Chapter 156: The History of the Chadorim Established by the Alter Rebbe

00:00 The story continues with the Alter Rebbe and the chadarim he founded. The elder chassidim related what they had heard in their childhood from people who had heard these things from the Alter Rebbe himself. There are two approaches to serving Hashem: finding a shortcoming within oneself and correcting it. Both finding the shortcoming and correcting it must be done according to the ways of the Torah. The Maggid of Mezritch said in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that the Chassidic approach to refining one’s character traits and preparing the mind is to turn a shortcoming into an advantage. The Tzemach Tzedek told his son, the Rebbe Maharash, that on the basis of this teaching and these ways of serving Hashem, his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, worked on his own inner powers for about thirteen years. In 5533, a year after the passing of the Maggid of Mezritch, the Alter Rebbe founded in Liozna the chadarim famous among Chabad chassidim, at three levels: Cheder Alef, Cheder Beis and Cheder Gimmel. In the year the first cheder was founded, some students came from places where several of the leading students of the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu lived. They were struck by the depth and richness of the Alter Rebbe’s reasoning. One of the distinguished Torah scholars, upon hearing the Alter Rebbe’s teachings from young married men, remarked, “Only someone who received them from the Rambam himself could say such teachings.” Coming from this elderly, distinguished scholar, the remark made a strong impression in the wider circle of Torah scholars. In some of that circle’s leaders, it aroused deep jealousy, which led to bitter consequences and abhorrent deeds. Years later, on Simchas Torah 5607, the Frierdiker Rebbe relates, his father, the Rebbe Rashab, said: “My father, the Rebbe Maharash, told me in the name of his father, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Alter Rebbe’s grandson, that the Alter Rebbe founded the chadarim 124 years ago, in 5533, as we related.” “In my diary,” the Frierdiker Rebbe relates, “there is a lengthy account, passed down from Rebbe to Rebbe, of the Alter Rebbe’s striking and profound saying from the early years of his leadership,

03:05 after he returned from Mezritch. This is what he said: ‘Chassidim who do not devote themselves to the work of davening are people of separation.’ Those who saw and heard the inner feeling and fervor with which those devoted to the service of the heart would repeat this saying—‘Chassidim who do not devote themselves to the work of davening are people of separation’—felt a profound shame at how little substance or true inner being they had.” My father, the Rebbe Rashab, revealed this fiery saying in 5657, when he founded the Tomchei Temimim yeshivah. “The whole purpose of Torah and mitzvos,” my father, the Rebbe Rashab, said in his lengthy talk at our wedding feast, “is to reveal the higher intent within the physical, material world. That is, for the essential, inner intent of the Essence of the Infinite, blessed be He, to be felt and revealed in the world’s physical reality.” The Alter Rebbe received this approach to serving Hashem from the Maggid in Mezritch, together with a blessing for success from the Baal Shem Tov. The first cheder had fifteen students. To be admitted, they had to be well versed in Shas, Sefer Ha’ikkarim and the Kuzari, and have knowledge of the Zohar. The Alter Rebbe learned with them for five consecutive years. The second and third chadarim were founded in the years 5640—sorry, 5540—and 5542. The course of study in those chadarim lasted three years. Afterward, the students went out to many places and began spreading the teachings and practice of Chassidus, and chassidim and people of good deeds multiplied everywhere. The Alter Rebbe’s work to spread Chassidus was extraordinary in its wisdom and organization. He would secretly send shluchim to encourage people to explore and draw close to the ways of Chassidus, and he sent his students even to distant lands. For example, he sent his student Rabbi Moshe Vilenker to the region of Serbia and told him, “Do not return until you have finished.” Rabbi Moshe Vilenker worked there for fifteen months. Among the fruits of his work were the chossid Rabbi Yitzchak of Iasi and the chassidim known as the chassidim of Kalarash[?]. Through the students of the chadarim that the Alter Rebbe established when he returned

