The Rebbe Rashab - Hemshechim - Part 1

00:00 The hemshech in continuation to the earlier installments when it geared to the Rebbe Rashab and the various ma'amarim discourses that he delivered over the years, we continue now with installment number seven, discussing the various stages of when the specific hemshechim of discourses were delivered over the years. A hemshech is a series of a group of ma'amarim that are as a continuation from one into the second, and that can go on for weeks and months and years. The seita of a hemshech is that when a Rebbe delivered a hemshech, he would begin with the first ma'amar, he would ask questions, he would begin explaining, but at the conclusion of the ma'amar, the questions still would remain unanswered. He did not answer the questions in that ma'amar, in that discourse. Then came the next occasion, he delivered a second ma'amar. He asked additional questions on the opening verse of the second ma'amar. He would begin an explanation by referring back to where he left off in the earlier ma'amar, and in the following ma'amarim, he would answer the questions of those individual ma'amarim. And at the end of the hemshech, which as mentioned can go on for years, he will answer the questions that he asked in the first ma'amar. The previous Rebbe, son of the Rebbe Rashab notes that from the progression of the depth of the ma'amarim over the course of the years, one can discern the level of the yeshiva students at that time. As the tmimim, Yeshivat Temchei Tmimim, which was founded in

02:13 1897, grew in their understanding of Chassidus, so did his father's ma'amarim grow and expand in their depth. In general, the previous Rebbe divides the progress of the ma'amarim into a number of stages. He begins with the history of the ma'amarim in the year 5658, late 1893, when the Rebbe Rashab then began sitting in his father's chair on Rosh Hashanah. The first period was from 5658 till 5659, from 1893 to 1897. During this, this time, the Rebbe Rashab began saying ma'amarim consistently, and the yeshivim, the newly married Chassidim who spent their first year of marriage near the Rebbe, learned the ma'amarim with great diligence. Until then, the ma'amarim were said sporadically. At the end of 1897, when the Rebbe Rashab established Temchei Tmimim, a major change took place. Unlike the early eras in Chabad history, when Chassidus was studied as an extracurricular subject, the students began learning Chassidus in an organized fashion, which naturally greatly enhanced its study. Over the course of the following three years, from 5659 to 5660, that's 1897 to 1900, as the tmimim advanced in their learning, the ma'amarim progressively became more complex. Whereas the ma'amarim of the first 14 years of the Nasiyas generally discussed topics that even beginners in Chassidus are able to grasp, the ma'amarim from 5659 and 5660, 1899 and 1900, were geared toward those with a deeper understanding of Chassidus. The next stage was from 5660 through 5663, 1900 through 1905, when the ma'amarim, hemshechim, and sichas became more and more advanced. This set the stage for

04:37 the famous hemshech of 5661, 1906, which marked the beginning of yet another era in Chassidus. As the previous Rebbe says that the six years from 5661 to 5667, from 1905 to 1912, this enriched Teytas HaChassidus with truly talented people and a number of Ba'alei HaAvoda. Overall, during the 18 years from 5658 through 5667, 1893 through 1912, the concept of Chassidus, both the learning of Chassidus and the Avoda of Chassidus, was placed on its rightfully high level, where the learning and Avoda of Chassidus should be. On Shavuos 5667, the Rebbe Rashab began saying his famous hemshech of Beshor Shel Higdimu, which consisted of 144 ma'amarim. About this, we read in the Ayem Yeim on the 12th of Elul, the Rebbe Rashab began delivering the long series of ma'amarim on the first day of Shavuos of that year in Lubavitch and completed its delivery on Shabbos Parshas Vayeira, 5678, late 1915, with the ma'amar entitled "והווה אומר המחסה אני מאברם", which is a verse in the parasha of Vayeira. It comprises a hundred and forty-four ma'amarim. The manuscripts of the Rebbe Rashab include a second part which was never delivered orally and which is not divided into individual courses. On occasion, it is discussed the difference between the two hemshechem, the one that was delivered in 1906 and the one that was delivered in 1912. The Rebbe Rashab's ma'amarim are printed under the title Sefer HaMa'amarim, along with the year they were said. However, there are two exceptions, namely his two most famous hemshechem, which he continued

07:03 saying for a long period of time. One of them is from Tafres Samech Vav, began on Rosh Hashanah, late 1905, and continued throughout the year and also partially over the coming two years. And the next hemsech is Tafres Ayin Beis through Tafres Ayin Vav, 1912 till late 1915. Their titles consist of the opening words of the hemsech, Yom Tov Rosh Hashanah, that is Tafres Samech Vav, 1906, and Besosh Idimu is Tafres Ayin Beis, 1912. However, there's a major difference between these two hemsechem. Although the hemsech of Yom Tov Rosh Hashanah from Tafres Samech Vav, 1906, is considered one of the greatest revelations of Chassidus, there was no hesitation to publish it. By contrast, the hemsech of Besosh Idimu, the Rebbe refused to allow it to be published until he did it in a dramatic manner, as we will mention it further. The Rebbe said in a sicha, Yud Tes Kislev, Chaf Kislev actually was the day when the Rebbe farbrenged that year in commemoration of Yud Tes Kislev, Taf Shin Lamed Zayin, late 1976, that although the hemsech of ma'amarim of Tafres Samech Vav, 1906, were considered great revelations of Chassidus, nevertheless, the hemsech that Rebbe Rashab delivered six years later was beyond the revelations that were delivered in Tafres Samech Vav. And Im Yirtze Hashem, in the upcoming installment, we'll discuss it more in detail.