By the Grace of G-d 5th of Menachem Av, 5724 Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

I received regards from you through Prof. Yitzchok Leib Block,¹ who informed me of your present state of anxiety and aggravation etc.

What I have heard of you and of your background from Dr. Block in the past, I am surprised that you should feel so discouraged at this time. Surely you know what our Sages say about Parnosso, namely that it is like a turning wheel, going up and down and up again.² And my father-in-law of saintly memory (whose anniversary of liberation from his near-fatal imprisonment in Soviet Russia we have recently observed on the 12th-13th of Tammuz) commented on this³ that as in the case of a turning wheel, when a point reaches the lowest position, that is the time when it is bound to rise again, so it is in the matter of fortune, that sometimes when things look the blackest, that is when they begin to brighten up again. The only thing is that sometimes G-d tests the strength of one’s faith in Him, and when this faith is not shaken whatever the trial and difficulty may be, the trial is soon over, and one sees that it was nothing more than a temporary test.³

To a person of your background, it is surely unnecessary to emphasize that Divine Providence is always benevolent, and His blessings are readily available On High. However it is necessary to make a channel to receive them in an obvious and tangible way down here below. The channel to draw and receive G-d's blessing is through the Torah and Mitzvoth, coupled with complete faith in G-d. And although these things have to be observed for their own sake, and not for the sake of the reward, G-d has made it known to us that the observance of the Torah and Mitzvoth in the daily life is the channel and vessel to receive and hold G-d's blessings materially and spiritually.

Efforts to advance in all matters of Torah and Mitzvoth are particularly timely at this time when we are commemorating the Destruction of the Beth Hamikdash and the beginning of the present Exile. For, as we say in our prayers, "Because of our sins we have been exiled from our land."³ Therefore it is necessary to reduce the cause, namely the neglect of the Torah and Mitzvoth, in order to reduce the effect, namely the Destruction and Exile, and every effort in this direction, to the extent of eliminating altogether the cause of the events commemorated in these days, will hasten the complete Redemption of our people through our righteous Moshiach.

With blessing

By (secretary)