I recently publicized a heartfelt request that everyone “Make for themselves a mentor,” and to encourage others to do the same. Even if you think you don’t need one, Torah commands that you appoint a mentor for yourself. More

I recently publicized a heartfelt request that everyone “Make for themselves a mentor,” and to encourage others to do the same. Even if you think you don’t need one, Torah commands that you appoint a mentor for yourself.

Follow the advice of the Mishna, which says: “Make for yourself a mentor” – you choose the mentor and you initiate the relationship. If you find it difficult because there is no one “good enough” for you – Torah does not ask more than you are capable of; the very fact that the Mishna demands it is proof positive that you can achieve it, if you only really want to.

Every person must find a mentor and seek his advice in personal matters. Which matters take precedence? Those areas in which the person himself knows that he is not acting correctly, or areas where one is unsure how to proceed. And out of love for your fellow Jew, encourage others to find their own mentor, as well.

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Evening prayers at 770 following a meeting of the Machne Israel Development Fund.

Your son-in-law is the only US Army chaplain stationed at his base at the present time. Let him have his good influence on the Jewish soldiers there, and on the non-Jewish soldiers as well – as Maimonides writes: At Sinai, the Jewish People were commanded to teach non-Jews about the commandments that apply to them.

Rabbi Heschel Ryzman, a Torah scholar and author of numerous Torah works, studied at the Lubavitcher Yeshivas in Warsaw and Otwock, Poland during the 1930s. He recalls the first time he saw the Rebbe.

Today, a myriad influences try to pull children in the wrong direction… But through our honest effort, even those who “bowed to the statue” and “indulged in the royal feast” – their children will study Torah, and the parents, too, will share in Torah’s light. More

Today, a myriad influences try to pull children in the wrong direction… But through our honest effort, even those who “bowed to the statue” and “indulged in the royal feast” – their children will study Torah, and the parents, too, will share in Torah’s light.

This will lead to ‘Joy – the Festivals.’ He will celebrate the day he was redeemed from Egypt, the day he received the Torah, and the day he leaves his home to sit in a Sukkah.

If someone will challenge him: “Your soul might enjoy the Sukkah, but your body is uncomfortable there…” He’ll respond: “No! ‘Gladness refers to circumcision’ – The Jew’s very body is elevated in an eternal bond with G-d.”

And if he is asked: “But you live amongst seventy nations! Won’t they humiliate you?” He will respond: “No! ‘Glory refers to Tefillin.’ When I’ll go out on the street, all the nations will see that I am proud of my Judaism, and they ‘will fear me!’”

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A new Torah dedicated in honor of the Rebbe’s wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, is brought out during the Morning Prayers at 770.

Mr. Aryeh Goral, Mayor of Haifa, Israel, visits the Rebbe: Elijah declared: “Do not dance on both sides of the fence.” That is even worse than idolatry. Therefore, today too – decide once and for all that the Land of Israel is not like other lands!

Dr. Elliot Udell, the Rebbe’s podiatrist, relates how he requested of the Rebbe to write a prayer that the Gulf War end in a week’s time, so that the holiday of Purim could be joyously celebrated.

The Midrash relates that when Mordechai learned of Haman’s wicked plot, he immediately gathered 22,000 Jewish children to study Torah with them. This caused a commotion on High, eliciting Divine mercy. More

The Midrash relates that when Mordechai learned of Haman’s wicked plot, he immediately gathered 22,000 Jewish children to study Torah with them. This caused a commotion on High, eliciting Divine mercy.

Mordechai was an adviser to the king. Had he nothing more important to do than busy himself with teaching Torah to small children?! But his success in guiding Esther properly, and Esther’s success in her pleading before Achashverosh, all began from Mordechai’s gathering the children and turning them into “Torah students.” It was this crucial event that brought about the Purim miracle.

No matter what the situation, you must see to it that every Jewish child studies Torah. Even if you are Chief Justice of the Jewish High Court – as Mordechai was in his time. As long there is a Jewish child who has no teacher, you have no choice – sit down and teach the child yourself!

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Morning Prayers on Purim at the Rebbe’s home on President Street.

The Rebbe instructs that charity be given as a source of blessing in all matters

Mr. Shimshon Stock headed the Chevra Simchas Shabbos V’Yom Tov charity fund for thirty years. As a teenager in the 1940s, he studied at the Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. During that time, he was privileged to study one-on-one with the Rebbe.

All of Torah and Mitzvos must be done joyously. Maimonides writes that a Jew must strive to emulate King David, who literally “hopped and danced before the L-rd.” More

All of Torah and Mitzvos must be done joyously. Maimonides writes that a Jew must strive to emulate King David, who literally “hopped and danced before the L-rd.”

Joy must permeate a child’s education. When a child studies Torah and performs Mitzvos with true delight, he inspires his parents to do the same. They are then empowered to go out into the world and stand strong for Jews and Judaism – not, G-d forbid, feeling inferior to non- Jewish culture or fearing non-Jews…

When Jews stand firm with the strength of Torah and Mitzvos – pleasantly and peacefully – then the entire world will come to follow G-d’s ways. The first step is the establishment of “G-d’s Legions” – the peaceful army of Jewish children who study G-d’s Torah and fulfill His Mitzvos with utmost joy.

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With electrifying energy, the Rebbe leads the Chassidim in a lively Niggun.

Reform Rabbi and author of Nine and a Half Mystics, Herbert Weiner, visits the Rebbe: “I believe you can now confess openly that you are an Orthodox Jew, and that you always were an Orthodox Jew even during those years that you were making speeches in a Reform temple.”

Reform Rabbi Herbert Weiner maintained a relationship with the Rebbe over the years, after having interviewed him twice in the 1950s. His interviews with the Rebbe are published in his book, Nine and a Half Mystics.

Many manuscripts of Maimonides’ Commentary to the Mishna show an illustration of the Holy Menorah in which each decorative goblet on the Menorah’s branches face upward. But Maimonides’ own handwritten sketch of the Menorah shows the exact opposite: They face downward. More

Many manuscripts of Maimonides’ Commentary to the Mishna show an illustration of the Holy Menorah in which each decorative goblet on the Menorah’s branches face upward. But Maimonides’ own handwritten sketch of the Menorah shows the exact opposite: They face downward.

The windows in the Holy Temple were narrow on the inside and wide on the outside, for their purpose was to shine Divine light outward to the world. So, too, the Menorah: its goblets were narrow at the top – at the source of the light, and they open toward this lower world.

When it comes to a Jew’s mission “to be a Menorah,” shining G-d’s light to the world, the windows of his home – and his soul – must resemble the windows of the Temple. He must make himself into a fitting vessel – even with little light for himself, he provides the widest light for a fellow Jew.

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“I shall sing hymns and weave melodies, for my soul longs for You. My soul desires Your shelter, to know all Your mystery.” The Rebbe taught this Niggun on Simchas Torah, 1961.

“May your nursing home be a true home for all the people there until Moshiach comes – with joy and happiness.”