Rebbe Letters
Rabbi Shais Taub
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Experience the wisdom and compassion of the Rebbe's personal correspondences with real people as they navigate the challenges of life.
Available episodes
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Oldest first
Apr 3, 2023
Advice for an Extreme Introvert
The Rebbe responds to a woman with a severe aversion to social situations and explains to her that every person, without exception, can only function properly within the society of other human beings.
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Apr 3, 2023
Yeshiva Is the Best Preparation for Life
The Rebbe tells a young man who has begun to study full time in yeshiva that dedicating a period of one's life exclusively to Torah study is the best preparation for a successful life.
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Mar 31, 2023
Letter A: Taking a Financial Leap of Faith / Letter B: Moshe & Moshiach
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Mar 30, 2023
Why Do Others Have It Easier?
The Rebbe gives a new perspective to a young man who complains that his peers who are not religious seem to be more successful in life than him.
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Mar 29, 2023
Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts
The Rebbe gives advice to a mother who experiences pervasive, unwanted thoughts about calamity and disaster.
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Mar 28, 2023
Committing to Grow a Beard
The Rebbe encourages a father who has recently committed to grow a beard and advises him not to be intimidated by scoffers.
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Mar 27, 2023
To a Young Woman Seeking Friendship
The Rebbe gives advice to a young woman who finds it difficult to make friends in her new seminary.
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Mar 27, 2023
The Meaning of Pesach
In a public letter to all Jews everywhere, the Rebbe explains one of the messages of Pesach: in a short amount of time one can experience a radical transformation from one extreme to the other.
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Mar 24, 2023
Letter A: Message of a Cover / Letter B: Bar Mitzvah Is Only the Beginning
In the first letter, the Rebbe responds to artist Meir Ben Uri's critiques of the cover art of the Talks and Tales monthly magazine. In the second letter, the Rebbe explains to a mother why true Jewish education must continue after bar mitzvah.
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Mar 23, 2023
A Teacher's Influence as a Role Model
The Rebbe encourages a teacher of agriculture to appreciate the importance of his job.
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Mar 22, 2023
Helping Others Makes You Healthier
A letter to Rabbi Yechiel Michel Dabruskin encouraging him to continue his work with Rumanian immigrants. Rather than viewing this as a burden, he should see this as an opportunity to help himself by helping others.
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Mar 21, 2023
Spiritual Remedy for Foot Pain
To someone complaining of pain in his feet, the Rebbe recommends a specific spiritual path to healing.
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Mar 20, 2023
A Yeshiva Student and Playing Sports
The Rebbe guides a teacher regarding a student whose mother is complaining about his refusal to partake in sports and other physical activities.
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Mar 19, 2023
A Politician's Spiritual Opportunity
The Rebbe urges Israeli politician, Eliezer Livneh, to take the initiative to introduce a more religious tone to his new organization.
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Mar 17, 2023
Letter A:Overcoming Feelings of Failure & Guilt / Letter B: Moshe's Eternal Influence
The Rebbe helps a young man overcome his feelings of failure and guilt so that he can move on and plan a future for himself. The Rebbe writes to the administration of the Chabad yeshiva in Montreal on the occasion of the yearly fundraising event and explains to them the eternal and enduring role of […]
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Mar 16, 2023
Connecting to a Loved One Who Has Passed Away
The Rebbe comforts a couple who lost their son and gives them direction on how to best benefit the departed's soul.
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Mar 15, 2023
A Yeshiva Student's Guide to Identifying the Yetzer Hara
A newly observant yeshiva student complains that his current yeshiva is not living up to his expectations and says he wants to leave. The Rebbe gives him another way of looking at things.
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Mar 14, 2023
Gratitude Increases Your Blessings
The Rebbe responds to a woman who says that her life has never been good and she therefore expects that it will never be good.
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Mar 13, 2023
Don't Compromise Kashrus of Children's Food
The Rebbe writes to a mother about her dilemma over whether to give her children food that may not be up to her usual standards of kashrus.
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Mar 12, 2023
How to Reach the Youth
The Rebbe writes to an Israeli judge about the secret to reaching the younger generation in Israel. Even when Jews have been uprooted from their tradition, the connection to Judaism is still present inside of their souls.
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Mar 10, 2023
Letter A: A Rabbi Doesn't Quit / Letter B: Bring People to the Rebbe
Two letters are learned in this class. First, the Rebbe responds to a rabbi who has chosen to leave his congregation and explains to him that one is not allowed to merely do what is best for oneself while neglecting the community. In the second letter, the Rebbe speaks about the importance of telling every […]
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Mar 9, 2023
The Need to Use One's Talents & Influence
The Rebbe writes to Louis Finkelstein of the Jewish Theological Seminary about the need for every individual to fully use their G-d-given potentials to have a positive effect on the world and, in his specific case, to use his influence to introduce more practical observance of mitzvos among his movement.
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Mar 8, 2023
Overcoming Fears About Learning Chasidus
In response to someone who says that he is afraid to identify as Chabad because he does not want to have to learn chasidus, the Rebbe gives several reasons why the letter writer should reconsider his apprehension.
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Mar 7, 2023
Teshuvah With Joy
Joy is one of the most important ways of serving Hashem. The need to do teshuvah to repair past wrongs is no exception, for even that must be done joyfully.
