By the Grace of G-d 25th of Iyar, 5720 Brooklyn, N.Y.

Blessing and Greeting:

On the occasion of the forthcoming Annual Convention of Agudas N’shei uBnois Chabad, and through the medium of it, I send my blessing to each and every one of you, together with my inner prayer for your success in every phase of your program, and especially for far-reaching accomplishments by the Convention.

Yesterday we blessed the month of Sivan. The focal point of this month is the festival of Shovuos, the Season of Our Receiving the Torah.

G-d gave us a complete Torah (Torah Tmimah). As our Sages of blessed memory stated:¹ All that a pious scholar will ever discover in the Torah had already been given to Moshe Rabbenu at Sinai.

Needless to say, this includes all parts of the holy Torah that have come to light from generation to generation, especially Pnimius haTorah, the Inner Light of the Torah, which has been revealed to the initiated by Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, whose Yahrzeit-Hilulo we just observed on Lag B’Omer, and which was later again revealed and disseminated to Jews at large, beginning with the Baal Shem Tov, whose Yahrzeit-Hilulo we will observe on the first day of Shovuos, Zman Mattan Toroseinu.

This year marks the two hundredth year - to the day of the week (Wednesday) – since the Histalkus of the Baal Shem Tov. The Old Rebbe, founder of Chabad, reminded us of the symbolic significance of the Histalkus of the Baal Shem Tov on the fourth day of the week.² On that day, of the Six Days of Creation, G-d set the great luminaries in the sky. So, when the Baal Shem Tov, having completed his soul’s mission and returned his soul to Heaven, his teachings began to shine forth with renewed intensity and illumination, through his disciples and their disciples. And every year, on the day of his Histalkus, new wellsprings of light radiate forth from the deepest roots of his Divine soul, to illuminate Jewish life.

The revelation of the Torah in general, and of the teachings of Chassidus and Chassidus-Chabad in particular, has a special significance for the Jewish woman. My father-in-law of saintly memory has often emphasized, by the spoken and written word, the particularly important place of Jewish women, especially Chabad women, in Jewish life. "All⁴ that is sacred and dear to our G-dly Jewish people, the establishment of the home, the rearing and education of the children, the Kashrus and holiness of the home, the sanctity of the Shabbos – all this and more G-d has entrusted into the hands of the Jewish woman. The woman who fulfils her duty and life’s mission – in her family life, the conduct of the home, the upbringing of the children in accordance with the Torah – of her the Torah says:³ 'Every wise woman builds her home.'"

The women and daughters of Chabad have an especial obligation to place themselves in the forefront of every activity designed to strengthen Yiddishkeit in general, and the Jewish home in particular.

The effort of each of you to build your home, and to help fortify the Jewish foundations of your neighbors’ homes, the everlasting foundations of Torah and Mitzvoth, irradiated with the light and warmth of Chassidus — helps to complete the structure of "Beis Yisroel” – the House of our people as a whole, and the way is prepared for the coming of our righteous Moshiach. As the Baal Shem Tov revealed in his well-known letter:⁵ ”When his fountains will spread forth outside” – when his teachings and way of life will spread even ”outside,” including the Jews who are as yet on the fringe of Yiddishkeit – then will come the Complete Geuloh, through our Righteous Moshiach.

May G-d bless your work, that you may fulfill it with the utmost success in every respect, and may He bestow His blessings upon each of you individually and your families, in all your personal needs, both materially and spiritually.

Blessing you with success and hoping to hear good news from you

Signature /Menachem Schneerson/