By the Grace of G-dBrooklyn, N.Y.

Blessing and Greeting:

This is to confirm receipt of your letter.

I am pleased to note from it that you are a seeker, wishing to find the truth and personal fulfillment. This in itself is already half the battle won, for a person with such determination may be confident that he, or she, will eventually attain that status which is fitting for a human being in general, and particularly that status to which every Jew should aspire, inasmuch as a great deal more is demanded of a Jew. Moreover, you have working for you an untapped reserve of energy and enthusiasm, with which youth in general, and Jewish youth in particular, is blessed.

Considering that the result of the search is of vital importance not only for the seeker, but also for the family that he or she will eventually establish the responsibility is all the greater. But at the same time there is also a greater measure of Divine aid, if the search is sincere and real, as I trust it is in your case.

After the above prefatory remarks, I will attempt to answer some of the main points of your letter. Although you may, at first glance, think that some of my observations are extraneous, I trust that you will study them carefully, for you will find in them an answer.

We live in a society that is particularly polarized in the times that we are now passing through. And what is true of the world at large, is also true of the little world, the human being, who is influenced and driven by a bewildering array of forces, the intellectual, the emotional, the impulsive, the instinctive, etc. As a result, the individual is often driven in different directions at the same time, and sometimes often in opposite directions, and it is neither easy to find the right direction to follow, nor which things should be given priority over others.

As in other areas, so in this there are individuals who have already run the whole gamut of conflicts, and there are individuals who have observed others ‘going through the mill,’ and have learned from their experience. Thus, when a person finds him or herself at the crossroads, of the kind which you describe in your letter, the first thing to remember is: one is not the first to find oneself in that position, and there really is no need to go through life the hard way - repeating the mistakes and experiments of others.

A simple illustration: when it comes to treating any ailment, there is no need for the physician to start ‘from scratch,’ trying all the various methods or medicines, for he has the benefit of all the past trial and error, and of the final and proven results of medical research, in order to know exactly how to treat the patient. The same is true in the spiritual realm.

Speaking of accumulated experience, there are various degrees in the nature of the experience, the number of individuals who went through such experience, and so forth. Where such experience was shared by many individuals who although of various backgrounds nevertheless all reached the same conclusions - the greater is the certainty that these conclusions are correct, all the more so since the results have been able to be substantiated over many years.

In light of the above, I consider it my duty, as well as privilege, to convey to you with the fullest degree of certainty that, insofar as any Jew is concerned, regardless of age, the right and true path in life has been tried and tested for hundreds, nay, thousands of years. It is the way of the Torah, called Torat Chaim, the Torah of life, (being both the source of, and guide to, true life), and the mitzvot that Jews live by, in their daily life and in every aspect of it. Anyone who is faced with inner doubts or conflicts has but to turn to this way of life, and he will find his doubts and conflicts resolved.

The underlying principle here is that the essential thing is the deed¹, the actual practice and actual experience of Torah and mitzvot in the everyday life. And although one is naturally inclined to probe into and learn the deeper significance of the Torah and mitzvot - and to a certain extent this too is possible, although the Torah and mitzvot derive from the infinite wisdom of the Creator, and no finite being, even the wisest of them, could possibly encompass G-d’s wisdom - nevertheless, the practice and the deed must come first, and eventually the understanding will come too, in greater or smaller measure, according to the individual’s capacities.

For a person who finds himself engaged in the quest for inner peace and harmony, and a meaningful life, there are therefore only two ways. One is the hard way, that is to say, to undertake to find out the truth on his own, going first in one direction, then in another. Here, there is the risk that one’s allotted span may not be sufficient to enable one finally to discover the right way, with the possibility that one might thus spend one’s entire life in confusion and pain, each time coming to a dead end, or to even worse than that. The other way is: to accept immediately the experience of others, who have been all through that already, and ended by finding the true path in our Torah, Torat Emet.

You speak of searches through successive “ layers” of one’s being until one comes upon a “ bottom layer.” I think you will find a direct connection in my lines above with what you call “ layers,” except that I must make a small correction and substitute what you call “ bottom layer” with the word essence - the reality of one’s being. The essence of a Jew is a life of Torah and mitzvot, although it might be buried under various layers. The subject of the essence of the Jew is treated in various sources at great length, and cannot be elaborated upon here.

I wish to add one more point, namely, that every person has a duty - towards his everyday world and, in a wider sense, to the world at large - to contribute his share of enlightenment in terms of kedusha, goodness, justice, morality. Needless to say, one cannot discharge such an obligation while in a state of ceaseless motion hither and thither, justifying it on the grounds that one is searching for the truth. This kind of life will not do oneself, or the world at large, any good. And yet, the confused state and the moral and ethical disintegration of contemporary society make it the more imperative for everyone to contribute toward its betterment. It is a challenge that must not be ignored.

Insofar as Jewish young men or women are concerned, there is the added obligation to help make up the enormous loss that our people suffered in the European Holocaust. This multiplies the responsibility of every living Jew many times over.

The essential thing is to live one’s daily life permeated with Torah and mitzvot in its every aspect. I am confident that before long you will also find it intellectually and emotionally gratifying that you have reached the inner core, your essence, which is the essence of every Jew, and this will give you the inner peace and sense of fulfillment which you seek and hope for.

With blessing,