What is Yechidus?

00:01 Okay, today we’ll talk about yechidus. There are quite a few questions here. The main question the bochurim ask is: What does yechidus mean today? Is there such a thing as yechidus today? And so on. But first, we’ll give a little background, a little history. What is yechidus? What do we know about yechidus in general, among our Rebbeim, and particularly with the Rebbe, the leader of our generation? First of all, yechidus is something that began in the early generations. We don’t know exactly when, in what period, or at what point, but as the Rebbe notes, we already find the name “yechidus” in the Alter Rebbe’s time. There is the well-known maamar of the Alter Rebbe, “And a Certain Woman,” about the sons of the prophets. The maamar begins, “Just as one cries out in yechidus.” In other words, we see from there that already in the Alter Rebbe’s time, this meeting between a chossid and the Rebbe was called yechidus. It bears looking into exactly when that name arose. For example, chassidim who aren’t Chabad chassidim—Polish chassidim—don’t call it yechidus; they have another name for it. In Berditchev, they call it something else. But the name yechidus is a Chabad name. It apparently arose with the Alter Rebbe. We don’t know exactly how it arose. Who established that name? Did it come from the chassidim? Did it come from the Alter Rebbe himself? But we see that there is a maamar that begins, “Just as one cries out in yechidus over one’s distance from the living G-d, over one’s distance from G-d, so the soul cries out every night, and a man or woman cries out, every man or...” So we see that in the Alter Rebbe’s time it was already called yechidus. Yechidus is mentioned in a number of the Alter Rebbe’s writings, already when the Alter Rebbe established the system

02:30 and practices for Chabad Chassidus, the regulations of Liozna and Liadi. It is also brought in Tanya, Igeres Hakodesh, section 1. The Alter Rebbe writes what the rules are. Not everyone could go in for yechidus. Not everyone could go in. Among the chassidim there was a certain procedure. There were certain conditions and rules, and there were people appointed to oversee it. The Alter Rebbe appointed people—as is known, the Mitteler Rebbe and, likewise, Reb Chaim Avraham—who, on the Alter Rebbe’s behalf, would educate and guide the chassidim and prepare them to go in for yechidus. The Frierdiker Rebbe describes this at great length in his sichos in a number of places, especially in Hatamim, the Hatamim journal. There he explains it and tells a number of stories in detail: how, among the chassidim, preparing to go in for yechidus was an entire avodah. Preparation for yechidus could take years, or many months. It was a whole avodah for a chossid, because they knew that yechidus was of the utmost importance, particularly the first yechidus, and they would prepare for it for a long time. This is also brought in Hayom Yom for the month of Tammuz. There he speaks about Reb [unclear] of Vilenka, who prepared for three years before going in for yechidus. One of the stories the Frierdiker Rebbe tells in Hatamim is about a chossid who had been preparing for yechidus for some time. He was already on his way to travel there, and then he sto... He heard a teaching from the Alter Rebbe. I think this is brought in the Reshimos of the Rashbatz. I think so. No, I don’t remember clearly right now, but it seems to be brought there. He heard a passage about a time when the Alter Rebbe passed through a shtetl and said a short maamar before Petersburg. The Alter Rebbe said: “Six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes, and thus the maiden came to the king.” The Alter Rebbe explained that “six months with oil of myrrh” means bitterness. “Six months with perfumes”

