Yud Tes Kislev

00:00 Good Yom Tov as we find ourself in Yut Aschkislev, and Chag HaChagim, and all the te'arim that the Rebbeim attributed to this special day, as the Friedlik Rebbe refers to it, it is a day which is holy, and b'meila we should fulfill it in a meaningful and a contentful way and be careful with this day. So b'meila we'll discuss some inyanim of Yut Aschkislev as the Rebbe mentioned them over the years. One inyan is b'negiah to the pisgan that the Rebbe Rashab said that the spreading of wellsprings of Chassidus began primarily after Peterburg, when the Alter Rebbe was freed from prison. And the Rebbe Rashab gives a mashal, a mashal from the Midrash, that the Midrash says that an alef releases the oil when it is being squeezed. that's when it gives its oil, its oil. In the same sense, the Alter Rebbe, when did he begin to elaborate and explain Chassidus in a lengthy form, ba'ariichus nifla was basically after he came back from Peterburg, after the squeeze of the Beis HaSidin. A second vort that the Rebbe mentioned quite often is a vort from the previous Rebbe b'negiah Yut Aschkislev, that Yut Aschkislev signifies the fact of a shtar sheyotzol of irur, and then it was confirmed. A shtar, a contract that was existing, and then there were people that challenged it and said it's not true, it's forged, it's not, uh, authentic. And after that, it was confirmed in Bezin, it is then stronger than ever. Because after there was a certain

02:08 dispute about it, and then it was confirmed, so then that shtar has no obstacles in its way. In the same sense, b'negiah to Chassidus, that Chassidus l'chatchilah had a challenge, a challenge that, uh, uh, different inyanim that they, uh, gave over to the government, and after the Alter Rebbe was com-- released and everything was cleared, so b'meila this shtar, the inyan of Chassidus, is as strong as ever. A third inyan is b'negiah to the farbrengens of Yut Aschkislev. So the Rebbe says that although generally the custom is to make a farbrengen the end of the day of Yut Aschkislev, going into the twentieth of Kislev, and the reason is simply because the Alter Rebbe was completely released and came back to Chassidim. So it was the end of the day of Yut Aschkislev since he was released min chatayim. And on top of that, there were three hours that he was in the house of the Menaget, which-- where the Alter Rebbe, uh, experienced painful, uh, uh, Yusidim for the Nefesh, for the Neshama, Yusidim Nafshim. So b'meila, farbrengen is usually when the Alter Rebbe was completely free, metzo Yut Aschkislev. Still, the Rebbe says we find that many Chassidim also farbreng the night before, the night before Yut Aschkislev. And the Rebbe says, "Birchas Chassidim aliyem tovi." Blessings of Chassidim should come upon them. And the Rebbe continues that there is two formats how to make farbrengens. There is one to make many farbrengens, although they are smaller crowds, but this enables many people

04:00 that are not able to come to one big central farbrengen that they can find a farbrengen locally near their house and participate in the Yut Aschkislev farbrengen. Then there is another format, the format of making a big central farbrengen where everybody gathers together, and then it is b'reva hadras melech. The bigger the nation, the more splendor is the king. Hadras melech. And b'meila, this is a farbrengen, the older Chassidim participate, and younger ones, et cetera. And the Rebbe says we find it also in halakha, when we speak about quantity and quality, which is more dominating. On one hand, the more the quantity, it's more qualitative. On the other hand, it's quality over quantity that is the, the, uh, dominating factor. So the Rebbe says we find both. In the same sense here also, many farbrengens is the unique quality of, uh, a n-- big number in quantity. And one big farbrengen, although it's not in quantity, but it's in quality, and it's a big farbrengen, an encompassing farbrengen, so b'meila it has a unique quality. A gutn Yom Tov, u'shana tova, b'limud ha'chasidus, v'darche ha'chasidus, tikhasevu v'sechasimi.