6940 —גישה דיפלומטית לצירוף בתי ספר וגיוון חינוכי

Shalom u'Vrachah!

Regarding the proposal to merge the schools so that everything would be in one place—it is clear that there is no room for this at all. One must absolutely avoid this, but do so diplomatically, without offending anyone's honor or even their sense of self.

There are several reasons for this: There is no demand or reason to dissolve one community, G‑d forbid, and merge it with another. Similarly, in the above matter, there should be no compulsion for the public to adopt a single educational program for everyone. On the contrary, there should be several programs—all, of course, according to Torah and holiness—so that each person can choose what suits him best (the proof: in Kfar Chabad itself they established a Talmud Torah, a yeshivah, a Beit Sefer LeMelacha, an agricultural school, and more—even though all are Chabad chassidim. How much more so in a large city...).

Everyone agrees that there can be several synagogues in one neighborhood if the prayer rites differ; similarly with education—some prefer studying Mishnah or Gemara, breadth or depth, practical law or Torah lishmah, and so on. The less discussion and debate about this issue and the less emphasis placed on making it a principle matter—the better it will be for maintaining good and pleasant relations in the future.

Summary

The Rebbe teaches that educational diversity is valuable and merging institutions is unnecessary. Diplomacy and respect for differing approaches foster harmony within the community.