20 Marcheshvan Conference 5768

00:01 Speaker 1 Honored rabbanim, members of the Chabad Rabbinical Committee, leadership of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, distinguished scholars, the Rebbe’s shluchim, directors of Chabad Houses, public figures here with us, honored guests, chassidim and people of action, soldiers of the House of Dovid, students of the Temimim, and esteemed congregation. Drawing on the special power of 20 Cheshvan, the day we have just come from—the birthday of the Rebbe Rashab, may his soul rest in Gan Eden, whom chassidim call the Rambam of Chassidus—and on the well-known distinction of a birthday, when a person’s mazal is ascendant and the mazal of all Israel is ascendant; and drawing on the blessings that flow from the shepherds of Israel on their birthdays and from those who continue their path, through the Rebbe, the leader of our generation: with the strength of all these blessings, I have the honor of welcoming you all with a heartfelt chassidic greeting. Welcome to the forty-eighth national gathering of Anash, Chabad chassidim, under the theme “They go from strength to strength”—the forty-eighth gathering, going from strength to strength. Let us open the gates of blessing and offer a greeting of shalom aleichem and welcome to our dear guests, who have returned from their journey to celebrate the seventh month in the Rebbe’s own surroundings. Ladies and gentlemen, as we do every year, we have gathered to relive the special moments of inspiration and awakening that we were privileged to experience over the years during the seventh month. And while the longing to see our King fills our entire being, we feel, day by day and hour by hour, the strength the Rebbe gives us, bestowing on each of us and on all of us together an abundance of blessings from his full, open, holy, and generous hand. But as always, ladies and gentlemen, there is a condition the Rebbe states in all his holy sichos: the vessel for receiving the blessing, the vessel for holding it, the channel to our Creator, our Father, is that we all be as one. This is stated explicitly in the Rebbe’s sichos and in the special letters the Rebbe sent and continues to send to this gathering. These are the Rebbe’s holy words in his letters to the national gathering of Chabad chassidim. The Rebbe writes

03:54 Speaker 1 there, and these are his words: “The unity of all who participate in it, and through them, the unity of all those they influence, extending to the unity of all Israel.” My brothers and friends, esteemed congregation, the Rebbe taught us to live with the times. In our parsha, Parshas Chayei Sarah, the Rebbe says, there are many lessons, all connected with this day, 20 Cheshvan. Each person, the Rebbe says, can choose a particular lesson according to his own capacity. Nevertheless, the Rebbe says, we find a particular theme in the parsha connected with the central new aspect of the work of Cheshvan, when the work of “And Yaakov went on his way” begins. In our parsha, there is a verse that explains a particular point about this work, the work of “And Yaakov went on his way.” The weekly parsha tells of Eliezer’s journey to Charan. Charan, as [unclear], to bring chassidic life and light into the everyday lives of all our people, in every sphere—the wholeness of the people, and especially throughout the Land of Life, in its entirety and within its borders. This threefold wholeness is the only path to true peace and to the fulfillment of the promise, “And I will grant peace in the land.” [unclear] in our Geulah, very soon indeed, through Moshiach, our righteous redeemer, [unclear] the Beis Hamikdash in glory and blessing. Success. [unclear]. Thank you very much, and yasher koach to the chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad and Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak HaKohen Aharonov. Ladies and gentlemen, the year 5749, as the Rebbe says, is a year that is entirely Shabbos and joy—and joy breaks through boundaries. Since our theme is intensifying the mitzvah campaigns this year with joy and chassidic energy, I have the honor of inviting the Chabad chassidim’s choir, with Reb Nemuel Ben Harush, accompanied by Reb Uri Wellner, together with the entire audience, for a chassidisher farbrengen.

07:33 Speaker 2 I said, why [unclear]. All day [unclear]. I said, why [unclear]. Everyone says [unclear]. I said, I learned from all [unclear].

10:55 Speaker 3 The gathering is always held each year close to 20 Cheshvan, or on 20 Cheshvan itself, the birthday of the Rebbe Rashab, the Rambam of Chassidus. Let us note here what the Frierdiker Rebbe said, in these words: “My father is the cup of blessing of all the Rebbes: our teacher the Baal Shem Tov, our teacher the Maggid of Mezritch, the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash—the seventh generation of Chassidus. And if