04:55 refers to the inner dimension of Torah, and then “the maiden came to the king.” Then one can go in for yechidus. So that chossid stayed another year to put this teaching into practice. He prepared for another year in accordance with what the Alter Rebbe had said: “Six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes.” In other words, yechidus involved an enormous amount of avodah and preparation. And that was how it was throughout the generations, in various ways. One place where the Frierdiker Rebbe tells a story and also explains a little of what yechidus is about is the well-known account. There is a famous account by the Frierdiker Rebbe in which he tells the story of a child who traveled to the Tzemach Tzedek. Reb Avraham Ber [unclear]—his father had presumably been a chossid of the Tzemach Tzedek even before then, but he was a chossid of the Tzemach Tzedek at the time. They traveled together with an elderly Reb [unclear]; the journey took two weeks. He recounts every detail of the story: how they traveled, how they prepared, how they arrived, and so on, up to the yechidus. He relates that after the yechidus, the child saw the chassidim dancing. The child didn’t understand why they were dancing. As for the yechidus itself, he had seen his father cry beforehand, how serious he was as he entered the Rebbe’s room, how he cried, and how the Rebbe gave him a blessing, and so on. Then, when they came out of yechidus, he saw the chassidim dancing joyfully, and he didn’t understand what had happened until his teacher explained to him that this was the Beis Hamikdash. There, in the account that the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote himself, he describes this. And what does he explain? He explains that Lubavitch is Jerusalem in the time of exile. The Rebbe’s house is the Beis Hamikdash in the time of exile. The Rebbe’s room, the yechidus room, is the Holy of Holies in the time

06:57 of exile. The Rebbe is the Ark, and the chossid who goes in for yechidus is like the Kohen Gadol entering the Holy of Holies once a year. That is what the account says. Just as, before the Kohen Gadol entered, there was great tension, fear, and apprehension, but after he came out of the Beis Hamikdash there was joy—“he would make a Yom Tov when he emerged safely from the holy place”—so it was with chassidim. Before going in for yechidus, there is all the weakness, tension, fear, awe, and reverence. After yechidus, there is great joy. Yechidus itself is like the Kohen Gadol entering the Holy of Holies. That is the idea of yechidus: the yechidah of the soul. As is known, that is the idea of the Holy of Holies. There, the revelation of the yechidah shines forth—the Kohen Gadol, the collective yechidah, and so on. But here we see that the chossid is the Kohen Gadol. That is quite a remarkable idea, but that is what the account says. The Rebbe then discusses details of this account. The Rebbe also cites it in the sicha of 28 Sivan 5751, the Dvar Malchus of 28 Sivan 5751—the well-known sicha in which the Rebbe explains the significance of 28 Sivan and of 770, whose numerical value is “Beis Moshiach.” It is that well-known sicha in which the Rebbe spoke about 770 and how it is the place from which the Geulah will come. There, in a footnote, the Rebbe also refers to this saying and quotes these words concerning the idea that 770 is now the Beis Hamikdash—the idea of “the house of our Rebbe in Babylonia.” Later, in the well-known kuntres, this is brought at greater length. In any case, from this we can begin to understand how yechidus was the most central thing in a chossid’s avodah. There was special preparation, and the entry itself, with all its details. What it was. What is the meaning of the idea of

08:54 Yechidus? There’s what it says in Hayom Yom, and then there’s what the Rebbe revealed after Hayom Yom. In Hayom Yom, the Rebbe brings from letters of the Frierdiker Rebbe. There are two entries in Hayom Yom about yechidus. One is for 10 Elul. There the Rebbe brings three meanings of the word yechidus. Yechidus can mean clarification—to clarify. It can mean establishing something, setting it in place, something like that. And yechidus can mean—what else? Union. Yes. Three meanings of the word yechidus: clarification, establishing, and union. Yes, here it’s written in Hebrew. I don’t have the original Hayom Yom here; this is a translation, a particular translation. In any case, the Rebbe explains what yechidus is, what it involves. It means that a chossid clarifies his situation, establishes where he stands in turning away from evil and drawing closer to good middos, and strives for complete hiskashrus—to devote himself with all seriousness. In the original Hayom Yom it’s written in Yiddish, so it’s clearer what he means. But the point for us is that yechidus has three aspects, three meanings of the word, though this is all in translation. To clarify: through yechidus, a chossid clarifies what state he is in. He establishes an order of avodah—what his avodah should be in turning away from evil and doing good, in good middos. And he unites himself, connects, devotes himself with all seriousness. In other words, there are three aspects. One is more an avodah connected with the past: clarifying his standing and situation, and where he is. The second is more connected with the future: establishing an order of avodah in turning away from evil and doing good. And the third is something more inward: yechidus involves striving for total devotion, mesirus nefesh, as the chossid gives himself over to the Rebbe. And in the Hayom Yom entry we had a few days ago, there’s another

