By the Grace of G-d19 Tammuz, 5739Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

I am in receipt of your letter, in which you write that you are seeking information to trace your family tree, etc.

Our archives do not contain the information you seek. Perhaps some Jewish historical societies, or similar organizations, may have this information.

Since everything is by Divine Providence and you have written to me a matter in which I cannot help you, I want to avail myself of this opportunity to be helpful in another, relevant way.

I refer to the conclusion of your letter, where you state: “My purpose in all this is to leave my children the most forceful impression possible that they are links between links.”

In this connection I wish to emphasize that our Torah - called Toras Chayim and Toras Emes, because it is the Jew’s true guide in life and the revealer of Truth - gives us clear instruction on Jewish continuity, which has its roots in the Covenant between G-d and our Father Avraham, the first Jew. This covenant has been reaffirmed at Sinai, and repeatedly since, as an everlasting Covenant between G-d and our Jewish people to all posterity; a covenant sealed in the flesh that consecrates, in a tangible and concrete way, the Jew’s total commitment to Torah and mitzvot in his everyday life and conduct. It is this way of life that has been the continuous and uninterrupted lifeline of our people through the ages. Other factors, which are usually important for national identity and preservation, cannot be said to have played a crucial role in the preservation of our Jewish people, since these were not constant, and changed from time to time and from place to place (notably such factors as territory, statehood, language, dress, etc.). The only constant factor that runs like a golden thread throughout our Jewish history is Jewish adherence to our G-d given Torah and mitzvot: the same Seventh Day, Shabbos, the same laws of kashrus, tefillin, mezuza, and so on, have been adhered to by all Jews everywhere and at all times, since the time of Moshe Rabbeinu. Clearly, this has always been the true eternal link that has linked and unified all Jews and preserved them in good times and in emergencies.

If further proof be needed, our history has shown that those groups and individuals that deviated from this vital linkage (and we have them since the worshipers of the Golden Calf), sooner or later ended up in one of two ways: either they returned to the fold, or were completely lost to our people through assimilation, etc.

The above is so self-evident to anyone who reflects on it without preconception or prejudice, that there is no need to elaborate on it further.

It also follows that any time a Jew resolves to readjust his everyday lifestyle to be in keeping with the way of the Torah and mitzvot as ordained by G-d, the adjustment is much easier than imagined, since it does not entail a complete transformation of one’s essence and being, but rather a return to one’s source and roots and true essence. Which is also what teshuvah means, literally, “return,” not as it is generally mistranslated - “repentance,” which connotes a break with the past, and complete transformation. This is also why teshuvah comes naturally and easily, given the will and determination, for it is a return to one’s natural element.

With blessing,