Kislev 9 in Chabad History

00:00 Actually, in the year Tes Kislev, Taf Kuf Lamed Daled, uh, five thousand five hundred and thirty-four. It's the twenty-fourth of November in seventeen seventy-three, okay? That's Tes Kislev, Taf Kuf Lamed Daled. Where, where to- Now, that was the day that the Mitteler Rebbe, Dov Ber, that he was born. Um, he actually is unique in the sense that he was both-- He was born and he passed away on the same day, and that's, you know, like we find it seldomly. We find by Moshe Rabbeinu. We find it, uh, you know, sometimes we find it in, in a few places, but in most cases it doesn't work that way. But it says that Hashem actually fills the days of the tzadikim from day to day. That shows by sometimes we see it that a tzadik lives exactly the life and exactly the days and he's-- So that means that demonstrates very clearly that every day of his life he accomplished. So he was born on the ninth day of Kislev in the year Taf Kuf Lamed Daled. Now, the Alter Rebbe was married for fourteen years, and he only had daughters. And, um, in the year, uh, um... The Alter Rebbe got married in the year Taf Kuf Kuf. He was actually fifteen years old at the time, and, uh, he only had daughters for fourteen years. So when the Alter Rebbe was, uh, visit his rebbe, the Maggid of Mizrich, he asked him for a blessing that he wants to have a son. He asked him

01:34 for a, for a boy. So the Maggid told him, uh, a verse. He quoted a verse that says, "Ba mei zakar nar es orchah." He paraphrased the verse, which literally means a little bit different, uh, but it's-- He translated it as ba mei zakar nar, how could you merit to have a child, es orchah, through inviting guests. By inviting guests, he says to him, "That's the way you're going to merit to have a son." And before the Maggid of Mizrich passed away, as we see, the Mitteler Rebbe was named after the Maggid. So we'll see his name was Dov Ber. The Maggid of Mizrich's name was Dov Ber too. So we'll see that before he passed away, the Maggid, that's the teacher of the Maggid of Mizrich, the teacher of the Alter Rebbe, he called the Alter Rebbe and he revealed to him, uh, the order of a Shalom Ben Zohar. You know, Shalom Ben Zohar is when a boy is born on the Friday night before the, uh, Friday night on the-- before the bris, the Shabbos before the bris, or not... And actually, the Shabbos after the baby is born is called the Greeting of the Ben Zohar, the Shalom Ben Zohar. So there is a whole Seder into it. There's a whole order. People make a, usually a celebration. They make a little get-together at the home. The people go and then have some pastries and some, some, some beans and other as the tradition is. Uh- Zohar means to remember? What?

03:05 Yeah. No, Zohar is a male. Zohar? Oh. It's a male. A male. So you make a Shalom Ben Zohar, a Shalom for a, for a male. Chickpeas. Now, chickpeas is also, yeah, that's another thing. Um, and he says to him, "Chazon Ovadyah," that's the vision of Ovadyah, he was a prophet. But he says, he says, "Chazon Ovadyah." He translated it, Ovad- Ovadyah is made up from two words, Ovad Hashem, Ovad Yud, Ovad Yud Chei. Which he says that if a person who serves Hashem, in this case, a person who works with himself and serves Hashem, gets to have a vision, gets to see, gets to experience the chazon. And he told him that you are going to have a son, and you are to call him... He asked him to call him in my name. Call him my name. And, um, on the night of Leil Shimurim, Leil Shimurim, that's the night before the bris. There's a special also, um, uh, prayers and study that one does, uh, for making sure that everything will go well with the bris and, uh, there's a lot of, uh, there's a lot of studies, a lot of Zohar and a lot of other, uh, traditions. People have various different traditions what they do on the night before the bris. So he says that you should, on the night before the Leil Shimurim, before that night, I want you to remember, and you should remind this that I've told you on this, uh, this night. That's what he told--

