The Rebbe & Rabbi Groner
Excerpt from a letter of the Previous Rebbe mentioning Rabbi Groner z"l (then a young man eighteen and a half years old):
"Igros Kodesh, Vol 8, p. 24: Please remain in Rochester until, with G-d’s help, the Yeshivah is fully established.
My son in law Rabbi Shmuel Gurary shlita, the chief administrator of the Lubavitcher Yeshiva system, has sent you my dear and precious student Rabbi Yitzchok Groner, a man of exceptional and outstanding abilities, a good natured and G-d fearing Chossid. He was supposed to travel elsewhere, but because of the urgent situation has been temporarily sent..."
Excerpts from a letter written by the Friediker Rebbe to Rabbi Groner, after sending him on a short trip to Australia:
"Baruch Hashem,
9 Adar 1, 5708 (1948).
Brooklyn,
My dear friend, Rabbi Yitzchak David,
Peace and blessing!
The purpose of your journey, and that of my emissaries to other countries, is not merely fundraising and establishing committees for Torah educational institutions. The inherent, underlying purpose is to inspire our Jewish brethren and to remind them of their pious, sincere, and upstanding parents and ancestors who sacrificed their lives to observe the Shabbos, observe the laws of family purity with kosher mikvehs and other Mitzvos. They dedicated themselves to educate their sons and daughters in the ways of Torah and Mitzvos, many in Chasidic ways, whether in the ways of Chabad, or other Chasidic groups.
The task of every learned Jew ["ben Torah"] and particularly a student of the Yeshiva of Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch, and an emissary of my institutions, Tomchei Temimim, Merkaz Le'inyanei Chinuch, and Machane Yisrael, is to inspire all our Jewish brethren, and particularly those of Chasidic background, to recall their education and the behaviour of their parents and teachers—and the way they lived in the past ["der alter heim"]. Those positive memories will illuminate their current environment ["di naye heimen"], and that Chasidic luminescence will subsequently cause the homes of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren to glow with the ways of Torah, Mitzvos, and fine character traits.
Certainly, the task of a fundraiser is to raise money for Torah educational institutions, but that alone is not sufficient. The funds may be greatly needed, but the task of inspiring people is of the utmost importance ["ikar ha'ikrim"].
May G-d grant you material and spiritual success.
Your friend, who seeks your welfare, and blesses you that you succeed materially and spiritually in my mission."
Excerpts from a letter written by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson to Rabbi Groner, regarding his permanent shlichus in Australia:
"25 Iyar, 5719 (1959)
Brooklyn
To the active, energetic Rabbi Yitzchak David,
Peace and blessing!
After a lengthy delay I received your letters from 15 and 20 Iyar, where you write a brief outline of your activities of the past few weeks and report that you are assessing what has been accomplished since your arrival in Australia.
According to the information I have received, thank G-d much was
accomplished, although there is always room for further improvement. Especially according to the well-known interpretation of the verse, "In, the heavens above, and on the earth below". In heavenly, spiritual matters, one must constantly aspire upwards, and in earthly, material matters, one can be satisfied with one's lot by comparing to those who have less..
You write that when your family arrives, a new arrangement will begin. You
have been successful to date and are privileged that your wife, the Rebbetzin, assists you...
It is my hope, that together you will succeed in your lofty and sublime mission to disseminate the wellsprings of Chasidic teachings and Judaism in Melbourne and in the whole of Australia. This should be with breadth of vision ["harchavas ha'da'as"], And above all you should have success in deriving much Chasidic nachas from all your children.
With blessing to hear good news in all the above,
The Rebbe's holy signature.
To the Rebbetzin Devorah,
Blessing and peace!
I estimate that upon your receipt of this letter, you will have already
arrived in Melbourne with your children, may it be in an auspicious time.
As I wrote in my letter to your husband, may G-d help that this be a good beginning for disseminating the wellsprings of Chasidic teachings outward,
in good health and a positive frame of mind, and may you derive much true nachas-Jewish, Chasidic nachas from all your children.
With blessing to hear good news in all the above,
The Rebbe's holy signature."
Letter of the Rebbe to Rabbi Groner OBM:
"29 Tammuz 5719
Horav HaChosid, Ish yirei Elokim, nosur v’noson, osek b’tzorchei tzibbur, ba’al meretz, Moreinu Harav Yitzchok Dovid,
Peace and blessing,
After a lengthy delay I received your letter of 25 Tammuz, in which you outline the present situation of the institutions, reports of the farbrengens and etc.
May it be G-d’s will that there will be a manifold increase in all the above and that all those involved in running the institutions will do so with joy and gladness of heart; with peace of mind and body, as a result of which there will be an increase in the work and its success.
Finding ourselves at the conclusion of the month of the redemption, and at the beginning of Menachem [Av], may it be G-d’s will that very soon the double measure of comforting will arrive: that these days will be transformed into days of rejoicing and joy, and from these Bein HaMeitzorim we shall merit to the fulfilment of the promise of an unlimited inheritance [b’li meitzorim].
With blessing for good tidings,
Menachem Mendel Schneerson"
