6667 —הצעת מסירת קרקעות לחב"ד להקמת בתי ספר למלאכה בארץ הקודש

B"H, 29th of Teves, 5719
Brooklyn.

Mr. Mordechai, may he live long^[1]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

It was with pleasure that I received the letter written on your behalf by the long-standing Chassid, distinguished and honored, a man of many deeds, of fine character and of great energy, etc.^[2], Mr. A. Ben Nun^[3], may he live long, and its content:

That it is your good will to transfer land into the hands of Chabad, for the purpose of establishing vocational schools and housing for working trainees, boys and girls. This good will itself shows that there is no need to dwell at length on the great importance of a proper education for the young generation in the Holy Land, may it be built and established^[4], an education in the spirit of Chabad, founded within the framework of the teachings of Chassidus as a whole, on the watchword that love of G‑d, love of the Torah and love of Israel are one^[5].

No doubt further details will be written regarding the area in question and the suitability of the surroundings for establishing a vocational school^[6] of a particular type, or whether this makes no difference. What I mean is that several kinds of vocational schools require additional areas around the building, in order to be able to fulfill their task as required. And likewise the other details that bear on the matter itself.

And especially, in particular in light of section 3 of the letter mentioned^[7], that you are prepared to hand over part of the land for establishing the institutions now, this increases the need for these detailed particulars. In matters such as these, every further detail is all the more important.

May it be G‑d's will that the merit of this most exalted matter stand you in good stead for all that you need in general, and in particular for long and good days and years, and, in the style of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, of saintly and blessed memory, whose soul is in the hidden treasuries on High, may his merit protect us^[8]: good, in all the senses of the word^[9].

I heard from my father-in-law, the Rebbe, several times, that when two Jews meet, good comes about through this for yet another Jew as well, in addition to their own good^[10].

In keeping with this, I take the liberty of urging you to add in matters of Torah and mitzvos in your private life as well. In matters of goodness and holiness, which are infinite, however good the state of things may be, it is always possible to add, since a person cannot reach the end of something infinite. And if all these things hold true outside the Land, how much more so are they true in the Land which even all the inhabitants of the world call the Holy Land^[11].

And "one mitzvah brings another mitzvah in its train"^[12]: may your good will regarding your land bring in its train an increase in your spiritual concerns as well, the matters of the Torah, the "Torah of life", and its mitzvos, of which it is said, "and he shall live by them"^[13].

With respect and with blessings that you succeed in all your affairs, among them the fulfillment of your heart's wishes for good, in proper health and with long and good days and years.

M. Schneerson

Publisher's notes

Mr. Mordechai (מר מרדכי): Katz, Ra'anana.

On its content see also the following letter (6668).

Notes

1. Mr. Mordechai (מר מרדכי שי'): The publisher's note here reads "Katz, Ra'anana", but the publisher's notes to vol. 21, letter 8187, state: "The offer of… Epstein: as above, vol. 18, letters 6667–6668 (where 'Katz' was recorded by mistake)." He is Mordechai Epstein of Ra'anana, who wished to give land of his to Chabad for educational institutions. His offer was brought to the Rebbe in a letter written on his behalf by R. Aleksandr Zusya Bunin (see note 3). The Rebbe answered both of them on the same day: the donor himself in this letter, with thanks, blessing and a request for further details; and R. Bunin in the following letter, 6668 (in reply to his letter of 21 Teves on this matter), to which he enclosed this letter, and in which he set out the practical questions involved, which he did not wish to include in his letter to the donor. The matter continues in vol. 21, letter 8187 (26 Nissan 5719), to R. Bunin, on "the offer of Mr. Mordechai Epstein": the Rebbe asked Anash in the Holy Land to make contact with him, and the secretariat's letter there to Tzeirei Agudas Chabad in Tel Aviv says that he wishes "to give Chabad a plot of his land on which to build a suitable educational institution, with the study not only of the holy Torah but also of a trade".

2. The long-standing Chassid… of great energy (הוו"ח נו"נ רב פעלים בעל מדות ובעל מרץ): הוו"ח = הוותיק וחסיד, "the long-standing Chassid"; נו"נ = נעלה ונכבד, "distinguished and honored". "A man of many deeds" (רב פעלים) is from the verse about Benayahu ben Yehoyada, II Shmuel 23:20: "Benayahu the son of Yehoyada, the son of a valiant man, of many deeds".

3. Mr. A. Ben Nun (מר א. שי' בן נון): R. Aleksandr Zusya (in other letters: Zisel, Ziskind) Bunin, also called "Ben Nun", a Chabad Chassid and educator in Ra'anana, a former student of Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim (see letter 4468 to him), who together with his wife, Mrs. Tziporah, founded and ran the children's and youth home "Beitenu" in Ra'anana. It was he who wrote to the Rebbe on behalf of Mordechai Epstein, and to him the following letter was sent, in which the Rebbe sets out the questions involved; on further letters to him see there, note 2.

