The Rebbe reads every letter — himself
Since he took upon himself the burden of leadership, hundreds of thousands of letters were written to the Rebbe. The Rebbe testified about this himself:
Not a secretary, not an assistant — the Rebbe himself. Every letter that arrived was read by him. Every reply that went out was written by him. "As has been the custom from generations past" — so did the Rebbes before him, and so the Rebbe continued.
The Rebbe even asked and demanded that people write to him — something very evident from the common phrase in his letters: "After a long pause — your letter was received." He repeated this request in many gatherings and private audiences.
The letter doesn't burden — it brings joy
During the visit of emissaries to the Holy Land in 5716, the emissaries told a certain personality that reading letters does not burden the Rebbe. When that person wrote to the Rebbe about it, the Rebbe confirmed it and added:
The letter is not a burden — it is joy. The Rebbe didn't merely "endure" the letters; he rejoiced in them. Every piece of news, every update, every question — all were welcome.
"Pleased to know" — the bond that strengthens
On 28 Menachem-Av 5710, the Rebbe wrote a letter that reflects deeply how alive the Rebbe was to the connection through letters — also from his own side:
Even when the news is not good — the very act of maintaining the letter connection strengthens and diminishes the feeling of loneliness. Writing creates a living bond; not a one-time petition, but an ongoing relationship.
Moreover: the Rebbe added there — "And it is known as explained in several books, that even if it is impossible to help materially, nevertheless a good thought and good wishes from one Jew to another is something."
The Rebbe recognized — from the letters
There were people who for years wrote to the Rebbe in detail and at length, though they had never met him face to face. And remarkably, when they later came to the Rebbe — he mentioned this in his words:
The Rebbe reads also what is between the lines
The Rebbe didn't only read what was written — he also read what was hidden behind the words. On 29 Tammuz 5713 the Rebbe wrote: "I was pleased by what is evident between the lines of his letter..." And in 5736 he said in a private audience: "I received all your letters, I read them, and I also read what you wrote between the lines..."
And in the special letter to Rabbi Efraim Eliezer Yales (Igrot Kodesh vol. 6, p. 1), the Rebbe wrote:
"Why doesn't he report?!"
There were those who didn't write — and to the Rebbe this was heavy. He asked, wondered, sought explanation:
"And if there is nothing to report — that itself is a great wonder." Meaning: there is always something to write about. If not, that itself is a question.
Not only in distress — write also with good news
The Rebbe complained several times in his talks and letters about the type of Chassidim known as "Tzarot Chassidim" — those who come in writing only in times of distress:
In a letter from 11 Shvat 5715 the Rebbe elaborated: "It would be good for all sides, if anash would get used to writing and reporting on every matter of joy, and this habit would become second nature, so that even by natural means a change would be felt in this direction, that joy would increase in their affairs."
Writing about joys brings joy. The Rebbe wanted to hear also about marriages, children, successes, the spreading of the wellsprings — not only about troubles and requests.
"The more detail, the more praiseworthy"
The Rebbe repeated this rule again and again in his letters and talks: to detail, to write, not to shorten.
Name, mother's name, age, occupation, the situation, the request — everything. The Rebbe didn't want summaries. He wanted the whole person — with all the details, all the circumstances, everything on the heart.
In a private audience (Nissan 5734) the Rebbe explained: "It is better to write with all the details, and then we will see what to answer" — because when a person writes himself, he writes all the details, and there is no concern that a detail will be missed that wasn't revealed to the one asking on his behalf.
Writing changes the person himself
Beyond the effect that the letter has upon the Rebbe — there is an additional virtue in writing:
If one knows that one must write to the Rebbe — one asks oneself: what will I write? And in that very question there is already self-reckoning. Writing creates commitment; commitment shapes behavior.
The Pan works — even before it arrives
On Shabbat Parshat Pinchas 5711, the Rebbe said something that had been known among Chassidim for generations, and now the Rebbe confirmed and explained it:
The very act of writing — the very decision to reach out — already opens a gate. One doesn't need to wait for the letter to arrive. The writing itself is the beginning of the effect.
"In an instant he knows everything" — the computer analogy
At the end of Cheshvan 5747, the Rebbe wrote a rare and extraordinary response — a reply to the report from the emissaries' conference in South America, published in Likkutei Sichot vol. 25. In it the Rebbe explained in a remarkable way the effect of submitting at the Ohel:
The Rebbe took the newest invention of his time — the computer — to explain the power of submitting at the Ohel. If a machine can "in an instant" know everything — how much more so when submitting to a Tzaddik, who is a soul in a body.
"Writing to G-d" — 6 Tevet 5747
On 5 Tevet 5747 the joy of "Didan Natzach" was celebrated — victory in the court case over the books. At the Maariv prayer of 6 Tevet, in the midst of the celebrations, the Rebbe suddenly turned toward the large crowd that filled the hall wall to wall, and began a brief talk:
After having already left the study hall, the Rebbe returned to add: "All of the above applies to men, women, and children — our young and our old, our sons and our daughters."
The Rebbe and Shazar — "Now I am no longer the boss"
In the summer of 5726, Mr. Shazar visited the Rebbe, for the first time as President of the State of Israel. This visit was preceded by a web of political pressures applied to Shazar — not to come to the Rebbe, since it was not fitting for the "President of the State" to go to the Rebbe when the Rebbe did not leave 770.
Upon his arrival in the United States, Shazar called the Rebbe and told him about the pressures. He asked the Rebbe to come to him, as his great desire was to see him face to face. The Rebbe replied:
The next day, Friday, at three in the afternoon, the secretary Rabbi Chodakov called and connected Shazar with the Rebbe. The Rebbe and Shazar spoke in Russian, and the Rebbe said to him:
Meaning — after visiting the Ohel, he was no longer the "boss" over the decision. Shazar was the one who needed to come to the Rebbe, not the other way around.
When Shazar visited the Rebbe again, on 5 Shvat 5733, the Rebbe openly told him what he had heard at the Ohel. The Rebbe said to him in Yiddish: "Ikh bin geven Erev Rosh Chodesh oyfn 'Ohel' un der shver hot iberegebn az di nesi'ah vet zayn kashure" — "I was at the Ohel on Erev Rosh Chodesh, and my father-in-law [the Rebbe Rayatz] conveyed that the journey will go well." Shazar was deeply moved at that moment, and warmly pressed the Rebbe's hand.
"There the thanks goes!"
Today too — hundreds of thousands of Jews write
Even today, after the passing, hundreds of thousands of Jews write Pans, letters, reports, and blessing requests — including good news — to the Rebbe. The letters are sent to the holy Ohel from every corner of the world, from Chassidim, emissaries, and "your people the House of Israel" — men, women, and children.
The Rebbe, as a "faithful shepherd," has not, God forbid, abandoned his flock. As then so today, and even "more than during his lifetime" — the Rebbe cares for every single member of the Jewish people in general and for Chassidim in particular: reads the letters, rejoices at times of joy, feels pain when there is pain, arouses mercy and works for our salvation.
rejoices in your joy,
feels your pain — as then, so today.