By the Grace of G-d 4th of Sivan, 5713 Brooklyn, 13 N.Y.

My dear Mr. Cowen :

I am in receipt of your translation, entitled True Knowledge How Can It Be Acquired? with the accompanying(undated) note, asking for my comments. I trust the following observations may be useful to you.

To refer to the subject matter which is the principal theme there of your translation, namely, the 'Koach hapoel banifo'al'¹ (the force of the Creator in the created things), or the 'Ayin' that vitalizes the 'Yesh,' the Chassidic conception of this doctrine is not that the two exist side by side, but rather that the former permeates the latter. Something of an analogy may be found in the living human organism, the vitality of which cannot be said merely to reside in the body, side by side with the physical, for each particle of the organism is vitalized by the living spirit. In a similar way, but in a wider sense, the word of G-d is the source of existence of all things, animate and inanimate alike, each particle of matter having a reality only by virtue of the word of G-d which is constantly giving it existence and life.

As to the question, How can the 'Ayin' be manifested in the 'Yesh'? The answer depends on what we mean by such manifestation. If we mean the manifestation of the Ayin's existence, then it is already manifest in the very existence of the Yesh, since the Yesh cannot be self-made. To be sure, the Ayin must necessarily be 'concealed,' but what is meant by this is that the Yesh must be insensible of the Ayin, i.e. cannot feel the Divine force that keeps it in existence, for if it did so, the Yesh could not have an independent existence. This does not mean that the Yesh must be completely unaware of the Ayin. Intellectually the Yesh might well understand that its true reality is the Ayin, but intellectual understanding does not affect the existence of the Yesh, as is evidenced by the fact that although reason dictates one thing, a person may act in a way contrary to it. Were the Yesh to feel the source of its existence, it could not help being influenced by such a feeling as, e.g., when a person feels the holiness of another person, he must be affected by it to emulation; or, to use a less sublime simile, in order to feel electricity one must be pervaded by it. Needless to say, there are various degrees of sensibility. One person may be so affected by a feeling of joy (or, G-d forbid, sorrow) as to be completely overwhelmed by it to the extent of losing all self-control and becoming a 'picture of joy' or a 'picture of grief,' while another person is less emotional. The question of the manifestation of the Ayin, therefore, goes much deeper than mere existence and involves also some of the essential qualities of the Ayin.

One final remark. You write that the term, 'Faithful ones, the children of the faithful'² applies to the entire house of Israel collectively. This is not so, for it means that each individual Jew is essentially a true believer, though in some Jews this inner conviction is obscured by various more or less superficial obstacles.

As usual, I am enclosing herewith our latest publication, this year’s Shovuoth Kuntress³ and also a copy of my Sefirah message.⁴

I wish you, Mrs. Cowen, and all yours, a joyous and inspiring festival,

Kabolas hatorah b’Simcho ubipnimius