Letter & Spirit: Mesiras Nefesh for Chinuch

In this week’s edition of Letter and Spirit, in honor of Yud Shvat, we present a letter of the Rebbe underlining the Frierdiker Rebbe’s self sacrifice for Yidden in all areas of Yiddshkeit  – but especially in the area of chinuch, the most vital and basic of all others. The letter was written in English through the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel, and was made available by the latter’s son-in-law, Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro.

This weekly feature is made possible by a collaboration between CrownHeights.info and Nissan Mindel Publications. Once a week we publish a unique letter of the Rebbe that was written originally in the English language, as dictated by the Rebbe to Rabbi Mindel.

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By the Grace of G-d

15^th of Tammuz, 5731

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Mr.

London, England

Greeting and Blessing:

I trust you had an inspiring 12-13th of Tammuz, the history and significance of which you surely know. As I have often mentioned it before, the important thing of observing a special day in our calendar, is not simply for the sake of remembrance of an event in the past, but that this remembrance should serve as a source of inspiration and stimulus for positive action in the present and future.

One of the significant aspects of the 12-13th of Tammuz, recalling the imprisonment and liberation of my father-in-law of saintly memory in those crucial days of the Soviet regime, is the nature of his activities which had brought about that crisis. For, my father-in-law of saintly memory had been very actively engaged in a variety of activities to preserve Yiddishkeit even under that hostile regime. These included the placement and financial support of Rabbomin, shochtim, mohalim, teachers, etc., and the maintenance of houses of prayer, chadorim, yeshivos on both elementary and advanced levels. While all these activities were characterized by the same dedication and spirit of selflessness for the preservation and spreading of Yiddishkeit, going against the tide and in defiance of a brutal regime, and especially the militantly anti-religious Jewish section of the Communist party, etc., the main weight of this general activity was in the educational area, namely establishment and maintenance of clandestine chadorim, Talmud Torahs and Yeshivos. For, however vital all the other activities were, such as providing a Rav and a shochet and a mikvah, etc., the most important and far-reaching activity was the chinuch of the Jewish children, since the children are the foundation of the whole future of our people, and also the basis for all religious and spiritual activity devoted to the adults. As our Sages put it succinctly (in keeping with their way of expressing profound ideas in a few laconic words): “If there are no little lambs, there are no big rams.”

Nowadays where chinuch is concerned, it is not enough to provide the facilities for Jewish children to acquire the knowledge of Torah and the Jewish way of life. In this day and age the important thing is to inculcate into the children the proper Torah spirit and develop their true Jewish character, so that they should be able to face the world, even if they are a small minority, and should not fall prey to the various new ideas and ideologies which are so contrary to the spirit of Torah and Judaism.

For this reason it is necessary to get the Jewish children at their earliest age, in order to enable the Jewish boy and girl to realize the full potential of his or her Jewish neshamah. This is also what makes the elementary Jewish school so important nowadays; because it is there that the child’s character is primarily molded. In this connection, I want to recall one particularly meaningful episode connected with the anniversary of the 12-13th of Tammuz, since it was one of the factors which aggravated the position of my father-in–law of saintly memory and precipitated the investigation and arrest. I refer to a public discourse which he gave on the Purim before his imprisonment, based on the text  “Out of the mouth of the babes and sucklings You established  strength because of in answer to Your enemies, in order to silence the enemy and avenger.” (Ps. 8:3). He explained on that occasion, and in the published discourse which appeared already after his liberation, the vital importance of Torah-true Chinuch which must begin at the earliest age, and this is the way to overcome and silence our enemies, not only the enemies of Yiddishkeit, but also the enemies of the Jewish people. Actually the two are closely interlocked, inasmuch as the destiny of our people is essentially bound up with Yiddishkeit, as Rav Saadia Gaon expressed it,  “Our people is a people only by virtue of the Torah” (Beliefs and Opinions  3:7)

In the nature of things, G-d has so created man that he should advance from the elementary to the advanced and from the simple to the complex. However, even at the lowest and most elementary level it is necessary to act with strength, as indicated in the verse above, that is to say to give them of the Torah and Torah spirit the maximum they can absorb, and then we can be sure of the fulfillment of the promise of our Sages, “Try hard and you will succeed,” for such all-out effort on the part of man is certain to bring forth the utmost help from On High in a most wonderful way. This is one more meaningful lesson of the 12-13th Tammuz anniversary, which not only led to the wonderful triumph of my father-in-law of saintly memory over his adversaries, but also ensured the extra-ordinary success of his work. For even now, half a century later, we see the fruits and the fruits of fruits of his labors, in the hundreds of Jewish families coming out from the Soviet Golus, with their children and grandchildren proudly bearing the banner of Torah Yiddishkeit and Chasidus, and whose dedication to the Torah and mitzvos in their daily life is a source of inspiration even in the Holy Land.

Once again, wishing you and all your co-workers the utmost hatzlocho to follow in the footsteps of my father-in-law of saintly memory, and this will surely broaden the channel to receive G-d’s blessings in the utmost measure, materially as well as spiritually.

With blessing,

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The above letter is from a forthcoming volume of The Letter and the Spirit by Nissan Mindel Publications. The letters are from the archives of Rabbi Dr. Nissan Mindel, a personal secretary to the Previous Rebbe and The Rebbe, whose responsibilities included the Rebbe’s correspondence in English.

We thank Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro, director of Nissan Mindel Publications and the one entrusted by Rabbi Mindel, his father-in-law, with his archives, for making these letters available to the wider public. May the merit of the many stand him in good stead.