Rebbe Letters: Recent Episodes
Rabbi Shais Taub
Rabbi Shais Taub has delivered Torah lectures and classes to audiences on six continents. He writes a popular weekly column in Ami Magazine and is the author of the bestselling book, G-d of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery from Addiction as well as several groundbreaking works on Tanya including: the Tanya Map teaching tool, the Soul Maps curriculum, and the audio series Mapping the Tanya. He currently serves as scholar-in-residence at Chabad of the Five Towns in Cedarhurst, NY. His lectures and classes may be found on SoulWords.org.
The Rebbe writes to the great Sefardic sage, the Baba Meir (son of the Baba Sali) Abuchatzeira about maintaining a connection to a tzaddik who has passed away. In a second letter, the Rebbe writes to philanthropist Julius Stulman about the need to rise to a higher spiritual level to receive the blessings of a […]
The Rebbe responds to a rabbi who has questions about the wording of a Lubavitcher's bar mitzvah invitation.
In this letter written to R' Shlomo Chaim Kesselman, the Rebbe urges his chasidim to reach out to Jews beyond their own community and speak to them about the importance of connecting to the Previous Rebbe.
The final letter of the 30 Letters in 30 Days series is learned at a special farbrengen at the Ohel.
This letter, written to R' Chaim Zalman ("Chazak") Kramer of the illustrious Kramer family of early Chabad supporters in America, underscores the importance of education as the future of the Jewish people.
The Rebbe writes to someone who has experienced the favorable resolution of a problem regarding which they have written to the Rebbe in the past.
The Rebbe writes to a father and husband who says that he was rejected from a job opportunity because of his beard.
The Rebbe writes to a teacher about the importance of focusing on the small, everyday details that ultimately make the biggest difference in a child's life.
The Rebbe writes to the Shomrei Shabbos Free Loan Society on the occasion of their yearly dinner and explains the unique spiritual greatness of the mitzvah of giving a loan. In memory of R' Yochanon Gordon and R' Shimon Goldman. Dedicated by their Families.
The Rebbe guides parents whose adult son has strayed from the path of Jewish observance.
The Rebbe writes to a father about his son who is extremely preoccupied with concerns of how he will make a living.
The Rebbe explains why writing often to report one's activities will bring out hidden potentials and abilities that would otherwise lie dormant.
The Rebbe explains why it's so important to make a personal habit of writing to the Rebbe with good news.
The Rebbe speaks to those who were affected by a shocking tragedy and explains to them why they should not leave the place where it happened. (This letter was written following a terrorist attack in the village of Kfar Chabad. Israel.)
The Rebbe explains what it requires for the blessings of a Rebbe to be effective. Just as rain only makes things grow after plowing and planting, so must the recipient of a blessing make adequate preparations for the blessing to take hold.
The Rebbe outlines the program for a women's gathering to honor 10 Shvat, the yahrzeit of the Previous Rebbe.
The Rebbe responds to someone who wants to know how to get started carrying out Chabad outreach activities.
The Rebbe writes to a father about the efficacy of removing his son from his present school for health reasons.
The Rebbe writes to his relative Mrs. Devorah Leah Horenstein that nostalgia and memories must bring to practical action.
In the second letter of a double class (see previous episode), the Rebbe disagrees with a mother who claims to have no "mazal" in life at all. The Rebbe's proofs are taken straight from the woman's own letter.
The Rebbe writes to a group of young women and protests the self-deprecating manner in which they describe themselves.
The Rebbe writes to a mashgiach in the Toras Emes yeshiva in Jerusalem about the importance of educating students beyond their academic studies.
The Rebbe asks someone who deals with Israeli soldiers if he can encourage them to correspond with him.
The Rebbe writes to a teachers' union warning them about the irrevocable harm that can be caused by a teachers' strike.
The Rebbe expresses pain about young people who are overly fixated on how they will make a living in the future.
The role of a Jewish school was once merely to ensure that a child become an educated Jew. Today, however, the school's purpose is far more basic than that, i.e. to see to it that the child remain within the fold of Judaism. Torah institutions must appeal to all kinds of Jews and it is […]
Each one of us has a special mitzvah in which we are meant to shine more than others. One must be extra vigilant about this particular mitzvah and realize that the evil inclination will try to distract us from it even by getting us to do good things that are not our special mitzvah.
The Rebbe gives advice to Rabbi Herschel Shusterman a"h of Chicago about dealing with both youth and adults.
The Rebbe writes to a husband who blames his lack of spiritual growth on his wife. The Rebbe does not accept this excuse and implores him to resolve his own lack of clarity and then he will see that his wife is his greatest support.
In response to a woman who feared she was infertile, the Rebbe tells her to hold strong in her trust in Hashem and then calls upon her to actualize her potential to influence her surroundings.
This letter was written by the Rebbe to a young bride encouraging her to be an "early adopter" of certain chasidic customs including covering her hair with a "sheitel."
The inaugural class of a series on studying the published letters of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Rabbi Taub provides a brief background about the letters printed in Igros Kodesh and then studies one letter. This letter was addressed to the men and boys of Kfar Chabad in Israel and discusses the need to balance chasidic fervor […]
Over the years, the Rebbe answered tens of thousands of letters, a portion of which are printed in the series known as Igros Kodesh. In these letters, we find a treasure trove of compassion, wisdom, faith, and practicality—but perhaps most importantly, a direct path to personal insight into the Rebbe's approach to a vast range […]