Please Resist the Temptation . . .

Taken this past summer in LaGuardia Airport on my return from the the Lithuanian Summer in Italy

I opened the L'Chaim this past shabbos to see the following letter:

13 Nissan, 5711 [1951]

Greetings and Blessings!

Your letter duly arrived, but numerous preoccupations did not allow me to reply until now. As a matter of fact you don't need my reply, because you received a reply from my revered father-in-law, the [Previous] Rebbe, when you were here.

Nevertheless, I would like to reiterate something that I have already said a few times:

One ought to know, once and for all, that faith is not something that is meant to remain only in one's thoughts; it must permeate the whole of one's life.

You are, without any doubt, a believer. So, the very first point of belief is that G-d directs the world. And if He is capable of directing one-and-a-half billion people, then your own affairs will certainly see the fulfillment of the verse, "I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you."

Now, think this over. G-d promises, "I will sustain and deliver you." So think: Can someone from this or that land disturb G-d from fulfilling His promise (G-d forbid)? Having thought that, now consider: Is G-d really in need of your worry as to how He is going to run your affairs and solve your problems? Or will He succeed in finding good solutions even without your worrying?

After all is said and done, you must remember that the Rebbe - that is, my revered father-in-law, of saintly memory - gave you his blessing, and the blessing of a tzaddik [righteous person] is certainly fulfilled. So the blessing you received will also be fulfilled.

However, until you see the fulfillment of the blessing, you have been given two options:

Either (a) you will walk around worried in case (G-d forbid) the blessing won't be fulfilled. And then, when the blessing is fulfilled, you will have a fresh worry: Why did you have to waste so much vital energy in vain?

Or (b) you will be staunch in your trust and faith in G-d - that He will lead you along the right path and will fulfill all the blessings that you have been given. And then, when you see them being fulfilled in actual fact, you will able to tell yourself: "Just look how well I handled this deal! I didn't worry about things that were no cause for concern."

This is one of the meanings of my father-in-law's blessings to you, and not only as a blessing but also as a directive. Be happy, because - with G-d's help - the problems that you imagine to be so serious will be solved. You have nothing to worry about. You can be happy, and you can fulfill the directive of the verse, "Serve G-d with joy."...

Apropos doesn't even begin to describe . . .

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