5733
Mr. . . .
Greeting and Blessing:
This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter.
I must say that I was quite surprised that you should ask me to express a judgment on a political issue.
You must surely know that the Lubavitch movement, which I am privileged to head and lead, is not a political body and, as a matter of basic policy, steers clear of any political involvement. Its program is centered solely on chinuch, tzedakah and the dissemination of Yiddishkeit, and similar non-political services, to the Jewish community and Jewish people at large.
If any individual, or individuals, affiliated with Lubavitch activities, choose to participate in their private capacity in any political activity, that is their personal affair and it does not in any way implicate the Lubavitch movement.
This unequivocal policy of Lubavitch is so well known that there is no need to amplify upon it. Indeed, I note from your letter that you too realize it.
With blessing,
Notes and sources
Published: The Letter and the Spirit, Vol 1 (Nissan Mindel Publications, 1998), 543.
Note: Letters printed in "The Letter 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.