Episode 192 - The Scroll of 19 Kislev - The Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus

00:01 We continue the story of the Alter Rebbe after his imprisonment. When the Alter Rebbe left the apartment of the opponent of Chassidus and saw how great the chassidim’s joy was—they were rolling through the streets of Petersburg—he was afraid. He was not afraid of the celebration itself, for he had been granted complete freedom. He was afraid of how far the triumph might spread. The next day, Wednesday morning after davening, the Alter Rebbe said: Regarding Wednesday, the word for “luminaries” is written without a vav. He explained, following the Ramban’s interpretation, that the light created on the first day served for three days—meaning three generations: the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid... He paused and concluded: “On the fourth day, the luminaries were suspended.” Our master the Baal Shem Tov passed away on a Wednesday. So the luminaries were “taken away”—with a tes. Taken away. But, said the Alter Rebbe, on that very day the luminaries were “suspended”—with a tav. “Now,” the Alter Rebbe said, “it depends only on you, chassidim.” That day, news of his freedom and release became known throughout Petersburg. Toward evening, many people gathered, and the Alter Rebbe said he would not deliver Chassidus. Two Jews pushed through the crowd and approached him. They said to the Alter Rebbe, “Here in Russia, we have become very distant from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But Hakadosh Boruch Hu is our witness that we serve Him and fulfill everything we know from what is written in our holy Torah. Rebbe, tell us Torah. Strengthen our hearts in the service of the Creator, blessed be He.” After some time, the Alter Rebbe went out into the courtyard and delivered the maamar of Chassidus beginning with the verse, “As water reflects a face back to a face.” And although it was bitterly cold, hearts grew warm, and warmth spread through every limb. Before the Alter Rebbe began speaking words of Chassidus, he said this: In Tehillim it is written, “This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, Yaakov, selah.” That is, this is a generation whose seekers—its leaders and those who provide for it—seek Your face: the inwardness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the inwardness of Ein Sof. As for “Yaakov, selah,”

03:07 the simple Jew, who is on the level of Yaakov—the letter yud joined to the word akeiv, “heel”—is, everywhere and at all times, on the level of selah. Selah means firm, with the strength and eternality of Ein Sof. There is the verse, “A man wrestled with him”; they raised dust up to the Throne of Glory. It should have said, “A man fought with him.” Why does it say “wrestled”? But, said the Alter Rebbe, some battles arise from dust alone. It is like a dispute stirred up by someone who foments strife: the whole substance of such struggles is dust. After this, the Alter Rebbe delivered the maamar of Chassidus, “As water reflects a face back to a face.” We have also received a tradition passed down from teacher to student that when the Alter Rebbe left the Peter and Paul Fortress and first met his family and the chassidim, he said, “During the forty-nine days I was confined, I passed through forty-nine gates. They—the government—wanted the forty-nine facets of impurity to overpower the forty-nine facets of purity. But the Maggid of Mezritch and my grandfather, the Baal Shem Tov, came and gave me strength to hold fast to and strengthen the forty-nine facets of purity. As the fiftieth day approached, all the doors opened.” And now the Alter Rebbe continued: “The reward for my self-sacrifice, willingly and intentionally, for the ways of Chassidus, I give to my descendants for all generations until the coming of Moshiach: that they should follow this path, and that they and the chassidim should succeed in everything they do as they follow the holy path.” On leaving prison, the Alter Rebbe wrote three letters—to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, to Rabbi Baruch of Mezhibuzh, the Baal Shem Tov’s grandson, and to all the chassidim—bringing them the news of his release. The letters are here, but I won’t read all of them. During the days of the Alter Rebbe’s imprisonment, the alarming news caused a great stir in every region it reached. As is known, the Alter Rebbe’s colleagues among the Maggid’s students, and chassidim in all the regions, shared the pain of the Chabad chassidim. In addition to the efforts of groups of chassidim as they traveled

