Kislev 14 in Chabad History

00:00 Speaker 1 The Yemei Chabad for the fourteenth day of Kislev in Taf Resh Peh Tes. Um, this is the actual wedding date of the, of the Rebbe. It's in the November twenty-seventh, nineteen twenty-eight. Uh, that was the day that the Rebbe actually got married to, uh, the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, the daughter of the previous Rebbe. Now, uh, the, uh, wedding actually took place in Warsaw. We, we read earlier that the aufruf was in Riga, was in Latvia. But the actual wedding, the Rebbe wanted that the wedding should take place near the-- where there was the yeshiva. The yeshiva at the time was in Poland, was at that time in Warsaw. Warsaw, and this was before the war, it was like a very- Big, uh- A big center- Learning ... of learning and yeshivas and Rebbes and all kind. I mean, this was before the war. It was like an unbelievable place. looking back. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Huge. And the following is a writeup of one of the, uh, students who write in his diary about the wedding, the wedding that took place. I wanna read that, uh, on, on, uh, with regards to the fourteenth day of Kislev. So he says-- he writes that the, the good news that the wedding of the Rebbetzin, the daughter of the previous Rebbe, Chaya Mushka, with the Rebbe, uh, has been set up to take place in Warsaw. This caused a tremendous joy and a great excitement amongst all Jewish people that lived in Poland at the time, and especially

01:37 Speaker 1 amongst the Chabad Hasidim, um, because that was like the center. And the, um, previous Rebbe, who at the time lived in the city of Riga in Latvia, he wished the wedding to take place in the Yeshivat Tomchei Temimim, in the yeshiva hall of Tomchei Temimim. That's where he wanted the wedding to take place. And on the thirteenth day of Kislev, the day before the wedding, um, many thousands gathered at the train station to greet the, uh, Rebbe, the previous Rebbe and his family. And during the day, uh, there were many Hasidim from all cities of Poland and Lithuania, and there was also many guests from distant places. The father-in-law of the previous Rebbe, uh, Rabbi Avraham Schneersohn from Kishinev, um, they also came to the, uh, to the wedding. And eight o'clock in the evening there was what they call the chassan mol, that's like the Kabbalas Panim for the-- or the chassan, for the chassan. And that was specially designed for the students of the Yeshivat Tomchei Temimim, uh, to be with the, with the chassan. And the Rebbe came, the previous Rebbe and the chassan, and all of the mechutanim and the, uh, and, and many Hasidim came. In the middle of the meal, the Rebbe gave a Hasidic discourse, and it started with the words, "Lechoven al kol Hashem." After the meal, which extended up till midday-- midnight, the, uh, previous Rebbe request that he wants to go a dance together with the students of the yeshiva. Uh, and the students of

03:25 Speaker 1 the older-- the older students of the yeshiva, they made a big circle, and the previous Rebbe da-danced for a very long time in the middle of that circle. On the next day, on the fourteenth day of Kislev, at five in the evening, it started the Kabbalas Panim. So the Kab-- Th-this is not-- the chassan mol is not the Kabbalas Panim. That's the meal that takes place before, the night before. The Kabbalas Panim, uh, was also in the yeshiva, and they had to place special guards on the, uh, entrance to the yeshiva. It was just too overwhelming. They only allowed people that had a, uh, entrance card to-- they had to go in, and there were thousands that were just waiting at the doors and wanted to, um, come in, but it was just impossible to- Too many people ... too many people to, to, to, to, to go in. And in the great-- in the large room was a, uh, large table. At the head of the table there was the chassan. The, um, Rebbe was on the right-hand side of the chassan. Rabbi Avraham Schneersohn was on the left-hand side. That is the Rebbe's, uh, previous Rebbe's father-in-law. Now, the Rebbe didn't have his parents over there. Now, usually, uh, usually you have, um, the both parents lead the children under the chuppah. But being that the Rebbe's parents weren't there, so actually the Rebbe's father-in-law, Rabbi Avraham Schneersohn, together with his wife, the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, was a daughter of the, um, of