11:30 very important point about yechidus. Hayom Yom for 20 Sivan. The Rebbe brings a passage from the Rebbe Maharash, who said that the structure of a chossid’s mind and middos is in proportion to his first yechidus with the Rebbe. This, too, is in Hebrew here, while the original Hayom Yom is in Yiddish. The structure of a chossid’s mind and middos is in proportion to his first yechidus with the Rebbe. The first yechidus is in proportion to the chossid’s essential nature. According to his essential nature, so is the order of avodah he takes to the Rebbe. Now, anyone reading this Hayom Yom asks: What is meant by all this wording? It seems to say the same thing several times. What is the Rebbe saying here? Apparently he repeats it from one side, then from another. Why the length and the repetition? What’s going on here? I don’t know; I’m just trying to put it into words. Yes? No, it’s not that there are explanations of this. There’s the Hayom Yom entry; it’s from a letter of the Frierdiker Rebbe. So we’re trying to understand what it means. Incidentally, this Hayom Yom entry falls right in the week of Parshas Shelach. Well, that too is hashgachah pratis. Simply put, Parshas Shelach discusses Moshe’s men. It discusses the spies, including “Caleb quieted the people before Moshe.” It’s a parsha about hiskashrus, so it relates to yechidus. We can go further and say that it also relates to what is written about Caleb, that he prostrated himself at the graves of the Patriarchs, because we know that visiting their resting places is also a kind of yechidus, as we’ll explain shortly. In any case, here is this saying. So how do we understand it? Just explain what it says. The first

13:25 thing the Rebbe Maharash says is, “The structure...” Does anyone have the actual Hayom Yom? I don’t like doing it this way; the translation here isn’t entirely accurate. “The structure of a chossid’s mind and middos is in proportion to his first yechidus with the Rebbe.” That’s the wording. So what’s the first point? The Rebbe says that the structure of a chossid’s mind and middos is in proportion to the yechidus. What does that mean? Does it mean that before yechidus you have no mind? What is meant here? It’s the structure. You could call it your way of thinking—how a person is put together. After all, each person has a particular way his mind works, a way he thinks and understands. That’s what “the structure of the mind and middos” means. The Rebbe means your way of thinking, how your head is put together. People sometimes say, “He has a crooked head.” Meaning the structure of his mind is crooked: whatever he thinks about, he sees it in a crooked way. Of others they say, “He has a straight head.” That’s in general, but it applies in a more particular way too. So the structure of the mind and middos means that a chossid’s way of thinking and living, the way he understands things, grasps things, takes things in, is connected with his first yechidus with the Rebbe. It’s as though there’s a kind of birth. After all, we say that anyone who teaches another person is considered as though he gave birth to him. There’s an aspect of being born. The Rebbe also brings in Hayom Yom, in an entry for Adar, the subject of yechidus—of birthdays: chassidim would celebrate the first time they entered the Rebbe’s presence as a birthday. He relates that the Rashbatz celebrated a birthday on the anniversary of the first time he entered the Rebbe’s presence. So from this we understand that the first yechidus is a kind of birth, a kind of new beginning in life. Apparently, that’s what it means when it says that the structure of a chossid’s mind and middos is in proportion to his first yechidus with the Rebbe. It’s as though the person is born anew then, and from that first yechidus onward, the way he understands and feels things changes according to what he received in that first yechidus. Then the Rebbe says something else: “The first yechidus is in proportion to a chossid’s essential nature.” When you’re with the Rebbe in yechidus, the Rebbe gives you something. Yes, the Rebbe imparts something. There’s the—as we said, yechidus is a birth. Yechidus creates a new reality. The Rebbe gives you something essential, something new. It’s as though something is born here; there is something of the essence here. So the first yechidus is in proportion to a chossid’s essential nature. In other words, even in this, what the Rebbe gives the chossid also depends on the chossid’s level. There are chassidim at a certain level, yes? And in proportion to that, the Rebbe imparts something to you in yechidus. On the one hand, it is something essential that the Rebbe gives you; on the other hand, it depends on your essential nature, on your level. Some people are simple people, and others are more learned in Torah. Each has his own nature. So what the Rebbe imparts in yechidus is also connected with the chossid’s nature. Then he says a third thing: that according to his essential nature, so is the order of avodah he takes to the Rebbe. Now this is a very practical matter. In yechidus there is an order of avodah. In yechidus, the Rebbe gives

