This letter was addressed to R. Yechezkel Shraga Lipshitz-Halberstam, who later became the Stropkover Rebbe.

ב"ה,
29 Sivan, 5711,
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greetings and blessings,

In response to your letter of Wednesday of Parshas Behaalos’cha in connection with your efforts for hachnasas kallah [“providing for a bride”] for [the marriage of] R. ….

Enclosed is my contribution toward those expenses.

May it be G‑d’s will that the marriage be in a good and auspicious hour and that they build a house in Israel on the foundations of the Torah and its mitzvos.

Please communicate my blessings to the families involved.

With blessings of Mazel tov,

A note with regard to the concept of hachnasas kallah, “providing for a bride”:

I was asked about the wording [of the Beraisa1 recited daily at the conclusion] of the Morning Blessings: “These are the precepts for whose observance man enjoys fruits in this world…: They are: … providing for a bride,…. And the study of the Torah is equivalent to them all.” [There is an apparent difficulty,] because Torah study should be neglected for the sake of providing for a bride. (See Sdei Chemed, Asifas Dinim, Chassan Vekallah 22. [Thus, seemingly, providing for a bride takes precedence over Torah study. Why then is Torah study considered equivalent to all the other mitzvos?] I found this question in the responsa of Maharam Schick, Orach Chayim, responsum 2.)

This concept can, however, be explained satisfactorily based on the statements of the Alter Rebbe in his Hilchos Talmud Torah 4:3: “[The following principles apply] if one has the option of performing a mitzvah or studying the Torah…. If the mitzvah [confronting a particular individual] cannot be performed by others… one should interrupt his studies to observe the mitzvah…. If one does not conduct himself in this manner, he will have studied without intending to observe.”2 Thus if one does not neglect his studies to perform a mitzvah, he is taking away from his Torah study. [Accordingly,] he must neglect his studies in order to raise [the level of] his studies themselves. [If so, the fact that Torah study is neglected for the sake of providing for a bride] does not contradict the statement that “the study of the Torah is equivalent to them all.”