04:58 Speaker 1 the Tsamach Tzedek. Uh, they are the ones that led the, uh, Rebbe. So he was-- father-in-law of the previous Rebbe was sitting on his side. The Rebbe was on the right side, and his father was on his left side. And on the two sides of the table, there were many Admorim, many Rebbes, and, uh, heads of the, uh, Jewish community of all of Poland that have come to attend at the wedding. And, um, it was absolutely quiet when the Rebbe began to speak. And he says-- the Rebbe said that it's a known fact, and it's public knowledge, that during a marriage, during the joyful-- joy of a marriage, the souls of the fathers from, uh, the world of truth, from the other world, come to join up to three generations. That is by all Jewish people. But sometimes the Rebbe said that there is more than three generations of souls that come. And he says, "I'm going to invite the souls of the tzadikim, of our holy Rebbes, that they should come to the chuppah to bless the couple." And the Rebbe said, "I'm gonna say a Hasidic discourse. Part of it is going to be from the Alter Rebbe, part from the Mittler Rebbe, part from the father of the, uh- Of the father of my grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, and part for my grandfather, which is the Rebbe Maharash, um, and the, the, and grandfather of the Kallah. And there is also a part from the grandfather, great-grandfather of the Choson, which is

06:36 Speaker 1 Rebbe Baruch Shalom. Uh, and- This is at the Kabbalas Panim? At the Kabbalas Panim, yeah. And also part from the father of the, of, of my father, which is the grandfather of the Kallah, uh, which is the Rebbe Rashab. And it says that when you say something over in somebody else's name, then you have to-- it has to look like, um, you-- that he's against, that he's facing you. So one who says a, something, a statement in the, somebody else's name should seem as if the person who is, uh, who is saying is, is facing him. And the Rebbe came and said a discourse of Lechadoidi Lechas Kallah, which is basically a, uh, a maimer which people use today also all the time when the, uh, uh, before the marriage. After the maimer, the briefly-- the previous Rebbe went in with the Rebbe to a, uh, room, and they talked to each other, whatever, they spoke to each other. And then they led the Choson for the Bedekenish, for the covering, um, that he covered the Kallah, he covers the Kallah. And then everybody went to the Chuppah, which was at the outside in the courtyard of the Yeshiva. It was more than five thousand people that gathered, uh, uh, there. And the Shoshvinin that, uh, the people that led the Choson Kallah was as mentioned, was the Rebbe and his wife, the Rebbetzin Nechama Dina. And the, uh... And, uh, I made a mistake before. I said Horenstein. I made a-- uh, scratch that.

08:16 Speaker 1 I said the father-in-law. I made a, I made a big mistake. I said the father-in-law of the, of the previous Rebbe led him. It was the uncle of the previous Rebbe, Reb Moshe Horenstein, and his wife, Chaya Mushka, who was the daughter of the Rebbe Maharash. So I messed it totally up before, okay? So they, they led. And when they led the Choson Kallah to the Chuppah, the, uh, the previous Rebbe instructed to sing the song of the Alter Rebbe known as The Four Stanzas, the Dalet Bavos, which is also what they sing today. At every Choson, they sing that special song of the Alter Rebbe. And also, the Rebbe himself sang it with very great intensity. And the Rebbe himself was officiated and did the-- the previous Rebbe officiated the, uh, the wedding. And the Sheva Berachos, the Rebbe himself said with tremendous amount of, of, of intensity and the, the devotion. And everybody was standing perplexed at the, at the scene. It was like an, uh, unbelievable. And the wedding meal actually took place in one of the great halls in Warsaw. And the previous Rebbe went all around the tables, and he distributed, uh, mashke to all the people that participated in the wedding. And when he came to the students, to the Yeshiva Bachurim, uh, he told them a, a talk, uh, he gave them over a little talk. And after that, he went out to a dance together with the, uh, people, the leaders of the yeshiva, together with the

