49 —ארגון שעת לימודי דת ביום רביעי עבור ילדי בית הספר

Shalom u'Vrachah! Seventh of Shevat, 5715.

Honored Haraha"g vaharaha"ch iy"a vavac"h verav hafe'alim etc. etc. Mahara"r... Shalom u'Vrachah!

There is no answer yet to your letter to the Rebbe shlita and the 'Merkaz L'Inyanei Chinuch' with your proposal regarding the Wednesday free hour for the schoolchildren: The Rebbe shlita forwarded your letter to us and urged us to act on this. We have contacted certain people who promised to take action. We have already prepared the notes, and you have surely received them by now. Certainly, you will send us a report about our 'Beit Rivkah,' which is under your administration, as we discussed by phone. A sample is enclosed.

In these days—days of harsh decrees like those of Haman, as our Sages said (Sanhedrin 97b)—the advice given by our Sages (Bava Metzia 85a) is to teach Torah to the children of the unlearned and to bring sinners back in repentance, as explained by Targum and Rashi on the verse in Yirmiyahu there, that they nullify the decree. And each person must see himself as if the world is half meritorious and half guilty. Through his good deeds he tips the world toward merit and brings salvation and rescue, as stated by Rambam in Hilchot Teshuvah 3:4.

With blessings for immediate repentance and immediate redemption from the copy.

Summary

The Rebbe encourages organizing religious study hours for children in secular schools, stressing that teaching Torah and inspiring teshuvah can nullify harsh decrees. Every individual's good deeds can tip the world toward merit and bring salvation.