15:36 The first time they went in to the Rebbe, they would celebrate a birthday. It is related that the Rashbatz celebrated a birthday, too, the first time he went in to the Rebbe. So from this we understand that the first yechidus is a kind of birth, a kind of new beginning in life. Apparently, then, that is what it means when it says that the structure of a chossid’s intellect and emotions is shaped by his first yechidus with the Rebbe. In other words, it is as though the person is born anew at that point. From that first yechidus onward, the way he understands things and feels things changes according to what he received in that first yechidus. Then the Rebbe says something else: “The first yechidus is commensurate with the essential nature of a chossid.” When you are with the Rebbe in yechidus, the Rebbe gives you something. Yes, the Rebbe bestows something upon you. There is the... as we said, yechidus is a birth. Yechidus is a new reality. The Rebbe gives you something essential, something new. There is a kind of giving birth here; there is something of the essence here. So the first yechidus is commensurate with the essential nature of a chossid. That means that here, too, what the Rebbe gives the chossid depends on the chossid’s level. There are chassidim at a certain level, right? And the Rebbe bestows upon you in yechidus accordingly. On the one hand, what the Rebbe gives you is something essential; on the other hand, it depends on your essential nature—what level you are on. Some people are simple people; others are more learned in Torah. Each person receives according to his nature. So what the Rebbe bestows in yechidus is also connected to the nature of the chossid. And then he says a third thing: that according to one’s essential nature, there is an order of avodah with the Rebbe. This is already something very practical. In yechidus, there is an order of avodah. In yechidus, the Rebbe gives

17:37 the chossid an order of avodah. So the order of avodah that the Rebbe gives a chossid is also connected with his essential nature. Each person receives an order of avodah in proportion to his own nature. You can see it in the stories—look at the stories, particularly in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s sichos, about all sorts of yechidus experiences. You can see this quite plainly: the order of avodah the Rebbe gives is in proportion to the chossid’s essential nature. You can actually see it. For example, there were people who went into yechidus. I’ll tell you a story I heard from Reb Shlomo Zarchi. He said that the Rebbe had told it to Reb Yair Kahn[?]—may he have a complete recovery. This was [unclear] many years ago. Reb Yair related that he once went in with the administration. The yeshivah administration would go in every month. The Rebbe once told them about bochurim who had come to him for yechidus. I don’t know whether this was with the administration or whether Reb Yair was alone; I don’t remember that detail now. But he related that there was a yechidus in which, the Rebbe said, a bochur came in and asked for a way to make amends for matters of immodesty. The Rebbe told him something, and that was it; the bochur left it at that. Afterward, a second bochur came in, and the Rebbe told him something similar—that’s how the Rebbe related it. But then the bochur asked, “That’s it? That’s all?” So the Rebbe said, “I understood that he needed more, so I gave him more details.” The Rebbe told Reb Yair that you have to know whether the bochur is ready, whether he is a vessel for it. Not every bochur is ready to receive guidance on these matters yet, and you have to assess that. You can’t assume a bochur is ready. In other words, you can’t tell every bochur to go into yechidus and speak about those same questions. It depends on the bochur. There’s a bochur who is more

