5731

Greeting and Blessing:

I am in receipt of your letter with the enclosure - a memo on a project for Jerusalem.

Inasmuch as you begin your letter with "B. H.," I am somewhat surprised that you should ask about my attitude towards a project of this kind. For, on the basis of what I see from your letter, I assume that you accept it as self-evident that the Torah is the foundation of all matters in Jewish life. You therefore surely know that the Torah contains clear indications as to the essential nature and purpose of Jerusalem, the Holy City: both as to what it was in the past and what it is destined to be in the future, and what is to be done in the interim, throughout the period of the Galut, that must serve as a preparation for the future Jerusalem. All these aspects of the question can easily be found, set out in clear and unmistakable terms, in the various prophecies spoken by our Prophets, as well as in the books of the poskim who deal with the issue of the kedusha of Eretz Yisrael and the kedusha of Jerusalem, most notably the Rambam.

With all due respect, I would like to make one further point, which I trust you will not take amiss. If one sees someone who is very close in serious danger, one will surely not put his mind to projects which may be relevant in years to come, and especially not when any such ideas would distract from the immediate necessity of saving that close person from the danger that is threatening. I do not think it is necessary to elaborate on this analogy, all the more so since you are surely familiar with the grave dangers and problems which beset our people, such as assimilation, intermarriage, alienation from the most basic tenets of Judaism in the daily life, especially among the younger generation, both in the Diaspora as well as in our Holy Land, and in Jerusalem itself. Under the circumstances, do you really think that this is the time to give attention and effort to the project that you describe, especially when stress is being laid on the fact that it will bear “no distinction as to race, religion and/or nationality?”

Furthermore, the problems mentioned above are not far to seek, for they are surely present in your own city of Milan, and in Italy in general, where there are many of our brethren crying for help and guidance, while those who are not crying are not doing so only because their situation is even more critical, with the result that they do not even realize the danger in which they are placed, and the need for a radical change in their way of life. Needless to say, the purpose of this letter is not to preach, rather it has a practical objective, namely, to express the confident hope that you will do everything you can to spread and strengthen authentic, traditional Yiddishkeit, without compromise, to the utmost of your influence and potential. Even if such activity is being carried on to a certain extent, surely there is plenty of room for expansion in all matters of goodness and holiness, which are infinite, since they derive from the Infinite.

Hoping to hear good news from you,

With blessing,