A Fascinating Letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe: "The Jewish People Survived Not Through Territory or Language, But Through the Eternal Light"

Yedidya Meir, on his program 'Awakening' on Radio 'Kol Chai', read a fascinating letter written by the Lubavitcher Rebbe to a student, a few days before Chanukah in the year 5739.

"I don't know what she asked him, but from the answer in the letter, one can understand the general direction. The things are captivating," began Meir, "and they are written in a very simple and clear language. I think the letter is relevant not only to the student who approached him, but to many others as well."

In the letter, which was published in recent days in the newspaper 'Kfar Chabad', the Rebbe wrote: "Blessing and peace. In response to your letter from the 7th of Kislev, where you write about your academic background, several significant events in your life, and ask how to utilize your strengths, with the goal of finding your rightful place in life, in response to this, and as an introduction, you have the privilege to live in a land that is universally recognized as the Holy Land. And you are a daughter of a nation that the Torah - which is also universally recognized as the holy book - defined as a holy people."

The Rebbe adds: "That means you live in the Holy Land, and you are part of a holy people. It means that a Jew can function in the best way only if they live a type of life that corresponds to their true essence. This is in an atmosphere of holiness, as established in the Torah. Only then can a Jew be truly satisfied and have peace of mind, to deal with all the problems that may arise in life and find the appropriate solutions to them."

"Our sages of blessed memory use the analogy of a fish in water, saying that just as a fish can function in the best way only in a natural environment that suits it, in water, so it is with a Jew and Jewess," the Rebbe writes in his charming manner. "If we continue this comparison further, a fish certainly does not need to understand the essential connection between its health and water, and why when it is removed from its natural environment it feels frustration, etc. Similarly, it is not important that a Jew understands logically how and why their health is so closely tied to daily life and behavior according to the Torah and mitzvot, whether they like it or not. And there is nothing they can do to change the inevitable results of weakening this vital connection, no matter what causes this weakening."

The Rebbe adds: "Since you write that you are a philosophy student with a scientific background, there is no need to elaborate to you regarding the above. I would add just one more point based on the general scientific approach regarding verification. All sciences that are called exact are based on experiments, and in order to verify the results of the experiments, there is a need to examine them under different conditions, and the more numerous and varied the experiments, the more they verify the given phenomenon under investigation."

"If we apply this scientific principle with respect to the Jewish people as a nation, we know that it has survived and developed over thousands of years, under circumstances and conditions that span from one extreme to the other, as every page of Jewish history proves. While other nations, under similar conditions, disappeared from the face of the earth. If we want to determine what is the factor responsible for the eternity of the Jewish people, as expressed in the expression Am Yisrael Chai, we find that neither territory nor language, nor clothing, nor anything else can be considered a decisive factor because all these have changed throughout Jewish history, from place to place and from time to time."

"The only constant factor that has not changed throughout Jewish history is its religious way of life," states the Rebbe, "the daily life according to the laws of the Torah, such as observing Shabbat, kashrut, and all other mitzvot, which have not changed since the Torah was given at Mount Sinai, and to which Jews adhered with devotion and nullification at all times and everywhere throughout the generations."

"Let it be clarified," emphasizes the Rebbe, "there were individuals and groups who deviated from the mainstream of Jewish life and tried to find new ways, but history has proven that those deviators, as the Lubavitcher Rebbe calls them, unfortunately, did not continue with the mainstream of Jewish life. History has shown that those deviators, sooner or later, ended in one of two ways: either they returned to the traditional path of the Torah and mitzvot," and I would just say it is unnecessary to mention how much the Lubavitcher Rebbe invested to bring back those deviators to the traditional way, to the mainstream of Jewish life, as he calls it, "or," continues the Rebbe, "they ultimately were lost to our nation by assimilating into the new environments they chose for themselves."

"In light of the above," continues the Rebbe, "you should first of all manage your life according to the Torah, the Torah of Life, as detailed in the book of Jewish daily behavior laws, namely, the Shulchan Aruch. In addition to this being a duty in itself, in response to the will of Hashem, it will strengthen your inner peace, and provide the necessary objectivity to allow you to see your way in life clearly, including solving the problems you mention in your letter."

"There may be such people who, noticing your changed lifestyle, will ask what is different now than before, considering the situation, the situation in our days, these days, and in our generation, they might even ask it mockingly," he writes to the student in parentheses, "and in the most unscientific way. But this has already been anticipated in the Shulchan Aruch, which right in the first section, of the first siman, of the first part, in other words, as an introduction to all four parts of the Shulchan Aruch, what is stated there? Do not be ashamed because of those who mock. May Hashem grant you good tidings to report, especially as we are approaching the celebration of Chanukah with the lighting of the Chanukah candles in growing numbers, which symbolizes the pure light of the Torah and mitzvot in the world, which otherwise would be dark. With all that Chanukah represents, in those days, at this time, as you surely know," concludes the Rebbe in his letter.