This letter was addressed to R. Kalmen Katlowitz.

B”H, 6 Adar I, 5711,
Brooklyn

Greetings and blessings,

I derived great satisfaction from your detailed report concerning the Beis Rivkah School in Crown Heights. I am jotting down some notes here that are relevant to this report:

a) With regard to what you wrote, that you are endeavoring to have the children become accustomed to learning certain terms in lashon hakodesh1 while speaking in the popular tongue, i.e., the language of this country: Behold, training the child to mix two languages in his speech seemingly [is counterproductive, because one language] disrupts the familiarity with the other.

b) With regard to the children’s morning prayers: I don’t understand the place of the hymn Adon Olam there. Certainly, you have the publication Berachos U’Tefillos that was published. See the morning blessings for young children on page 2 there.

c) The blessings over foods that you mentioned do not include commonly [recited] blessings like borei pri ha’etz, borei pri haadamah, etc., and also [not] b’rich rachmana.2

d) Your report does not mention if the children are being trained in good manners, e.g., conduct during a meal, etc., helping a friend, etc.

e) It would be proper to do something to recall the Afternoon Service before the end [of the school day], for example, to recite the verse:3 “Open Your hand” and the three verses recited after Aleinu:4 “Do not fear....”

You are certainly aware of the extent to which my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, sacrificed himself for the sake of proper Jewish education and strengthening Judaism even with regard to the most basic matters, even though he could have used his time studying the secrets — indeed, “the secrets of secrets” — of the Torah. This is a lesson for each one of us. It is superfluous to elaborate.

Certainly, you will also add power to your educational efforts and your influence on your students and those whom you guide even while they are in their parents’ homes, to illuminate them with the light of the Torah and its mitzvos in a manner appropriate with our Sages’ statement:5 “Words that come from the heart enter the heart.” The meaning of this is straightforward: speaking with heartfelt feeling.

With blessings for success in your work in Jewish education and in your personal matters,