Igrot Kodesh · Letter 7294 — Faith & Bitachon

By the grace of Hashem,

Sunday of the Parshah*: "Say... and you shall say..." (note 1: Parshas* Emor*), "to admonish the adults regarding the children,"

5720, Brooklyn, New York,

To those who take part in the annual dinner of honor of the Yeshivah* Lubavitch of Newark, whom Hashem will grant long life,

I greet you and bless you,

I extend my greetings and my blessing to your dear guests and participants, whom Hashem will grant good days and long years, on the occasion of the annual dinner of the Yeshivah* Lubavitch of Newark. I hope that this celebration will meet all expectations and that it will enable the collection of the necessary assistance, moral and financial alike, through a specific mobilization of all the friends of the Yeshivah*.

This year has a particular virtue for institutions dispensing education based on sacred values, both in the revealed part of the Torah* and in Chassidus*. It is indeed the bicentennial of the Hilloula* of the holy Baal Shem Tov*, on the first day of Shavuos*, the time of the giving of our Torah*. He was the founder of general Chassidus*, the moral "grandfather" of the Alter Rebbe* (note 2: See, on this subject, letter no. 7098), author of the Tanya* and the Shulchan Aruch*, founder of Chabad* Chassidus*. May their merit protect us.

The first occupation of the Baal Shem Tov*, even before his revelation, consisted of being a teacher's assistant. He taught small children the holy letters of the alphabet, the blessings and the prayers, had them say Amen Yehei Shmei Rabbah* (note 3: During the recitation of the Kaddish*), Barechu* (note 4: Before the reading of the Shema Yisrael* and its blessings), and the Kedushah* (note 5: In the repetition of the prayer by the Chazzan*). But he also trained disciples, immense scholars of the Torah* and Chassidus*, in order to illuminate the dark exile and the generations of the period of the heel of Moshiach*.

The Yeshivah* Lubavitch of Newark, like all other Lubavitch institutions of Torah* based on sacred values — may Hashem multiply them — is an integral part of the golden chain that was introduced in this way by the Baal Shem Tov*. One can thus combine the two fundamental points of his teaching: education based on sacred values from the youngest age, and the attainment of true erudition, showing that "Hashem is great and greatly praised," propagating the clarity of the Torah* and Mitzvos*, based on the love of Hashem, the love of the Torah*, and the love of Israel.

To accomplish all of this, one must "admonish the adults regarding the children." The parents, communal leaders, and friends of the Yeshivah* must grant it, as well as its students, the means to grow and develop, to the extent that is fitting. The students will be "candles to illuminate," lighting up their surroundings. With my blessing of success, material and spiritual, as well as my respects,

M. Schneerson,