By the Grace of G-d 4th of Iyar, 5745 Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter.

It seems that there has been some confusion about the issues involved in the matter of establishing a joint communal school in your city. I will attempt to clarify the issues. ואתו הסליחה

1) The problem has nothing to do with personalities, or whether this or that individual has the necessary credentials to take a leading part in Chinuch. The problem is the movement with which such person or persons are identified, and, which they represent.

2) This being so, one has to consider the situation most carefully, particularly as it concerns Chinuch of our young generation, children of school age, during their most sensitive years, that will leave an impact on their whole life, as it is written: חנוך לנער על פי דרכו גם כי יזקין לא יסור ממנה.

Of course, there can be no question of compromise in the area of Chinuch, and every precaution has to be taken to ensure that it be consistent with Torah in every respect.

In view of the enormous responsibility, there is only one Jewish approach to such vital questions, namely, to be guided strictly by the Torah itself, which is the Jew’s true guide in life (Toras Chaim and Toras Emes). And we have indeed a clear ruling by the Rambam and other Poskim. The halacha declares:

האומר שאין התורה מן השמים אפילו תיבה אחת כו' וכן הכופר בפירושה והוא תורה שבעל פה כו' כל אחד משלושה אלו כופר בתורה (הל' תשובה ג:ח)

(see it there, also preceding and following halachot).

Needless to say, the Halacha absolutely precludes a Chinuch partnership with a movement that comes under the above category.

3) Nor is it acceptable to rationalize that a concession in the beginning may pay off in the long run. The Torah has not been given to humans to be traded in. Similarly no one has the right to sacrifice one Jewish child now, in the hope of saving another child, or more, next year. Such and similar calculations are simply irrelevant in the face of the clear-cut Halacha cited above.

4) At the same time, the Torah is quite clear and definitive on the subject of Teshuvah - insofar as an individual Jew is concerned, namely, אין לך דבר העומד בפני התשובה .לא ידח ממנו נידח.

This includes, of course, Jewish individuals who identify themselves with, or belong to the said movement. But so long as one has not renounced or rejected the שיטה and ideology of the movement, not to mention one who is a prominent representative of it, there is no way for a partnership on any religious aspect, least of all chinuch, however well meaning the intentions are.

5) Even if the Halacha permitted an exception in a special situation (which it certainly does not), it would have been impossible for Lubavitch to make an exception, because it would not remain an exception long, but rather a precedent that would become the rule in every place where Lubavitch is engaged in Chinuch operations. Besides, it is neither the way of the Torah, nor the way of Lubavitch to conceal a directive, or to interpret the Halacha differently from city to city, depending on circumstances.

6) Thus, any concession or compromise made in any area of Torah, is bound to be widely interpreted as a בנין אב, and extended into every other area of the religious life, since communal workers, as well as laymen, usually consider themselves free to draw their own conclusions, without bothering to investigate the special extenuating circumstances, or the Halachic grounds on which the exception was made.

This is the reason, being that [it] is a case "also" of קידוש השם, why in my reply to Rabbi D. I reminded him of the well known Psak-Din by the leading Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshivah, one of whom, by the way, is also HaRav Moshe Feinstein Shelita, who had for many years prior to coming to the U.S.A. held the position of Rav in a Chasidic community in Russia as a Chasidic Rav. When he came to New York, the members of his community included Chasidim and Mitnagdim and a variety of other Jewish groups. When it came to Minhagim, he has directed members of a particular group to follow their particular customs. But when it came to matters that touched upon Kiddush Hashem, or the opposite, there could be neither flexibility nor exception, especially in view of the fact that it would be widely interpreted, as mentioned above.

Much more could be said on the subject at hand, but I am certain there is no need for it in discussing it with you. You can readily understand why my hands are "ruled" by the Halacha, precluding any other course than the one I have taken.

To conclude on a highly gratifying topic, I wish to take this opportunity of again expressing my heartfelt appreciation of your consistent support to Rabbi D. and his work in your city; and not merely a “supporter” but as a real partner. This is consistent with your participation in the work of Lubavitch in other parts of the U.S.A. and in the Holy Land, as well as other places - always readily responding to a call, whenever the opportunity presented itself.

May Hashem grant that you should continue to go from strength to strength in spreading and strengthening Torah-true Yiddishkeit, and Torah-true Chinuch in particular, and thus increase still further the great Zechus of what our Sages of the Mishnah extol so much, namely, זכה וזיכה את הרבים זכות הרבים תלוי בו.

And may you do so in consistently good health and with Hashem’s blessings for prosperity in all your affairs, in keeping with the rule of Torah, which is also a נתינת-כח namely - מעלין בקודש.

With esteem and blessing,

M. Schneerson