The Rebbe's Education Campaign | Mivtza CHINUCH

We began here at Chabad of the Five Towns an initiative at the very beginning of this past Jewish year 5781. Uh to study the 10 Mitzvah campaigns, the Mivtzoim of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. And roughly to cover one of those campaigns every month. This initiative to study those campaigns and and and also obviously to implement them was dedicated in memory of a member of our community Dina Leah Rosenzweig alav shalom. And we have repeatedly made clear that everything that is happening as an outgrowth of these classes, not just the learning itself, which is already a great merit, but these classes are about Mitzvahs and not just about people doing Mitzvahs, but getting other people to do Mitzvahs. So this whole ripple effect of kindness and love and concern for our fellows and all the good that's coming from it is all in honor of Dina Leah whose first yahrzeit is Gimmel Iyar, meaning in 2 days from now. And at the completion now this is the completion of the year of classes. And we didn't know when we set it up, but it's also coinciding with the completion of the of the of the first year of the the first yahrzeit. And uh We pray that in the merit of all the Mitzvahs that are being done from these classes, we should see Mashiach already. We should be reunited with Dina Leah before the yahrzeit. So it's actually quite appropriate that we're Again, these things were set up in advance, not necessarily with any particular uh forethought. And then you see the hashgacha as you go along. Today's Mivtzah, today's campaign that we're studying is Mivtzah Chinuch, the education campaign. And it struck me as uh as I as I was preparing for the the class how appropriate it is that we're talking about the the Rebbe's education campaign when we are talking about a young person who had so much influence and clearly is continuing to have so much influence. I mean, just right here in this room, the fact that we're here and we're studying is all uh is all part of that. And the Rebbe's approach to education was that young people are influencers. You know, there's that old expression, I don't know where it really comes from, but children should be seen and not heard. And uh the Rebbe really sort of channeled the fact that sometimes children do want to be heard and children do want to be uh they want to leave a mark. They want to speak their minds. And therefore that shouldn't be suppressed. That should actually be used out in a productive way. So a lot of the idea of Mivtzah Chinuch is channeling the natural tendencies of children, not to suppress it, but actually to to use it in in unique ways that children with their their endless energy and their competitive spirit and their uh their their lack of inhibition, all of these qualities can be can be applied in a in a good way to to furthering their own education as well as the education of others. Okay, but before we'll we'll get back to that. God willing, we'll get back to we'll talk about that a little bit more, but I want to do like we've been doing every um every class we give like a little bit of a historical background as far as the the Mivtzah. So we've spoken about before that the first of the 10 Mivtzoim to be launched was Mivtzah Tefillin, the Tefillin campaign. And that coincided with the build-up to the Six-Day War. During the days leading up to the Six-Day War, we're talking about spring of '67. The Rebbe started pushing with an urgency that Tefillin promotes safety, the safety of the Jewish people all over the world. That was the first Mitzvah campaign. Later on about 7 years later after well 6, 7 years later, after the um Yom Kippur War. Yom Kippur War was '73, yeah, okay. So after the Yom Kippur War um but not exactly right after it, a little towards the end of of that same year the Rebbe launched some more uh campaigns. And it was related to the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War and the Rebbe spoke about the morale of the soldiers. And this isn't just for the soldiers, but this is for everybody. And uh so e- throughout the year of 1974, the Rebbe launched the campaigns of Tzedakah and of Torah and Bayis Malei Seforim, to have a home full of Torah books. Um Mezuzah and Shabbos candles. That was throughout at various points throughout 1974. The year after that, throughout 1975, then the Rebbe launched Taharos Hamishpacha, right, Mikvah, family purity. And Kashrus. The dietary laws, promotion of the dietary laws. So what is that? Eight, right? That's about that's that's eight of them. Yeah, want to want to count it out? You want to count it? Let's count. We have Tefillin. That was the first one. Then Tzedakah, Torah, Bayis Malei Seforim, Mezuzah Shabbos candles Taharos