Igrot Kodesh · Letter 6669 — Chinuch

By the grace of Hashem*,

Eve of Rosh Chodesh* Shevat* 5719,

Brooklyn, New York,

To all the participants in the nineteenth annual dinner of the center of the Yeshivos* Tomchei Temimim* Lubavitch, may Hashem* grant you long life,

Greetings and blessings,

This dinner, which will take place on the 2nd of Shevat*, will be celebrated in proximity to two important dates of this month, having a particular significance for the Yeshivos* in general, and for the Yeshivos* Tomchei Temimim* in particular.

* * *

The Torah* tells us, in the verse Devarim* 1:3, that on a first day of the month of Shevat*, Moshe* our master began to deliver the Book of Devarim*, the Mishneh Torah*, before all the children of Israel. This had a particular significance and constituted a preparation, on the eve of the entry into Eretz Yisrael*. At that time, the children of Israel were leaving a place in which they had lived for many years, delivered from all material concerns. All their needs — their food, their clothing, the roof over their heads — came to them from Hashem*, in the form of the manna, the well, and the pillars of cloud. Before entering a country, a place where they had to live, plow, sow, harvest, and devote themselves to all the preoccupations of the world, they needed particular moral strength and a warning, so that the material world would not render them coarse; on the contrary, that they be able to introduce holiness into it, to achieve its refinement and its elevation in their surroundings. In this way, matter would become spirituality, through the Torah*, the Mitzvos*, Tzedakah*, and good deeds.

Now, such is also the purpose of the Yeshivos*, particularly in these last generations. Some make the mistake of thinking that these institutions train rabbis, Shochtim*, and other religious leaders, whereas in reality, they primarily train "simple" Jews. Before entering the world and founding a family, a business, they must first fill themselves and permeate themselves with Torah* and the fear of Hashem*. Subsequently, finding themselves in the world, they will know how to bring elevation to their surroundings by transmitting to other Jews the love of Hashem*, the love of the Torah*, and the love of Israel, in daily life.

* * *

The tenth day of Shevat* is the Hilloula* of my father-in-law, the Rebbe*, director of the first Lubavitch Yeshivah*, which was founded by his father, the Rebbe Rashab*, sixty-two years ago. Thanks to him, this Yeshivah* was transferred to the United States nineteen years ago. In the Yeshivos* Tomchei Temimim* of America as well, my father-in-law, the Rebbe*, set for himself the objective that has just been defined. While training students who were great in the revealed part of the Torah* and great in Chassidus*, his essential goal was that they give of themselves for the love of Hashem*, the love of the Torah*, and the love of Israel, these sentiments taking the form of concrete actions. And he knew success in all of this, as can be observed among the students of the Yeshivah* in the four corners of the world.

In the perspective of the Hilloula*, on 10 Shevat*, of the one who founded the center of the Yeshivos* Tomchei Temimim* Lubavitch in America, each and every one will surely know how to awaken within himself the forces necessary to support these Yeshivos* in the broadest manner. In this way, one will receive the divine blessings, for which the one whose Hilloula* we celebrate invokes the divine mercy and which he reveals for each and every one of those who take part in the strengthening and the development of these holy institutions founded by him, with their children and all of their own, to whom Hashem* will grant long life. With my respects and my blessing,

M. Schneerson,