Igrot Kodesh · Letter 6842 — Faith & Bitachon
Volume 18 · Letter 340 · To: participants du dîner annuel de
By the grace of Hashem,
5 Iyar* 5719,
Brooklyn, New York,
To the participants of the annual dinner of
the Yeshivah* Lubavitch of Newark,
may Hashem grant you long life,
I greet you and bless you,
On the occasion of the annual banquet of the Yeshivah* Lubavitch of Newark, which will take place on Sunday of Parshas* Behar* (note 1: 9 Iyar*), I send my wishes and my blessing to the dear guests and to all the participants. I hope that this seudas mitzvah* will bring the Yeshivah* much more than the help and support it expects, both morally and financially, through a great effort on the part of all the friends of the Yeshivah*.
We are currently during the period of the Omer*, which awakens in us the memory of our fathers. They, leaving the exile of Mitzrayim* to receive the Torah* on Mount Sinai, counted the days and weeks with longing and impatience (note 2: See, on this subject, letters nos. 6211, 6303, and 6855), in anticipation of the luminous day of the Giving of the Torah*. Now, it is fitting to reflect upon this episode, for the children of Yisrael*, leaving Mitzrayim*, did not yet know what the Torah* was, what it would represent for the Jewish people and for the individual. However, since that time, we Jews have perceived and understood that the Torah*, Torah* of life, is our entire life, that the Torah* and the mitzvos* illuminate the daily existence of each person and preserve us during the most difficult moments of exile.
At present, it is therefore self-evident that a Jew must feel all this — experience a sentiment of love and submission even stronger and deeper toward our holy Torah*.
The Sidrah* of the week of the banquet, that of Behar*, speaks of the mitzvah* of offering an entire year to Hashem every seven years, so that it be "a Shabbos* for Hashem." Jews must therefore renounce their personal interests and the activities of the land, in order to devote themselves for the entire year to Torah* and holiness. Simultaneously, our holy Torah* gives the assurance that Hashem will send His blessing in a supernatural manner, so that a single year will provide sustenance for three years. The same is true for the supernatural blessing that Hashem grants for every endeavor, for every act of self-sacrifice in all domains of holiness — in particular for supporting this institution of Torah* based on sacred values, the Yeshivah* Lubavitch of Newark, the pride of the Judaism of Newark and New Jersey. With my blessing for success,