Hamishpacha Kashrus. Okay, so we have eight. So there's only two left. The two that are remaining, one of them is Chinuch, we're going to speak about today. The other is obviously Ahavas Yisrael. Chinuch and Ahavas Yisrael were often referred to as general Mivtzoim. In fact, later on after all 10 Mivtzoim were launched and the Rebbe would refer to the Mivtzoim and list them, the Rebbe would often mention Ahavas Yisrael and Chinuch first, even though they were really launched last, but they were sort of umbrella campaigns because every every Mivtzah is Ahavas Yisrael and every Mivtzah is Chinuch. Cuz Ahavas Yisrael is caring about somebody else, so the campaigns by by nature inherently are about influencing others. And and and Chinuch is education, so every every when you help somebody do a Mitzvah, obviously you're you're educating them. So all the Mivtzoim are under the umbrellas of Chinuch and Ahavas Yisrael. Nevertheless, like the Rebbe said when he launched Mivtzah Chinuch, that even though it's a Mivtzah Klali, it's an aggregate campaign, it's also Kelei Yakar l'Atzmo, it it's it's uh used the rabbinic idiom to mean that it it it it has its own significance unto itself as a campaign uh unto itself. So when was that? That was in the spring of 1976. Shabbos Mevorchim Chodesh Iyar. Meaning the last Shabbos of the month of Nissan, the first Shabbos before the month of Iyar in 1976, Tav Shin Lamed Vav. Okay. So the Rebbe launched a Mivtzah Chinuch. And there were three fabrengens right in a row all in conjunction with uh Mivtzah Chinuch. Also the Rebbe mentioned the idea of a Shnas HaChinuch, a year of education. And uh many of you are familiar with the Lubavitcher Rebbe's connection with the Lag B'Omer parades. That's a that's a famous thing, Lag B'Omer pa- parades on on Eastern Parkway. Generally speaking, Lag B'Omer parades were something that took place, you know this historically, that generally if if Lag B'Omer was on a Sunday they would generally take place on a Sunday. And that year Tav Shin Lamed Vav, 1976, Lag B'Omer was on a Tuesday. But the Rebbe had just launched Mivtzah Chinuch and declared that Tav Shin Lamed Vav as well as the following year of Tav Shin Lamed Zayin should be a Shnas HaChinuch, a year of education. So uh the Chassidim took the hint. I think it was mostly bochurim who took the initiative and they came to the Rebbe and they said, "Can we do a Lag B'Omer parade even though it's going to be on a Tuesday? It's a weekday, kids are in school, it's hard to get a crowd." So, the Reb said, "If you can get a good crowd, then let's do it." And and there was indeed a uh a Lag B'Omer parade that year, even though it was a Tuesday. Lag B'Omer is the 18th of Iyar. So, if you think about it, um you're talking about a couple weeks from the launch of the campaign and the declaration of the uh Shnas Chinuch until until uh Lag B'Omer. Now, I should also mention that the 12 Sukkim were a big part of the Mivtza Chinuch. And they were not rolled out all at once, they're rolled out six and six. The first six of the 12 Sukkim were announced at the Farbrengen Aleph of the Rosh Chodesh Iyar. What did I say before? That there were three Farbrengens? Yeah. So, at the Farbrengen of Aleph of the Rosh Chodesh Iyar, the Reb announced six Sukkim. Two actual Sukkim, meaning scriptural verses, two Ma'amarei Chazal, that means sayings of the Sages from Torah Sheba'al Peh, from the oral tradition, and two lines from Tanya. And as far as they knew, that's all they had. At that Lag B'Omer parade, it fell on a Tuesday, in front of 770, they had giant banners of the six Sukkim. You can see pictures of six Sukkim. And then at that Lag B'Omer rally, the Reb added six more Sukkim. With the same exact pattern, again, two scriptural verses, two sayings of the Sages from the oral tradition, and two lines from Tanya. So, you have two two two, two two two. That same structure uh in uh in throughout the 12 Sukkim. Uh in fact, I'll tell you something else that the people don't really uh realize, but the two lines of Tanya from the second six of the 12 Sukkim are both from the same chapter, they're from chapter 33. Because Lag B'Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer. So, the two Sukkim of Tanya that were launched on that day are both from chapter 33. Um let's go back to these Farbrengens, the first few Farbrengens at the beginning of Rosh Chodesh Iyar, when the Reb launched the campaign. There were a few aspects of Mivtza Chinuch. And I want to just try to hit all of them. Okay. First one is the idea of Chinuch with oneself. That we tend to think of education as a relationship between two parties, teacher and student. But before we even go out and educate others, there's something called the education of