Igrot Kodesh · Letter 5138 — Faith & Bitachon

B"H

19 Shevat* 5717

Brooklyn, New York

To the women's branch of Brownsville and East New York

of the Yeshivos* Tomchei Temimim* Lubavitch,

may Hashem* grant you long life,

Blessings and greetings,

You have informed me that your annual banquet has been set for Wednesday of Parshas Mishpatim*, 21 Shevat 5717 (see note 1). Here is my response.

May Hashem grant that your gathering be fruitful, materially and spiritually, for among Jews these two dimensions are closely linked — especially when it involves providing concrete assistance to the Yeshivah*, which will have a spiritual impact on Torah, the fear of Hashem, and the practice of the mitzvos* in the finest manner.

Parshas Mishpatim (see note 2) sets forth, for the first time after the giving of the Torah, specific laws. One of its fundamental teachings is the following: the Torah and the mitzvos must be practiced with submission.

Indeed, all the children of Israel, near Mount Sinai, said: "We will do and then we will understand." For this reason, Parshas Mishpatim speaks first of the Jewish servant and the maidservant. It thus emphasizes that every Jew, man or woman, must be a servant of Hashem, with total submission and self-abnegation.

You also know what our Sages say: before the Torah was given, Hashem told Moshe* to address the women first and only afterward the men. Only the wholehearted help of a Jewish woman ensures the continuity of Torah study, the existence of Torah institutions, and proper education.

May Hashem help each one of you to develop your activity on behalf of the Yeshivah with increased ardor and self-dedication, to strengthen the foundations of Torah and mitzvos, each one in her home and in the influence exerted around it.

It is in this way that you will reveal the divine blessings, so as to know success in what concerns you personally, in the material and spiritual dimensions.

With my blessing to convey good tidings of all that has been said,

Notes

(1) The Rebbe writes Tav, Shin, Tov. This last word, with the numerical value of seventeen, means "good."

(2) In the week of which the banquet takes place.