26 Adar-Sheni, 5711Brooklyn 13, N.Y.
Pvt Harry Greenbaum
Co B 1st Bn 172 I Regt 43 Div
Camp Pickett, Va.
Dear Pvt Greenbaum:
I was gratified to receive your letter. Do not be upset about losing the quarters.1 I am sending you herewith another quarter originally contributed to one of our sacred causes, and I wish you hatzlocho.
I was very pleased to read that you try to influence some of your fellow Jewish soldiers in camp towards better religious practice.2 I am sure you will continue to do so with even greater effort.
Enclosed you will find our booklet on Tefillin3 and the Complete Story of Passover.4 You will no doubt share your interest in these booklets with your friends.
It would be worth your while to speak to the Chaplain with a view to getting you a furlough for Passover, so that you could spend it in a Jewish atmosphere. Let me know how you make it. — Best regards to your comrades.
With blessing
M. Schneerson
Notes and sources
For additional letters to Tsvi Menachem (Harry) Greenbaum see letters dated: 2 Adar I, 5711 14 Av, 5711; 21 Cheshvan, 5712; 15 Shevat, 5712.
For Mr. Greenbaum's interview describing his correspondence with the Rebbe see here.
1) Greenbaum later recalled: "The Rebbe gave me coins, and I misplaced them, so I wrote the Rebbe that I felt very bad that I had misplaced these coins..."
2) See above letter 2 Adar I, 5711.
3) Tefillin (Phylacteries): A Brief Treatise on the Significance of This Important Mitzvah by Alexander Cowen (Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, 1944).
4) The Complete Story of Passover by Nissan Mindel (Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, 1946).