By the Grace of G-d16th of Sivan, 5722Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

I received your letter of June 2nd with some delay. You describe your moods and feelings, but I trust you will not take it amiss if I reiterate what, I believe, I told you several times during our conversation, namely, that there is nothing really wrong with you.

The trouble with you is that you are too self-centered, to the exclusion of the rest of the world. It would be well for you to make yourself useful to the environment, and instead of thinking about yourself you would begin to think what you can do for others around you in the great universe wherein you live and of which you are a part. And, as I emphasized before, the important thing is action.

Needless to say, when I speak of the "environment" and "world at large," I refer primarily to the Jewish people, since you are a Jew and your first loyalty is to your people. I do not have to tell you what our people went through in recent years, and the tremendous gap which has been left, and which has to be made good by all of us whom Divine Providence has spared. No thinking Jew can delude himself today that it is "business as usual". At your age and with your capacities, it is imperative that you should dedicate at least a couple of years for the good of our people. But you must first recognize that you are a son of the eternal people, bound by the eternal Torah, and bring your life in harmony with it, disregarding ideas and ideologies which are as transient as the wind and as changeable.

I do not wish to extend this discussion lest it serve you as material for introspection and brooding, while in your case especially action is the important thing.

The suggestion that you complete your course and get your B.A. is a good one, in view of the fact that you have invested in it so much time and energy which should not go to waste, and which you could put to good use along the lines suggested above.

I hope to hear good news from you,

With blessing,

M. Schneerson