oneself. And that applies not only to children, it applies also to children, but not only to children. And the Reb he's been training, but now he actually serves, he does the Avodah in the Beis Hamikdash, he brings something called a Minchas Chinuch. He brings a flower offering, which is an inaugural offering to install him as a as a Kohen. And then when that same Kohen, not all of them make it, but uh eventually you there's a Kohen Gadol, right? So, when a Kohen, regular Kohen, Kohen Hedyot becomes a Kohen Gadol, he brings a Korban Chinuch to elevate himself to the status of Kohen Gadol. So, the Reb pointed out that that the word Chinuch is not uh limited to children. Chinuch is anytime you're entering into a new stage in life. And hopefully, we're all infinitely growing, we're all we're all entering new stages in life all the time. The Reb used a very powerful and also very uh colorful expression. That, you know how there's the the idea of Hachnasah LeCheder, you bring a child to uh to school to learn Aleph Beis. So, the Reb spoke about the idea of Aran Fieren Zich In Cheder, which literally means to bring yourself to school. Aran Fieren Zich In, you know, there's a Aran Fierenish when you bring the child to to school for the first day. Aran Fieren Zich, bring yourself. Bring yourself to Cheder, bring yourself to school. That's like just a whole approach to life, that we're always approaching things with a sense of wonder and eagerness to learn and and teachability, and uh excitement and freshness. So, you know, be teachable, be humble, and Aran Fieren Zich In Cheder, like bring yourself to school. That's a it's an attitude toward life. It's like everything can be a teach a teachable moment, and there there's always more to learn. So, that's one of the the foundations of Mivtza Chinuch is the idea of everybody is a student. We are lifelong students, and you could be an adult, you can be the greatest Torah scholar, but you you always remain a a student. Okay. So, that's one that's one uh I big idea of Mivtza Chinuch. Another big idea is educating others. So, there's educating self, and there's educating others. Regarding educating others, like I mentioned before, the Reb said that all of the Mivtzaim are really Mivtza Chinuch. Because every Mitzvah campaign is about influencing others. And anytime you're influencing somebody, you're educating them. So, what does it mean to educate others? It means to be a good influence, it means to take responsibility, maybe call this good citizenship or good Jewish citizenship, where you uh you're not just concerned with your own Yiddishkeit, but you take responsibility, what can you do to promote Yiddishkeit generally in the community, but also with with individuals, and it doesn't have to be people that you already know, you can insert yourself into their lives, because after all, all Jews are Garantors for one another. And uh Mivtza Chinuch is basically a call to to care about other people's spiritual growth. Um so, that's a that's another that's another uh foundational concept. All right. Another is maybe what I'll call like the more conventional, basically the promotion of enrollment in Jewish schools and camps. That was part of Mivtza Chinuch as well, and that's more of the, you know, the I guess you would call the classic concept of education is Mosdos Chinuch, educational institutions, specifically schools and camps. The Reb put a big emphasis on camps, that camps have a special uh advantage, that uh it's an an immersive environment. Uh and another thing that the Reb pointed out about camps, counterintuitive, cuz you would think that camps are sort of if you compare them to school, school is more Torah study and and camp is less, but from another angle, the Reb said, "You know, even the children who go to schools where they have Limudei Chol, they have to study secular subjects, in the summer they're free from those obligations. So, the summer is all Torah, right? Little soccer and you know other things, too, but yeah, it's all it's all Torah." So, the Reb was very big into camps, and obviously, you know, that time of year, Rosh Chodesh Iyar, this this springtime is a time for uh enrolling in camps. And when the when the campaign was launched, obviously, that was a big big part of the campaign, and continues to be a big part of the campaign, is to try to get child Jewish children enrolled in proper Jewish schools. Okay. Um oh, and also, I just I just want to mention that the Reb also spoke to those who are the Manalei Mosdos, those who are the administration of the educational institutions, and uh pleaded with them to provide free education as much as possible, and suggested an idea of a Ma'aser. Just like an individual gives 10% of his or her wealth as Tzedakah, that