19:47 It’s relevant to one bochur and less relevant to another. You see this often in these stories, in these matters. Some went into yechidus and received one kind of guidance, while others went into yechidus and received entirely different guidance—sometimes the exact opposite. It depends. That’s what it says here: the path of avodah the Rebbe gives is according to the chossid’s own essential nature. For example, there was a Jew here, Twil’s grandfather—yes, he was here. No, not the brother of Rabbi Twil, a"h; the grandfather of Yaakov’s... yes, of Raphul Twil, in short. So he was... There’s a note; bochurim have seen it. He went into yechidus with the Rebbe. He could barely speak—he could barely speak Hebrew. In any case, he went into yechidus with the Rebbe and asked the Rebbe for a path of avodah. So the Rebbe told him what to learn and so on. Afterward, the Rebbe took pen and paper and wrote out, in block letters, the things he had told him. The handwritten note still exists. Yes, bochurim have seen it. The Rebbe’s holy handwriting, where the Rebbe writes out for him in block letters what he needs to do: study halachah every day and learn one chapter of Tanya by heart. So the Rebbe gave him two or three instructions there, including being joyful. Something like that—you can see it. The Rebbe simply looks at a Jew’s soul and, according to his essential nature, gives him a path of avodah suited to him. Yes, there were bochurim who went into yechidus and the Rebbe demanded much more of them, according to their individual situation. And so it is with each and every person. That’s the third point the Frierdiker Rebbe makes here. Later, over the years—toward the end of 5722—the Rebbe said something at a Simchas Torah farbrengen, a major insight that isn’t stated explicitly

21:59 anywhere. Although it would seem to be the straightforward meaning, sometimes it’s precisely the obvious thing that isn’t stated explicitly. The Rebbe said it at the Simchas Torah farbrengen of 5722. Afterward, the Rebbe also said it in a maamar on 19 Kislev 5722, that same year. What did the Rebbe say then? A new insight. The Rebbe said that a chossid enters yechidus... On Simchas Torah 5722, the Rebbe drank a lot of mashke. I also heard Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi recount this in detail. The Rebbe drank a lot of mashke then, and it was one of those farbrengens—like Purim 5718—when the Rebbe went beyond the usual bounds and farbrenged for hours. The farbrengen lasted almost all night, ten hours. It was a remarkable Simchas Torah farbrengen. At one point, the Rebbe stood up and delivered a sicha while standing. There were extraordinary revelations there. The Rebbe drank a great deal of mashke. Various chassidim reacted and tried to get the Rebbe to stop. The Rebbe put them all in their place. There were very... there were lofty revelations there. Among other things, the Rebbe related toward the end of the farbrengen that a young man had come to him for yechidus and complained about material matters: he was lacking this, lacking that. And the Rebbe said: What is yechidus? Yechidus is when the yechidah of the chossid stands face to face with the yechidah of the Rebbe. And you’re talking about lacking material things? The Rebbe delivered a very, very forceful sicha then, taking people to task for being so absorbed in material things. The Rebbe spoke very sharply about it. But in the course of that, he used this expression: that is the meaning of yechidus. Then, in Kislev of that same year, the Rebbe delivered the maamar beginning “Padah Veshalom” and told the story of the chossid of the Tzemach Tzedek who went into yechidus and told the Rebbe

24:04 that everyone was trampling on him in the beis midrash. There too, the Rebbe explained what yechidus is: it’s when the yechidah of the chossid meets the yechidah of the Rebbe. Yet this chossid was concerned that people were trampling on him in the beis midrash. That was because something was lacking in his avodah of davening, as explained in the maamar in the Melukat. So what new insight did the Rebbe give us? That yechidus is connected with yechidah. In other words, yechidus is when the yechidah of the chossid connects with the yechidah of the Rebbe. This gives us a deeper understanding of the whole matter of yechidus. Now, what was yechidus like with the Rebbe? Just to tell you in general, there were very significant differences between the Rebbe and the other Rebbeim. We’ll get to what concerns yechidus. With the other Rebbeim, yechidus was something quite different. The Rebbe changed many things about yechidus. One difference was that with our Rebbeim, yechidus was much more intimidating. There were candles on the table, and the entrance to yechidus—the outward setting—was much more awe-inspiring. The Rebbe was more... there was more of an outward formality. From the Rebbe’s side, outwardly, yechidus was... Not all those details were present with the Rebbe. There was an open sefer on the table and two candles. That’s how they describe it with all the Rebbeim, whereas with the Rebbe, none of those things were there. On the other hand, of course, people would tremble with fear when entering yechidus with the Rebbe. There was tremendous awe. Generally, before entering yechidus, as with the earlier Rebbeim, one had to prepare. Regarding preparation for yechidus, we see in the sichos that it is a central matter. It’s central to avodah. Where do we learn this from? We learn it from Queen Esther,

