4233 —עידוד להרחיב שיעורי תורה וללמד הלכה למעשה

B"H, 17 Nissan, 5716.

Brooklyn.

Havav"ch iy"a nu"n oseik b'tzt"z HaRav Chaim Zeratzky

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In response to your letter from the 8th of Nissan, in which you write about your sacred work in the public Talmud Torah in your neighborhood, and that the classes are increasing both in quantity and quality. May it be the will of the Blessed One that you will not be satisfied with your work up until now and that you will strengthen yourself according to your ability; through this, success from Above will increase many times over, as our Sages say: "A person sanctifies himself a little below..."

How fortunate you are that Divine Providence has placed you in a position to teach Torah to Jewish children. Surely you do so by first introducing external keys—'the beginning of wisdom is fear of Hashem'—by saying words of inspiration before those who hear your teachings, and by giving lessons in the halachos they need for daily life. In most cases, specifically those who learn deep subjects in Shas and Poskim and Rishonim are lacking more in knowledge of practical halachos. Additionally, as our Sages say: "An error in learning is considered...", and it is obvious there is no shame in this G‑d forbid. It is well known that many great leaders of Israel had fixed times for learning practical halachos—halachah l'maaseh—and this is stated both in the Written Torah and repeated in the Oral Torah, as it says: 'Es HaElokim yira...' (Fear G‑d...) for this is the whole person; as our Sages say: 'Not study but action is primary.' To elaborate on what is already understood would be superfluous; I only write this to counter those who err or mislead others. Certainly this applies all the more so in our holy land where many laws specific to Eretz Yisrael have been added.

Blessings for good news regarding all the above.

Because of the sanctity of the festival, my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe shlita, did not sign personally; I am signing on his behalf.

The Secretary

P.S. Surely you know about the three daily study portions established by my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe zatzal—Chumash, Tehillim, and Tanya—which are well known. At least from now on you should keep them regularly.

Summary

The Rebbe encourages educators not to rest on their achievements but to continually expand their efforts—especially by teaching practical halachah alongside deeper studies—and reminds them of the importance of daily study cycles like Chumash, Tehillim, and Tanya.