103 —הבדלים בחומרי אלף בית וחשיבות שמות הנקודות הנכונים

Shalom u'Vrachah! [5 Tishrei 5704]

We gratefully acknowledge receipt of the Alef Beis you sent us. Among other differences between the Alef Beis published by Melach and the one you sent, a main distinction is that in our Alef Beis, the vowels are marked by their names—kamatz, patach, etc.—whereas in the other Alef Beis, not only will a child never learn the true names of the vowels from it, but there they are called not by their own names but as if they are attached to letters. As this concerns the education in purity and holiness, you will surely understand its importance yourself.

See Tikunei Zohar, in the introduction and Tikun 70, for several teachings about the names of vowels; also see Zohar Chadash (Tikunim p. 99a in Warsaw print), where they are acronyms for angelic names. See Torah Or, beginning with "Osrei LaGefen," which explains "u'le'soreka bnei atono"—that "soreka" refers to the vowel shuruk; and Likkutei Torah's commentary on "Velo Tashbis," end of section 7 regarding the cholam vowel. And in several other places.

We are interested to know about the status of distributing Kuntres U'Maayan, and please inform us about this as well as regarding Hayom Yom.

With blessings for sealing and being sealed for good, immediately for teshuvah and immediately for redemption.

Summary

The Rebbe stresses that children should be taught vowel names correctly to preserve purity in education. He cites mystical sources on their significance and requests updates on spreading chassidic works like Kuntres U'Maayan and Hayom Yom.