By the Grace of G-d Erev Yud-Shevat, 5735 Brooklyn, N.Y.

Blessing and Greeting:

On the eve of the auspicious day of Yud-Shevat, I send you prayerful wishes that the Convention should accomplish all its objectives with the utmost Hatzlocho.

As we are about to observe the Yahrzeit of my father-in-law of saintly memory, it is timely to recall once again his profound concern to involve Jewish mothers and daughters in activities to spread Yiddishkeit with Chassidic light and warmth. Thus, immediately after his liberation from behind the Iron Curtain, when he began to publish his discourses and teachings, he saw to it that some of them were translated into Yiddish, in addition to those directly published in Yiddish, to make them accessible also to the women. In this way he underscored the vital role of the Jewish mother and daughter, which has aptly been expressed in the Convention’s slogan: "To illuminate the home, the community, and the world."

Since "illumination" is the theme of the Convention, the metaphor should be applied in all its aspects, which have been pointed out before. To reiterate some of the main points:

A shining candle has the extraordinary quality of being able to kindle any number of candles without diminishing in the least its own light.

A further quality is succinctly expressed by our Sages: "A candle for one - is a candle for one hundred."¹ In other words, when a person lights a candle in his, or her own corner, it lights up at the same time the darkness of all those who are within eye-sight of the source of light, without even their active participation or effort. Certainly, if the person does not keep the lit candle in his or her corner, but takes the trouble to carry the light around.

Moreover, each candle that has been lit from the first candle has the qualities of the first - to illuminate its surroundings and to kindle many other candles, and pass on all the qualities of the first; in short - all the qualities of a "chain reaction."

May G-d grant that the trust and confidence that the Baal haHilulo had placed in each of you and in all of us will be materialized in the fullest measure. This, of course, includes the fulfillment of the Convention's objectives, namely, to generate lasting inspiration in all participants, to adopt and implement the proper resolutions, and to stimulate an ever growing ambition to do more and still more. Indeed, our Sages reminded us that ambition grows with accomplishment ("He who has one hundred, desires two hundred,"² etc.) - even in material things; how much more so in matters of spiritual and eternal value, the Torah and Mitzvoth.

Wishing you Hatzlocho to carry out the above with Chassidic vitality and joy, in happy circumstances,

With blessing,

M. Schneerson