09:44 Speaker 1 supervisors. And after dancing, the previous Rebbe sat back on his place and he said a maimer, a discourse, Shebes Rosu B'simcha. And the maimer took until after midnight, and only that point did all the guests wash for the meal. In the middle of the meal, the Rebbe previously instructed to hand out a gift to all the participant. The gift was a photostat of the handwriting of the Alter Rebbe with-- combined with explanation, um, in the writing of the Mid- the Midler Rebbe about that, about that, that, that note about that handwriting. It was a tremendous powerful joy, singing and, uh, and dancing, and the Choson went till the morning. Only at seven in the morning did the celebrants, uh, go to their homes. It's such a kind of a wedding Poland hasn't seen. And now, very distant from there, in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, Yekatirinoslav, this was the place where the Rebbe was born-- where the Rebbe was, uh, not born, but the Rebbe lived, the Rebbe's parents lived. Uh, they also celebrated the Rebbe's, uh, wedding. Uh, his parents, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and the Rebbetzin Chana, they could not be attended actually at the wedding. They made a, a meal in their own house in which many of the Jewish people of the-- lived in the city of Yekatirinoslav participated. And that, that, uh, joy also extended in the house of Rebbe Levi Yitzchak for all night. And, uh, uh, it, it was, uh... The story is written down. It was also, uh, a

11:20 Speaker 1 dangerous time for them, you know, to make such a celebration. And it's brought down that the, uh, um, the, the Rebbe's emo- Rebbe's father's emotional state at that time, writing to the Rebbe many times that his-- the everything had become soaked from the tears of the, of the Rebbe and the, the Rebbe's father. I mean, it, it pained him a lot not being able to be at his son's wedding. It was not something very, very easy. Um, the Rebbe, however, expressed himself, it's very important, that the fourteenth day of Kislev has been, uh, very much a, uh, sort of a, a warm home-homely feeling celebration for the Chabad Hasidim. 'Cause Rebbe once expressed himself that this day, the fourteenth day of Kislev, is actually what connected me with you. So because this fourteenth day of Kislev is the Rebbe's marriage to the daughter of the previous Rebbe that gave the Rebbe the, uh, status of a Rebbe and made him into the seventh Lubavitch Rebbe to our, our Rebbe. So the Rebbe basically says, "It's the fourteenth day of Kislev that connected me with you." So the day of fourteenth of Kislev is really considered That special moment of connecting the Rebbe with his Hasidim, and it's very much celebrated in, in... A lot of people, if they're able to make the wedding on the fourteenth day, Kislev the thirteenth-

12:35 Speaker 2 Oh, they pick that day? Oh.

12:36 Speaker 1 Some people consider that to be a very auspicious day. Yes, go ahead.

12:39 Speaker 2 The question I have was, so at what point did the prior Rebbe decide that there'd be a new Rebbe? You know what I'm saying? When does the succession-

12:48 Speaker 1 No, well, the, the Rebbe only, um, became Rebbe after the passing of the previous Rebbe. And, and the, the previous Rebbe passed away in nineteen fifty. And the, um, and the Rebbe actually refused, uh, i- initially for almost a year to accept the mantle of leadership. He, he-- you know, officially he refused, but it was evident that he had no choice. You know what I mean? The Hasidim needed a leader. The Rebbe was the fitting leader. And as much as the Rebbe didn't want to, uh, I guess he-- that was his calling, and he needed-- he did what he had to do. Uh, Jewish leaders throughout history never, uh, wanted to be leaders because they took their responsibilities serious, and they knew there was an awesome, awesome, uh, you know, responsibility. And, uh, you don't run for that. You know, today they run for office, but that-

13:36 Speaker 2 So you run-

13:36 Speaker 1 They run away from office. They don't try not to.

13:39 Speaker 2 So this, this wedding was for, uh, the Rebbe, right?

13:41 Speaker 1 This was the Rebbe's wedding back in Poland in nineteen twenty-nine.

13:45 Speaker 2 Right in Warsaw.

13:45 Speaker 1 In, in, in Warsaw.

13:46 Speaker 2 But his father hadn't passed away.

13:48 Speaker 1 No. The Rebbe's father lived in Re-- no, lived in-

13:51 Speaker 2 Oh, he took his father-in-law's position.

13:52 Speaker 1 Now, this... Yeah, he took his father-in-law's position. The Rebbe's father wasn't in the dynasty of the Rebbes.

13:57 Speaker 2 Right. Right.

