6779 —סיום ספר תורה בישיבה: הקשר בין התורה וישראל, ותורת חיים בחיי היום יום

B"H, 20 Adar II^[1], 5719
Brooklyn, N.Y.

To the esteemed Committee of the Siyum of the Sefer Torah,
Rabbinical College in Newark^[2],
may G‑d be with them, may they live

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I was pleased to receive the news of the siyum of the Sefer Torah that will take place, G‑d willing, this coming Sunday^[3]. May G‑d, may He be blessed, grant that it be at a good and successful hour, and may the merit of the mitzvah stand by all the participants.

Our Sages, of blessed memory, compare the greatness of the holy Torah with the greatness of the Jewish people, and emphasize the bond between the two, so that the one cannot do without the other; and that is why it is said so often in the holy Torah, "Speak to the children of Israel", "Command the children of Israel", and the like^[4].

When the siyum of a Sefer Torah is conducted by a yeshivah, the bond of the Jewish people with the Torah is emphasized still more; for the purpose of a yeshivah is, after all, to educate Jews who will understand how properly to appreciate the holiness, the greatness and the depth of the Divine Torah, not only in the heart and in the mind, but also – and this, after all, is the main thing – in actual deeds: to fulfill Torah and mitzvos in everyday life.

May G‑d, may He be blessed, grant success to the yeshivah in its holy work of educating students who will always remember that the Torah is "our life and the length of our days"^[5]; for the Torah is called Toras Chaim^[6] – "Torah" from the term hora'ah^[7], direction and teaching, and "Chaim", life, in its plain sense: in everyday life. Consequently the Torah and mitzvos bring an inexhaustible source of blessings from the Giver of the Torah, both to those who study the Torah and to those who support the Torah, for them and for their families, materially and spiritually alike.

With respect and with blessing,

M. Schneerson

Publisher's notes

Printed: in Likkutei Sichos vol. 16, p. 571.

Notes

1. 20 Adar II (כ' אדר ב'): 20 Adar II 5719 was Monday, 30 March 1959.

2. Rabbinical College in Newark (ראביניקאל קאללעדזש אין נוארק): The Chabad-Lubavitch yeshivah founded in 1956 in a private house in Newark, New Jersey; in 1971 it moved to Morristown, and it is known as the Rabbinical College of America.

3. This coming Sunday (קומענדיקן זונטיק): אי"ה = אם ירצה השם, "G‑d willing"; השי"ת = השם יתברך. The coming Sunday was 26 Adar II, 5 April 1959.

4. "Speak to the children of Israel", "Command the children of Israel", and the like (דבר אל בני ישראל, צו את בני ישראל אד"ג): אד"ג = און דאס גלייכן, "and the like". See Bereishis Rabbah 1:4, where the Torah and Israel are counted among the things that preceded the creation of the world: the Torah was created, and Israel "arose in thought to be created"; and there: "R. Huna and R. Yirmiyah said in the name of R. Shmuel bar R. Yitzchak: the thought of Israel preceded everything… Had the Holy One, blessed be He, not foreseen that after twenty-six generations Israel would receive the Torah, He would not have written in the Torah, 'Command the children of Israel', 'Speak to the children of Israel'." The Torah was written from the outset as a Torah for Israel, which is why it repeats "Speak to the children of Israel", "Command the children of Israel".

5. "Our life and the length of our days" (היא חיינו ואורך ימינו): From the blessing Ahavas Olam in the evening prayer: כי הם חיינו וארך ימינו ובהם נהגה יומם ולילה, "for they are our life and the length of our days, and on them we will meditate day and night" (there in the plural, of the words of the Torah and the mitzvos); and from the verse Devarim 30:20: כי הוא חייך וארך ימיך, "for He is your life and the length of your days".

6. Toras Chaim (תורת-חיים): From the blessing Sim Shalom in the Amidah: כי באור פניך נתת לנו ה' אלקינו תורת חיים ואהבת חסד, "for by the light of Your countenance You gave us, L‑rd our G‑d, the Torah of life and love of kindness".

7. "Torah" from the term hora'ah (תורה פון לשון הוראה): See Zohar III, 53b: תורה, אמאי אקרי תורה, בגין דאורי וגלי במה דהוה סתים דלא אתידע, "Torah – why is it called Torah? Because it instructs and reveals what was hidden and unknown."

Summary

To the committee of a siyum of a Sefer Torah at the Rabbinical College in Newark, the Rebbe sends his blessing. The Sages bind the greatness of the Torah with the greatness of the Jewish people, and a siyum in a yeshivah, whose purpose is Torah carried into daily deeds, stresses this all the more; the Torah is a "Torah of life", instruction for everyday life, and brings blessing to its students and supporters alike.