By the Grace of G‑d
25th of Nissan 5739
Brooklyn, New York

To All Participants in the
National Founders’ Dinner of the
Rabbinical College of America
Morristown, N.J. 07960

Greeting and Blessing:

Having just celebrated Pesach, the Festival of Our Liberation, its impressions and inspiration are surely still fresh in our minds.

Pesach is the first of our Festivals - both historically and in significance. One of its eternal messages stems from the fact that it must always be celebrated in the "Month of Spring,” as the Torah repeatedly emphasizes (Exod. 13:4: 23:15: 34: 18: Deut. 16:1).

Our Sages note that the timing of the Exodus from Egypt in the Month of Spring - the most pleasant time of the year - is further evidence of G‑d's abiding graciousness. And that in addition to this, there is also a deeper significance: Our Festival of Liberation has much in common with the character of the Spring season, when Nature throws off the shackles of winter, as it were, and sprouts forth in all its refreshing greenery and productiveness, in a spurt of rebirth end renewal. All through the long winter Nature appears to be languishing, bereft of vitality; but actually, hidden under a layer of snow and ice, the roots and seeds are alive, and at the first sign of Spring, they quickly and vigorously spring forth and come to fruition.

So it was with our people. After centuries of languishing, being constrained and obscured by the harsh conditions of enslavement, the "roots and seeds" of our eternal heritage, going back to our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the founders of our Jewish nation, sprang forth with renewed vitality. Only seven weeks after the Exodus, freed and purified from the idolatry and abominations of their former taskmasters, our people stood at Mount Sinai and received the Divine Torah, thus attaining the height of spiritual freedom, without which their physical liberation would also have been incomplete.

As Spring reminds us that no matter how harsh the Winter, Spring is sure to come - so Pesach proclaims the eternal message that the free spirit of mankind cannot long be suppressed.

For us, Jews, the Festival of Our Liberation is intimately linked with our destiny and the Divine promise of complete and total redemption through our Righteous Moshiach.

Now, therefore, this is a time for reflection on the meaning of the Festival of Our Liberation and how it relates to each and everyone of us in practical terms in the everyday life. It reminds us that every individual has tremendous potential which has to be brought forth and actualized.

And the way to actualize this potential and bring it to fruition is through education - the kind of education that develops the innate G‑d-given qualities and capacities In accordance with the Divine Will, and produces worthy and useful men and women, “Good in the eyes of G‑d and man.”

This is what the Dinner event is all about. The Lubavitch Yeshivah Tomchei Tmimim/Rabbinical College of America in Morristown has earned enviable recognition for its dedication and high quality of education in the abovementioned spirit, and for the “fruits” and “fruits of fruits” which it has produced and continues to produce. It surely deserves the fullest support.

I extend heartfelt felicitations and prayerful wishes to each and everyone of you, and to the honored quests in particular. And, in the spirit of this season, I wish each and all of you, and yours, a. full measure of liberation from anxiety and distractions, materially and spiritually, to serve G‑d wholeheartedly and with joy, and enjoy G‑d’s blessings to the full.

With esteem and blessing
M. Schneerson