04:43 That's what the Maggid of Mizrich told the Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe, before he passed away. The Alter Rebbe relates that after a year has passed since the Alter Rebbe has told him, his son, Reb Dov Ber, was born, and he named him as the instruction of his rebbe. He named him by the name of Dov Ber. And on the night, Leil Shimurim, the night before the bris, uh, before the... On the night before bringing the bris to a bris of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak, Shalom, I have-- I remembered, and I fulfilled what he told me a year ago. You should remember, and you should remind this that I've told you on this night. And there was, at the time, there was sitting the friends. They're known as the Havrai HaKadisha, the Holy Group. Those were the students of the Maggid of Mizrich. And was sitting over there was a Rabbi Tzadik, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok. Uh, he's, uh, from the city of Horodok, Rabbi Menachem Mendel. He was the leader of sort of the student leader of the Hasidim. He moved later on to Eretz Yisrael. And there was also a Rabbi Tzadik, Rabbi Avraham Kalisk. There was another great student of the Alter Rebbe. These were the two heads that went actually to, uh, to Eretz Yisrael. After the meal of the, um, of the circumcisions, we traveled, uh, to, um, the first, um, to the Reb Menachem Mendel Maharito, um, for the first, in other words, they went, they, they traveled to him.

06:35 That, that was at the time, um, to the Maggid of Mezritch that, that time, that came. So what, what they did was they all traveled. See, after the Maggid of Mezritch's passing, as I said, Reb Menachem Mendel Maharito came, became the official, sort of the official leader after the Maggid. And they went, they traveled to Reb Menachem Mendel Maharito to be there with him for the first yortzeit of their rebbe, of the Maggid of Mezritch. Uh, that year, Yutai, uh, Yutai's Kislev, which was the yortzeit, came out on the portion of HaGishlach. And at that Shabbos, I recited the maimer of the Rebbe, which starts with the words, "Y'chayenu m'yomayim," uh, which he said before of his passing. He said, he gave that discourse, he gave the Chassidus discourse. Um, that, um, so I guess that originally what he told him, that was in, uh, in, in, in, at the time there was Reb Menachem Mendel Maharito, Rabbi Tzadik, Rabbi Elimelech Kalisk. Uh, they, uh, that was at that time. That's what he reminded and that's what he remembered. That's what he told him that he should remember. I don't know what exactly, it doesn't say what else he told him over there. It just says to remember and to remind. I'm not sure exactly what he was supposed to remember and remind. Just to remember and remind that he told him that he should name him or that he should, um, I'm not sure. It doesn't say anything more. Uh, once the Mittler Rebbe

08:04 was born, his father, the Alter Rebbe, gave a specific cloth that was, uh, kept, the Alter Rebbe kept that. There was a special cloth that he had and he gave that to be as the diaper for the child. He gave it as a diaper for the child for the first time after you bathed him to wrap him up in that, in that, in that, in that cloth. Um, that was also his conduct when the grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek, was born. Um, uh, apparently they washed out that same cloth and they gave it back to him and then they used it for, for further use. Um, that's what it seems like, that, um- Recycled. He gave him that, that, yeah, I mean, recycled that. I mean, I'm assuming so. Uh, not that he had another piece of, because this was like a very special cloth. Now, this was the ninth day of Kislev he was born, but the Alter Rebbe... Then in the ninth day of Kislev in Tov Kuv Peches, this is November 28th in 1827. That was the day that the, uh, Mittler Rebbe, uh, passed away. Um, and the, um, the Mittler Rebbe would, uh- 1827. Would always say... Is this what I said? I don't know. I wasn't listening. What? We got 18- He said that he was, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Mittler Rebbe said he feared for that year. Somehow he feared that year. Um, it shows, uh, there was some bad things, some decrees. And, um, he began to hint

09:41 to his Chassidim that he's going to be passing away on the, uh, on, on, on, on, on that year. Uh, one time he said to the Chassidim, um, that my father was 54 years old when he was taken to Petersburg in the second time when he was arrested. And they gave him a choice at that point, uh, from the heavens, whether he wants to accept upon himself pains or passing away. He was one because of... On a spiritual level, the Alter Rebbe perhaps did, uh, the prohibited, which means he revealed the Torah. He came, he, he, he, he gave it in such a way that maybe they didn't approve 100%. He had to pay for that, uh, either with pains or with, uh, or with, with his life. And he chose, um, I guess the pain that he was arrested, but he says it seems like he left me the other choice. That's, uh, that's what the Mittler Rebbe is saying. And he actually passed away when he was 54 years old. The- Back in those days- The Mittler Rebbe- That was a long age though. Well, no, the Alter Rebbe lived till 70s and then in the 70, um, uh, almost 70. Uh, Ayin, Ayin Gimmel. Uh- 70 plus 100. Did he pass away when he was- 70, the Alter Rebbe lived for till, from Tov Kuv Peche to, till Ayin Gimmel. So he was just, just, just short of, uh, 70. Just short of 68 years, 68, 68 years old. Um, for the

