Since
[661] these words are being heard elsewhere, too,
[662] this is an appropriate time to clarify a point for those who are puzzled by the fact that they have not received replies to the questions that they have written here.
Throughout the month of Tishrei, as has been explained several times, no time at all is available to reply to questions and letters, even orally. There is therefore no reason for seeking out allusions and interpretations to explain the absence of a reply, and certainly no reason for understanding the absence of a reply as a lack of closeness, G-d forbid.
As to the subject itself: There is a standing assurance that by the very fact of asking a question [of one's Rebbe], especially if it is asked truthfully, G-d casts the right understanding and the right decision into the mind of the questioner. This can be seen even with fleshly eyes.
Moreover, there are several episodes in which the absence of a reply aroused the chassid concerned to turn his heart more intensely heavenward. This arousal included a heightened trust that Divine Providence supervises the particulars of every individual's life, and this in turn empowered the chassid to decide what to do and how to act.
Notes:
- (Back to text) From a sichah delivered on the sixth eve of Sukkos, 5744 (1983), and published in Toras Menachem - Hisvaaduyos, Vol. 1, p. 264.
- (Back to text) Internationally, by radio hook-up.