1574 —האברך שלום דוב, השתתפות בארגון הזרם בלתי זרמי

B"H, 24 Iyar, 5712.

Brooklyn.

HaAvrech HaVavac"h Iy"a Nu"n etc. Shalom Dov Lipschitz

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In response to your letter from the 16th of Iyar, in which you write about your participation in the work to organize the unaffiliated stream, and surely by now my letter has arrived—my response to the committee’s letter regarding my perspective on their work and organizing this network—and certainly your activism is in this direction.

I was especially pleased with your involvement in this matter, and I have strong hope that not only will it not diminish your Torah study, but that you will fulfill the Alter Rebbe’s assurance (Torah Ohr at its beginning) that through involvement in tzedakah (in material matters and certainly even more so in spiritual matters), one’s mind and heart become a thousand times more refined. As explained in the glosses to this discourse (printed in Likkutei Torah for three parshiyos), a thousand times is not an exaggeration but literally a thousand times—meaning that in one hour he succeeds in his learning (his mind) as he would normally succeed over a thousand hours; likewise, in prayer and Ahavas Yisrael (his heart), he becomes a thousand times more refined as above.

And during these days before Shavuos—the time of the giving of our Torah—according to what is told in Midrash Rabbah, those who guaranteed the acceptance of the Torah, which led Hashem to decide to give it to His people Israel, were specifically the children. Therefore, it is obvious that involvement in educating children is what helps us receive the Torah with joy and inwardness (such was the blessing language of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe zatzal, on Erev Shavuos).

With blessings for a joyous holiday and success in Torah study with awe of Heaven.

Summary

The Rebbe teaches that involvement in organizing Jewish education for children brings immense spiritual benefit without detracting from one’s own Torah study. Such efforts are especially meritorious before Shavuos when we prepare to receive the Torah anew.