a school should allot 10% of tuition to be paid for by the school. That 10% of tuition should be free. And uh and the Reb said, "Just like an individual who gives 10% of their wealth, they don't lose anything by this. It actually only brings blessing into the 90% that they keep. So too a school who makes sure to give away 10% of their education for free, this will strengthen the the overall education in the school. And regarding this as well as other things connected to Mivtza Chinuch, the Rebbe often said and I don't want this to be a copyright. Meaning I don't need this to be proprietary. Is that the word proprietary? It's It doesn't have to be a Lubavitcher thing. Anyone who wants can steal these ideas and I'll be more than happy if everyone starts doing this and I get no credit whatsoever. You know, that's This is this for the good of the community. Okay. So we spoke about education with yourself, education with others, spoke about the traditional conventional sense of promoting educational institutions. Now I want to talk about two more concepts and this is what I want to want to dwell on. Um two more concepts which are traditional but radical. Like so many things that the Rebbe introduced, it's traditional meaning you can find its sourced in our classic sources but it's radical because it's like who does this? Who speaks this way? You know, it's like This is so new and and yet so so grounded in tradition. The two concepts I want to talk about is this. The idea of um Chinuch with the very very very young. Meaning including infants. And then the other idea is Chinuch meaning children are not only to be educated but they're educators. Children even even small children are educators. We alluded to it earlier. Okay. Regarding Chinuch with the very very very young. In these sichos the Rebbe was speaking about the idea that Chinuch begins uh in utero. That children start to be educated before they even are born. Now um that's something that increasingly the science supports but it's sort of a radical statement for 1976. And uh the Rebbe was saying that everything that happens in the environment around a child is education. It's all education. Education isn't just your first day of school when you sit down and somebody gives you a class. Education is from the moment you begin to become aware of your environment, you're being educated. You're being influenced one way or another, one way or another. You know, we can't control the fact whether someone's being educated. We're always being educated. The question is what's the education that we're getting? That we can control. So the Rebbe spoke about children being educated from the time before they're born. And then of course when they are born, they're all they're they're certainly being educated. You know, the the the there's a minag, there's a Jewish custom that you put up a Shir HaMalos card. When a when a woman gives birth, you put up a little card with Shir HaMalos with little psukim on it and Kabbalistic sayings. So most people think of that as protection or bringing some type of, you know, spiritual uh merit. But the Rebbe spoke about it as well as a as an educational tool. That when the child is born, they should already be in an environment where they're absorbing this kind of influence. So the Shir HaMalos is there like like a teacher would decorate a classroom, let's say, you know, before the first day of school and the teacher gets to to to the class and puts up all the all the the the educational What do you call that stuff? The poster. Yeah, but there's a there's a term for it. There's like a fancy term for it. Paraphernalia. That's a fancy term. Oh, but the the educational stuff that you put up on the on the walls. So that's that's what the Shir HaMalos card is. Um And the Rebbe spoke about lullabies, you know, what you sing to the child when you're rocking them to sleep. You know, instead of just thinking about it as I'm trying to soothe the child, I'm trying to get them to sleep. No, it it it's it Yes, it's that but it's also it's it's educational. So what you sing to them has an influence. Um the Rebbe spoke about I mean this this is a famous thing. A lot of people know about this and they question this uh hard time with it. I I've heard many people have asked me personally really is this ad k d kach to such an extent? Do you really have to do this? Did the Rebbe really said this? The stuffed animals thing. Teddy bears. People get up tight about that, the teddy bears. The Rebbe said everything's educational. So if you have an opportunity to give a child a stuffed animal that they're going to have an an affinity for that's going to symbolize comfort to them why not have it be a kosher animal? Why not? In other words you know, you people