Ask The Rabbi

Ask The Rabbi

category:  Chassidut

opening a letter

The Rav Name: Rabbi Yitzchak Arad

Hi Rabbi, Thank you so much for your patience and for the suggestions and information you gave here. I’ve never heard of the ‘opening a letter’, but if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, and you advise this, then yes, I would be interested in doing that!

Do we know how opening a letter to the Rebbe/ Igrot Kodesh works, from a spiritual sense? It is a seemingly “random” thing to do… Is it that in the Rebbe’s merit, Hashem provides a more clear path for us? You wrote that it is a source of blessing to do this — is there concern of people “overusing” this, and perhaps depleting the merits available for receiving guidance in this way (on an individual or on a mass- level)?
Thank you for being available to answer questions.
All the best and Happy Tu’Beshvat!

Sources

BS”D


 


IGROT KODESH


 


Shalom Rachel, thank you for your feed-back! I do not know exactly how opening a letter works in the spiritual sense. It certainly could be as you say, that in the Rebbe’s merit HaShem provides a clearer path for us. It is not, however, a new idea.  The Gaon of Vilna, a great Jewish leader in the 18th century, was known to ‘randomly’ open a book of Tanach or other holy book in order to find answers to certain questions. I do not know how often he did this or under which circumstances. There are other examples of this in Jewish history, going back to the time the Jewish people were in the Sinai desert and received answers to certain questions by means of the Urim vTumim on the breastplate of the Cohen Gadol. The Urim vTumim was consulted in order to ascertain for example, if it was necessary to go out to war.


In any case, it is not meant as a replacement for obtaining Halachic guidance, or medical guidance. The Rebbe encouraged a system where, as written in Pirkei Avot, people have a Rabbi who they regularly turn to for Halachic guidance, and a mentor – a spiritual coach who can help one assess their spiritual progress. For medical issues, the Rebbe recommends consulting more than one doctor when serious issues are involved, especially, when the situation is complex, a doctor who you feel cares about you personally, if you can find one.  However regarding the case in question, since you have already been through these steps, there is a need to obtain spiritual help from a higher source. This is where opening the Rebbe’s letters comes in. In light of all the above, it is not really a random act, but part of a spiritual process of going through appropriate steps to resolve the matter at hand. The act of opening the volume ‘randomly’, is an act of expressing trust and belief in G-d and in the spiritual leader of the generation, as expressed in the Parasha we just finished reading this Shabbat, Parashat Beshallach, where it states: “And they believed in G-d and in his servant Moses.” This is the Jewish ‘way to go’.


Before writing a letter and opening a volume, as we mentioned earlier, we need to make a spiritual vessel by accepting upon ourselves some small improvement in learning Torah and keeping Mitzvot, that we feel is ‘doable’.


Also, it is good to contemplate on the Rebbe, perhaps by looking at a picture of him, or just closing your eyes and thinking of him.


In general you can go into a website for this purpose, and it is also good to purchase a volume or two of the Igrot Kodesh to have on hand.


It is also important to sign your Jewish name, with your mother’s Jewish name, for example, Rachel bat Sarah.


I would like to add that when the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe passed on, the Rebbe, who had not yet accepted the mantle of leadership, told people that the Previous Rebbe would find a way to answer their questions. and we find a similar phenomenon here, that there are thousands of stories of miracles happening through the Rebbe’s letters.


 


I realized that it’s better if you go straight to a website for Igrot Kodesh, because they are set up to show you the letters you opened out to, so that you can read it yourself. So, I’m sorry it took a few days to answer you, and hope that you are able to access a letter yourself.


Please feel free to let us know if you succeeded or not.


Wishing you speedy recovery, and all the very best!