"Look around —we see so much desolation and loneliness and feel the cold, but we believe that just ahead lies a rich, bountiful, healthy crop"

I would love to be together, to gather on these elevated days as chassidim do every year, but for now, there will be no tishen, no gatherings. But let us take heart in the message of Tu B’Shevat, in the very reason we celebrate these days: Because even though the trees are bare and the ground frozen, we know that just under the soil, there is a great rebirth. Look around —we see so much desolation and loneliness and feel the cold, but we believe that just ahead lies a rich, bountiful, healthy crop.

—The Bitchkover Rebbe, in a letter to chassidim canceling all gatherings during these weeks

My brother was not inhibited by the need to be perfect. He understood the need for us to do our best, to be conscientious, to try for excellence, but he understood that perfection can be a destructive force.

—Rav Michel Twerski, Hornosteipler Rebbe of Milwaukee, in a hesped for his brother, Rabbi Dr. Avraham Yehoshua Twerski

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 848)