5741
Miss . . .
New York, N.Y.
Blessing and Greeting:
I received your letter, in which you write about your visit in the Holy Land.
I trust that you brought back with you appropriate souvenirs, as it is customary to do when visiting other lands. Needless to say, by “appropriate souvenirs,” I mean such as are appropriate to the Holy Land, in terms of holiness: not merely “souvenirs” which are occasional pleasant reminders, but experiences that have a lasting imprint and effect, and are reflected in the everyday life through the attainment of a higher level of holiness, as is fitting for a member of the people whom G-d designated as “a kingdom of G-d’s servants and a holy nation,”1
With blessing,
Notes and sources
1. Exodus. 19:6.
Published: The Letter and the Spirit, Vol 1 (Nissan Mindel Publications, 1998), 330.
Note: Letters printed in "The Letter and the Spirit" are from the Archives of Rabbi Nissan Mindel A"H, the Rebbe's personal secretary entrusted with writing up the Rebbe's orally dictated responses. The “Nissan Mindel Archives” are comprised of secretarial copies, including first drafts, and may have subsequently been published with editorial changes. Therefore the letters as they appear in the book may not be the final signed version.