By the Grace of G-d
28th of Teveth, 5721
Brooklyn, New York
Mr. Saul Kagan,
Secretary
Jewish Restitution Successor Organization
3 East 54th Street
New York 22, N. Y.
Greeting and Blessing:
I was gratified to receive your letter of January 11, 1961, to the effect that the Executive Committee of the JRSO has approved a grant of IL 30,000 toward the cost of equipment for an offset printing school in Kfar Chabad, although the grant falls considerably short of our request.
From a carbon copy of the letter sent by the Rebbe to an additional recipient. Courtesy of Hassidic Archives.
Mr. Saul Kagan (July 20, 1922, Vilna - Nov. 8, 2013, in Manhattan) was the founding director of the Claims Conference in 1951 and actively continued in this organization for the rest of his life. In 1947, Mr. Kagan was asked to create the JRSO and served as its secretary.
The JRSO was founded by a group of influential Jewish organizations to restore heirless property of murdered persons under the Nazi regime and to distribute them to active Jewish institutions.
A photocopy of the letter is published below.
Israeli Lira.
In the wake of a tragic terrorist attack in Kfar Chabad, in 1956, that took the life of five students of Kfar Chabad’s Trade School (a school which combined learning trade and Torah), a new branch of the school named Defus Yad Hachamisha was opened, adding printing to the school's training course. The course however was limited due to the lack of offset equipment (see following notes).
Rebbe Responsa
As indicated in our memorandum of October 26, 1960, we will match the amount of the grant, and I have instructed my office to follow up also the other conditions of the grant, relating to periodic reports and the inscription, as requested in your letter.
I would like to mention, however, that inasmuch as the equipment will have to be acquired by our headquarters in New York, which will also direct the implementation of the project, I am sure that the funds will be made available here. I trust that this will be agreeable to all concerned.
Please convey my sincere appreciation to the members of the Executive Committee for their cooperation in this most worthy project.
With blessing
Can be found on the Rebbe Responsa app under its Hebrew date - 5 Cheshvan, 5721.
In the report the JRSO prepared for their year of activities they noted: The largest single grant [allocated to Religious Research Projects (ed.)], IL 30,000, was given to the Offset Printing School and Plant in Kfar Chabad (Lubavitch). This represented about 50% of the estimated cost for equipment of an offset printing school in Kfar Chabad, to train students in the art of offset printing as well as to serve as a plant specializing in the publication of rabbinic and chassidic literature. The offset printing program is intended as an extension of the present Printing School which offers a four year course. It is attended by more than 40 students. The JRSO provided the allocation of IL 30,000 as a one-time grant against which IL 15,000 was spent during the period under review.
