ב"ה, יום א' לסדר ובנ"י יוצאים ביד רמה, תשכ"דברוקלין, נ.י.

Greeting and Blessings:

I was pleased to be informed that the Third Annual Banquet of the Markas L'inyonei Chinuch in Miami Beach will honor Mr. and Mrs. I. H. Kramer. This is a fitting tribute, since the Kramer family has a long tradition of close affiliation with Chabad-Lubavitch, and its devotion to the Lubavitcher institutions has been an inspiration to many.

I extend congratulations to the guests of honor, and my prayerful wishes to all participants in the banquet. May it be a fruitful and gratifying evening, fulfilling all its aims, materially and spiritually, even beyond expectation.

The Banquet, coming only two days after the Yahrzeit of my father-in-law of saintly memory, will surely reflect the spirit generated on the auspicious 10th day of Shevat. For that day recalls the undaunted courage with which he fought for the preservation of the Torah and Torah institutions in Soviet Russia. Despite the tremendous odds against him - a gigantic and ruthless dictatorial regime, bent on stamping out the Jewish spirit - my father-in-law of saintly memory came out victorious, and the fruits of his victory are still in evidence (almost forty years later) in the determined adherence of many many Jews in Russia today, to the Torah and Mitzvoth, in the face of persecution and martyrdom.

This is the kind of spirit of which we read on the Shabbos preceding the Banquet, in the holy Torah: "And the children of Israel went forth with a raised hand (i.e. boldly)"¹ - ready to throw themselves in the wat[e]rs of Yam Suf, in order to reach Sinai and receive the Torah there. The very laws of nature give way before such selfless determination, for every effort that strives for Torah and Mitzvoth immediately links the Jew with the infinite power of the Creator Himself.

May the efforts of each and everyone of you to strengthen Torah Yiddishkeit in your community be amply rewarded with success, and also bring you G-d's blessings in your own needs, in a generous measure materially and spiritually.

With blessing

M. Schneerson