2 Cheshvan 5672 (October 24, 1911) – The Rebbe Rashab Establishes Yeshivas Toras Emes in Chevron

00:00 Second day of, uh, Cheshvan. We're up to Zman Chabad in the second day of Cheshvan. First is the year Taf Resh Ayin Beis. It's interesting always, it's just a hundred years ago. You know, the, today we're, uh, Taf Shin Ayin Dalet, so this is just one hundred and two years ago. That is when the Rebbe Rashab, that's Rebbe Sholom Dovber, the father of the previous Rebbe, the fifth Lubavitch Rebbe, Rebbe Sholom Dovber, he founded the yeshiva called Torres Emes in the city of Hebron. Matter of fact, it's-- this is, this piece is very-- feels very close to me because as we'll see, the Rebbe sent at that time a, a mashpia, uh, that means a spiritual, uh, guide, for the students, plus some students from Russia to found the yeshiva. Uh, many years later, uh, I was actually sent by the Rebbe also to Torres Emes. At the time, the Torres Emes has been relocated to, uh, Jerusalem. Yeah. Uh, after the pogroms and, uh, in Hebron, uh, you know, there was many Jewish casualties. Death, unfortunately, were killed by the, uh, Yam Hashmon, by the, uh, the Muslims over there, the Arabs, they went in a, on a, uh, terrible, uh, rampage, and they, um, and, um, they moved, the yeshiva moved to Jerusalem. So here we're gonna learn about the, uh, founding of the Yeshivat Torres Emes. He sent the, uh, great Hasid, Reb Shlomo Zalman Hablin. Um, he sent him and the students of, uh, Tomchei Tmimim, um, and he names them

01:45 over here, um, Alter Siemkowicz, and they later on became also, um, this Alter Siemkowicz was in the very known name, and he was a, um, a distinguished rabbi in Chabad later on. And Hillel Pryutkin, Zvi Hirsch Katsev, and Yechezkel Fagin, who also became later on a, the secretary of the previous Rebbe and was just a great name. And Nachman Menachem Kalasesk and Avraham Eliyahu Asherov and Yisroel Zalman Esnas. These were the names of the students. And it's interesting, the reason why I feel so close to this is because the Rebbe, uh, created this, um, this concept of students of the yeshiva after completing a, uh, number of years at the yeshiva. It's a requirement. It's sort of a, uh, an expectation that the students will devote a year or two to going out to a yeshiva, a school, or a place of study which is, uh, away from the center and help the students over there, uh, be part... That's the way we have, uh, my label went to Australia over there to be help the students over there. When I was, uh, growing up in the yeshiva, they sent me to Torres Emes. They also sent me to Jerusalem, uh, to be help that yeshiva over there. We spent two years in the yeshiva during, uh, in, uh, Lamed Heh and Lamed Vav in, uh, seventy-five and, uh, and seventy-six. Basically, those were the two years I spent in Jerusalem in Torres Emes. And, uh, this was founded, so it looks all this started

03:33 with the Rebbe Rashab at that time starting to send Bacharim founding yeshivas. Of course, we've learned before that the Alter-- the Rebbe Rashab was the one that founded the formal yeshiva called Tomchei Tmimim, which was, uh, established in Lubavitch, in the city of Lubavitch. But then he would send students to start other yeshivas elsewhere. And this was in Hebron. Now- Where was the city of Lubavitch? Uh, the city of Lubavitch is in Russia. In Russia. Uh, okay. That was where the Chabad, Chabad lived. Yeah. And, um- Is it a nice place to visit? Well, right now it's a lot of swamp. They said the, the, the, the, the, the puddle over there, uh, never dried up. It was like, uh, um-- It's still, it's a small, it's a small, small village, uh, small town, and a lot of people go there today to tour and to see. There's a cemetery of the, the Rebbes are, are, are interned over there, the Ohels of different Rebbes. Not everybody, but the-- it was the, uh, Mitteler Rebbe who first moved to Lubavitch, and it lasted for the Mitteler Rebbe, the, uh, Tzemach Tzedek, and the Rebbe Maharash. And then already the Rebbe Rashab moved, uh, later on to, to Rostov, uh, eventually. But the-- and the previous Rebbe was there too, so, but, uh, they grew up eventually. They moved, so there were five Rebbes basically that were in the, uh, city of Lubavitch. Um, the Rebbe writes the pr-- the Rebbe writes, uh, the Rebbe Rashab

