By the Grace of G‑d
Erev Yud Tes Kislev, 5724 [December 5, 1963]
Brooklyn, N.Y.

To All Participants in the Annual Dinner of the United Lubavitcher Yeshivos
G‑d Bless You

Greeting and Blessing:

This year's celebration follows closely after Yud Tes Kislev, the Liberation Day of the Old Rebbe, author of the Tanya and Shulchan Aruch, the founder of the Chabad (Lubavitch) movement, whose 150th yarhrzeit Anniversary' we are observing this year.

It is therefore to be expected that all participants will come to the Dinner full of inspiration, which will be expressed in concrete deeds to meet the financial needs of the United Lubavitcher Yeshivos in the fullest measure.

In one of his well-known letters, the Old Rebbe declares that the happy tidings of his liberation came to him when he was reading the verse (Psalms 55:19) "[G‑d] has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle against me, for many were with me."

This Providential coincidence surely carries a message for every one of us. Indeed, everybody is in need of a personal liberation from all the difficulties and hindrances encountered in the daily life, which hamper the attainment of the goals which should be attained every day — in both the material and spiritual endeavors.

Thus, our Sages of blessed memory make the following meaningful commentary on the said verse: "Said the Holy One, blessed be He: He who engages in Torah, and in acts of loving-kindness, and prays with the congregation, is regarded by Me as if he redeemed Me and My child from among the nations of the world" (Talmud, Berochos 8a).

In this way, our Sages emphasize that the personal redemption of every Jew, as well as of the Jewish people together with G‑d (so to speak), is directly linked with the dissemination of the Torah, acts of benevolence ("duties towards fellow-Jew"), and prayer ("duties towards G‑d").

The Annual Dinner in aid of the United Lubavitcher Yeshivos offers an opportunity of acquiring a share in all these three things, which are unified within these Yeshivos: the study of the Torah in its revealed as well as its inner aspects, leading to the love of G‑d and the fear of G‑d (as emphasized by the Rambam, beginning of Ch. 2 of Hilchos Yesodei haTorah), and inspiring the deeper sense of "congregational prayer," namely, congregating all one's thoughts and inner spiritual forces and uniting them with G‑d and with all Jews.

Thus: everyone, man or woman, who supports the United Lubavitcher Yeshivos particularly on the auspicious occasion of this Annual Dinner, becomes a partner in the said three things which, as mentioned above, bring liberation and redemption to the individual as well as to our people as a whole. May G‑d grant that everyone present should have the Zechus to fully avail himself, and herself, of this great opportunity.

With blessing for utmost success,