By the Grace of G-d Rosh Chodesh Iyar, 5744 Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

Thank you for your letter of the 21st of Feb., 1984, with the enclosures. I appreciate your thoughtfulness in bringing to my attention the matters about which you wrote in your letter, which are, of course, of serious interest for Jews, particularly for Russian Jews who immigrated into Canada, and their descendants.

I trust you will also brief me on further developments in your sphere of activity, and I will certainly be interested to receive your impressions gleaned during your planned trip behind the Iron Curtain, of the communities and Jews you will come in contact with.

I hope you will accept the following remarks in the spirit in which they are made.

It is one of the basic tenets of the Torah that everything happens by Divine Providence. Hence, everything has a meaning and purpose. The same rule applies to every individual, especially one who has a prominent position in his field.

The idea of archives, whether personal or public, is to preserve documents and records of permanent value. These are not only of historic interest, pertaining to bygone days, but are often a source of useful didactic material for the present and for the future.

Metaphorically speaking, every Jew, and the Jewish people as a whole, is a living personal and public "archives," reflecting events and happenings of more than 3,000 years of Jewish history since the Torah was given to us at Mt. Sinai. It contains complete "vital statistics" about Jewish life through the ages. At the same time, it also provides practical guidelines for the present and future of our Jewish people.

The most basic guideline, one that stands out as a golden thread in our historical fabric, is the unswerving Jewish dedication to the Torah and mitzvot as a way of life and conduct in the everyday life. These records clearly show that, while other factors which are so important in world history, such as possession of territory, political independence, language, culture, etc. played no decisive role in Jewish history, since these underwent drastic changes from time to time and from place to place during the centuries of Jewish history. One factor alone remains constant to this day - the Jewish way of life, in keeping with the precepts of our Torah: The same holy 7th day, Shabbos, the same festivals, the same daily observances of Tefillin, Kashrus and so forth. The inescapable conclusion of any student of “Jewish archives” is that this factor is the key to Jewish survival, as a nation and as individuals, under any, often most trying, circumstances.

Needless to say, it is not my intention to sermonize, but this is a fact that should be of momentous concern to every Jew; being aware of it already goes a long way as a source of strength and confidence and it is indispensable to Jewish identity and commitment.

In a lighter vein, I find the name of the Journal you enclosed - Toledot — particularly meaningful. As you surely know, the Hebrew word toledot which is often found in the Torah, has two meanings. One is “genealogy,” as stated in the subtitle; the other is “unfolding events” - past, present and future, which, in Jewish life, are closely interrelated.

With blessing,