This letter is addressed to R. Moshe Zalman Feiglin, pioneer of the Lubavitch community of Australia.

B”H, Yud-Tes Kislev, the holiday of our redemption
and the deliverance of our souls, 5711,
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greetings and blessings,

I received your letter from the day preceding Rosh Chodesh Kislev in which you inform [me] that the wedding of your granddaughter Esther will be held on Yud-Tes Kislev.

In addition to the telegram that I sent you, I would like to express my blessing again in writing: Mazel Tov! Mazel Tov! May [the wedding] be [held] in a good and auspicious hour, [leading to the establishment of] an eternal structure and “a generation of upright [offspring] who shall be blessed.”1 May you, the parents of the bride, and the entire family derive abundant satisfaction; [and may it be] Jewish satisfaction and chassidic satisfaction.

My revered father-in-law, the Rebbe,הכ"מ, once said at a farbrengen that a person’s sheleimus, the complete realization of his potential, is expressed in the third generation, in his grandchildren, as alluded to in the verse:2 “The three-ply cord is not easily severed,” and in our Sages’ statement3 that when Torah study is upheld [by a family] for three generations, [the promise of the verse:4 “My words...] will not depart from your mouth...” will be fulfilled.

Although I do not know your granddaughter personally, I can judge from your letter and from the descriptions I receive from Australia about your work and the way of life you and your family follow, [that there are grounds to be] hopeful that in this instance, the above-mentioned verse and quote of our Sages is relevant. This brings fulfillment for your own self, [showing] that — with G‑d’s help — you were able to raise your children in the Jewish path. And this involves not only your children. Instead, their education was such [that it motivated them] to also raise their children in the Jewish path.

This is especially noteworthy in the time of exile and particularly in these years when darkness is so thick, and even more so, in a country which has been far away from the centers of Torah for so many years. To carry out [the responsibilities] that a Jew must fulfill in such a situation is connected with mesirus nefesh, self-sacrifice, which was transferred as an inheritance from one’s parents and forebears.

I am certain that you, your children, and your entire family will persist in continuing your work to make Australia a place for Torah and Chassidus through yeshivos and through other kosher educational institutions in general, for both boys and girls, and [insuring] that this entire undertaking will be permeated by chassidic light and warmth.

I conclude with the blessing that the “Rosh HaShanah for Chassidus and the ways of Chassidus” should bring you and your entire family a kesivah vachasimah tovah belimud haChassidus vedarchei haChassidus, that they be inscribed and sealed for success in the study of Chassidus and [observance of] the ways of Chassidus.” As a natural consequence, this will bring blessing and success, as my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe,הכ"מ, concludes his letter,5 in “all that you need in material and spiritual matters.”

With blessings of Mazel Tov,

Menachem Schneerson