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Greeting and Blessing:

I duly received your letters, and I am pleased to note that you are advancing in Yiddishkeit, despite the various unanswered questions that you mention. But, as you surely know, our Sages declare that, "The essential thing is the deed." And if in all things the ultimate is the practice rather than the theory, it is certainly so in relation to Torah and Mitzvot.

I would like to add a point which is particularly relevant in your field. In medical science, when certain drugs or methods of treatment have been tested and found effective in the vast majority of cases, they become part of the general medical practice, even if in exceptional cases they were ineffective. Research may go on to find out how and why, but that has no bearing at all on the actual application and treatment, the efficacy of which has been established. Certainly, the physician using the treatment does not have to explain to himself or to the patient how it works.

What is true of physical health is also true of spiritual health, not only when the soul requires healing; it also needs nourishment and invigoration.

I am confident that despite any questions you may have, even if they seem legitimate, you will advance from strength to strength in your Torah-way of the daily life. Indeed, as a doctor, you have many opportunities to help and guide your Jewish patients in this direction. And as you apply the above mentioned time-honored and tested "treatment" to yourselves and your patients, you will strengthen the capacity and gain the insights to understand it better and deeper, and all doubts and questions will dissolve as a matter of course.

Some specific questions you raise can best be discussed in a personal way, and in London there are many Lubavitchers with whom you could discuss them, and they will be glad to enlighten you to the best of their ability.

With blessing,