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Greeting and Blessing:

I was pleased to receive your correspondence, and many thanks for letting me know the good news it contained.

Apropos of this, I am pleased to mention that I also received good reports from mutual friends in Eretz Yisrael. I hope and pray that more and more, indeed all, of our brethren in the Holy Land will follow the principle of maalin b’kodesh, keeping constantly in mind the fact that they are in the "King’s Palace,"¹ the Holy Land, of which it is written that, “G-d’s eyes are upon it always, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”²

This also provides an answer to the complaint that has been addressed to me over the fact that I demand so much from our brethren in the Holy Land, while there are so many things that need to be corrected in chutz la'aretz, too. It is true that a great deal more is expected of our brethren in Eretz Yisrael, precisely because they are in the “King’s Palace,” as mentioned. But, in addition to this, those who have settled in Eretz Yisrael voluntarily, not having been born there, nor having been compelled by circumstances to settle there, surely must have a greater sense of responsibility to help improve the state of Yiddishkeit there. In any case, the fact that we remind Jews in any particular place of their responsibilities does not imply tacit acceptance of conditions in other places. Our Sages declare that not only are Jews responsible for one another³, but they also form one organism⁴, where a benefit to one part is a benefit to the whole. Actually, as you know, the complaints are not justified, because we are doing everything possible to improve things in chutz la'aretz as well.

In the present days of Elul, we should only speak of matters that are a credit to our fellow Jews. It is gratifying to see that “a Jew’s heart is always awake,”⁵ so that one can always be confident that so long as the approach is sincere and honest, coming straight from the heart, it will penetrate the heart⁶, and a living example produces an even stronger influence and response.

As I have often said before, the responsibility is, of course, greater in regard to a person who occupies a prominent position in the community, for people look up to him for guidance both by precept and example. The only thing is that people usually conclude that, where they personally are concerned, it will be sufficient to follow the example even in a limited way. Hence, in order to ensure a satisfactory standard in others, it is necessary to set the example on a much higher level than might have been deemed satisfactory otherwise. There is surely no need to elaborate to you on this.

With esteem and blessing,