By the Grace of G-d 17th of Adar, 5737 Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

This year’s Annual Dinner takes place under the impact of the "Year of Chinuch" which has been proclaimed for intensified activities in all phases of Torah education in the fullest possible measure.

The timing of the Dinner between Purim and Pesach adds further emphasis on the Torah education of our Jewish children - a central point in both these festivals. For, as is well known, the Miracle of Purim occurred for the sake of the children whom Mordechai gathered in their thousands and instilled into them the utmost dedication to Torah, to the point of self-sacrifice, and this was the turning point which nullified and reversed Haman's decree, as our Sages tell us.

Similarly, the Geulo (Liberation) from Egyptian bondage came about in the merit of the devout Jewish mothers who had raised generations of children that were the first to recognize G-d, exclaiming, "This is my G-d!"

The message is clear and explicit: At all times, and particularly in the present critical time of this last and final Golus (Diaspora), the Torah education of our children is not only a matter of saving the children themselves, but is also directly related to the Geulo of our entire Jewish people. This calls for a total, uncompromised, and inspired Torah-education.

This is the kind of Chinuch that the students receive in the Lubavitcher Yeshivoth, where emphasis is placed also on instilling into the students a sense of profound responsibility for less privileged children - children in age and "children" in knowledge and experience of Yiddishkeit. Their inspired education makes them inspiring educators who spread and strengthen Yiddishkeit in their surroundings, as is well known, and as can be seen wherever a graduate of a Lubavitcher Yeshiva finds himself.

I hope and trust, therefore, that the friends and supporters of the celebrated Lubavitcher Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim in Montreal fully appreciate the great Zechus that is theirs in having a share in the sacred work of the Yeshiva, and will give expression to it by their generous response on the occasion of this Annual Dinner, which has to raise the financial means to enable the Yeshiva to maintain its high standards and to expand still further in order to meet the special challenges and opportunities of these crucial times.

With esteem and blessing for Hatzlocho and good tidings,

/Signed/ Menachem Schneerson