The portion of the letter below forms the body of the introduction to the Shavuos kuntres sent to the chassidim in 5710.1
..A year ago today, the Rebbe [Rayatz] wrote [a letter]2 to the members of the chassidic brotherhood and students of the Tomchei Temimim Yeshivah3 who had settled in the Holy Land. He dated the letter as follows: “Friday afternoon, erev Shabbos Kodesh of the week in which we read,4 ‘When you come into the Land..., the Land shall observe a Sabbath unto G‑d.’”
In it the Rebbe [Rayatz] informs them, “I have directed the administration of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch to send you a Sefer Torah,” and expresses his hope that receiving it will serve:
as a constant reminder in your minds and in your hearts to structure your private and public lives entirely according to the Torah, as we have been taught to do by our holy forebears, the Rebbeim, whose souls are in Eden. May this Sefer Torah remind you to educate your sons and daughters in its ways without any compromise, and to disseminate its spirit, the spirit of our Patriarch Yaakov,5 over your fellow Jews — over both those who are near at hand and those who are momentarily distant — by inspiring them and guiding them along the path that leads up to the House of G‑d. This is the path of Torah study with a G‑d-fearing spirit, and the path of loving and meticulous observance of the mitzvos. May you guide your brethren along this path out of a feeling of real kinship that springs from the love of one’s fellow Jew, and from the characteristically chassidic traits that accord with the teachings of Chassidus.6
May every man and woman among you serve as a lamp to light up the darkness of exile — in which you and we find ourselves — with the light of G‑d, until He fulfills the promise conveyed through His holy prophets, and lets us hear the voice of the herald who will bring tidings of salvation.7 “For8 G‑d has comforted His people,” and He will proceed before us to gather in our exiles and liberate us with an everlasting Redemption.
We receive the Torah every single day, and every single day we bless Him Who gives us the Torah9 — for He gives it to us every day.10 Nevertheless, [this applies] particularly on the festival of Shavuos, [which is] the “time of the Giving of the Torah” for the entire year.
On this festival, as well as on the days before and after it, we should meditate deeply upon the words of the Rebbe [Rayatz] quoted above in a way that gives rise to positive results throughout the year, in all the areas enumerated in his letter.
The appeal of the Rebbe [Rayatz] — which he cried out to us from his innermost soul — should constantly resound in our ears and minds and hearts:11 “What are people waiting for? The
Redemption is being held up! It’s already past noon on erev Shabbos!”
Menachem Schneerson
Friday afternoon, erev Shabbos Kodeshof the week in which we read,
“When you come into the Land...,
the Land shall observe a Sabbath unto G‑d,”
5710 [1950]12
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