06:12 through all the towns and settlements, as we have already explained, all of this together caused the number of chassidim and their supporters to grow in every city. The lies and accusations fabricated by those who stirred up strife and fanned its flames became known. Some of the leading opponents realized they had been misled and drew back. The Alter Rebbe’s righteousness became known throughout the world. On his way home, the Alter Rebbe passed through Vitebsk and stayed there for several days. When he arrived in Liozna, many hundreds of people from nearby towns were already waiting. The joyful sound could be heard as groups of people from distant places came to greet the Alter Rebbe. The chassidim wanted to write a scroll recounting 19 Kislev and establish it like Megillas Esther. People had already been chosen from among the chassidim, and among themselves they had prepared drafts of the scroll. They discussed when to gather in Liozna to ask the opinion of the Alter Rebbe, the holy of holies. They intended to come between Pesach and Shavuos, but kept the matter secret. When they arrived in Liozna, approached the Alter Rebbe and asked for his decision, he did not permit it. “This day,” the Alter Rebbe told them, “will be established as an enduring occasion among the Jewish people, on which His great name will be magnified and sanctified, and thousands of Jewish hearts will be stirred to teshuvah and service of the heart. For the event is engraved in the heart of Yisroel Saba and written in the heart of the Jewish people below.” Another version of the Alter Rebbe’s reply was given by the chossid Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Chen: “This day will be established as an enduring occasion among the Jewish people, on which His great name will be magnified and sanctified, and thousands of Jewish hearts will be stirred to teshuvah and service of the heart. For when this event is engraved in the heart of Yisroel Saba, it will be written in the heart of the Jewish people below.” The Alter Rebbe’s grandson, Rabbi Nachum, son of the Mitteler Rebbe, would tell the story of 19 Kislev from beginning to end every year. He would begin like this: “Grandfather was a student of the Maggid of Mezritch for ten years. For five years he served

09:09 as head of the chevra kadisha, until he became known and renowned as the Maggid of Mezritch and a guide. For twenty years, the Alter Rebbe labored tirelessly to establish the three chadarim and guide the chassidim. He worked to disseminate, clarify and explain the teachings of his teachers, the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid. The Alter Rebbe took upon himself the hardest part of establishing the practice of Chassidus according to the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid. His location played a part in this too: the Alter Rebbe was closer to Lithuania. When the pamphlets became widely known,” Rabbi Menachem Nachum continues... not Menachem Nachum, but Nachum. That is, the Tanya was circulated in pamphlets. “There were already, baruch Hashem, many thousands of chassidim, as well as many outstanding scholars qualified to issue halachic rulings in accordance with Grandfather’s rulings on various matters, such as improvements to mikvaos and polished slaughtering knives. Then the denunciation took place.” Rabbi Nachum would recount every detail of the denunciation and the events: how they came to take him to Petersburg, and the great joy among the opponents at what they saw as their victory. On Sunday, 27 Tishrei, messengers arrived in Vilna, Minsk and Shklov and announced that Grandfather had been taken to Petersburg in a black carriage, under heavy guard by horsemen with drawn swords. It was publicly proclaimed that on Monday, 28 Tishrei, full Hallel would be said in every shul and beis midrash, and a Yom Tov meal would be held. But some of the older Torah giants among the opponents said they did not agree. In each of those three towns, there were already people who knew the Alter Rebbe, and they worked to prevent those bent on victory from carrying out their wishes. Thus, in most shuls, the proclamation was not put into practice. May their memory be blessed. Rabbi Nachum would recount the imprisonment, the details of the liberation, how the good news spread among the chassidim and the opponents, and the course of the Alter Rebbe’s journey home, with the great honor shown him by many thousands of Jews who accompanied him on his way, until he reached Vitebsk on Tuesday, the second night of Chanukah, where they came out to greet the