13:57 Speaker 1 The Rebbe's father, he separated-- he was exiled-

14:00 Speaker 2 Right

14:00 Speaker 1 ... and he was sent away to, um, to-

14:03 Speaker 2 The Rebbe's father

14:04 Speaker 1 ... Kazakhstan to, uh... And he-- over there into Chile to, to other places, he was sent away as... And he d-- and he passed away over there, the Rebbe's father. So but the Rebbe's father never really-- after the Rebbe left in nineteen twenty-seven, uh, when he left Russia. Because right before leaving Russia, the Rebbe actually went home to his parents' house, spent the Shabbos over there be-before he left. But after that, the Rebbe never met his father again. But-

14:31 Speaker 2 Which was after he got married, I think.

14:33 Speaker 1 That was before he got married, and then his father passed away.

14:35 Speaker 2 But he assumed the leadership from his father-in-law.

14:37 Speaker 1 Father-in-law. And what happened also-

14:39 Speaker 2 Did he have to wait till the father-in-law died?

14:41 Speaker 1 His fa-father-in-law passed away.

14:42 Speaker 2 Right.

14:42 Speaker 1 He passed away in nineteen fifty.

14:44 Speaker 2 So and that's when the-

14:44 Speaker 1 And then in nineteen fifty-one officially he accepted it.

14:47 Speaker 2 He took it over.

14:47 Speaker 1 And then-- and now the, the, the Rebbe was separated from his mother. His mother did make it out eventually, and he was also separated for a very long time, as we, we had read earlier in the sixth day of Tisha is her yartzeit. But, uh, so the Rebbe gave tremendous amount of honor to her as his mother. And his mother, her own-- her own right, she was a very, uh, intelligent woman. She was a very learned woman. And she also helped bring about a lot of the books of the, of the Rebbe that his-- her, that her husband wrote. Not the Rebbe, I mean her husband, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok, they wrote. And the footnotes, and then the Rebbe later published it. The Rebbe, uh, analyzed them and, you know, spoke about them, and it became something that, you know, uh, was very well, uh, studied and, and people learned. What's the difference between a farbrengen and a discourse? Oh, wow. You're asking, uh, very detailed Hasidic lingo. He wants to know what is a farbrengen and what's a discourse. What's the difference- A discourse- Yeah ... is a Hasidic teaching. A farbrengen is the name of the gathering when people get together. Okay. They call that a farbrengen. A farbrengen means to, to get together, to sit together. It sort of has a, a warm connotation- So what's discourse? ... of a, of a, of a, of a, of Hasidim getting together- Oh, okay ... of a support kind. It would almost be like a

16:02 Speaker 1 support kind of a- Okay ... of a group of getting together to, uh, to, to, to be together, to celebrate together. Okay. It's a c-- it's an expression of a Rebbe coming together with Hasidim or even Hasidim getting together among themselves. They said, "Let's go. We're gonna make a farbrengen." Okay. Farbrengen is getting together. A group of people together. Part of the, of Hasidic- And they do a discourse in the farbrengen. And the discourse is a teaching of Hasidic- Hasidic within the- Within the farbrengen. Okay. Now, not all the time, but you know, again, the Rebbes would do the, the discourse in the farbrengen.

16:32 Speaker 2 The mayim is a discourse.

16:32 Speaker 1 Is a discourse. The mayim is the name for discourse. Hey, you guys are going great. Now, what you, you, you have to, uh, s-understand that in the Chabad tradition, the farbrengen is a very important part of the Chabad Hasidim's life because, A, certainly with the Rebbe, but even amongst Hasidim because that is considered to be a support in and an encouragement for... You know, you can't do it alone. You can't go it alone. Now, today we know everybody, there's all kinds of support groups. But the farbrengen is sort of a-- meant as a support group. So usually you would have maybe one of the older, uh, Hasidim or somebody who is, uh, more, uh, versed in, in, in, in Hasidic, uh, literature will sort of lead the, the farbrengen, lead the, lead the gathering, and he will talk, and he will sometimes, you know, speak about matters that trouble other people and how to try to help them and try to work through their differences. Okay.