11:20 high holidays in that year, of the year of Tov Kuv Peches, the, uh, Mittler Rebbe traveled to the city of Haditch, which is the place where, uh, his father is, uh, interned. Uh, that's the Ohel, uh, the resting place of the Alter Rebbe. And many Chassidim gathered, um, and they were listening to many Chassidic teachings, um, while he was in, in, in Haditch. He said to the Chassidim, "I have, uh, succeeded in, uh, getting my father to exempt me from, from this leadership." You know, he said. Um, so the Chassidim, uh, thought that he's intending actually to leave to Eretz Yisrael, that he doesn't want to be anymore the Rebbe over here and he's gonna go to Eretz Yisrael. So the Hasidim said to him, "How are you going to leave us here without, uh, like sheep without a, uh, shepherd? You know, nobody to take care of us." So the Mitteler Rebbe said that, "My son-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, he is with you. He will be a faithful shepherd for you." After the high holidays, when he was on his way back from Hadich to the city of Lubavitch, he became very, very sick, and he was forced to remain in the city of Nezin. They brought, uh, great doctors, and everybody said that there's nothing, there's no, no, no-- nothing that they can do about it. There's no medicine, no way to heal him. And the doctors warned him not to teach Hasidus, not to say, not to speak Hasidus.

13:06 But this was something which he was very, very upset about, and he says, "" you know, that my life doesn't mean anything to me if I can't teach Hasidus. And his sicknesses-- sickness became, uh, worse from day to day. As soon as they would touch him, he would faint, and this took place until the month of Kislev. In the month of Kislev, a week before his passing, the doctors visited him, and they found him that he was laying almost lifeless. Um, and on the eighth day of Kislev, which was the day before his passing, he wanted to write some Hasidic ideas with regards to Hanukkah. And he said later on, "The whole world is in pain, and I'm delighting," you know, and he's getting delighted. So he stopped writing. He didn't, he didn't, he didn't write. He told the Hasidim they should go home, they should say l'chaim, and should be happy. So the Hasidim said, "It's gonna be Yud Kislev." Yud Kislev is a day of joy because the year before, he was freed from prison. The Mitteler Rebbe, one more day later, he was freed from prison, and then it's a time of joy. But now he says-- What did he say? "What are we gonna be joy about? The Rebbe is in not a good state." So the Mitteler Rebbe says, "Still, do as I said." On the night of Tes Kislev, he fainted many times, and each time they would wake him up. At the last time, they couldn't wake

14:46 him up, and there was-- started yelling in the house. All the people of the city came together with the Chevra Kadisha, with the, uh, the burial society, and they saw that there is no life, no life left. But the Hasidim went over to him and says, "Why are you scaring us, Rebbe? Uh, did you not hear the yell?" And the Rebbe turned to them and he said, "I heard a voice announcing, what is this neshamah doing in this world?" What is this soul doing in this world? He instructed them to put him on a white, a white shirt, and he dressed up in white, and he wrapped in white, and he was similar to an angel of Hashem. His face began to become red, and he began to speak good for all the Jewish people. And then he said to the Hasidim that they should be happy in this night because joy sweetens all judgments, so should try. And he prepared himself to say Hasidus. The house was filled with light and joy, and the Rebbe was rejoicing with the Hasidim as in a wedding. And everybody thought now the Rebbe is going to get better. He's gonna go back to s- strength. He began to say Hasidus on the verse, "" that you must-- you should follow Hashem on that verse. And he said the talk with tremendous fervor, and many times in the middle he asked, "Is it already dawn?" Before dawn, he finished the, uh, talk with the words, ""