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Mar 6, 2023
Encouragement for an Educator
The Rebbe encourages a young educator, Rabbi Yosef Marton, to throw himself enthusiastically into his holy work as well as advising him on how not to be dissuaded by the naysayers.
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Mar 5, 2023
How the Baal Shem Tov Taught Love
A letter to the chapters of N'she U'Bnos Chabad (Chabad Women's Organization) highlights the importance of ahavas Yisrael and relates a story of the Baal Shem Tov to help explain the love that we must have for our fellow Jew.
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Jul 1, 2022
Rebbe Letters: Speaking to Children About the Rebbe
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Jun 26, 2022
Rebbe Letters: "Dear Rebbe, I Feel Guilty"
The Rebbe gives comfort and encouragement to a guilt-ridden woman.
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Jun 19, 2022
Rebbe Letters: Connecting to a Rebbe After His Passing
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 […]
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Jun 9, 2022
Rebbe Letters: Blessings for a Bar Mitzvah
The Rebbe responds to a rabbi who has questions about the wording of a Lubavitcher's bar mitzvah invitation.
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Jun 2, 2022
Rebbe Letters: Connecting Others to the Rebbe
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.
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Apr 12, 2022
Letter 30/ 11 Nissan Farbrengen
The final letter of the 30 Letters in 30 Days series is learned at a special farbrengen at the Ohel.
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Apr 11, 2022
Letter 29- Education is Our Future
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.
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Apr 10, 2022
Letter 28- Remember This Next Time You Feel Overwhelmed
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.
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Apr 8, 2022
Letter 27- A Beard Can Only Bring Blessings
The Rebbe writes to a father and husband who says that he was rejected from a job opportunity because of his beard.
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Apr 8, 2022
Letter 26- It's the Little Things
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.
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Apr 7, 2022
Letter 25- Even Greater Than Charity
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.
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Apr 6, 2022
Letter 24-To Parents Who Are Worried About Their Adult Son
The Rebbe guides parents whose adult son has strayed from the path of Jewish observance.
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Apr 5, 2022
Letter 23- Anxiety About a Career
The Rebbe writes to a father about his son who is extremely preoccupied with concerns of how he will make a living.
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Apr 4, 2022
Letter 22- The Power of Accountability
The Rebbe explains why writing often to report one's activities will bring out hidden potentials and abilities that would otherwise lie dormant.
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Apr 3, 2022
Letter 21- A Plea for Good News
The Rebbe explains why it's so important to make a personal habit of writing to the Rebbe with good news.
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Apr 1, 2022
Letter 20- In Response to a Tragedy
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.)
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Apr 1, 2022
Letter 19- How to Receive the Rebbe's Blessing
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.
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Mar 31, 2022
Letter 18- Suggested Program for a Women's Gathering
The Rebbe outlines the program for a women's gathering to honor 10 Shvat, the yahrzeit of the Previous Rebbe.
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Mar 30, 2022
Letter 17- Treat Your Spiritual Activities Like a Business
The Rebbe responds to someone who wants to know how to get started carrying out Chabad outreach activities.
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Mar 29, 2022
Letter 16- Healthy in Soul & Body
The Rebbe writes to a father about the efficacy of removing his son from his present school for health reasons.
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Mar 28, 2022
Letter 15- Encouragement for a Teacher of Young Women
The Rebbe addresses a woman's doubts about her ability to teach her young students.
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Mar 27, 2022
Letter 14- Memories that Lead to Action
The Rebbe writes to his relative Mrs. Devorah Leah Horenstein that nostalgia and memories must bring to practical action.
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Mar 25, 2022
Letter 13- To Someone Who Says They Have No "Mazal"
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.
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Mar 25, 2022
Letters 12- Positive Epigenetics
The Rebbe writes to a group of young women and protests the self-deprecating manner in which they describe themselves.
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Mar 24, 2022
Letter 11- Education Outside of the Classroom
The Rebbe writes to a mashgiach in the Toras Emes yeshiva in Jerusalem about the importance of educating students beyond their academic studies.
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Mar 23, 2022
Letter 10- Encouraging Others to Write to the Rebbe
The Rebbe asks someone who deals with Israeli soldiers if he can encourage them to correspond with him.
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Mar 22, 2022
Letter 9- Should Unpaid Teachers Strike?
The Rebbe writes to a teachers' union warning them about the irrevocable harm that can be caused by a teachers' strike.
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Mar 21, 2022
Letter 8- Youth Should Not Think About Earning a Living
The Rebbe expresses pain about young people who are overly fixated on how they will make a living in the future.
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Mar 20, 2022
Letter 7- Stay Above Politics
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 […]
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Mar 19, 2022
Letter 6- Finding Your Special Mitzvah
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.
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Mar 18, 2022
Letter 5- Advice for a Rabbi
The Rebbe gives advice to Rabbi Herschel Shusterman a"h of Chicago about dealing with both youth and adults.
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Mar 17, 2022
Letter 4- Impress the Neighbors or Please the Rebbe?
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.
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Mar 16, 2022
Letter 3- Faith, Fertility, and When to Listen to Doctors
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.
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Mar 15, 2022
Letter 2- How to Be a Spiritual Trendsetter
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."
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Mar 14, 2022
Letter 1- Should a Farbrebgen Keep You Away from Home?
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 […]
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Mar 11, 2022
It's Kind of Personal
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 […]
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