05:03 writes in the letter, uh, about the founding of this yeshiva. He says, "I wanna to tell to all the people who have fear of God and love of our holy Torah, and they wish to see the success of the, and the desires of our Rebbes, uh, whose soul is in Aden." Uh, it's important to them, so that he's telling them that with God's help, we are founding a special yeshiva for young people, for young men and students who are God-fearing in the city of Hebron, and there will be a proper amount of study for the teaching of Hasidus. Uh, you know, Bechalal, this is my addition to it. One of the central, uh, pieces of a Chabad yeshiva makes it the fact that they dedicate a chunk of the day to the study of Hasidus. While in all yeshivas they study all revealed parts of Torah- Chabad yeshivas also designate a certain few hours in the day, okay, some time in the day to also study the teaching of Hasidus. And the Rebbe told them that he sends them a great distinguished rabbi, Reb Shlomo Zalman Hablin. We also send some very dear special students of the Tomchei Tmimim Yeshiva so that they should lead the yeshiva over there. They should be the, uh, establishing the yeshiva and may it be with success in all details so that the, uh, real, uh, desire and intentions of our holy fathers and the Rebbes, uh, should come to fruition over there. Yes. Uh, this is the Rebbe

06:46 Rashab writing. Where is it now? It's, it's in Jerusalem. Uh, in Jerusalem now. So what happened was in the summer of Taf Reish Ayin Dalet, that was when the First World War broke out. So what happened was that at that time, in Taf Reish Ayin Dalet- Yeah ... which again, which puts it, uh, exactly, uh, 100 years ago. So we're talking about this is only for two years over there at the time when they sent it, because it was in Ayin Beis, and then in, uh- 1914 ... uh, then it was... So then when the war broke out, so there was an order that all foreign, um, people that come from other countries, um, should leave and, um, go out of Israel. They didn't allow them to stay, uh, during the World War. So they all had to go back, uh, to Eretz Yisrael. And so both the, um, Rav Zalman Hablin and also the students were forced to go back to leave Israel, and they went back to Russia. So that was then. And then later on in, in the, um, at the end, as I said, the yeshiva anyways moved on. After the pogroms over there, it moved up to, it moved into Yerushalayim, Jerusalem, from Hebron. The whole Hebron community was decimated at the time. It was really, uh, devastated. No, when was that? Which year? In Pei-- Uh, that was in, uh, in the 20... I think in 1920, twen- uh, 1929, I think it was. Uh, that was after the

08:11 First World War. Taf Reish then Pei Tes. I forget exactly the... I think in 1929 is when it, uh, that, that, that, that took place. Another thing that took place on the second day of Cheshvan, but this was in the year Taf Reish Tsadik Ches. Um, this is already 1930, um, 1938, uh, approximately '38, '37. In 1930, end of '37 and '38. Uh, on the second day of Cheshvan was the passing of Rabbi Avraham Schneersohn. He was the father-in-law of the previous Rebbe. Now, it's interesting. I happened to be yesterday at the, uh, Ohel, uh, the, uh, resting place of the Rebbe, and I happened to take a picture of the... Because we were studying about the Rebbetzin Nechama Dina in the, uh, previous days when we were talking about, um, her, um... This was, I think, the day before, actually, on the, the birthday was on the first day of Cheshvan. So I took a picture. I'll show you soon a picture of the, of the, uh, tombstone of the, uh, Matzeva there, in which, uh, it's states there the fact that she was the daughter of Rabbi Avraham Schneersohn, who passed away on the second day of Cheshvan. That's one day after her, her birthday. And I mean, not at that same time, years later. But, but, but he was on the second day of Cheshvan. Um, he was-- He comes from a, uh, from the Tzemach Tzedek. His father was Rabbi Yisroel Noach. I mentioned many times that Tzemach Tzedek had seven

