By the Grace of G-d 8th of Tammuz, 5731 Brooklyn, N.Y.
Kfar Chabad
Greeting and Blessing:
I have been somewhat concerned about the news that I have received about your being neglectful in regard to your health, especially as it seems that a contributing factor may have been your failure to follow your doctor's instructions as you should. You will recall my mentioning to you the importance of following the doctor’s instructions, in addition to the essential fact that this is also a commandment of the Torah. To take care of one’s health is a mitzvah like all other mitzvos of the Torah and is particularly emphasized by the Rambam ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם (Hil. De’ot, ch. 4 see there) and היות הגוף בריא ושלם מדרכי ה' הוא (Hil. De’ot, ch. 4, see there).
I trust that the above lines which are relatively short in regard to the importance of the subject, will suffice to impress upon you the importance of taking care of your health, and that henceforth you will faithfully follow the directives of the Talmud, Shulchan Aruch and Rambam in this regard. May G-d grant that you should have good news to report.
Because of the importance of this matter, the letter is being sent to you by special delivery express.
With blessing,
Notes and sources
Published: The Letter and the Spirit, Vol 3 (Nissan Mindel Publications, 2016), 205.
Note: Letters printed in "The Letters and The Spirit" are from the Archives of Rabbi Nissan Mindel A"H, the Rebbe's personal 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.