Dear Rebbi and Friend, Shalom:

Mrs. [redacted] and I hope that you and your family are well in every respect. Your air mail and attempt to get someone of my family on the telephone to find out how I was getting along could only be described – if there were a yardstick to measure feelings – only then could we convey to you how we felt. Since Harav Soloveitchik is not the only one that has a license to be lonely, I, in my own limited being, am very lonely. Therefore, one can only imagine how wonderful I felt. It was balsam to my after-operation condition, so I am very grateful to you.

I don’t know whether you are acquainted with the Yiddish idiom אינגעל – its English translation is “child.” In Hebrew it is נער but none of the translations can convey what אינגעל means exactly. It is a man that has no practical experience, believes whatever is told to him. So when the appropriate time comes and one wishes to tell that person that is devoid of all above: "You are a אינגעל."

I am 76 years old and I am still a אינגעל: In reading your excellent sermon, “If I were a Prophet,” it can be described as אני כנור לשיריך. Every fiber in my body was moved to such an extent that I cried like a אינגעל, as if I never heard a sermon. May you be blessed with health and matzov haruach, and אל תהי ברכת הדיוט קלה בעיניך.