26:23 because that is the story of the Megillah: the soul needs to connect with G-dliness. That is what yechidus is—the yechidah of the chossid connects with the general yechidah, and through that he receives new life, and so on. For this to happen, for the individual soul to connect with the general soul and thereby be renewed with new life and all these things, there must be “six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes,” and “thus the maiden came to the king.” In other words, the effort he puts in—so that the yechidah of a chossid connects with the Rebbe and through that receives a new light in his soul—is accomplished through the preparation that has to take place over many months beforehand. Reb Nissan Nemenov once farbrenged in 770. It’s a well-known story; Leibel Groner tells it. Reb Nissan came and farbrenged, and the Rebbe sent Reb Leibel to listen to what he was saying at the farbrengen. The next day, the Rebbe asked him what Reb Nissan had spoken about, and he told him what had happened at the farbrengen. Reb Nissan said that in the past, traveling to the Rebbe took a long time. Physically, people would go on foot or travel by horse. It took a long time to get to the Rebbe. Today, you get on a plane and arrive at the Rebbe within a few hours. So today it’s completely different. In the past, you had to prepare and prepare and prepare. Today, you get on a plane, and suddenly you’re there. It happens in no time. Reb Nissan said that the same applies to preparing for yechidus. In the past, preparation took many years. But today, just as physically you can reach the Rebbe more quickly, the preparations can also be shorter. They don’t have to take years as they once did. Today, even with a somewhat shorter period of preparation, a person can also

28:30 Can they get there? They can. But what do they need to do? He said: What do we learn from an airplane? This was Reb Nissan’s vort about the airplane. We learn that you have to rise. Once you rise, you get there much faster. The airplane rises higher and higher, above all of this, and then it gets there much faster. Reb Nissan explained that this is what the Rebbe teaches us. The Rebbe teaches us that a bochur has to lift himself up—to learn Chassidus, to daven, to rise higher—and then he can get there, be ready to enter the Rebbe’s room, much, much more quickly. Not the way it used to be. That was Reb Nissan’s vort. And Reb Leibel related that when he repeated this vort to the Rebbe, the Rebbe used an expression—I don’t remember the exact wording—but the meaning was that Reb Nissan was right. In other words, the Rebbe agreed with the vort Reb Nissan had said. In practice, we know how yechidus with the Rebbe developed. In the early years, the Rebbe also introduced birthday yechidus, and bochurim would go in for yechidus each year on their birthdays. That was one of the new practices the Rebbe introduced, and it continued until 5731, 5735. Then the Rebbe stopped private yechidus. When the Rebbe stopped it, he still continued to hold yechidus for guests during Yom Tov periods. That continued until 5741. In 5741, the Rebbe stopped yechidus for guests as well, and began group yechidus. That was in 5742. For one year, groups went into the Rebbe’s room, and the Rebbe spoke to each group. I merited to be with the Rebbe in one of those groups, at a group yechidus. I was ten years old, and it was my first time with the Rebbe. By then there was no longer private yechidus; there was group yechidus. About ten or twelve people went in together

30:32 to the Rebbe’s room, and the Rebbe gave a sicha of a few minutes to each group. Those yechidus sessions took several days, because, baruch Hashem, there were many guests. But that was how it worked: ten or fifteen people went in together. The Rebbe said a few words, then accepted each person’s pan and gave them a dollar. Some managed to ask a brief question, but generally people were too much in awe to ask or to hold things up, because there was no time. After that, the Rebbe stopped this as well, and from 5743 began the general yechidus. That was five times a year: in Tishrei, Kislev, Shvat, Pesach, Shavuos, Sukkos. Those were the times the Rebbe held it until 5752. Until 27 Adar, that was the arrangement for general yechidus, with the Rebbe receiving each person in turn, with the gabbaim directing people. At first it took place upstairs in the small zal, and later, when there was room, they began holding it in the large zal. There was a point at which the Rebbe stopped private yechidus for chassidim, and there was a progression to it. First of all, in 5729 the Rebbe gave a very sharp sicha about this. In Tammuz—Sivan, Sivan 5729—the Rebbe gave an extremely sharp sicha, an astounding one. It’s in Toras Menachem, though only briefly, not in full. Among the bochurim, copies circulate of what was actually said. It’s a complete sicha of the Rebbe’s, and the Rebbe speaks there in the strongest terms. The Rebbe says that he feels people are not making use of yechidus. The Rebbe says he added more opportunities for yechidus than the previous Rebbes had, and yet people still do not take it seriously. The Rebbe says, “A bochur comes in to me. He was with me last year on his birthday, and now he comes in and writes to me the same things he wrote last