can get very bogged down in this as like, you know, a technical thing. But if you understand the spirit of it, the spirit of it is everything is educational. Every all stimuli impart some message, some messaging. And if you're proactive and deliberate about that, then you're going to take advantage of that. So what you sing to the child and the the decorations in the child's room and the the stuffed animals that they play with, the toys that they play with, whatever it is that you give to the child, it's all educational. Okay. Yeah? Even before like there's I know like pregnant women let's say not to go to different places that have influence something that you can start. Okay. So actually it's interesting you mentioned that because as I mentioned all these radical things that the Rebbe would speak about are also very traditional. And I also mentioned how everything that the the Rebbe would say, he'd always find a legalistic source. So yeah, there is such a concept. Maybe you're alluding to this in in in Halacha that uh talks talks about it in in Chazal that if a woman's coming out of the mikvah and she sees an impure animal that uh there's such an idea of going back because the first thing she saw was a was an impure thing. It's also a story of Rebbe Yochanan who used to uh stand outside of the mikvah so that people should see the the face of a tzaddik as they as the women come out of the mikvah. Should not to go to a zoo when you're pregnant or something like that. You can ask your local Orthodox rabbi as far as the implementation of it. But definitely the spirit the spirit is um grounded in in our tradition and uh you know, how how meticulous you want to be about it, again, you ask your uh your rav, you ask your mashpia. So that's one thing. The idea of education being even for the very very very young, even for infants. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about, I told you, remember? What? Remember? Children as educators, right. Okay. Children as educators. By the way, the Shir HaMalos card the Rebbe also said that's an example of a child being an educator. Yeah. You know how? Because if it weren't for this little baby being born, no one would have brought the Shir HaMalos card. So the the child's first act in the world is they caused words of Torah should be at this hospital. So the minute they enter the world, they're already influencing their environment. Children as educators, that's a big thing. And as I mentioned, you know, everything the Rebbe would say that was radical was also very very traditional, very grounded in our in our uh classical sources. There's a there's a Gemara Bava Metzia um daf feh peh hey omelet base where Rebbe Chanina and Rebbe Chiya are having a dispute. And Rebbe Chanina says to Rebbe Chiya and says you're arguing with me? Do you know who you're arguing with? If the entire Torah would be lost, meaning our entire tradition would be lost, I could reconstruct it through my power of pilpul. Meaning I have such a a methodology that's so powerful that even if we lost the whole Torah Shebaal Peh, I could replicate it. I could reconstruct it accurately through deduction. So Rebbe Chiya says, do you know who you're talking to? He says, I saved the whole Torah from being lost. He says, what did I do? Uh there was a time of crisis of educational crisis. Torah Shebaal Peh was in uh in danger of being lost. Our tradition was in danger of being lost. So I What did I do? A whole process. I got these uh I planted flax and I grew the flax and then from the flax I spun um linen and I made nets and with the nets I caught deer. And uh cuz you know, you can't hunt the deer cuz it makes them treif if you shoot them with the arrow, you know. So I caught the deer with nets and then I shachted the deer and then I gave the meat to orphans and then the skin I used and I made Torah scrolls. And I found and we would go to a community and I would find one little boy to learn Chumash Bereishis and another little boy to learn Chumash Shemos and another little boy to learn Vayikra and Bamidbar and Devarim. Five little boys each one learning one Chumash, one of the five books of Moses. And then I took six more boys and one to learn each seder of of Mishnah. So one one would learn Zeraim and so on and so forth. So, 11 kids in in every town, right? So, the five books of Moses and the six the six orders of the Mishnah. And then I would leave and do this in another town. But before I would leave, I would tell them, "And now each one of you teach all the others, right? Teach all the others." So, that's how I saved the entire Torah from being lost. The Rebbe first of all brings out the idea of precedent that we most certainly do have an idea of children being educators. And this is what the the