05:57 from Mezritch for the first time, the Alter Rebbe built the community of Chabad chassidim. He did divide them into levels according to their understanding of the qualities of intellect and emotion, but what they all shared was a dedication to establishing Chabad Chassidus: the service of the heart and the refinement of character. From his teacher, the Maggid of Mezritch, the Alter Rebbe received the Baal Shem Tov’s ways of conduct, such as Ahavas Yisroel. From the Maggid he received the service of loving Hashem and loving the Torah. The Alter Rebbe said, “The grandfather—that is, the Baal Shem Tov—blessed me with success in planting the orchard of Chabad and raising educated young men.” The Alter Rebbe established the ways of Chassidus on a firm foundation. Singing in general, and during davening in particular, is one of the ways of chassidim. That same Rabbi Moshe Vilenker and Rabbi Pinchas Reizes, both among the first students of the Alter Rebbe’s chadarim, related that before examining them in their studies, the Alter Rebbe sent them to Moshe Zalman, the man of the field, to learn niggunim from him. Moshe Zalman was a middle-aged Jew, learned, engaged in Chassidus, [unclear], and a great singer. On the High Holidays and Yom Tov, he led the davening at the Alter Rebbe’s. On most summer days he would take a sefer and go out to a field beyond the town to learn and sing. His singing was renowned throughout the area. His love of the field was also well known, which is why they called him Moshe Zalman, the man of the field. The chassidim Rabbi Moshe Vilenker and Rabbi Pinchas Reizes relate that once, the Alter Rebbe entered the small beis midrash where they and other young married men were sitting and learning. The Alter Rebbe sat down at the table. After some time, during which he was absorbed in deveikus, he recited from memory the following Mishnah in Shabbos, chapter 5, Mishnah 1, concerning what an animal may go out wearing: “With what may an animal go out, and with what may it not go out?” The time of davening is the Shabbos of the weekday. “With what may an animal go out?” Through

08:33 what kind of work in davening can the animal soul be brought out of its animal nature? There are different levels in the animal soul: camel, cow, donkey and horse. Each level of the animal soul has its own particular order of service. But the general approach is that “all animals fitted with a ring may go out with a ring and be led by the ring.” What is a ring? It is a ring fastened around the animal’s neck. “They may go out with a ring and be led by the ring”—ratzo and shov, advance and return. Song and melody during davening have an inherent power to bring the animal soul out of its animal nature, and also to refine the good within it and awaken its inner intent. By saying this teaching, the Alter Rebbe established the service of the heart among the chassidim, awakened the power of song, and gave the chassidim the strength for the sound of a melody to awaken their intent. Now, the students. When the chossid and Torah scholar Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Homil first came to the Alter Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe placed him in his Cheder Beis. The chossid and Torah scholar Rabbi Moshe Meisels was among the chassidim of Cheder Alef. The Alter Rebbe was not as exacting with them as he was with the chassidim of Cheder Beis. The chassidim of Cheder Alef had to be well versed in Shas, Tosafos, the Rishonim and the Rambam. When Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Homil was to be admitted, he clearly lacked nothing in his knowledge of Nigleh. When Rabbi Yehudah Leib, the Alter Rebbe’s brother, gave the Alter Rebbe the results of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac’s examination, the Alter Rebbe asked him, “And what does he know of Sefer Ha’ikkarim, the Kuzari and Moreh Nevuchim?” He gave Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac five months to study them, and told him that if he lacked knowledge of any of those books, he should ask the Alter Rebbe’s son, the Mitteler Rebbe. The great chossid, thinker and devoted servant of Hashem Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac was inquisitive by nature. When he heard Chassidus from the Alter Rebbe, he would take it in terms of philosophical inquiry. In one of the Alter Rebbe’s holy maamarim, which he delivered before the students of Cheder Alef,

11:13 In 5536, when he was delivering short maamarim, he said: “Every soul has a special mission to carry out in the lower world. This expresses the general purpose of that soul’s descent into the body. And every soul has a particular mitzvah and a particular character trait in which it must work and bring about correction. This is what the Gemara means when Rav Yosef asked Rabbah, the son of Rabbah: ‘Which mitzvah was your father especially careful about?’ Which mitzvah was especially radiant for him—meaning, which one shone more brightly within him? Because it was the particular mitzvah of Rabbah’s soul. That particular purpose of that particular soul is the gate to that person’s particular name. As brought in the Zohar, ‘his gate’: it is the gate through which to ascend to the higher worlds. What is a gate? A gate serves for both entering and leaving. The particular purpose is the gate through which all the mitzvos a person fulfills ascend: the Torah he learns, and the good character traits and Ahavas Yisroel he practices. Through this gate of his particular purpose, an abundance of heavenly blessing is also drawn down to the person, both spiritually and materially.” The chossid Reb Abba Presser[?] related what he heard from his grandfather-in-law, the chossid Reb Zev Vilinker, in the name of his brother, the chossid Reb Moshe Vilinker: At the end of 5537 or the beginning of 5538, the Alter Rebbe founded Cheder Beis. The Alter Rebbe would enter the study hall where the young married men and students learned, and from time to time he would say words of inspiration to the students. These opened a channel from the soul’s levels of chayah and yechidah to nefesh, ruach, and neshamah, leaving something engraved in the students’ souls forever. Once, the chossid Reb Moshe Vilinker related, the Alter Rebbe entered the study hall, sat down on the bench on the south side, and became absorbed in deveikus. After a moment he opened his holy eyes and said: “Shema Yisroel—listen, Jews, and feel it. Bereishis, Bereishis, Bereishis. That is, for the sake of the Torah, which is called