4. In the Holy Land, may it be built and established (באה"ק ת"ו): באה"ק ת"ו = בארץ הקודש תבנה ותכונן.

5. Love of G‑d, love of the Torah and love of Israel are one (אהבת השם, אהבת התורה ואהבת ישראל חד הן): Based on the well-known teaching of the Zohar (III 73a) that the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah and Israel are bound together, in the common phrase of Chassidus: "Israel, the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one"; hence the three loves, of G‑d, of the Torah and of Israel, are one as well. See Hayom Yom, 26 Adar I: "With three sacred tools – love of G‑d, love of the Torah, love of Israel – young men, sons of Torah, must go forth to work in the vineyard of G‑d of hosts"; and Hayom Yom, 28 Nissan, where the Alter Rebbe answered the Chassidim: "Love of G‑d and love of Israel are both engraved together in the soul of every Jew." This is the goal the Previous Rebbe set for the Tomchei Temimim yeshivos, as the Rebbe writes on the same day in letter 6669.

6. A vocational school (ביסל"מ): ביסל"מ = בית ספר למלאכה, a vocational school. In these years Chabad ran vocational schools in Kfar Chabad, where boys learned a trade together with Torah studies; see letter 4096 (6 Shevat 5716), where the Rebbe directs that the agricultural school too be run "as in the vocational school", with "the beginning of the day in prayer and in Torah studies". Here the Rebbe asks whether the land is suited to a vocational school of a particular type, as he goes on to explain.

7. Section 3 of the letter mentioned (סעיף ג' אשר במכתבו האמור): Section 3 of the letter R. Bunin wrote on the donor's behalf said that part of the land would be handed over already now; in the Rebbe's words in the following letter, "he is prepared to hand over part of the land for establishing institutions while he is still alive". Hence the details of the area and its surroundings are needed already now.

8. My father-in-law, the Rebbe… (כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע): כ"ק מו"ח אדמו"ר = כבוד קדושת מורי וחמי אדונינו מורנו ורבנו, the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn; זצוקללה"ה = זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה לחיי העולם הבא, "may the memory of the righteous and holy one be for a blessing, for the life of the World to Come"; נבג"מ = נשמתו בגנזי מרומים, "his soul is in the hidden treasuries on High"; זי"ע = זכותו יגן עלינו, "may his merit protect us".

9. Good, in all the senses of the word (טובות עם כל הפירושים): A saying of the Previous Rebbe in the name of his father, the Rebbe Rashab, as the Rebbe writes in letter 2050: "as the saying of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, in the name of his father, the Rebbe (Rashab): good, in all the senses". That is, good in every meaning of the word; as the Rebbe explains in letter 1673: "good in all the senses, that is, literally, in material things, and filled with Torah and mitzvah and the light within the Torah, which is the true good".

10. Good comes about… for yet another Jew as well (באה עי"ז טובה גם לעוד מבנ"י): עי"ז = על ידי זה; מבנ"י = מבני ישראל. The Rebbe cites the same saying in letter 5093: "according to the well-known saying that when two Jews meet, good must come of it not only for the two, but also for a third Jew". Here: from the bond formed between the recipient and the Rebbe in this matter, good should come to others – the young people who will be educated in the institutions – and to themselves as well; and so the Rebbe goes on to encourage the recipient in his private affairs too.

11. The Holy Land (ארץ הקדושה): עפי"ז = על פי זה; חו"ל = חוץ לארץ; עא"כ = על אחת כמה. "Which even all the inhabitants of the world call the Holy Land": the nations of the world, too, call the Land of Israel "the Holy Land".

12. One mitzvah brings another mitzvah in its train (מצוה גוררת מצוה): Avos 4:2: "Ben Azzai says: Run to do even a minor mitzvah (as a major one) and flee from transgression, for one mitzvah brings another mitzvah in its train." The mitzvah of giving the land for educational institutions should bring in its train an increase in Torah and mitzvos in his private life.

13. The "Torah of life"… "and he shall live by them" (תורת חיים… וחי בהם): "Torah of life" is the wording of the prayer (the blessing Sim Shalom): "for by the light of Your countenance You gave us, L‑rd our G‑d, the Torah of life". "And he shall live by them": Vayikra 18:5: "You shall keep My statutes and My ordinances, which a man shall do and live by them; I am the L‑rd." The Torah and mitzvos are a person's very life, so adding in them is adding life.

Summary

The Rebbe thanks a resident of Ra'anana for his offer, conveyed through R. Aleksandr Zusya Bunin, to give land to Chabad for vocational schools and housing for trainees, stresses the importance of a Chassidic education for the young generation in the Holy Land, and asks for details on whether the land suits the kind of school intended. Citing the Previous Rebbe's saying that a meeting of two Jews must bring good to others as well, he urges the donor to add in Torah and mitzvos in his own life, for one mitzvah brings another.