This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of October 12th, in which you also refer to a previous letter you wrote.

As you can well imagine, there is a great deal of correspondence that reaches me during the period of the month of Tishrei and prior to it, so that a delay is unavoidable, not only because of the volume of correspondence, but also of the various matters of the month of Tishrei and the intervening festivals, as well as the many visitors that come to spend this month with us here.

With regard to the question of hatzlacha [success] in study and the gaining of knowledge, surely you know of the promise of our Sages, "Try hard and you will succeed." Thus, success is largely something which depends on the student himself.

However, inasmuch as everything requires Divine help, including also that the "try hard" as well as the "and you will succeed" should be satisfactory, the way to obtain this is through devotion and diligence in the study of the Torah and the observance of the mitzvot with hiddur [special beauty]. This is mainly a matter of will and determination, for nothing stands in the way of the will.

Having just concluded the month of Tishrei, culminating with the joyous festival of Simchat Torah, you have surely heard the explanation of the Alter Rebbe [Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi] that the joy of Simchat Torah is a double one: The Jews rejoicing with the Torah, and the Torah rejoicing with the Jews, based on the verses, "Israel rejoices with their Maker" and "G-d rejoices with His works."

And since all the festivals of the month of Tishrei conclude with Simchat Torah, it means that this mutual rejoicing can be achieved only through the fulfillment of the Torah and mitzvot, as it is stated in the Zohar, "Israel, the Torah and the Holy One blessed be He, are all one" -- the Torah placed in the center as the connecting link between Israel and G-d. We have but one Torah, comprising both Nigle [the "revealed" parts of the Torah] and Chasidut [the "inner" aspects of the Torah], which must be studied with a view to fulfillment of the mitzvot with hiddur, as emphasized by our Sages that the essential thing of the Torah study is the deed. This brings G-d's blessings for hatzlacha [success] not only spiritually, but also materially,

Hoping to hear good news from you,