1Trustworthy is the dvar Emes: if anyone aspires to the congregational office of Mashgiach Ruchani (Spiritual Overseer) over the Adat Hashem(Congregation of G-d), he desires a good task.

2It is necessary, therefore, for the congregational Mashgiach Ruchani to be without reproach, ba'al isha echat (a one woman man/master), ²⁰drug-free and clear-headed, a man of seichel, practiced in derech eretz and hachnosas orchim (hospitality), skillful as a rabbinic moreh (yeshiva teacher),

3Not a shikkor (drunkard) indulging in much wine, not violent but forbearing and eidel (gentle, courteous), not a ba'al machlokes (quarrelsome person), not a gelt-loving kamtzan (miser).

4He must be a ba'al bayit who can manage his own household well, having his banim (children) in submission with all respect.

5Now if anyone does not have da'as of how to manage his own bais, how will he be a menahel ruchani (spiritual administrator) who can give oversight to the Kehillah of Hashem?

6He must not be a neophyte in the emunah [of Moshiach], lest, having become a ba'al gaavah (a haughty person), he might fall into the din HaSatan (the judgment or verdict of the Adversary, the Accuser).

7Now it is necessary also for him to have a keter shem tov (good name) with the outsiders, lest he might fall into reproach and a pakh (pitfall, trap) of HaSatan.

8Messianic Shammashim similarly must be respectable men of derech eretz, not double-tongued, the Shammash not a shikkor (drunkard) indulging in much wine, not a lover of dishonest gain,

9Keeping the sod haemunah (the mystery of the faith) with a clear matzpun ²¹(conscience).

10And let these Messianic Shammashim also be tested before holding office and then, if they prove unreprovable, let them have the avodas hakodesh sherut (ministry) of Messianic Shammashim.

11Nashim ²²(women) serving as Shammashim similarly must be tzidkaniyot (righteous women), respectable, not yentas with mouths of lashon hora and rekhilus (gossip), but nashim who are temperate and faithful in all things.

12Let the Shammashim be ba'alei isha achat (one wife husbands), managing well their banim and their own batim (households).

13For the ones having served well in the avodas hakodesh of Messianic Shammashim acquire for themselves a good standing and much bitachon in emunah in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua.

14I have the tikvah to come to you soon, but I am writing these directives so that,

15If I delay, you may have da'as of the halachah in the Beis Hashem, which is the Adat HaEl Chai (the Community of the Living G-d), the ammud (pillar) and yesod (foundation) of HaEmes.

16And confessedly great is the sod of chasidus: ²³
Elokim was manifested in basar,
was vindicated ²⁴by the Ruach HaKodesh,
was seen by malachim,
was proclaimed among the Nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in kavod.