the Gemara says. Says that the Rebbe said, "Kama gadol ma'aseh Rabbi Hiyya. How great are the acts, the deeds of Rabbi Hiyya?" Rabbi Hiyya saved the entire Torah. How did he do it? Through educating youngsters. So, first of all, we have precedent. But also, there's another thing. What do we learn from this? Educational milestones. You may think that in the hierarchy of educational milestones, that if you complete Sefer Bereishit, if you complete the study of the first the five books of Moses, what is the next educational milestone? You study Sefer Shemot. No, incorrect. Incorrect, cuz this story teaches us that if you complete the study of Sefer Bereishit, the next order of business is you teach Sefer Bereishit. That's right. That's correct. So, each of these children became an educator in their specialty immediately upon completing it. And then they all learned from each other. So, the idea of children as educators is something that's grounded in our tradition. But the Rebbe really took it and ran with it and and and made it a real thing. Now, I mentioned at the beginning of the class that this is sort of like the opposite of children should be seen and not heard. The Rebbe spoke about this explicitly, that children have a certain nature where they're not shy, when they know information, they're very proud of it. When a little kid knows something that another little kid doesn't know, what do they want to do? They want to run up and tell, "Hey, guess what?" You know, and they want to tell the other kid. So, let's harness that. Let's channel that nature that it should be used in a in in in a Torah way. So, these children were self-taught? Hm? Rabbi Hiyya taught them. So, he He taught each one their specialty, and then he left and said, "Now you teach each other." And he did it in another in another village. He went from village to village. Wow. To amplify. Cuz if you would have stayed and taught each one of them, then he wouldn't be able to replicate it. But because he he taught each one only their specialty, and then he said, "Now teach each other." And then he left town and did it in another town in another town in another town. So, that that that was the method how he did it. Okay. Now, I mentioned before the 12 Pesukim, right? That was first the six Pesukim on Rosh Chodesh Iyar, and then the another six Pesukim on on Lag B'Omer, which fell on a Tuesday. The 12 Pesukim A lot of people don't realize what the 12 Pesukim were designed for. The 12 Pesukim were designed to be tools for children as educators. That's what they were for. The Rebbe said it explicitly. That what You know, a lot of people ask, "Why these 12 Pesukim? Like what what about them? Are these the fundamentals of Yiddishkeit? Is this like the Yud Gimel Ikrim for children? Like what's what's what's the deal?" The Rebbe said very explicitly why these these 12 things were were chosen. The Rebbe said, "These are ideas that children can understand." That's why they were chosen. They're They were chosen because they're ideas that a child can understand, and not only to understand on their own level for their own for their own understanding, but that they could understand thoroughly enough that they could go out and teach it to other children. So, the 12 Pesukim really was to give children um fodder to give to give them material what to talk about. And the Rebbe paints a a beautiful picture describing how the Pesukim are supposed to be used. The Rebbe describes children playing. And in the midst of playing, just sort of as a natural thing, one of them starts telling the others about one of these Pesukim. Because the idea of the Pasuk is so clear to him and so intuitive and he he understands it so well and he's so proud that he understands it, it's just a natural thing that he wants to explain it to the other kids. So, that's what the 12 Pesukim were really designed for. If I could insert a little bit of social commentary, the idea of the memorization of the Pesukim, while certainly a holy thing and the Rebbe himself, you should know, participated in um when when the educators instituted that the parts of the children a part of the children's rally should be reciting the 12 Pesukim by heart, so the Rebbe took part in that. So, clearly it was something the Rebbe accepted and encouraged and it's an important thing to know the the the verses by heart. However, that's not the end. It's not just memorization. It's not just knowing it by rote. The point was that the children should understand the ideas. And I think if there's anything that we could do as far as Mivtza Chinuch I mean, there's a lot of things we can do, but one suggestion I could make, even people who are Lubavitchers and card-carrying Lubavitchers and are doing a lot already for Mivtza