By the Grace of G-d 1st Day of Weekly Portion Vayechi, 5725 Brooklyn, N. Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

On the occasion of the forthcoming Annual Banquet of the Yeshiva, I extend greetings and blessings to all participants. May G-d grant that this event should be successful in the fullest degree in all respects, financially and otherwise.

This year's Annual Banquet will take place within days of the Yahrzeit of my father-in-law of saintly memory, who transplanted the Lubavitcher Yeshivoth on the American soil 25 years ago. The Boston Lubavitz Yeshiva is part of this great network of Yeshivoth, which have contributed so much to the revitalization of Torah-true Yiddishkeit in America.

It will be appropriate to recall here a profound insight into the significance of Yeshivoth, which my father-in-law of saintly memory gave us; an insight which stems from the Old Rebbe, founder of Chabad: When the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek was a small boy, learning Chumash he came home from Cheder one day and asked his grand-father, the Old Rebbe, to explain to him A certain passage in Chumash. It concerned the beginning of Vayechi (the portion of our current week), which states "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years". On the basis of the interpretation of the Baal Haturim, his Chumash teacher explained that these seventeen years were the best years of Jacob's life. The little boy then asked his grand-father, "How is it possible that Jacob should enjoy the best years of his life in a place like Egypt, which was a land of spiritual depravity, immorality and inhumanity?" In reply the Old Rebbe referred to Gen. 46:28 in the previous portion (Vayigash) where the Torah indicates that before going down to Egypt, Jacob sent Jehuda to establish a Yeshiva there. Thus, the Old Rebbe explained, where there is a Yeshiva, it is possible to make life worthwhile and happy even in a country like Egypt.¹

Throughout the ages our people has lived in various countries of exile. But wherever they went a Yeshiva was among the first things they established, and this gave them the strength to resist the forces of assimilation, and to live their own happy Jewish life, unsoiled and unspoiled by the surrounding undesirable influences

I trust that everyone in the Boston community will know how to cherish this vital institution in their midst, and will take advantage of the Annual Banquet to express their appreciation in practical deeds, for the support and expansion of the Boston Lubavitz Yeshiva.

With the blessing of success materially and spiritually

M. Schneerson