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Blessing and Greeting:

I am in receipt of your letter. As requested, I will remember you in prayer for the fulfillment of your heart’s desires for good in the matters about which you write.

It is well to remember that since the teachings and obligations of the Torah, which a Jew is duty-bound to observe come from G-d, the Creator of man, it is certain that G-d provides the necessary ability to carry out His directives. It would, of course, be illogical to presume that G-d would request a Jew to do something beyond his capacity. It is true that some things are harder to carry out than others, but we have the assurance that nothing stands in the way of the will¹ and, given the proper effort, it is possible to overcome all difficulties.

I must take exception to what you call at the conclusion of your letter “ my lost Judaism.” The expression “ lost” does not really fit here, for no person can lose something that is his or her very essence and inwardness. What is possible is that this true essence of a person is sometimes in a state of ‘suspended animation,’ or covered with various layers of foreign substances, even such that are at variance with this essence. But this essence cannot be “ lost;” it can only be dormant, as it were, instead of being active and on the surface, as it should be.

Needless to say, the purpose of the above remark is not to discuss semantics, but to emphasize that your Judaism is actually intact deep inside of you, and it is entirely up to you to make it an integral and active ingredient of your daily life. You don’t have to look for it elsewhere; all you have to do is to brush off those external layers that, for one reason or another, have covered your inner essence.

May G-d grant that you will have good news to report.

With blessing,