32:46 year. I ask him what happened during the year, and what about what we discussed last year? And he tells me, ‘I didn’t do anything.’” And the Rebbe began to cry out: “Aren’t you ashamed to come in for yechidus?” Yes. “Kalt-blutik,” the Rebbe says. “Cold-blooded. You come and tell me you haven’t done anything. Then why are you coming in for yechidus? And without any shame. Even now you know that you’re coming in for yechidus and nothing will come of it. Next year you’ll come and say the same thing you said last year. So what is the point of holding yechidus?” There was fire there. This was very much on the Rebbe’s mind at that time. It came up two or three times. It began on Shabbos Mevorchim Sivan, then continued on Shavuos. And there were other occasions too. It came up at several farbrengens. I don’t remember right now exactly which farbrengen it was. At several farbrengens, until—at another farbrengen too, toward the end, the Rebbe again began to cry out about how it was all pride and self-importance: “I was at yechidus.” A person takes pride in having gone in again and again, and more times than someone else. In short, the Rebbe had already hinted that it would not last much longer, because he saw that people were not taking these matters as seriously as they should. By 5734, 5735, it stopped altogether. There was a yechidus then with Reb Shemaryahu Gourary. He himself told us that he had been with the Rebbe for yechidus at the time and had complained to the Rebbe that the bochurim wanted yechidus—why had it stopped? He said the Rebbe cried out at him so fiercely that he regretted ever bringing it up. The Rebbe spoke to him very, very sharply. The Rebbe told him that he saw it was not helping at all; it was just an excuse for the mashpi’im to do nothing.

34:36 In short, the Rebbe knew his clientele, as they say. So that was how it happened. When the Rebbe began the general yechidus, there were also people who raised the question with him: What about yechidus? The Rebbe explained that some people were complaining. There was a sicha in those years, in 5743 or 5744—I don’t remember exactly which one—in which the Rebbe said that some people were complaining. The Rebbe explained that the advantage of general yechidus is even greater than that of private yechidus. The Rebbe also wrote notes about it. Some people kept pressing the matter, and the Rebbe wrote several sharp notes on the subject: this yechidus is a genuine yechidus. Physically, it is a yechidus. If, from a person’s perspective, it is not a yechidus, private yechidus will not help either. There was a very sharp note along those lines to someone who was trying specifically to get the Rebbe to grant him a private yechidus. In the later years there were notes as well. I remember, when I was a bochur, several people received answers about yechidus. The Rebbe wrote to someone that a Shabbos farbrengen is also a kind of yechidus. I don’t remember the wording, but there were notes like that two or three times. One person asked for yechidus, and the Rebbe told him, “But he was at yechidus at the Shabbos farbrengen.” That was the Rebbe’s answer. The Rebbe wrote this more than once, in 5749 and 5750–5751, in the very last years. In other words, being at a farbrengen also counts as a kind of yechidus. What does yechidus mean after Gimmel Tammuz? That is the question bochurim ask. The basis for answering it is in farbrengens where the Rebbe spoke about this several times. The Rebbe mentioned it in 5710, and then mentioned it again in the later years. On Shabbos Parshas Vayikra 5747, the Rebbe spoke

