A few months ago, my son searched my old files and found a treasure: a copy of a letter written in 1980 by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, to a doctor in Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was a special discovery, because after consulting a team of scholars dedicated to publishing the Rebbe’s English letters, we realized this letter had never been previously published.
In it, the Rebbe wished him a sweet new year and responded to his inquiry to learn more about the precious stones of the breastplate worn by the High Priest in the Holy Temple. This topic is mentioned in the Bible several times, explained in the Talmud and many rabbinic sources, and the Rebbe elaborated on a beautiful and practical lesson to be learned from it.
When my family established a permanent Chabad presence in El Paso several years later, this Jew from Carlsbad participated periodically in our programming, and we visited him in his home. He shared a copy of this precious letter with my father, who gave me a copy when I was a teenager, but its significance and broader message only became clear to me now.
The Rebbe received piles of mail daily, and his response output is legendary. He corresponded with people of all walks of life on every topic imaginable. When a Jew living in a remote town expressed an interest in learning more about an exotic topic in Judaism, he felt comfortable reaching out to the Rebbe, who invested precious time in providing a personal response.
I appreciated this idea through my experience of a two-week tour through Southwest Texas in the summer of 2005 to connect with fellow Jews as part of Chabad’s “Roving Rabbis” summer program, established by the Rebbe in 1941…