Daily Archives: January 17, 2008

A Yud Shvat Sicha

The Rebbe says:

1. The Rebbe begins talking about his father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe, who’s day of passing we commemorate on Yud Shvat:

The Previous Rebbe writes in his diary that when he was a baby of eight days old and was receiving his Bris Mila (circumcision) he began to cry. His grandfather the Rebbe Maharash then said to him, “Why are you crying? When you grow up you will be a…(the Previous Rebbe left a blank spot here) and will say Chassidus in a clear fashion”.

Chassidim have told me that the missing word from the Previous Rebbe’s diary is “Rebbe”; the Rebbe Maharash said, “When you grow up you will be a Rebbe and will say Chassidus in a clear fashion”. This of course sheds light on why the Previous Rebbe left a blank spot (he did not feel it would be becoming to write that).

The Previous Rebbe: a short biography

Yud Shvat (the Tenth of Shvat) is the Previous Rebbe’s yahrzeit, the anniversary of his passing. On the day of a tzaddik’s passing, “all his effort… for which he toiled throughout his life… becomes revealed and radiates downward… at the time of his passing.”Accordingly, Yud Shvat is an appropriate day to focus on the message of the Previous Rebbe’s life, for every year, these same spiritual qualities are revealed on this anniversary.

This revelation affects all of “his children, the work of his hands,” those who “will walk in his paths for eternity.” This is particularly true in regard to the yahrzeit of a nasi, a leader of the Jewish people. For a nasi is connected to every member of his generation; as Rashi states, “The nasi is the entire people.”

Continued in the Extended Article.