Thank you
From the Rebbe’s letter:
– I received your question. It is: Considering the changes that you recently endured, you are considering selling your house to pay off your debts and help your children, may they live, settle in their own homes. You conclude that if you are left without a home, you are not concerned and are even prepared for this. You ask my opinion on this matter.
I do not agree with this plan.
It seems obvious that if, at your age, you need to reside in other people’s homes and require their assistance,
even if those others are your most devoted children, it might work out in the beginning, but with time the relationship will sour.
(If you say that your debts weigh on you and you can only pay them off by selling the house, it must be done only after a house becomes available for you to purchase. This is to ensure that you won’t have the time to waste the proceeds of the sale on anything, no matter how important. The funds will already be invested in your new home which will enable you to live independently without requiring assistance from others. This is easy enough to understand. Based on the above, it follows that it would be even wiser to find another way to pay off the debts.
Source: Igros Kodesh 17, p. 297.
Translated and abridged by Machon “Ohr haChasidut” (מכון ‘אור החסידות’).
