By the Grace of G-d Rosh Chodesh Iyar, 5734 Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessings:

It is an old Jewish custom to relate current happenings to concurrent events as they appear in our Jewish calendar, with a view to illuminating the happenings with the light and teachings of the Torah, for the "Torah (meaning ’instruction’) is light." This year’s Dinner is taking place on the eve of the 14th of Iyar - Pesach Sheni.

One of the teachings of Pesach Sheni is that it is always possible to rectify a past failing (Hayom Yom).

This basic teaching applies, of course, both on the individual level as well as on the communal level. In the latter case, when an individual’s effort has fallen short of meeting his full responsibility to the community, the need to rectify it is, obviously, so much greater and more urgent.

There is no need to probe very far to see that one of the most deplorable and critical shortcomings in Jewish life in recent years has been in the area of Torah education of our children and youths. The tragic consequences of this neglect are all too well known.

Anyone who is concerned about the future of our Jewish youth, with which the future of our people is so closely intertwined, must be spurred to do everything within his or her power, with the utmost determination and energy, to rectify the situation.

The task is twofold:

There is the crying need to help those young people who had been neglected and allowed to stray and become alienated from the way of the Torah. It is everyone’s responsibility to help them find their way back to their Jewish source and their identity with the Torah and the Jewish people.

At the same time, and in the light of the truism that "An ounce of precaution is worth a pound of cure," it is even more vitally necessary to create a situation where Jewish children would be precluded from getting lost and alienated in the first place, by providing them with a Torah-true education, making certain that no Jewish child would be turned away for lack of educational facilities.

This brings us to the very important role of the Oholei Torah Institute. Here, indeed, the children are brought up and educated in the finest tradition of Torah-true Yiddishkeit, permeated with the love of G-d, love of the Torah, and love of all Israel.

The Dinner offers an opportunity to every one of the participants, including those who were "far away,” to rectify, if need be, their support for this vital institution, and, in any case, to increase it - since all matters of holiness should always be on the increase. It is not enough by far merely to help Oholei Torah to maintain its facilities; these must be expanded to meet the urgent need of today.

And inasmuch as Pesach - so also Pesach Sheni - is the Festival of Our Freedom, may G-d grant that all friends and supporters of Oholei Torah should do their utmost in its behalf, free from hindrances of any kind. This is also the way to receive G-d’s blessings in all needs, to make good any deficiency in the past, and to bestow generous blessings in the future, materially and spiritually.

With esteem and blessing for Hatzlocho

/Signed: Menachem Schneerson/