Curing Visual Ailments

The Rebbe Writes
Freely translated by Rabbi Sholom B. Wineberg

4 Shvat, 5714 (1954)

I was informed about the state of your health, and later I was also informed about the results of your eye operation - that, thank G-d, it was successful.

May G-d grant that your health continuously improve, so that you will be able to study Torah and serve G-d with increased strength, inasmuch as a hale and hearty body is part and parcel of Divine service.

You have surely heard of the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov that within any event occurring to an individual, and from everything one sees or hears, there is a hidden lesson and directive that applies to the person's Divine service.

Most assuredly this is so regarding a crucial event in a person's life, such as that which you have undergone with regard to your sight, as a person's vision is one of his most vital components.

This is also underscored in the revealed part of Torah, where it is stated (at least according to one opinion), that only a sighted person is obligated and merits to perform all the mitzvos (commandments); only a sighted person is truly considered alive, etc.

You are also no doubt aware of the expression of our Sages with regard to the power of sight, that it is referred to as the "'luminary' eyes of man."

Everything our Sages say is extremely exact, inasmuch as every single word of our holy Torah was given by G-d to Moses at Sinai, as Maimonides rules in Hilchos Teshuvah, ch. 3, par.8.

"Man is a microcosm of Torah." Just as "G-d looked into the Torah and accordingly created the macrocosmic world," so too with regard to man, who is called "a small world" (Tanchuma, beginning of Parshas Pekudei, and Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 69, p. 100b, et al.).

Because of the similarity between the macrocosmic world and the microcosm of man, it follows that the "'luminary' eyes of man" is the counterpart to the luminary aspect that is found in Torah, and as stated in the beginning of Eichah Rabbah, "The luminary within it, i.e., within Torah, will return him, i.e., the sinner, to the good."

"The luminary of Torah" refers to the esoteric portion of Torah, the "'hidden' aspect of Torah," that leads the person to awe and love of G-d, as our Sages state (in Shabbos end of 31a) and as is explained in Likkutei Torah of Rabbi Shneur Zalman.

In these later generations, this luminary aspect of Torah has been revealed in the teachings of Chassidus in such a manner that each and every individual can understand the "esoteric" and the "hidden" full well, as explained at length by my father-in-law, the Rebbe, of blessed memory, in Kuntres Limud HaChassidus.

The above is not intended as an academic teaching, but that you act on this matter: that henceforth you firmly resolve to establish a regular study session in Chassidus. This resolve will itself speed the healing process of your eyes, so that very soon you will be able to actualize this resolve.

* * *

1 Shvat, 5712 (1952)


It pleased me to receive your letter in which you inform me about the health of....

It would seem from your letter that his health has improved somewhat, and I hope that in your next letter you will be able to inform me that his vision is improving, so that with the passing of time he will be able to write to me himself. May G-d, the "Healer of all flesh, and Performer of wonders," hasten his recovery.

There is a famous saying of our Sages: "Who is wise? He who sees what will come from his actions."

Chassidus explains this to mean that wisdom lies in seeing the birth of Creation from non-being to being (from ayin to yesh) every moment of the day.

For as explained in Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah of Rabbi Shneur Zalman, Creation is not a one-time event that only transpired during the Six Days of Creation. Rather, the Divine Utterance is constantly creating all of creation from non-being to being in every moment.

The same is true with regard to each and every Jew - his physical health is dependent upon his spiritual health, just as the physical aspect of creation is constantly dependent on the spiritual aspect that is always creating it anew.

When an individual feels a weakness in one of his bodily parts he goes to a doctor, for it is incumbent upon us to also act in a natural manner, and "the Torah has granted permission (which also means it has
empowered) the healer to heal."

But along with the above, it is also necessary to examine the weakness of the spiritual counterpart of the physical organ - in this instance, the deficiency in one's spiritual power of sight that enables him to see how all of physicality is born every moment from non-being to being.

The above is not intended as an academic teaching: rather, it is intended that you rouse [-] to strengthen himself in the study of Chassidus, beginning with the study of Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah cited above.

Thank you very much for making the effort to transmit all the above to [-]. Just as you took upon yourself to be an emissary to write to me about his health situation, surely you will take upon yourself to be my emissary with regard to what I have written in this letter, assisting as well in helping [-] to bring all the above into actuality.

Reprinted from Healthy in Mind, Body and Spirit, published by
Sichos in English