By the Grace of G‑d,
24 Kislev, 5735,
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Blessings and Greetings!

I was pleased to have received your letter with the good tidings that you have started to light a candle for Shabbos. And you should certainly light a candle for Yom Tov as well.

Even though you have not yet reached the age of Bas Mitzvah, the Mitzvah of Chinuch (education) - being guided and accustomed to performing Mitzvos - begins at a very young age in the life of a Jew. Great is education, for it is not merely a preparation for when one is the age of [being responsible for performing] Mitzvos, i.e., Bar Mitzva and Bas Mitzva; rather, it sets the foundation for one’s entire life. And as the wisest of all men [King Shlomo] said, “Educate a young person according to his way, and when he grows old he will not depart from it” (Mishlei, 22, 6). It is understood, that even though the verse states, “young person,” (in the masculine form of the noun), it also means young girls and little girls, as is such in several verses in the Torah.

(Excerpt)

(Igros Kodesh Vol. XXX, p. 60)