37:00 There is the story the Frierdiker Rebbe told about when he was a child. He saw his father enter the room of the Rebbe Maharash, and he entered the way a chossid enters for yechidus. This was already after the passing of the Rebbe Maharash, yet he saw how the Rebbe Rashab put on the appropriate clothing, with a gartel and the clothing worn for yechidus, and entered with a tzetl, standing face to face as one does in yechidus. The Frierdiker Rebbe was a child, standing to the side, and he saw it all: his father looking and crying. The Frierdiker Rebbe writes that at the door, at the table where the Rebbe received people for yechidus, the holiness remains in its place, and even afterward one can be there in a state of yechidus. This is brought in [unclear]. The Rebbe explained this at length. In [unclear], the Rebbe spoke about it at a farbrengen of [unclear]. So that means yechidus is possible even now. From the Rebbe’s side, nothing has changed. That is the point of the story he tells: the holiness remains in its place. In other words, the Rebbe is there, spiritually he is there, and if the chossid prepares himself and enters, then he is there too. So that is face to face. You can have yechidus in the Rebbe’s room. The same applies to entering the Ohel, which we will get to, because that too is a form of yechidus. It is explained in Kuntres Hahishtatchus. There is a maamar there by the Mitteler Rebbe explaining five levels of hishtatchus—four or five levels. What is the point of going to the Ohel? The highest level he describes there is yechidus. When you go through the door into the Rebbe’s Ohel, you are also entering for yechidus. So those are the two main places where yechidus is possible. Since hishtatchus is called yechidus, then—

39:06 That is also why the Rebbe says in the sicha of Parshas Shelach 5710 that one can visit the graves of one’s ancestors. The Rebbe cites the Meor Einayim, Reb Nachum of Chernobyl, who says in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that one can also do this through the Rebbe’s Torah. That is the source for the idea that yechidus can also take place through the Rebbe’s Torah. In other words, if you can take a maamar and immerse yourself in it, you can see the Rebbe there face to face. Hishtatchus and entering for yechidus can also take place through the maamar. From this we understand that yechidus exists now, in its full force. The Rebbe said several times in 5710 that now, even more than before, all the doors are open: one can enter, one can act, and so on. The Rebbe used very, very strong expressions in that first period about this whole matter. Of course, it all depends on the chossid and what he does. It depends on the feeling in his heart: that he stands face to face, that he wants it, waits for it, seeks it, and wants this experience. From the Rebbe’s side there is no obstacle, but it has to be something genuine on the chossid’s part. Certainly it was easier in those days, when people saw the Rebbe with their physical eyes. There is no question about that. On the other hand, as I told you in those stories, even though they were physically face to face, it is not as though the bochurim made full use of it. The Rebbe himself complained that bochurim would enter and not do it properly. Because you get used to anything you have. “My soul thirsts for You.” In principle, when it comes down to practice, yechidus certainly exists today and is possible. So, of course, when a bochur travels—

41:08 —to the Rebbe, there is entering the Ohel and entering the Rebbe’s room. That should be an entry for yechidus, and therefore it should be done in a special way. A bochur here rightly asked me: have we forgotten that every time you enter the Ohel, you are entering for yechidus? The answer is that it depends on how you enter. If you enter for yechidus, then it is yechidus. As the Mitteler Rebbe writes in Kuntres Hahishtatchus, there are five reasons to enter the Ohel. So the question is: why are you entering the Ohel? You can go there for one reason or another; there are several reasons. It depends on your intention and on what kind of entry you want this to be. It is like the well-known story of a chossid who asked the Rebbe whether one may go to the Ohel on Chol Hamoed or Rosh Chodesh. The Rebbe told him: if you are going to the graves of tzaddikim, it is forbidden. If you are going to the Rebbe, it is permitted. That is a different kind of visit. The question is in what way you are going. Of course, G-d forbid that one should play around with established halachos. There are halachos, and one must be careful to follow them. But in terms of these matters, there are cases where you go specifically as a chossid. That is something else. The same applies here. Are you entering to see the Rebbe for yechidus? That is an entirely different matter. In principle, those are a few general points. Of course, we still need to explain in detail, in detail, what the preparation for yechidus should be, what one should seek from yechidus, and what it means to stand face to face. There are practical matters; we need to bring this down to practice. In principle, that is a bit of a panorama, so to speak, of yechidus with the Rebbe.