5835 —תועלת הרבים קודמת לתועלת היחיד בעניני כפר חב"ד

B"H, 9 Marcheshvan, 5718

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter, in which you write about two possibilities for how to make the inner road.

Now, it is simple that in matters such as these it is for the committee that is on the spot to decide. And if the matter is difficult for whatever reason, the spiritual committee, and the elders of Anash in their camp in general, should be added to it. The general point here is that the ways of Chassidim and of Chassidus are only ways of pleasantness and peace (as in דרכיה דרכי נעם וכל נתיבותיה שלום "its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace," Mishlei 3:17). But together with this it is simple that the benefit of the many overrides the benefit of the individual; and in the end, since the individual is part of the many, he will surely recognize that his own benefit too is contained in the benefit of the many.

It is understood that in the case at hand one must also consider the detail you mention, that there are fruit trees which in one of the options would have to be uprooted. This is a question of law (see Devarim 20:19, לא תשחית את עצה "you shall not destroy its trees"), and they will surely clarify it before deciding the matter.

From the above it is understood that all that is written here is unofficial, and only in the nature of a suggestion to consider all of the above in keeping with the conditions on the spot.

I take this opportunity to urge you, and likewise your colleagues on the committee and the communal workers and leading members of Anash of Kfar Chabad in general, that they must take more and more interest in the communal affairs of the village. For to my regret, until now, in the great majority of cases, the attitude of most of the village's residents to the village's affairs has been that of an individual interested only in his own good and his private affairs; this included even making use of the residents of the village as a body to improve his private situation, while the interest required in the shared affairs of the village's residents as a whole was not evident.

In other words, they looked upon themselves as a certain number of Jews who happened to come to one lodging, to the four cubits of the village, but each one stands as his own entity and need not give up anything at all of his private interest, unless he gains more in his private interest as well. And in light of the above, the phenomenon is also understood that almost all the communal, shared affairs of the village are neglected; and to elaborate to those who are on the spot and see the state of affairs is superfluous.

With blessing for good news in all of the above.

Publisher's notes

The inner road (הכביש הפנימי): In Kfar Chabad.

Summary

This letter leaves the choice of route for the inner road of Kfar Chabad to the local committee, noting that the public good overrides private interest and that uprooting fruit trees is a halachic question. It then urges the village's residents to stop treating Kfar Chabad as a mere lodging for private interests and to take real responsibility for its communal affairs.