13:51 ‘reishis,’ and for the sake of the Jewish people, who are called ‘reishis,’ Elokim created the world. ‘Created,’ bara, is related to lehavri, to heal: to heal the first tzimtzum. That means revealing the purpose of the name Elokim, so that through a Jew’s avodah, the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, from before the tzimtzum will be drawn down into the physical world.” This maamar infused the students’ learning with inner vitality: this was the general purpose of the soul’s descent below, and also the purpose of each student’s individual avodah. Now, more about the great scholar and chossid Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac of Vitebsk. As we said, he was a student in the Alter Rebbe’s chedarim, in Cheder Beis. Before that he had been the rabbi of Ostrovna, and afterward he was chosen as the rabbi of Vitebsk. The Rebbe Maharash once asked Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac: “What did the Alter Rebbe accomplish in Vitebsk?” Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac answered: “The Alter Rebbe put spectacles on people’s eyes so they could see the truth of Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the world.” The Rebbe Maharash then asked: “What did the Alter Rebbe bring about in his first students, his young married men?” Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac answered: “The Alter Rebbe revealed the chochmah, binah, and daas within their souls. The light of chochmah, binah, and daas in their souls was revealed, and they became venerable Torah scholars.” The Rebbe Rashab later related what he had heard from his father, the Rebbe Maharash: “When I was twelve years old, the elderly chossid Reb Shlomo Menachem of Yanovitch was staying in Lubavitch. In his youth he had studied in Horodok and heard several maamarim from Rabbi Menachem Mendel, author of Pri Haaretz. Afterward, he studied with the Alter Rebbe in Liozna. When delivering Chassidus and during yechidus, the Alter Rebbe would speak in a melodic voice. And when the chossid Reb Shlomo Menachem told a story about the Alter Rebbe or repeated a maamar he had heard from him, he would stand at his full height and repeat the words in the same melodic voice in which he had heard them from the Alter Rebbe. The majestic appearance of the chossid Reb

16:21 Shloime[?], his stature and his snow-white beard, reflected this.” Among the maamarim he repeated was one the Alter Rebbe delivered in the winter of 5543, on one of the nights in Shvat. At that time, the Alter Rebbe would say words of Chassidus before the students of the chedarim even on weekdays. This is what he said: “Why did the soul descend below? For what purpose does a soul descend into the lower world? The soul itself needs no correction. Rather, this descent is for the sake of an ascent. As it exists above, the soul sees G-dliness. But here below, in the lower world, it feels G-dliness. The soul descends below for the sake of this advantage: feeling G-dliness in this world.” The Rebbe Maharash explained to his son, the Rebbe Rashab, that when the soul ascends to its source after having been below in this world, its vision of G-dliness is incomparably loftier than the vision it had before descending into this world. The Rebbe Rashab explained this with an analogy, along the lines of what is brought in the Zohar about knowing what one hears or sees, or not knowing what one hears. Consider an exceptionally beautiful painting, painted in many colors with consummate artistry. Anyone with the power of sight who looks at it is moved by its beauty and takes wonderful delight in it. But that cannot compare in any way to the wonderful delight experienced by someone knowledgeable in the art of painting, because his vision comes after an appreciation of what he sees, and that is an entirely different kind of vision. The parallel applies to the soul: as it exists above, before descending to be clothed in a body, it sees G-dliness vividly. But that is only seeing, not feeling. Through its descent below, the soul comes to feel G-dliness even here below. Afterward, when it ascends above, its vision of G-dliness is incomparably loftier.