Weekly Letter: What Is A “Summer Vacation”?
As we begin the summer season – we share a fascinating letter of the Rebbe to students and young people – where the Rebbe defines what a “summer vacation” is, essentially. And what it is not. Is it possible to put “life” on hold, take a break from life and yet continue living?
TO JEWISH STUDENTS AND SCHOOL CHILDREN EVERYWHERE
G-d bless you all!
Shalom u’Brocho
Vacation time is approaching, to release youth and children from Yeshivos, Talmud Torahs, Day Schools, etc., for a long summer recess.
The importance of a restful vacation is obvious. However, certain aspects of vacation time should be examined carefully. Is vacation time a stoppage of study, or is it a transition from one form of activity to another?
In all living forms, there is no such thing as stoppage of life, followed by a completely new start, for a stoppage of life is death and cannot serve as a temporary rest period. There can be a transition from one kind of activity to another, but not a cessation or stoppage.
For example: the two most vital organs of our body are the heart and the brain. The heart is the principal seat of “physical” life; the brain is the principal seat of “intellectual” life. Because the heart and brain have supreme control of the body, they are termed the “sovereigns of the body.” Now, these organs not only do not cease to operate in a living body, but they do not even undergo a radical change in their form of activity. The other organs of the body, though they may seem to be in a state of inactivity, as in the case oof sleep, do not in reality stop working.
We find this in actuality – as during sleep, breathing is slowed down considerably – but is not stopped, for the “breath of life” must always be there.
Similarly in the case of students, boys and girls, studying our Torah, Toras Chayim – “the Law of Life,” restful vacation does not mean interruption and stoppage of Torah and mitzvos, G-d forbid. It means only just another way of furthering their course of study, a period during which they renew their mental abilities and increase their capacities for more intensive study later on. ………………………….
Therefore, the summer vacation should be utilized to its fullest to improve your studies in both quantity and quality. Let not a day pass without the “breath of life” provided by the “Torah of Life.” Let everyone have appointed times for the study of Chumash, Mishnah, Gemoro and so on, each one according to his or her standard to Torah education.
At this time, I wish everyone who is resolved to use his or her vacation in this productive “living” way – much success, both during their vacation, as well as on returning to normal activity in their studies thereafter.
With blessing,