Chinuch and all of the Rebbe's Mivtzoim, I think one area that definitely, no question in my observation from what I've seen out there, could definitely be strengthened is And much has been done. I want to say much has been done, but so much more can be done. Is to use the 12 Pesukim in the fullest way the way the Rebbe envisioned it. Which is these these are not just words to be memorized, but these are ideas that were chosen because they lend themselves to comprehension on a child's level, and the children should should be so uh thoroughly uh familiar with the ideas, not just the words, the ideas that they can go and teach them to others. You know, just as an aside, the the third verse B'chol Derachecha wasn't even explicitly chosen until after the Farbrengen. The Rebbe just said an Inyan fun fun Yetziat Mitzrayim. Meaning to say, it wasn't even so much the words, it was the idea. Um and and the Rebbe also said, "Mikan Yish Kaivin Andere Pesukim." That you could choose other Pesukim as long as they have the same content. Now, I'll I'll go with the Pesukim that the Rebbe chose. I'm not going to suggest different Pesukim. I'll go with the ones the Rebbe said at the Farbrengen. My point is to illustrate that the Rebbe wasn't so attached to the wording as much as the ideas. So, the Rebbe said, "If you want to choose other Pesukim, also choose other Pesukim." They were chosen not cuz of the wording, but because of the the ideas that they represent. So, that's definitely an important thing. And again, the idea is that children should understand it and be able to teach it. The children are are educators. Okay. Um Another thing I want to say in regards to that is that, you know, when the Rebbe taught the the meaning of the 12 Pesukim, one of the things the Rebbe noted was that, you know, obviously we're explaining this on a child's level because the whole point is the child should understand it, but you should understand the way that Torah works is that every level of Torah explanation is connected to all other levels. That's sort of like the that's just the the the nature of Torah, the the Achdus of Torah, the oneness, the underlying oneness of Torah. So, that contained within the explanation that a child can follow are the deepest deepest deepest secrets of the Torah. And that with time, they sort of unpack it and discover it. So, it's not like we're dumbing it down, chas v'shalom. It's not like, "Oh, here's the kiddie version." No, no, no. This is the deepest version, it's just translated. And with the time, you'll see how the deepest ideas were were in there as well. Now, having said that, that sort of brings me to another point, which is the Rebbe as um as a teacher of children. The Rebbe would say Sichos to children, which is really unheard of that a Jewish leader should directly speak to groups of children with with talks that are geared for the children, in the language of children, using examples that are relatable to children. It's just it's it's rather amazing if you think about the fact that, you know, the the Rebbe had many Shluchim, educators, uh activists who could relay his message to the children. And yet the Rebbe would speak directly at times. 770 would be cleared out from the adults, and they would have children come in, and the Rebbe would speak to assemblies of of children. And the Rebbe would say Sichos for children. And these Sichos, if you look at what what the Rebbe's talking about, the Rebbe's using examples. Like when the Rebbe's talking about a moral dilemma, about the Yetzer Hara and the Yetzer Tov. So, the Rebbe would use examples that are relatable to a child. The Rebbe would say like, "You come downstairs and you didn't wash Netilas Yadayim yet, but there are cookies and your your your siblings are eating them, and you're afraid if you take time to go wash your hands that you're going to miss out and you're not going to get a cookie, and your parent asks you, 'Did you wash your hands yet?' And you have this whole dilemma." And it's it's actually rather amazing to think about somebody on that level, also somebody who did not have his own biological children describing scenarios that are so relevant and so realistic to an audience of children. It's just a remarkable idea. But if you think about it that ever had said already that even in the simplest explanations of Torah are contained all the deepest secrets of Torah. So you know when you when you look at the sichos to the children it's not it's like watered down diluted version of Torah. In the sichos to children are contained the deepest secrets of the Torah. In fact there's a series of books which I highly highly recommend called the Rebbe writes to children in Yiddish. The the original Yiddish transcripts are called the