09:48 sons. One of his sons was, uh, known as Rabbi Yisroel Noach. He was the Maharim. Uh, he was in the city of Nizhyn. Now, the Tzemach Tzedek's sons, they all basically followed some of the Chabad doctrine because they were all children of the Tzemach Tzedek, and they were grandchildren of the Alter Rebbe. But yet they went a little bit to the side, uh, because the Chabad direct dynasty was consider-- was continued by the youngest son of the Tzemach Tzedek, which was the Rebbe Maharash, Reb Shmuel. He stayed in the city of Lubavitch. But his brothers, they went off in different, and they became Rebbes. And their Hasidic, uh, discourse and their talk resembled a lot and was based upon the Hasidic of the Alter Rebbe's teaching. So it is very closely related. And his, uh, son, Rabbi Yisroel Noach, which was a son of the Tzemach Tzedek, was Rabbi Avraham Schneersohn. And, um, and, um, the, um, um, how do I say that? So, um... And they of, of course, you know, they were, um, um... On the, on the year Taf Reish Lamed He, he, uh, got engaged to, uh, the Rebbetzin Yoocheved. That's the, uh, Rav Avraham Schneersohn, who was the son of the Chossid, Rabbi Yehoshua Palig-Schemberg, who was the, uh, one of the great Hasidim in the city of Kishinev. And after his marriage, this Rabbi Avraham Schneersohn, uh, settled in Kishinev, and he was sitting there studying Torah. In the olden days, there was a custom that the, uh, people,

11:36 if they were, uh, you know, wealthy enough, uh, they could afford it, so they would, uh, find a nice young man who was a, who was a brilliant or a scholar and, uh, who was able to continue to study, and they would offer them that they take care of them, and, uh, they would, uh, support them, and they would sit and study. That was their main, uh, their main function. It's like a kollel. It's like a kollel, and, uh, but the in-laws would take care of it. And I know, like, still today, I mean, they have in some communities, uh, it's still a tradition. Unfortunately, you know, when the, the, with the, uh, financial downturn and a lot of people have-- are hurting, I know there is a lot of kollel people who were counting on their- In-laws, uh, to, uh, or their parents to support them, and, uh, they, they couldn't do that anymore because of the financial reality, something took place. But in any event, uh, the Reb Avraham was one who was dedicated his life for the study of Torah and the service of God. And, uh, he was very known. This Reb Avraham was, uh, very, uh, renowned for his righteousness and his great humility and his, uh, uh, you know, just, uh, uh, personality. He was a very great man. And after his father passed away, which he was the rebbe of Nieżin, um, that was in the 17th of Nisan, Taf Resh Men Gimel, the Hasidim of his father,

13:07 Rebbi Shlomo, uh, asked very strongly that he should come and become the rebbe after their father's passing. And Reb Avraham refused. He did not wanna become, he did not wanna become a rebbe, and he remained in the city of Kishinev. He never moved. He never became a rebbe. And he, uh, later on, he, for a livelihood, you know, eventually, he, um, he went into business. And even while he was in business, um, he continued to study day and night, and he was, um, uh, buried and turned in the city of, of Kishinev. Um, so I mean, the great man, his daughter, uh, was the Rebbetzin Nechama Dina, and she went-- she married the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebber Yosef Yitzchak, and they had a daughter. The middle daughter was Chaya Mushka, which later on is the wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, uh, who married later eventually the Lubavitcher Rebbe. So this all it's within the family. This is all the, uh, the different, uh, ways that they, um, um, you know, that they intermarried within, with all, with all, with all within the family. Here is the, um, here you have the, uh, the picture, just, just the gravesite, the, the, the tombstone. Where is this? New York? This is in New York. This is right opposite... See, this is the tombstone of Reb Nechama Dina, and over there it says the daughter of Avraham Schneersohn. You can see this is, this is it. I, I just took this down. Is it all in Hebrew?

14:41 It's all in Hebrew, sir. Yeah, it's all in Hebrew. The tombstone is in Hebrew. You can see Avraham Schneersohn over there. Where is the, uh, cemetery? Right- This is in Queens over there. It's Queens. It's in, uh... It's by the oil. It's right across the street of the oil.