By the Grace of G-d15th of Kislev, 5739Brooklyn, N.Y.

Blessing and Greeting:

I am in receipt of your letter [of 7 Kislev]¹ in which you write about your academic background, some highlights of your life and ask how to utilize your capabilities with a view to finding your due place in life.

In reply, by way of introduction:

You are privileged to live in the land which is universally recognized as the Holy Land and are a member of a people whom the Torah (also universally acknowledged as the Holy Book) designates as a Holy Nation.

This means that a Jew can function well only if he lives the kind of life which accords with his true essence, namely, in an atmosphere of holiness as prescribed by the Torah. Only then can a Jew be truly content, have peace of mind and cope with and find the proper solutions for whatever problems may arise in life. Our Sages cite the analogy of a fish in water, saying that just as a fish can function well only in its own element, water, so it is with a Jew and Jewishness.² Pursuing this analogy further, a fish surely does not understand the vital linkage between its well being and the water and why, when taken out of its element, it feels frustrated, etc. So it is not important for a Jew to understand rationally how and why his well being is bound up with his every day life and conduct in accordance with the Torah and mitzvos, whether he likes it or not and there is nothing he can do about changing the inevitable results of weakening this vital link, whatever the cause of that weakness is.

Since you write that you are a student of philosophy with a scientific background, there is no need to elaborate on the above. I would only add one further point, based on the general scientific approach in regard to verification. All the so-called exact sciences are based on experiments. To verify the results of experiments, it is necessary to test them under various conditions and the more numerous and variegated the experiments, the more they substantiate the phenomenon under study.

Applying this scientific principle to the Jewish people as a people, we know that it has survived and flourished over thousands of years under circumstances and conditions from one extreme to another, as every page of Jewish history attests — whereas other nations under similar situations disappeared from the face of the earth. If we wish to ascertain what factor is responsible for the eternity of the Jewish people, as in the expression עם ישראל חי, we will find that neither territory, nor language, nor dress, nor anything else can be considered as a determining factor, since all these changed in the course of Jewish history from place to place and from time to time. The only constant and unchanged factor throughout Jewish history is its religious way of life, the daily life in accordance with the laws of the Torah, such as the observance of Shabbos, kashrus and all the other mitzvos, which have not changed since the Torah was given on Sinai and to which Jews adhered with selfless devotion at all times and in all places throughout the ages.

To be sure, there have been individuals and groups which deviated from the mainstream of Jewish life and attempted to find new ways. But history has shown that these deviationists sooner or later ended in one of two ways: Either they returned to the traditional way of the Torah and mitzvos, or they were eventually lost to our people through assimilation into their newly chosen environments.

In light of the above, you should find first of all, order in your life in accordance with the Torah, Toras Chayim, as set forth in the Code of Jewish daily conduct, namely, the Shulchan Aruch. In addition to this being a “must” for its own sake, in compliance with the Will of G-d, it will strengthen your inner peace of mind and provide the necessary objectivity to enable you to clearly see your way in life, including the resolution of the problems you mention in your letter.

There may be those who, observing your changed lifestyle, may ask מה יום מיומים? and considering our day and age, may even ask this derisively and most unscientifically. But it has already been foreseen in the Shulchan Aruch, where in the very first paragraph of the first section of the first volume — in other words, by way of introduction to all the four volumes of the Shulchan Aruch, it is stated: לא יבוש מפני המלעיגים.

May G-d grant that you should have good news to report, especially as we are about to celebrate Chanukah, with the kindling of the Chanukah Lights in increasing numbers, symbolizing the pure light of Torah and mitzvos in an otherwise dark world — with all that Chanukah stands for, “In those days, at this time,” as you surely know.

With blessing,