“My Dear Rabbi Schneerson”

Welcome to our weekly program. This program is part two — it's a continuation of last week. We had no time to finish last week about the letter that I told you somebody wrote to the Rebbe and the Rebbe answered. And this week I would like to read to you this letter that somebody wrote to the Rebbe, and this all came from what I mentioned last week.

In 1982, a few years after these people went to Honolulu, Hawaii — as I mentioned last week — now they got married and they were looking to move, to go to Honolulu with their wife, to live there. They wanted to go to Honolulu because they had already been there, but they had other offers also. So they went to Rabbi Hodakov, and they said to him that they would like to go to Honolulu — they were there already — but they have other offers. They had offers to go to Arizona, to Los Angeles, and so on.

So Rabbi Hodakov first of all said to them: before you go, make sure that they build a mikvah in Hawaii. Make a mikvah, because you're a young couple and she needs a mikvah — you need a mikvah. So how are you going to go there? It's far, no mikvah around, so have a mikvah there first.

By the way, talking about a mikvah — I just saw a letter from the Rebbe that all Young Israel shuls, and there are many in America, a Young Israel should have a mikvah. So a Young Israel should build a mikvah, because it's called "Young Israel" — so young people need a mikvah too. That's a nice point.

So Rabbi Hodakov said — have a mikvah first. Then Rabbi Hodakov said to them a very interesting vort, meaning that a person has a lot of thoughts: he's going to do this, he's going to go here, he's going to go there, he's going to go to this city, he'll go to that city, he'll go to Arizona, he'll go to Ohio, he'll go to Los Angeles — he has a lot of thoughts. But whatever G-d wants, that is what's going to happen.

So Rabbi Hodakov said the vort here: a person has a lot of thoughts — he's going to move to, let's say, Pennsylvania, he's going to move to Honolulu, he's going to move to France, he's going to move to Ohio — whatever. He has a lot of thoughts, not something else, but those four or five places that you have in mind — the Aibeshter is going to choose. Not that the Aibeshter will choose something else, but He's going to choose one of those four or five things that a person already has in mind. That's how he explained it. So he told him to make a mikvah first, and that's all.

Years later, in 1987, they went to [Miami?], and he told Rabbi Motti Krinsky — then Rabbi Krinsky got involved. They said, "We want to go to Honolulu." So Rabbi Krinsky sat down and wrote a letter to the Rebbe that this person wants to go to Honolulu, and he's asking for a bracha. The Rebbe answered — a beautiful bracha — that he should go, and the whole thing. So Rabbi Krinsky gave him the answer. They had no money, so Rabbi Krinsky went to Brazil and got — I don't know how much — money from people in Brazil to help these people. This happened in '87, to help the people go to Honolulu. And these people came, so whatever is there now is because of that. Now they have a mikvah and they have a school.

There was a person — I want to read the letter — a doctor from Hawaii who wrote to the Rebbe the summer before this happened, and what the Rebbe answered. I found this in the archives of Rabbi Mindel. I want to read you the letter he wrote, to show you what Honolulu, Hawaii, was like. He writes like this:

Dr. Irving Marvit [?]:

"This is to my dear Rabbi Schneerson. We are very appreciative and thankful that you sent two fine young men to Hawaii — one was Rabbi Noach Gross [?] and the other one was Rabbi Motti Krinsky [?]." [And Rabbi Krasnjansky [?] is there now in Hawaii.]

"Let me give you a brief description of our area. We are the most distant western state in the United States, but we have a fine Jewish community. Unfortunately, because of the distance and lack of contact, they have drifted away from traditional Judaism. Nevertheless, the enthusiasm and sincerity of your two young messengers evoked a spiritual uplift in the various groups whom they addressed. Our most serious problem is that our youth have drifted away into alien cultures. We have no central structure for them to congregate in and to grow up learning to live according to the mitzvot.

At present, a Jewish youth in Hawaii has this choice: number one, he can attend reform services in a beautiful temple structure where the organ is played on Friday night; or number two, he can attend a dignified conservative service on Shabbos, but it will be concluded in a rented room in the Unitarian Church; or," he writes, "he can attend services conducted by a sincere Orthodox rabbi in a Jewish military chapel on a distant naval base.

As you can see, Rabbi, this community needs help badly. I leave it to your wisdom as to the best way to proceed. No doubt the two intelligent and devoted messengers you sent will be able to take suggestions and give you a more detailed summary of our conditions.

I close by wishing you and all your dear ones a healthy and happy Passover.

Sincerely, Dr. Marvit."

Now, he was not frum [observant] — but look what the Rebbe answered him. He later became [unclear]. This is the answer:

"In reply to your question of what you can actually do to help them, I would like to suggest to you that the proper and effective thing you can do at this time, and under the present circumstances, is to resolve to fortify your own religious life and conduct in accordance with our Torah and mitzvot, by additional efforts in each of the three components of our Torah, namely [unclear]. And in doing so, and in dedicating your extra efforts in these areas, you will give the Jews the best possible help, by reason of the fact that all Jews everywhere compose one organism, and just as any benefit to any part of the body brings a benefit to all parts and organs of the same body, so the strengthening of Yiddishkeit in any part of the world brings a benefit to Jews in all parts of the world, especially where such strength is particularly needed. This will hasten G‑d's blessing to them and bring the Yeshua."

This is the answer he received, and through that — I guess the Rebbe knew — so it became this city. Another thing I wanted to share with you: Rabbi Motti Krinsky had a lot to do with this. This is the work that he did in this world. So, as I mentioned last week, he is, of blessed memory, now sitting in Gan Eden with the Rebbe, and he's listening — because through him so many Yidden became [connected]. I'm sure he has a lot of reward, and we should learn from a person like that. We should... thank you.