Igrot Kodesh · Letter 8557 — Faith & Bitachon

By the grace of Hashem,

10 Kislev* 5723, date of the

liberation of the Admur HaEmtza'i*,

Brooklyn, New York,

To the members of the assembly of Yeshurun*,

who cherish and honor the Torah* and the Mitzvos*,

may Hashem grant you long life,

I greet you and bless you,

On the occasion of the upcoming annual celebration of the center of the Yeshivos* Tomchei Temimim* Lubavitch, which will take place this 24th of Teves*, I hope that those who cherish the Torah*, in general and the directors of the Yeshivah*, in particular, will take advantage of the few weeks that still remain to ensure that this celebration have the resonance that is fitting.

One knows the account (note 1: See, on this subject, letters no. 8558 and 8589, as well as the Likkutei Sichos*, volume 3, from page 802) that we heard from my father-in-law, the Rebbe*, about the Admur HaEmtza'i*, according to which he himself was particularly absorbed in his study. Once, when he was a young man, his concentration was such that he did not hear his child fall from the cradle in which he was. The child sobbed and the own father of the Admur HaEmtza'i*, the Admur HaZaken*, who was then on the upper floor and who himself was deeply studying the Torah*, heard him. Immediately, he went down, lifted the child, calmed him, then put him back to bed. Subsequently, the Admur HaZaken* signified to his son that, even if one is deeply engaged in the most important accomplishment, one must, however, always hear the sob of a Jewish child.

This account was told to us and it must therefore deliver a teaching to each one of us. This teaching is, in this case, the following. There are, in our day, many Jewish children who have fallen from their cradle, that of the Torah* and of its education. Their soul weeps and asks that they be given an education of Torah* and Mitzvos*, based on sacred values. Consequently, as busy and absorbed as one may be by one's own preoccupations, as important as they may be, one must hear the cries and the requests of the children. One must withdraw from other activities in order to devote oneself to them, for nothing is higher, nor more important than education based on sacred values.

The Yeshivos* Lubavitch and the schools listen and hear this call of Jewish children, but, due to the financial shortages they suffer, they are not in a position to lift them all and to place them in the cradle of the Torah* and the Mitzvos*. The highest objective that each man and each woman can set is therefore to bring one's help so that one may collect the necessary means to develop all that concerns the Yeshivos* Lubavitch and the schools. The annual celebration that will take place will be the occasion to do so. May Hashem grant each one to achieve this with all one's heart, with a generous hand and in joy. And, Hashem will grant the reward "measure for measure" (note 2: That is to say in the manner in which one acts toward Him, according to the Pesikta Zutrasa* on the verse Shemos* 3, 6), but in proportions that are greatly increased, both materially and spiritually. With my respects and my blessing of success,

M. Schneerson,