357 —ברכות בר מצוה, קרבן העומר, ותמיכה לישיבות

B"H, 14 Nissan 5708.

Haraha"ch vavach" iy"a nu"m etc. Mehorach"e

Shalom u'Vrachah!

a) I acknowledge receipt of his letter from the 18th of Adar Sheni, and in the meantime he has surely received my letters from the 24th of Adar Sheni with the enclosed booklet for the 2nd of Nissan and a letter to Harav Shlomo Yosef Zevin. b) From Weinberg a note was received here. c) Enclosed is a booklet for Pesach which has just been published, and without doubt he will merit to share it with the public. d) I have received information that one of our friends succeeded in having the Vaad HaYeshivot in Chicago grant Yeshivat Tomchei Temimim five hundred [currency] here in addition to what was previously given. e) Surely you have heard that Rabbi Saratzkin received here from the Joint Distribution Committee immediately upon his arrival one hundred thousand dollars for the yeshivot in Eretz HaKodesh, aside from what he has collected since then in institutions and elsewhere.

f) I express my blessings for the bar mitzvah of his son, the Avrech Eliyahu David, which will take place on the 16th of Nissan, the day of harvesting the Omer. It is known that harvesting the Omer—barley, which is animal food—begins "when you put the sickle to the standing grain," at a time when one's soul is upright. The Tzedukim (Sadducees), who follow their own intellects, say that a person cannot perform this service except on "the morrow after Shabbat," when beforehand his world is elevated and there is no room for waste; "your Shabbat" is not stated except when one is not previously engaged in matters of food preparation where there might be concern for waste. As ruled in Shulchan Aruch Siman 529: one must stand guard so as not to sin—especially according to those who permit carrying from private to public domain even when not necessary. But this is not the way of Bnei Yisrael who accept upon themselves the yoke of Heaven; whether close to Shabbat or if his body is most refined so he can ascend as he is to Heaven or if he is ruddy and has no life-force on his own at all—he serves through establishing a yoke of teshuvah and Torah; even Torah wisdom and understanding are with awe and standing.

I must be brief due to the sanctity of this day. May it be His will that you see much nachas and delight from this son and all your family in every detail with abundance.

Summary

The Rebbe writes about communal efforts supporting Torah institutions, shares insights into spiritual service connected with Pesach and Sefirat HaOmer, and blesses a family on their son's bar mitzvah with abundant nachas and spiritual growth.