Igrot Kodesh · Letter 1217 — Chinuch

B'ezras Hashem,

Third day of Selichos* 5711,

Brooklyn, New York,

To the presidents, leaders, and members of the shuls* of Nusach* Ari Zal*, Tzemach Tzedek*, and Lubavitch,

wherever they may be,

upon whom Hashem should bestow long life,

Greetings and blessings,

On the occasion of the new year, which comes, for us and for all the sons and daughters of Israel, for good and for blessing, I address my brachah* to you, that you have a good and sweet year, materially and spiritually.

Our Sages emphasize that the name has a deep content. This is indeed the case when a shul is called "Nusach Ari" or else "Tzemach Tzedek" or else "Lubavitch."

Your grandparents and great-grandparents gave of themselves to preserve the purity of this Chassidic name, which they bore in full consciousness and of which they were proud. And, you yourselves, their children and grandchildren, will surely perceive, at its just value, the responsibility that falls upon you. You must guard and perpetuate this great ancestral tradition and this heritage, which has been placed in your hands.

I address you in these days of moral awakening and of seeking spirituality. You must strengthen the foundations of your shul, quantitatively, by multiplying the number of its members, in particular among the youth, and morally, by developing the shiurim* of Torah and Chassidus*, Chumash*, Mishnah*, Gemara*, Ein Yaakov*, Shulchan Aruch*, Tanya*, Chassidic discourses, by organizing in it a farbrengen* from time to time. Thus, your shul shall be lively, warm, and luminous.

Do not therefore lose the possibility offered by the holy days that approach, that of vivifying your community in all these domains. I hope that you will convene an exceptional meeting, if necessary, to apply concretely these various points. Hashem will give you success, and I would be happy to have good news of it.

My father-in-law, the Rebbe, observes that: "It is an established fact that a positive effort is never without effect."

Wishing each of your members to be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet year, as well as the members of his family, his children and grandchildren, among all our brethren, the children of Israel,