RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON
Lubavitch
770 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11213
493-9250

By the Grace of G‑d
Rosh Chodesh Adar II, 5738
Brooklyn, N.Y.

To All Participants in the Dedication of the
Chabad Russian Synagogue
L.A., California

Greeting and Blessing:

I was profoundly pleased to be informed of the forthcoming Dedication of the Synagogue. May it flourish and fully serve its sacred purpose for the benefit of all its worshippers and friends and the community at large.

Our Sages describe a synagogue as a "Mikdosh Me'at," a "Beis Mikdosh in Miniature," since it has some of the holiness and significance of the Beis Hamikdosh of old. Moreover, since the synagogue brings Jews ever closer to G‑d, it eliminates the cause of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh and hastens its Divinely promised restoration.

However, just as the Beis Hamikdosh of old was also the seat of the Sanhedrin, the supreme authority of the Halachah, from which the word of G‑d, His Torah and Mitzvos, were disseminated throughout the Jewish people, so a synagogue fulfills its purpose fully when, in addition to being a House of Prayer (Beis Kness~s), it is also a House of Learning (Beis Medrash), where the worshippers combine community prayer with community study of the Torah, particularly the study of the Halachos (Torah laws) which regulate the Jew's everyday life and conduct.

This is why it is most appropriate and symbolic that the Dedication of the Synagogue is coupled with the induction and consecration of a Sefer Torah.

The Chabad Russian Synagogue is especially meaningful in that it serves the spiritual needs of Jews who had suffered religious persecution, yet tenaciously clung to their Jewish identity in the face of tremendous hardships. Now, thanks to G‑d's mercies, they can enjoy full freedom to pray to G‑d and to study His Torah in a synagogue of their own.

But a synagogue truly fulfills its purpose to perfection when the inspiration of the prayers and of the teachings of the Torah is carried into the homes of the worshipers, permeating the home with Torah and Mitzvos and making it a beacon of light to illuminate also the neighborhood and the entire community, making them and all the "dwellings of Jacob" worthy of G‑d's love and His generous blessings.

With prayerful wishes for Hatzlocho in all above, and

With esteem and blessing,