6554 —הגדלת שעות לימודי הקודש בישיבה הנקראת על שם כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר

B"H, 14th of Marcheshvan, 5719

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

...And now I come to the matter of the yeshivah... which is named for my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, may the memory of the righteous and holy be a blessing for the life of the World to Come, whose soul is in the hidden treasuries on high, may his merit protect us: apparently, אין איש שם על לב "no one takes it to heart" (Yeshayahu 57:1; cf. Yirmeyahu 12:11) that the Torah studies of a class last from an hour to an hour and a half a day! And it is understood with what they are occupied the whole rest of the day. Is it on this, then, that my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe's name is to be called?

As has been my way all along, I do not come with complaints about the past, for what would that help, but only regarding the present and the future. Nor do I mean that the moment my letter is received they should begin to study the above all the hours of the day and night, but that they should immediately make a plan of action in such a way that there is a near-certain estimate that in the near future they will increase the number of hours of study as mentioned, and add to it more and more, until the institution is worthy of its name. And it is understood that you have the permission and the privilege to make what is written here known to all our fellow Chassidim in... and to all those of whom one may hope that some benefit will come when they know of what is written here, with added explanation, that there is no difficulty whatever in attaining what is sought, and the matter depends only on their knowing that this is their task and that it rests on the shoulders of each of them. And in the style of the Mishnah, ובעל הבית דוחק והפועלים עצלים "the Master of the house presses, and the workers are lazy" (Avos 2:15; here in reversed order), the Master of the house, that is, of the whole world... But one must add that my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, arouses abundant mercy and draws down blessing and success, and they need only make suitable vessels for it (see Devarim 15:18 and Sifri there), and this is easy to understand.

As to what you write about the salary, word has reached me from the side, although of course I do not vouch for it, that the salary in such places (at least in an institution similar to the above) is... You will surely let me know about this. After all, on the satisfaction of "all of us," as you put it in your letter, depends whether more avrechim will come there, for חברא חברא אית ליה "a friend has a friend" (cf. Bava Basra 39a), and when word comes that so-and-so is hard pressed and straitened in his livelihood, etc., etc., the matter becomes known, and the consequences are easy to understand...

With blessing for good news in all the above.

Summary

This letter protests that a yeshivah named for the Previous Rebbe offers only an hour or so of Torah study a day, and asks for an immediate plan to keep increasing the hours until the institution is worthy of its name, a responsibility that rests on everyone. It adds that adequate salaries matter, since word of hardship spreads and deters other avrechim from coming.