16:25 For with you is the source of life from the one who gives lives to life. And at that moment, his soul, his spirit and his soul has left him, and he was bound up, He bound up with Hashem. The son-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek said that such a kind of a passing we haven't seen from the days of the Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. We read about the passing of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who also passed away in middle while he was teaching Torah, while he was saying Torah. On the day he actually turned fifty-four, I said he was born on Tes Kislev, on the day he turned fifty-four, he expired, and he was gathered into his people. And the verse which says in the blessing, it says, "" I will fill your days, has been fulfilled by him. Because our sages says that Hakadosh Baruch Hu goes and fills the, the years of the tzadikim from day to day, that each day counts. On that day, he was brought to, uh, burial, and the holy aron, the coffin was hidden. And the celebration of his first celebration of Yud Kislev, which was supposed to be a day of festivities and a holiday, uh, turned into a day of, uh, mourning, uh, heavy mourning for Hasidim, for Klal Yisrael. And he was interned in the city of Nezin because that's where he never made it back to Lubavitch on the way going to Lubavitch. And there's actually, uh, uh, a, a, a song which they sing.

18:11 It's kind of a silent song. It's like a, a mournful song then. And, uh- It has the words that the Rebbe said we should be happy, but it's a very unhappy tune. Unhappy tune. So it's sort of they were singing that song, you know, uh, that the Rebbe said to be happy, but, you know, they weren't happy. You know, it was, uh, very sad. Uh, so that day, which was supposed to be a day of celebration, actually turned out to be a day of, um, of, of, of, of, of, of, of sadness at the time. But this idea, we have Tes Kislev, and Tes Kislev, which is also unusual, uh, the, uh, the Mitteler, the Tzemach Tzedek pointed out the two things that were unique. A, he died, he passed away on the same day that he was born, and B, that he passed away while he was teaching Chasidus, while he was teaching Torah. And something like this we don't see by any of the Tzadikim all the way back till the Rav Shimon bar Yohai, which was a special Tzadik and author of the Zohar, and this points out to this uniqueness. Of course, after his passing, the Tzemach Tzedek became the follower, became the third Rebbe. That's why the name Mitteler Rebbe, Mitteler Rebbe in Yiddish means middle. Yeah. That stuck to the him because we're-- that was at the time that the Alter Rebbe- Was still alive ... was the old, now was the old Rebbe. Okay. He was the middle

19:35 Rebbe, and the present Rebbe was the Tzemach Tzedek. So the Tzemach Tzedek was the Rebbe, and then there was the middle, and then there was the Alter. The older. The older, the middle, and the Tzemach, and the present Rebbe. And that name stuck even afterwards when there were further Rebbes in Chabad, but that, that the name stuck. That's how he has the name of the Mitteler Rebbe. And we also see that he was named Dov Ber after his, um- Magid ... grandfather's Magid of Mizrich, who's- What does Magid mean? Magid means a preacher. A teller. A teller. A preacher. Preacher. Like Haggadah, like saying. A preacher, yeah. He was actually, um, um, presented. He was a tremendous outstanding scholar and outstanding... A- And he gathered around himself some of the greatest minds of those days and, uh- The greatest minds ... greatest leaders. And, you know, when-- but he called himself the Magid, you know, like a- Does it-- He called himself that? Yeah. That was-- I don't know, the name stuck to him. It's a term-- Yeah, it's a term that you don't hear on any- I don't... Yeah ... credit. Usually, yeah, not that much. Interesting. There were, uh, there were, uh-- there was this phenomenon of Magidim in the old days. Okay. There was a Magid who would, uh, come around, he would travel. Usually, a Magid was not a- A preacher ... a Magid was not a stationary in the city itself. He was a traveling Magid. Uh, he was a

20:49 traveling, he was a traveling, he was to travel and, and, and- Storyteller. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know, a story or- Well, literally that's what they said ... of course, he would tell a story, but also, uh, get the people to, um, to better their ways, but he wasn't- Sure. I guess, um, that was, that was mostly Mid-- But, but the-- but that-- not by the Magid of Mizrich. I mean, he was-- there, there, there was maybe a rabbi, then there was a preacher, then there was somebody, uh, maybe somebody who had the power of speech or, uh, an ora-orator who can make a good presentation. I'm not sure exactly. Yeah. But, uh, anyways, he was the spiritual, uh, leader of the Hasidim that they all gathered around, and the Mitteler Rebbe was named, named after him.