By the Grace of G-d Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5743. Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing: 

I am pleased to extend personal congratulations and all good wishes to the distinguished Dinner Chairman, Honored Guests and Awardees, and all friends of NCFJE on this very special occasion. 

The cause that has brought you together for this important event – Jewish Education — speaks for itself. Education has long been recognized as a cornerstone of national existence. For our Jewish people — the people that is “scattered and divided among the nations of the world”¹ — Jewish Education is particularly vital. Being a small minority in an environment that is not always overly friendly, Jewish children must be given the kind of Jewish education that will help them identify fully and proudly with the "one people," which, despite dispersion, is united and unified by laws and a way of life that are uniquely different. No superficial sense of belonging can substitute for a profound identity that touches every aspect of the everyday life as Jewish Jews, who know what Torah is, what Torah expects of them, and for whom the Torah and Mitzvos are a continuous living and joyous experience. Moreover, they consider it a duty and privilege of the highest order to share this experience with other fellow Jews, in the true loving spirit of Ahavas Yisroel. 

This is the kind of Jewish education that NCFJE is dedicated to, with an extraordinary record of service and achievement over more than four decades. I trust everyone will want to be a partner in it — a partner, nor merely a supporter. Having a share in NCFJE is the best possible investment in the future of our people, not only in the present generation, but continuously from generation to generation, in an ever expanding "chain reaction.” 

Fittingly, the Dinner is taking place in the auspicious month of Kislev, highlighted by the Festival of Lights, Chanukah. The very name — Chanukah — emphasizes the vital importance of Chinuch, the kind of Chinuch that is permeated with the light of Torah and Mitzvos, Ner Mitzva v'Torah Or.

With prayerful wishes for Hatzlocho in all above, and 

With esteem and blessing,

M. Schneerson