11:45 Thousands of people came before him, and the Alter Rebbe remained there throughout Chanukah. Rabbi Nochum would tell the story in all its detail, briefly and clearly. When he spoke of the imprisonment, his voice was low and tearful; when he spoke of the liberation, he raised his voice in joy and celebration. He told it as one reads the Megillah at night and repeats it by day. Whenever a distinguished person came in, he would start the story again. The imprisonment, Rabbi Nochum related, began when, late on the night after Simchas Torah, at the start of Thursday, word came that special agents had arrived to arrest the Alter Rebbe and take him to Petersburg. Rabbi Nochum described the great turmoil among the chassidim. Toward evening on Thursday, they arrested the Alter Rebbe. They allowed him to daven Maariv at home, and afterward took him away in a black carriage with armed policemen. Mortal dread fell upon our entire family. Years after the event, the holy Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev asked the Alter Rebbe why he had taken so much upon his shoulders. The Rebbe, the Maggid of Mezritch, had not intended that. There was so much suffering of the Jewish people as a whole, suffering Above, and suffering of your own soul and body. Surely you could have done away with it all through makifim. The Alter Rebbe replied, “But Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants a dwelling place in the lower realms, and that cannot be accomplished through makifim, only… in an inward way.” And here we should relate that 19 Kislev became the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus, as the Rebbe Rashab writes in one of his letters: “Boruch Hashem. Wednesday, 16 Kislev 5662, Moscow.” He writes: “My sons, may they live, gather together this coming 19 Kislev—the students, their heads, their teachers and their supervisors—and rejoice in the joy of the festival on which our souls were redeemed in peace and the light and vitality of our souls were given to us. This day is the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus, which our holy forebears bequeathed to us, and it is the very

14:28 teaching of the Baal Shem Tov.” Chassidim have the custom of wishing one another on 19 Kislev: “Happy Yom Tov! May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year in the study of Chassidus and the ways of Chassidus.” But the first imprisonment was not the end of it, and four years later there was another arrest. On Isru Chag of Sukkos 5561, that is, 1801, the Alter Rebbe was summoned to Petersburg again by the government. He was imprisoned once more because of another denunciation of the teachings of Chassidus submitted by the misnagdim. The Alter Rebbe answered all the questions with clear and reasoned explanations. Now, Tsar Alexander I was a good man and favorably disposed toward Jews. At the beginning of his reign, he was good to them. Later he changed for the worse, but by nature he was still better than his brother Nicholas, who was a wicked, morally corrupt man and always carried with him… As we said, Nicholas was a wicked man, morally corrupt, cruel and devout in his faith. In the final days of the Alter Rebbe’s imprisonment—we are speaking now of the second imprisonment—they were leading him from the investigators’ office back to where he was being held. At the time, Nicholas was a young boy playing in the courtyard with another boy of royal descent. Because Nicholas was cruel by nature, he always carried a whip. When he saw the Alter Rebbe, he began brandishing the whip at him to frighten him. The Alter Rebbe fixed him with a piercing look. That look so unnerved the cruel young Nicholas that the whip fell from his hand. He lowered his eyes and bowed his head, and told his tutor that his heart had nearly stopped from fear when the prisoner looked at him. Years later, when Nicholas was crowned tsar, the Tzemach Tzedek said that his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, could accomplish things with his gaze, just as holy people could accomplish things with their speech. Accomplishing something with a gaze was on a higher level, just as sight has an advantage over speech. The

17:52 Tzemach Tzedek went on to say that Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates the remedy before the blow. Through Divine Providence, we see clearly in every matter, both general and particular, that this is so. It was Divine Providence that the cruel Nicholas was playing in the courtyard as a child when they led the Alter Rebbe from the investigators’ office to his place of imprisonment. When Nicholas saw Grandfather, he rushed at him with the whip to frighten him. But Grandfather gave him a piercing look, and the whip fell from his hand out of sheer fear. That look from the Alter Rebbe caused a fundamental breaking of the evil in Nicholas. This is what it means for the remedy to precede the blow. Had this not happened, it would have been impossible, G-d forbid, to bear the harsh decrees he would later issue. With his gaze, Grandfather broke the power of Nicholas’s royal whip, just as Yosef, through his speech when he mentioned the name of G-d, brought about a fundamental breaking of the kelipah of Pharaoh’s rule. The Rebbe Rashab added that this gaze helped weaken that Nicholas’s decrees of forced conversion.