By the Grace of G-d21st of Tammuz, 5746Brooklyn, N.Y.

Blessing and Greeting:

This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter [from the 11th of July].¹ As requested, I will remember you in prayer for the fulfillment of your heart’s desires for good.

With regard to your writing about your difficulty in accepting the authority of the Rabbis in your everyday life and conduct, this is rather surprising. For, judging by your writing, you should surely realize that the authority of a Rabbi is not anything in the nature of a personal prerogative, but rather it is delivered from the obligation to convey what HaShem has commanded in His Torah, called Toras Chayim, because it is the G-d-given code of Jewish behavior in the everyday life. Any lay person has the opportunity of going direct to the sources, provided he or she has the background and ability to study and understand the entire Rabbinic literature and thus be convinced that that is what “authority of the Rabbis” really means. In other words, the authority of the Rabbis is really the authority of HaShem, which has been conferred upon the Rabbis by virtue of the fact that they have dedicated their entire life to the study of the Torah and live strictly in accordance with its teachings.

From above follows the answer also to your next point in your letter about finding it difficult to carry out certain restrictions. There is nothing in the Torah that requires a Jew to completely isolate and insulate oneself from the surrounding world; but certainly there are things which a Jew is permitted and is not permitted to do. At the same time, one has to bear in mind that since HaShem has given these mitzvos, plain common sense dictates that, inasmuch as HaShem knows the capacities of His creatures, He would not impose anything on a Jew which is humanly impossible to carry out. In other words, every Jew, without exception, has the capacity to live up to the Will of HaShem as set forth in the Torah. Indeed, if a person does find certain mitzvos unusually difficult to carry out, this only means that that person has been endowed with unusual capacities to overcome even unusual difficulties. Therefore, in the final analysis, it is largely a matter of one's own will and determination.

In your case, you have the advantage of living in the land which is recognized as holy by all the nations of the world and of which the Torah declares that, “HaShem’s Eyes are upon it constantly, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”² Thus, the very atmosphere of the Holy Land provides a special zechus to follow in the way of the holy Torah, which includes of course the Great Principle of the Torah, V’ohavto T’Re’acho Komocho,³ to use your good by example and by words coming from the heart, which enter the heart and are eventually effective.⁴

With regard to the blessing of children, I trust that you know that although HaShem’s mitzvos have to be observed for their own sake, they are also channels and vessels through which HaShem sends His blessings in all needs, both materially and spiritually. Every mitzvo is thus connected with a particular Divine blessing and the blessing for children is connected with the strict adherence to the rules and regulations of Taharas hamishpocho. Since in the course of time, some detail may have been overlooked, it is advisable to review these laws and regulations from time to time, to make sure that no detail is forgotten henceforth.

May HaShem grant that you should have good news to report in all above.

With blessing,