing the Mitzvah of putting on Tefillin, and to provide Tefillin on request.
The Mitzvah of putting on Tefillin daily (except Shabbos and Yom Tov), which is incumbent upon all Jewish men from the age of 13 and on, is particularly significant and meaningful. It is put on the arm, facing the heart (seat of emotion), and on the head (seat of intellect) — symbolically embracing all human activity: action, feeling, thought and word — all of which, for the Jew, should be wrapped in Kedushah (holiness). Indeed, it is this Mitzvah that especially initiates a Bar Mitzvah boy into Jewish adulthood, and it is with this Mitzvah that the Jew begins his day.
Furthermore, the Torah has revealed that Tefillin has a special quality of eliciting Divine protection for the Jewish people when facing hostility and danger.
For these (and many other) reasons I felt that the acute crisis last June, which is by no means over, called for a massive effort on the part of Jews everywhere, to strengthen the observance of the Mitzvah of Tefillin in particular, which, moreover, is bound to stimulate closer adherence to the way of the Torah and Mitzvoth in general.
You will also recall that our mutual late friend, Mr. Alexander Cowen, was deeply involved in the matter of Tefillin, and, at the behest of my father-in-law of saintly memory, wrote a short treatise on it. It has since been reprinted no less than ten times, and appeared also in other languages.
In the light of all that has been mentioned above, I am taking the liberty of sending you with my compliments a pair of Tefillin as a token of the bond which has existed between us over the years, and which has found expression also in the interest which you have shown in our institutions. I trust you will make good use of the Tefillin, despite your busy schedule. Indeed, on every weekday morning a few minutes to put on the Tefillin will undoubtedly stimulate your creativity and make the day's schedule all the more productive.
I need hardly add that there is no intention on my part, G-d forbid, to intrude upon your personal affairs. But I do believe that the gesture eminently accords with your Weltanschauung, particularly in relation to the unity of the world and community of interests, especially insofar as the Jewish people are concerned, not to mention the bond existing between friends who have met and exchanged views on some most serious and far-reaching questions of profound interest.
With esteem and blessing,
M. Schneerson
Follow-up and Reflections
Upon receiving the letter Mr. Stulman replied:
Dear Rabbi Schneerson,
Do accept my thanks and appreciation for your letter and the Tefillin you sent by hand this morning.
Believe me, I most sincerely appreciate the unwritten thoughts conveyed by your actions. The influence emanating from your "stature" has been constant and meaningful.
In a subsequent letter dated 10 Elul the Rebbe writes to Mr. Stulman:
“...To turn to another (not unrelated) point, which I do not hesitate to approach in view of our friendship of long standing. I was particularly gratified to hear that you are putting on Tefillin. I trust you do this every weekday, and that it will bring about the fulfillment of the premise of our Sages - "One Mitzva brings another Mitzva in its train."
On Chanukah, 5729 the Rebbe writes to Stulman: “I also trust that you are not only observing the Mitzvo of putting on Tefillin every weekday, but are getting a growing measure of inspiration from it. . .”
In an interview, Mr. Stulman’s son Stephen later recounted, that upon the Rebbe’s request, his father began to don Tefillin daily (Here’s My Story issue 473).
