Letters for Life: Book examines the Rebbe’s insights on emotional health

In 1970, during the war of attrition with Egypt, Menachem Eini strapped into the back seat of an Israeli Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet piloted by Shmuel Hetz. Their mission was one of the riskiest assigned to fighter pilots: to locate and destroy batteries of anti-aircraft missiles before the missiles destroyed them.

They never reached the missile batteries.

Their Phantom was hit by a Soviet-made SA-3 missile. The pilot tried with all his might to bring the damaged plane back to Israel, but seconds before they could reach the border they had to eject. Hetz died in the crash and Eini was captured by Egyptian soldiers with serious injuries. He had to spend 40 months in captivity before he could return home.

More than three years of Egyptian captivity left Eini with severe emotional scars. “When I looked around, I saw people in their calm, while I felt deeply uneasy. Every noise irritated me. Even music became an unbearable noise. I could not find peace.” A few months later, after a friend advised him to visit the Rebbe, Eini vented his grief in his study.

“I told the Rebbe that one of my challenges during my imprisonment was the pressure of being together all the time. Even when I was engaged in personal work, such as drawing, writing poetry or keeping a journal, I knew I was not alone and others could always see what I was doing. ‘It was always cramped in space,’ I said, ‘being together all the time without having a minute to yourself…’

“After a moment of silence, the Rebbe remarked, ‘And yet, despite being together, each was left with his own loneliness.’

“I looked at him for a moment and thought: How does he know that?! But I knew he was right. And I also realized that he had insights into how a person can overcome this universal loneliness.

The Rebbe listened to Eini and advised the young fighter pilot who would later lead Israel’s Lavi fighter jet program. One of the things the Rebbe said to Eini still touches him today. He urged him to write his memoirs of his time in Egyptian captivity.

“Unfortunately,” he explained, “you will probably not be Israel’s last prisoner of war, and it will be useful for others who are taken prisoner to read about your experiences.”

This timely exchange opens one of the chapters in Levi ShmotkinThe newly published book Letters for Life: Guide to Emotional Well-Being from the Lubavitcher RebbeThe book was published in time for the Rebbe’s 30th anniversary and presents numerous episodes from the Rebbe’s advice and summarizes them in such a way that they are accessible to everyone.

Letters for lifeShmotkin’s first book is divided into two sections. The first, Basics for a healthy lifefocuses on preventive emotional care and explores the mindsets and habits that make us strong and prevent discomfort and suffering. The second, Overcoming the darknessaddresses the darker side of the emotional experience: worry, depression, self-criticism and more.

Shmotkin himself never met the Rebbe, but as a teenager he struggled with feelings of apathy and cynicism.

“Then I discovered the Rebbe’s letters,” he writes.

The advice the Rebbe gave to others helped the young teenager to recover emotionally. “I never met the Rebbe, nor did I receive a letter from him. And yet I am a direct beneficiary of his timeless guidance.” Shmotkin felt moved to give back with this book and hopes it will do the same for others.

Letters for life can be purchased here.