1A summary of the Rebbe’s words to the out-of-town students, in the presence of all of their mentors, before they left the Yeshivah for home at the end of the semester
Your teachers have no doubt spoken to you about what kind of conduct is expected of you at home, but I would now like to add a few brief words.
Every cheder and every Talmud Torah school and every yeshivah is a Beis HaMikdash in the Diaspora. Every beis midrash2 in which people study Torah and daven is our Beis HaMikdash. Indeed, the Sages teach that ever since the Destruction, “the only spot that the Holy One, blessed be He, has in His world is the four cubits in which halachah is being studied.”3 Your counselors and mentors4 are the kohanim who serve in this Beis HaMikdash, and you, the students, are its budding kohanim.5
The sacrificial service in the Beis HaMikdash is introduced by the words, אָדָם כִּי יַקְרִיב מִכֶּם קָרְבַּן לַה' – literally, “A man who shall bring from you an offering to G‑d…”6 [Now, the root of the verb ((קרב means both “to bring an offering” and “to draw near.” Moreover, the verse inverts the order of the key words: instead of “shall bring an offering from you,” as expected, the verse says, “shall bring from you an offering.” Hence the interpretation:7] “If you want to come close to G‑d and to the Torah, that step must come from you – it depends on you.”8
The windows in the Beis HaMikdash built by Shlomo HaMelech are described as being shkufim atumim – “[both] translucent and obscured.”9 Those who study Tanach know what that means; those who don’t study Tanach ought to do so. They will then understand the difference between the windows of the House of G‑d and the windows of a private house. Concerning the House of G‑d, the rhetorical question is asked: ““Does He need its light?!”10 Hence, the windows of the House of G‑d diffused light outward to the public domain, whereas the windows of a private home admit the light from outdoors into the house. You, who are privileged to be students of this Yeshivah, are obligated to carry its light outward, into the public domain. When will it be possible to say that you have understood this? – When you will in fact radiate the light of the Yeshivah out to the public domain.
Let me add another point to what your mentors have no doubt already told you. You will of course be vigilant in your observance of the mitzvos in general, and of the mitzvos of the upcoming festival [of Pesach] in particular. And just as there is a mitzvah to honor one’s parents, so too is there a mitzvah to honor one’s mentors. How can one tell whether you are observing the latter mitzvah? – When in the course of your journey homeward you think about us, and in particular about me, just as we, and in particular I, keep you in mind at every moment, thinking about how to enroll one more pupil in a Talmud Torah school. And now… [The continuation of this unedited summary is not extant.]
