The Importance of Education

I was instrumental in establishing a Lubavitch grammar school here in London.

During my first audience with the Rebbe, of righteous memory, the Rebbe told me, "It seems that you do not know what you accomplished [by establishing the school]."

He continued, "You should know that every mitzvah achieves something. When you establish an educational institution, the achievement goes on forever." This surprised me very much, at first.

The Rebbe explained, "Though a person moves on from this physical world, the education that he received is passed on to the next generation, and from that generation to the next…."

These were the Rebbe's parting words to me, and he bid me farewell.

Diamonds

Years later, I was also instrumental in establishing a Lubavitch boys' high school. During what was to be my last audience with the Rebbe, I told him that I could not continue financially maintaining the high school we had built up. The burden was, for the most part, resting all on my shoulders, and I felt that it was too much for one person.

The Rebbe smiled at me and said, "I will speak to you in the language of a businessman. Imagine you are dealing in diamonds. If you had a bag full of diamonds, and I placed some additional blue-white diamonds in there, would you complain?"

The Rebbe smiled again and said, "You are carrying diamonds. Never put them down; carry on."

I have carried the merit of maintaining schools for over forty years. If you would ask me how this is possible, I could not give you an explanation. It is all with the help of G‑d.