By the Grace of G-d
12th of Sivan, 5733
Brooklyn, N.Y.
To All Who Are Active in Torah Chinuch,
And to All Who Cherish Torah and Mitzvoth
in general,
Greeting and Blessing:
On this day, concluding the post-festival period of Shovuoth, the Festival of Mattan Torah, and
Pursuant to what has been said and emphasized during the festive gatherings on, and before and after, Shovuoth,
Based on the declaration of our Sages of blessed memory that only upon the assurance of the Jewish people that "our children will be our guarantors" (for the keeping of the Torah), did G-d give the Torah to our Jewish people,
I take this opportunity to reiterate an urgent call in a matter which is both a sacred duty and great Zechus for every Jew, man and woman:
That they do everything within their ability to promote Torah-true education for each and every Jewish boy and girl, and not only during the hours dedicated to Torah study, but also during the rest of the time of the day and night, bearing in mind that the need is even greater in afterschool hours.
And while this duty and Zechus are in effect all year long, the call of duty is particularly urgent in the days connected with the festival of Mattan Torah and those immediately following, which recall the corresponding days in the first year of the Liberation from Egypt, culminating in Mattan Torah, when the said guaranty first took effect.
May I also call attention to the special opportunities which present themselves in the forthcoming summer months, in this country and many other countries, where the regular school curriculum is suspended or curtailed for the summer recess:
This is the time when many teachers and instructors are relieved of their regular duties, and they would surely wish to participate in activities designed to promote and expand the work of kosher Chinuch,
While thousands of school children, boys and girls, are released from school, thus providing a special opportunity--hence a compelling challenge--that they be helped to join appropriate summer camps, where they could benefit from a uniform atmosphere permeated with true Yiddishkeit for a considerable length of time, relatively speaking, which is not always possible during the rest of the year, when some tension is inevitable between the atmosphere at school, at home, and in the street.
This, therefore, is a very special and unique opportunity of inestimable value in terms of lasting influence and education.
Hence, every effort in this direction is worth while. And surely these efforts will justify the promise, "Try hard and you will succeed."
May G-d grant that each and every one whose vocation is in Chinuch, or is involved in Chinuch, and everyone else who can help in this, whether through personal participation or through activating others, will do so to the utmost of his and her ability, and thus help raise legions upon legions of Jewish boys and girls who can be "recognized by all who see them as G-d-blessed children," studying His Torah, Toras Emes and Toras Chayim, and keepers of its Mitzvoth,
So that we may soon merit to see the fulfillment of the prophecy: "I will bestow My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy... (and as it is written before this:) and you will praise the Name of G-d your G-d, Who has dealt wondrously with you"--at the coming of our righteous Moshiach, of whom it is written, "And he will reign from sea to sea, and from the River to the end of the earth."
With esteem and blessing,
/Signed: Menachem Schneerson/
--From: Letters by the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the Jewish Festivals.