The name of the recipient of this letter was not released.

B”H, 17 Elul, 5710

Greetings and blessings,

In response to your letter of 28 Menachem Av in which you describe your situation and quote what my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, הכ"מ, wrote you: To arrange study sessions in your home and to endeavor to increase the number of friends who take part in these studies. You also write that you are involved in gathering children together for Shabbos parties and, at times [hold similar gatherings] during the week as well. Even now you have a set schedule of study sessions. Nevertheless, [you write that] you do not feel any satisfaction from this and feel that you are lacking something and you ask my opinion about the above.

In my opinion, what you are lacking is kabbalas ol, acceptance of G‑d’s yoke, which is the foundation and source of all Divine service. 1 Attaining kabbalas ol does not require special or deep meditation, merely to picture for yourself that the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world and blew into your nostrils a living soul, the soul that gives life to your body. And [G‑d] is standing above you, observing you, watching, and examining your innards and heart and all your deeds and words. “All of your steps are counted” (Tanya, ch. 42).

In order to make this service easier for you, G‑d gave you the advantage of being a chassid;i.e., that your soul is an element of the collective soul of a tzaddik. If there is anything lacking in the individual soul, through the appropriate bonding, all that is lacking is drawn down from the general soul.

When he accepted the Nesius, the Rebbe made an explicit condition that [his leadership] would be [characterized by] kindness and mercy. 2 From then, from 5680 [1920] until the present, he is involved in ongoing service, drawing down to all his disciples, chassidim, and those bound to him, strength and vitality in their Divine service which includes both service between man and G‑d and between man and his fellowman.

In addition, the Rebbe personally chose you and charged you with a specific mission. As is known, even according to Nigleh, the revealed realm of Torah law, “an agent is considered as the principal.” 3 As such, it is understood that [by charging you with] this mission, the Rebbe imparted his powers to you. As explained in the maamar of Chai Elul of this year, 4 the term mitzvah, “commandment,” has the intent of the term tzavsa meaning “bond” or “connection.” 5 As explained there at length in the analogy, when a person fulfills the commandment of a sage or a king, even if he does not know the inner rationale for it or comprehend the greatness of this matter, he should be immeasurably happy in [fulfilling the command], because by doing so, he becomes one and bonds himself with the essence of the wise man or the king.

Despite your possession of all the above positive virtues,you complain that [your activities] do not provide you with satisfaction and that you do not feel vitality; on the contrary, you only feel that you are lacking something.

If you will listen to me, abandon [this tendency for] excessive complaints stemming from self-concern, [preoccupation with] what you lack, and what you have. Contemplate the good portion that has been granted you as one of the students of our Nasi, my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, הכ"מ, and one of those who is bound to him. Rejoice with great joy in this lot and draw down this happiness in actual activities that fulfill the will of the principal. The power to accomplish this has been granted to you. All that is lacking is the will. When you surrender your will to the will of our Nasi who communicates to you G‑d’s will, this will be a medium to draw down vitality in all your activities which fulfill the will of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, הכ"מ.

With blessings for a kesivah vachasimah tovah and awaiting good news from you; that you have added strength to your Divine service both with yourself and with others, and that you fulfill the charge: 6 “Serve G‑d with joy.”

Menachem Schneerson

Enclosed is the kuntreis for Chai Elul.