Sukos 5712 (1951) - Part I

00:00 The hemshacha and continuation to the earlier installments in regards to the yoman, the diary of on Yom Kippur. We continue now with Chag Ha'sukkot, Teshri days, late 1951, based on a few diaries which describe what took place by the Rebbe on the Yom Tov of Sukkot. On erev Sukkot, the Rebbe entered his sukkah with the lulav, and that is when the Rebbe put together the lulav and its minim. On the first night Sukkot, the seudas Yom Tov took place in the sukkah, which was on the second floor of seven seventy. It was the porch outside the previous Rebbe's Yechidus room, overlooking the chatzar, the yard, and that is where the Rebbe would eat the Seudas Yom Tov during the first twenty years of the Rebbe's Nesiut. And this was till after the petira of the Rebbe's Tznua Medina, as it was customary by the Rebbe to eat all the Seudas Yom Tov upstairs on the second floor, which is the apartment of the previous Rebbe. The Rebbe advised one of the bachurim that they should farbrengen this evening, the first night Sukkot, with the older Hasidim, and if the older Hasidim are not present or available, they should farbrengen amongst each other. The Rebbe asked if there was mashke. Lepeil, they began farbrengening without mashke, since there was no mashke available. Upon the advice, instruction of the Rebbe, Rav Shmuel Vitkin, who was one of the older and distinguished Hasidim, joined the farbrengen and farbrengened with the bachurim. On the first day Sukkot, which was

02:05 on a Monday, this was the first year that they built for the Rebbe a speci- a special personal sukkah in the yard right near the public sukkah. This was right in front of the secretariat's office, and that sukkah is built every year. The Rebbe would occasionally go into the sukkah to have a drink or to eat something, or to sit and learn, and that could sometimes be going on for hours. This was in addition to the sukkah which was upstairs where the Rebbe would eat the Seudas Yom Tov. About ten AM, the Rebbe came with his lulav and minim to the sukkah, and he made a bracha on the Esrog, the pitim, and in addition, there were three more esrogim in the sukkah. The Rebbe's lulav contained twenty-six hadasim, as it's noted that this was also the custom by the previous Rebbe. Since this was the Rebbe's personal sukkah, Hasidim did not know if the Rebbe will again give out his lulav, the, the dalet minim, in order to make a bracha on them. The earlier year, the Rebbe did give out for Hasidim that they should be able to make a bracha on his lulav and minim, but this year they weren't sure since the Rebbe was sitting in his private sukkah, and nobody wanted to disturb the Rebbe, knock on the door to ask. While they're all waiting outside the sukkah, Rab Zalman Duchman arrived. He was one of the older Hasidim, distinguished Hasidim. It was his first Tishrei by the Rebbe, and

04:10 when he found out that Hasidim were not sure if the Rebbe is gonna give out the, uh, lulav, he approached the Rebbe and said that since he was zecher to bench on the four minim of the previous Rebbe, s- so now he wants to bench on the Rebbe's lulav. And to everyone's joy, the Rebbe answered in affirmative, and Rab Zalman Duchman benched. And after that, Hasidim began benching on the dalet minim of the Rebbe. Kimu van, as understood that they made the bracha, and they made the nanuyim very quickly because this was in the presence of the Rebbe while the Rebbe was sitting in the sukkah, and the Rebbe looked at, at each one separately. The Rebbe would also mention to each one that it's a matana al manas ha'achzit, as the Rebbe mentions it in V'haYom Yom, the first day Sukkot. After they all com-- finished making the bracha, the Rebbe tasted something, and then Shacharit began. During Echad Neches, the chazan, who would lead the davening, would also be leading the, um, going around the Bima, and he was followed by the Rebbe right behind him. On the second day Sukkot, after Musaf, it was announced that the Rebbe's gonna be farbrengen at four PM. After Mincha, the Rebbe came into the farbrengen in the big sukkah, which was in the chatzar, the length of the chatzar. Which was originally downstairs where the big shul is now existing. It was then a temporary, uh, tent, a canvas which was used to cover it,

06:18 but there wasn't any permanent roof until the end of the year Tu B'Shvat nineteen sixty. So maybe this was used as a sukkah. Once a permanent roof was placed on that big area, so then the sukkah moved to the other side of the building, which is where the taslech is, where the chatzir is, and where the big sukkah exists every year, where orchim, guests, and Chassidim and the local Chassidim could benefit and have something to eat or make the beracha on lulav, on the lulav, b'kaiyetz habazeh. When the Rebbe entered into the farbrengen, the Rebbe washed his hands, and the Rebbe advised that everybody should wash their hands for a seder. During the farbrengen, the Rebbe spoke about the lesson that we derive from sitting in the sukkah and also the ushpizin, the guests that arrive in the sukkah, as the Zohar tells us in Parshas Emor. The Rebbe explains also why guests are only in sukkahs and not in other Yamim Tovim. The Rebbe also elaborated on the fact that the second-day sukkahs is the ushpizin Yitzchak Avinu, and the Chassidishe ushpiz is the Mezritcher Maggid. And the he'arah, the lesson that we learn from the ushpizin of this day, for all the talmidim of the previous Rebbe, his children, his offspring will be strong, that Yitzchak was the one that gave the berachah. And in a sense, as it was that the Mezritcher Maggid had double amount of talmidim than the Ba'al Shem Tov. The Ba'al Shem Tov had sixty talmidim, the Mezritcher

08:23 Maggid had a hundred and twenty talmidim. And the Rebbe concluded that , the children, the offspring, the followers, the students, talmidim of the previous Rebbe, kayem exists, and the are also available to accomplish and fulfill what needs to be fulfilled. During the farbrengen, the Rebbe asked Rabbi Meir Harlich what time it is and when is the shkiya, and Rabbi Meir took off his watch and he gave it to the Rebbe. In the middle of the farbrengen, Rabbi Pinchas Feldman, who was the son of Rabbi Menachem Feldman, got up on the table and gave, uh, said l'chaim to the Rebbe. The Rebbe asked if his father said l'chaim, and the Rebbe instructed him he should also give mashke to his father. And after that, he said l'chaim. The farbrengen continued to the late, late hour in the night. The Rebbe then benched , and after benching a ma'ariv, the Rebbe returned the watch to Rabbi Meir Harlich, and he said, "But you should know that we don't wear a watch on Yom Tov." And in reference to this, two older Chassidim who were by the Rebbe Rashab related that in one of the Yamim Tovim in Lubavitch, the Rebbe Rashab asked that everybody should put down their watches on the table, and he returned it to them after Yom Tov.