This letter was addressed to R. Aharon HaKohen Katz.

B”H, 17 Teves, 5711,
Brooklyn

Greetings and blessings,

Our friend, your brother, the faithful chassid R. Yaakov HaKohen sent us your check for $100 [to be distributed] at my discretion. I divided it into four portions: maamad,1 [our] work in [North] Africa, lishkas chasha’im,2 and Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch. You will receive the receipts with this letter.

With regard to maamad, Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, and lishkas chasha’im, I will refrain from writing to you [about these] because I am certain that you are familiar with this work. Here, I would like to focus on the new development of our work in [North] Africa which you will certainly be happy to learn about.

Several weeks before the passing of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, הכ"מ, when he was discussing the work of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch [carried out] through its office3 to aid refugees in Europe, my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, הכ"מ, told me: “There is, may there be no influence of ayin hara,4 a large community of Jews in North Africa, with many boys and girls, may their numbers increase. The poverty there, may it not be visited upon us, is very great. Therefore, it appears to me that, as a result, the large majority of them do not receive any education, although they are all absolutely G‑d-fearing. Hence, we must begin working there. This is particularly true because the cost of living there is relatively inexpensive and with a little money, it is possible to achieve much. Moreover, [our Sages taught:] ‘Whoever maintains one Jewish soul is considered as if he maintained the entire world.’”5

On the basis of the directive of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe,הכ"מ, we immediately began surveying the situation in North Africa. In the beginning of the summer, we sent our representative to familiarize himself with the situation first hand. In the middle of the summer, our representative journeyed there and began our work, preparing the ground, organizing educational institutions appropriate for that land, etc. Our representative is still there, carrying out the work in an ongoing manner.

It is obvious that the work is disrupted to a great degree because of a lack of money. The heart is pained to an even greater degree when one contemplates that with only a few additional dollars, so much more could be achieved. For example, the education of one child for a month in yeshivah costs between eight and nine dollars, and one to one and a half dollars in the Talmud Torah.6 This includes the wages for the teacher, rental of a facility, and giving a meal once or twice a day.

Without paying attention to the lack of money and calling to mind the directive of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, הכ"מ, we took out various loans: and as is known, we have already [established] a teachers’ institute there (to train teachers who are native to that land, so that the children will not have difficulty [comprehending their] language), a Yeshivah Gedolah, a Talmud Torah for boys, a Talmud Torah for girls, and evening classes for craftsmen and workers who are busy during the day. And negotiations are being carried out regarding opening an entire network of Talmud Torahs in 20 or 30 different cities.

All the institutions that we have established and will establish — with G‑d’s help — carry the all-encompassing name Oholei Yosef Yitzchak-Lubavitch. We see that at every step, the efforts are crowned with success and my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe,הכ"מ, is carrying on [with his work] now as well. We will all surely benefit from the great merit of participating in these efforts and will carry out our share [of the responsibility] with G‑d’s help.

I hope that everything is going well for you. I asked you to convey greetings to Mr. Yitzchak Spalter (whose letter I answered some time ago) and also to your butcher, Mr. Rivkin.

I hope to hear good tidings from you.

With blessing,

Menachem Schneerson

Enclosed is the recently published kuntres for 9 Teves, the day on which the eleven months from the passing [of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe] were concluded, and also a letter that is connected with that kuntres.7