By the Grace of G-dErev Lag B’Omer, 5734Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

I am in receipt of your letter, though with some delay, in which you refer to our conversation when you were here.

To begin with, may G-d grant that Mrs... should complete her pregnancy and have an easy and normal delivery of a healthy offspring.

With regard to the question as to the difficulty of spreading Yiddishkeit, when there are many things which are as yet not very clear, I believe it was mentioned when you were here that the first step should be in spreading your influence in such areas where you have already accepted the Torah way in the daily life and this in itself already provides many opportunities for accomplishment.

In general there is a simple answer to all doubts and questions about the Torah way of life, by means of the well known illustration that when a person is hungry or thirsty and he is offered food and drink with the assurance that this will put an end to his pangs of hunger and thirst, it would surely be illogical for the person to say that he first wants to study and find out how the food will still his hunger and to verify all the proofs given to him about the effectiveness of the food, etc. Such an approach would obviously be self defeating, inasmuch as he would weaken his mental and physical capacity for understanding and research, etc. On the other hand, if he would rely on the experts who had already done all this research or at least would give them the benefit of the doubt and would eat and drink, he would immediately find his body and mind strengthened and then, if he wished, he could proceed with his scientific research. It is well known that our Great Teacher Maimonides, who was a healer of the body as well as of the soul, stated that spiritual disease is similar to physical disease. The analogy is thus very apt, and all the more so as the Torah tells us that the soul needs food and the food of the soul is the Torah and mitzvot. And when the soul is starved, the first thing to do is to give it nourishment through the actual observance of the Torah and mitzvot in the daily life. This was also the approach and principle of our receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai on the basis of Naaseh - we will do - before v’Nishma.

I would also like to add that in all above, the Jewish woman has been given special powers to carry out good resolutions in actual practice. In the final analysis, it is basically a matter of one’s will and determination.

With regard to the question of location of your home, I believe this was also mentioned when you were here, namely that it would be good for you to find one in L.A., but in a neighborhood where there are young couples who are observant of the Jewish way of life in the daily life. I trust that your Lubavitch friends on the spot will be glad to help you also in this matter in whatever way possible.

With blessing,