Letter of Blessings and Guidance from the Lubavitcher Rebbe – 11th Nissan 1957 – Passover Wishes – "According to ...

Letter of Blessings and Guidance from the Lubavitcher Rebbe – 11th Nissan 1957 – Passover Wishes – "According to Hearsay Circulating Here, Seemingly He Has Not Engaged in Communal Activity for a Very Long Time"
Letter from Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn – the Lubavitcher Rebbe, with his signature. Brooklyn NY, 11th Nissan 1957.
Typewritten on the official stationery of the rebbe, with his signature and several corrections in his handwriting.
Addressed to the activist, educator and writer, R. Avraham Mokotovski (Eliyahu Ki-Tov, 1912-1976) in Jerusalem. In his letter, the rebbe blesses him: "With the approach of the festival of Matzot, the time of our freedom… I wish to extend my blessings for a kosher and joyous festival, and for true freedom, free from material and spiritual worries – from anything impeding the service of G-d with joy and gladness of heart. May this freedom and joy be extended over the entire year".
At the foot of the letter, beneath his signature, the rebbe relates to R. Mokotovski's withdrawal from communal activity: "According to hearsay circulating here, seemingly he has not engaged in communal activity for a very long time" (in 1954, after his party Emunei Yisrael failed to pass the votes threshold for the 2nd Knesset, R Mokotovki left public activism and devoted himself to the establishment of a small publishing house, where he published his halachic and aggadic works, including his most famous composition, Sefer HaTodaah).
In this letter, the rebbe expresses the anguish this decision caused him: "And my surprise at this distressful and painful move is evident", and wonders: "Is this in your opinion the opportune time for deserting the battlefield?". The rebbe later apologizes for his sharpness: "Maybe the style is not diplomatic or polite enough – yet the sharpness was certainly not sufficient in relation to the sorrowful and distressing situation of Judaism throughout the world".
Printed in Igrot Kodesh of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (vol. XV, letter 5361) and in Likutei Sichot (part XII, p. 203), based on a photocopy of the present letter.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 27.5 cm. Thin paper. Good condition. Filing holes. Minor creases and folding marks.