Igrot Kodesh · Letter 2557 — Tzedakah

B"H

27 Adar Sheni 5714,
Brooklyn.

To the synagogue of the Arizal* rite of Detroit,
may Hashem grant you long life,

Greetings and blessing,

I had news from you, with pleasure, through your secretary, Rav Eliezer ben Moshe. May Hashem grant that you may announce good tidings to me — to tell me that the number of those davening* in your shul* is increasing, that many are participating in the public shiurim*. These are the pillars upon which a shul* rests.

It must be established as a principle that all those who daven* and study return home having received that with which to warm their household, through Yiddishe* values, through the enthusiasm and the luminosity of "ner mitzvah veTorah ohr*" — "the candle is a mitzvah and the Torah is light" — as well as through the luminary of the Torah.

Everything that lives develops, and from time to time the same must be true regarding what has just been said. How much more so must this be the case for a shul* bearing the holy name of the Arizal*, whose merit shall protect us and protect all of Israel. In such a case, a particular obligation and merit fall upon it. It must exert a positive influence upon all those who daven* there and upon the entire surroundings. Now, such is indeed the name of your shul*, and "ein omed bifnei haratzon*" — nothing stands in the way of will.

With my blessing for a kosher and freilichen* Pesach* for all those who daven* and study in your shul*, as well as for the members of their families,