By the Grace of G-d 25th of Tammuz, 5742 Brooklyn, N. Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

I am in receipt of your letter of the 17th of Tammuz.

Needless to say, the message to which you refer as having been delivered in my name, is not accurate. My views on the subject, expressed on various occasions and excerpted also in writing, are clear. Briefly:

When Jews find themselves in a situation which compels them to take up arms in self defense — in accordance with the basic teaching of our Torah that HaShem does not desire anyone to rely on miracles, but has to do what is necessary in the natural order of things while trusting to G-d for Hatzlocho — Hatzlocho is assured. In this case, the true Hatzlocho is that the enemy, seeing Jewish determination and military readiness, gives up any idea of attack, in fulfillment of the Divine Promise — בשבעה דרכים ינוסו לפניך — “In seven ways they shall flee before you” (Deut. 28:7) — without any loss of life on either side. This is also expressed in the familiar passage — תפול עליהם אימתה ופחד גו׳ ידמו כאבן — “Terror and dread shall fall upon them; by the great strength of Your Arm they shall be as still as a stone” (Exod. 15:16), meaning that the enemy will be cowed into complete inactivity and impotence to carry out any of his warlike intentions (ibid. v. 9).

It is possible that the person you quote in your letter heard me speak of the destruction of PLO capability to threaten and carry out acts of terrorism and violence as they have been doing until now. But I was not talking of physical destruction of human beings.

Having set aside the above misunderstanding, I wish to take advantage of this opportunity to express my confidence that, seeing you are concerned about human life in general, I take it for granted, a priori, that you are certainly concerned about the well-being of fellow Jews, both materially and spiritually, which, for Jews, go hand in hand together. For, as you surely know, the Mitzvo of V’Ohavto L’Reacho Komocho is the Great Principle of our Torah. This includes, of course, being involved in efforts to spread and strengthen Yiddishkeit in your environment, so that ever more Jews follow and act Komocho.

Noting that your letter was written on the 17th of Tammuz, and the reply during the Three Weeks, which begin with the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz — may it and related fast days soon be transformed into feast days through the concerted efforts of all Jews to diminish and eventually abolish the cause of the Churban, as stated more fully in the enclosed excerpt of a timely message.  

With blessing,