Rebbe writes to children but it's also translated in Hebrew and in English and perhaps even in other languages. I'm sure it's in other languages. And Tzivos Hashem put it out. And in fact I'll just put in a personal plug. If you go to soulwords.org there's a section in soulwords.org you get which is my website. You go to the top of the home page there's a bunch of series. So you know they have different series like the Tanya class and the Shabbos talk in class and parsha classes. Um Mivtzoim this series is one of the series the Mivtzoim class. But then there's a series called the Rebbe writes to children. And those are these sichos. The the sichos that the Rebbe spoke to children. You watch them and what it what is the series of classes? This is something that I did in conjunction with Tzivos Hashem. I just take the sicha as the Rebbe said it to the children and and I and I teach it and and I My objective when I did these classes was to try to point out how on one hand the language is so accessible and yet if you look deeply you see there's so much uh so much profundity hidden within the words there. So definitely do yourself a favor go learn these sichos whether from the the transcripts or from the classes on soulwords. But it's it's really a remarkable thing that not only the Rebbe took time to to address children specifically to address children but that you'll see the style. You can see how how the Rebbe is putting so much depth into these talks. It's not it's not simple stuff. It is simple and yet it and yet it's not. Now so so you understand why am I mentioning it in this capacity? Because the the sichos to children was all an outgrowth of Mivtzo Chinuch. It was all part of this. Um The the sichos to children started in I think in taf shin lamed ches. I believe um started in lamed ches meaning Mivtzo Chinuch was started lamed vov. Lashana Chinuch was lamed vov lamed zayin. And I believe the the sichos to children the rallies started lamed ches in Chanukah or when they would come back from camp. There were a few times a year. And then obviously in in mem aleph in 1981 when Tzivos Hashem the world's largest Jew Jewish youth organization was launched then it became the Tzivos Hashem rallies. And that that was the the milieu for the for the sichos to children. Um So much more so so much more to say. I mean I don't think we can finish without mentioning that the National Education and Sharing Day which is enacted every year as an act of Congress on the Rebbe's birthday. That was an outgrowth of Mivtzo Chinuch. The first Education and Sharing Day was 5738 you know 1978 the Rebbe's birthday Yud Aleph Nissan. Uh and and in that in in the original um enactment of Congress it mentions that this is the the end of the or the culmination I should say of the Shnas Chinuch of the year of Chinuch and the Rebbe's education campaign. And uh Related to that was also the Rebbe's push for moment of silence that there should be a non-sectarian moment of silence for children in all schools not just in Jewish schools. The idea of Mivtzo Chinuch was well beyond just uh Jewish schools and well beyond the Jewish world. You know Chinuch is is for for every every human being. Um Yeah. Okay. There's so so so much more so much more. I'll just share with you one one last thing. And to me it's special. I don't know. Maybe it's cuz I I have a lot of girls kin ayin hara. But after the Rebbe launched the 12 pesukim so they made a booklet and a booklet with the the 12 pesukim so they they they submitted the booklet to the Rebbe for review. And one of the comments the Rebbe had was on the cover of the booklet they had a picture of a little boy. And the Rebbe said there's a little boy but where's the little girl? Where's the little girl? So uh It's it's remarkable. It's remarkable how the Rebbe looked at everyone. Men and women boys and girls and just saw potential. The Rebbe saw leaders. The Rebbe saw teachers educators influencers in in all of us. And that's really the spirit of Mivtzo Chinuch. Mivtzo Chinuch is about each one of us being empowered being deputized by the leader of our generation that we should go out and and educate ourselves educate others educate the world. It's it's a powerful it's a powerful thing. And of course let's remember that uh there will come a time God willing speedily when our prophets have predicted that none none of us will have to teach each other anymore at all. We're told when Mashiach comes no longer will one man teach his brother saying come and know the Lord because they will all know me says Hashem. Hashem says everyone will know me directly. So we won't need to teach each other. But until that time the way we bring about that time is by teaching each other teaching ourselves teaching others. Okay.