Igrot Kodesh · Letter 9143

By the grace of Hashem,

Sunday of Parshat Bamidbar* 5726,
Brooklyn, New York,

To all the participants at the annual dinner of the Oholei Torah* school,
may Hashem grant you long life,

I greet and bless you,

This year your dinner takes place the day following Shabbat* Parshat Bamidbar, a few days before Shavuot, the time of the giving of our Torah, and there is a lesson, a teaching, in this for this annual celebration in benefit of the educational institution Oholei Torah[1]. According to the teaching of the Geonim*, we always read Parshat Bamidbar before Shavuot[2]. This portion opens with the census of the children of Israel conducted in the Sinai Desert. For this reason, the entire book of Bamidbar is called[3] "the Chumash* of the Counts"[4].

One of the explanations for this is as follows. Before the giving of the Torah[4], all Jews needed to be counted in order to demonstrate their belonging to the people of Israel. Indeed, each one possesses a portion of the Torah, and every Jewish soul is bound to the holy Torah. Every Jew — Moshe our teacher no less than the most humble man — is counted as one unit, no more and no less. For in the deepest aspect of their soul, all are identical, beloved of Hashem, His children, as chapter 32 of the Tanya* explains: "All are analogous and have one Father"[4].

This means that one can never set aside a Jew, Heaven forbid, regardless of his situation with respect to Torah and Mitzvot. The awareness of the elevation of a Jewish soul, of the fact that all together constitute the nation of Israel and that Hashem is the Father of each one, is the means of preparing to receive the Torah with joy and in depth.

One must remember that the Torah was given only after children were offered as guarantors, when it was proclaimed that they would study it and observe it[5]: "Our children shall be our guarantors"[4]. It is therefore fundamental to give them an education fully grounded in the Torah. The approach of this education should be as follows: the educators will implant in the childlike hearts of the students the love of Torah and the fear of Hashem, as well as the love of Hashem and the love of one's fellow, in accordance with the teaching that "all are analogous and have one Father"[4]. And the heads of households will be conscious of the responsibility and the merit that falls to them — the responsibility and merit of providing the means to dispense this education grounded in sacred values, so that no child remains outside it, Heaven forbid.

There is every reason to hope that all those who participate in the annual celebration of the educational institution Oholei Torah[4] will fully appreciate their responsibility and merit toward this school, ensuring that it fulfills all expectations in every domain and in the broadest possible manner, so that success remains perceptible throughout the year. With my respects and my blessing for success,

M. Schneerson,

Notes

[1] See Likkutei Sichot, vol. 8, p. 231.
[2] See the Tosafot* on tractate Megillah* 31b; the Rambam*, Laws of Prayer, ch. 13 §2; the Tur* and Shulchan Aruch*, Orach Chaim*, ch. 428 §4.
[3] Tractate Yoma* 68b, ch. 7, and Rashi's commentary there. Tractate Sota 36b.
[4] The Rebbe emphasizes the words: "Chumash of the Counts," "giving of the Torah," "all are analogous and have one Father," "our children shall be our guarantors," "all are analogous and have one Father," and "Oholei Torah."
[5] According to the Midrash Shir Hashirim Rabba*, ch. 1 §4.