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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Remember that you are never alone, because God is with you in every challenge, a message the Rebbe conveyed to Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. The talk uses a simple question, "did your wife come with you?" and "I'm here alone," as a springboard for a deeper spiritual reassurance.
Key Points
- Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, a major scholar who translated the Talmud into Hebrew (and English) and wrote some 60-70 books, visited New York from Jerusalem and went to see the Rebbe for a dollar and a blessing.
- During their conversation, the Rebbe asked whether Rabbi Steinsaltz's wife had also come from Israel, and Rabbi Steinsaltz answered that he was alone.
- When Rabbi Steinsaltz said he was alone, the Rebbe smiled and said 'Hashem is with you,' which the speaker reads as a deeper message rather than a casual remark.
- The Rebbe's reassurance addressed Rabbi Steinsaltz's heavy schedule, drive to change the Jewish world, and the many obstacles he would face.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: The transcript gives no specific steps, amounts, or methods. The only actionable guidance is the reminder to recognize that you are never alone and that God is holding you and carrying you through challenges.
- The exchange took place in the late 1980s or early 1990s, when the speaker was a yeshiva student in New York.
- The speaker notes he initially wondered about the point of the response, since it resembled a common expression, but later saw it as a profound message.
- The Rebbe's wording emphasizes a personal, present presence ("He's with you, He's holding your hand, He's carrying you") rather than a theological argument.
Bottom Line
Feeling alone in demanding work or hardship can be met with the reminder that a faith-based sense of divine companionship is always present.
