By the Grace of G-d 2nd of Nissan, 5729Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

I am in receipt of your letter of the 28th of Adar.

First of all, I thank you very much for your good wishes, the acknowledgment of which is already stated in the Torah, namely that the one who blesses is blessed by G-d¹ with an additional measure of blessings exceeding by far the original blessing.²

With the above friendly salutation, it makes it easier for me to continue and to express my disappointment at your maintaining an account and ledger as to my replies and correspondence, for I had hoped that you would better understand my position. For, while I am eager to know what is happening to all our friends, and you are one of them, I cannot always find the time to reply promptly to letters received. Even where a letter contains a request for a Brocho, surely the important thing is not the formal reply that the Brocho has been given, but rather the fact that the Brocho has indeed been received,³ regardless in whose Zechus it is, whether it is in the Zechus of the recipient or someone else. I trust that also in the intervals between one letter of mine and another, you have seen G-d’s kindnesses in various areas, especially in the matter of Nachas from the children, together with your wife.

As a matter of fact, many of your letters have been answered, but only some of them have actually been mailed. The reason is simply that I could not even find time to read the dictated letters and sign them. Moreover, I feel confident that sometimes where advice is requested in the case of a decision to be made, the right decision would be made corresponding to my opinion, in which case it does not matter if I do not write specifically and say, "Take my advice."

What made a particularly unfavorable impression, and I take particular exception to it, is your thinking that I have kept you at a distance, etc., etc. There is, of course, no basis for it at all. On the contrary, it is only with people who I feel are very close to me that I can take such liberties as to postpone a reply, while with people who are not so close to me I have to be more formal and reply on a priority basis. For I (feel certain) [hope] that my close friends will understand and not be offended.⁴

I am sending this letter special delivery in order to straighten matters out, and I hope that in due course, I will be able also to get around to mailing some of the previous letters which are on my desk and await my perusal and signature.

I was gratified to read in your letter that your bosses appreciate your good and aggressive work. As for your mentioning the fact that you also sense an undesirable attitude on the part of some, and suspect that it "smacks" of anti-Semitism, it is hard to say whether this is so in your case, considering that, as you write, there is a V.P. who is a Jew, and also an observant Jew at that. An improved attitude towards you therefore is not necessarily precluded.

It is difficult to go into the matter of Mr. D. J. I hope and pray that inasmuch as we are soon to celebrate Yom Tov Pesach, the Festival of our Liberation, it will bring him liberation from all distracting things, so that he should see matters in their true light, and what is truly good for him as well as for all the others involved, in accordance with the points mentioned in my letter to him, which as I see from your writing, he has shown to you.

You mention that there is some problem with Mr. Meyer, but you do not specify what it is. At any rate, I trust you can be helpful to him.

At this time before Pesach, Zman Cherusenu, I send you and yours also my prayerful wishes for true Cherus, and for a Kosher and happy Pesach.

With blessing,

M. Schneerson