He was one of the great opponents of the nascent Chassidic movement; He was the life-force of the committee of Lithuanian rabbis of Vilna, Slutzk, Brisk and Shklov who proclaimed a cherem against the Baal Shem Tov
The Alter Rebbe was a close student of the Mezritcher Maggid. When the Maggid passed away, two tzaddikim committed to spreading Chassidus and leading the Jewish people. One was Rabbi Avraham the Malach, the son of the Maggid, who moved to Volhin. The other was Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk who lived in Russia.
The groom writes to his bride in the k’suba, the marriage contract, “I will honor, and provide food, and support, etc.” At first glance, though, this is puzzling, for our Sages say, “A man is only granted sustenance for the sake of his wife.” How then can the groom pledge, “I will honor, and provide food, and support”? [How can he be charged with providing for his wife’s needs when apparently he plays no role in the process?]
The Alter Rebbe sighed. “Ribbono shel olam, these two incidents took place so close to one another. If You had only sent Yechezkel the Strong to help Pinye get his wagon out of the mud and sent the rich man to help Moshe and his wife, everyone would have benefited. But You didn’t do that … We cannot understand Your ways. ‘You know the secrets of the world.’ Only You know why the world runs the way it does.”
Chassidic thought was first unveiled by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760). These profoundly spiritual teachings were later harnessed into a comprehensive and methodical philosophical system by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (the Alter Rebbe, who was born in 1745 – the same year as Volta).
In an exclusive interview with the Beis Moshiach Magazine, Chassidic conductor and composer R’ Moshe Mordechai (“Mona”) Rosenblum speaks about his childhood (“My mother gave me an accordion when I was four and a half years old”), the uniqueness of Chabad niggunim (“Every time I hear the Alter Rebbe’s niggunim, I feel as if I’m listening to them for the first time”), producing CDs of Chabad niggunim (“It’s slow and painstaking work, as it’s not easy to put the emotions into distinctive vessels”), and his family connection with the Alter Rebbe.
A story about the Rav HaMaggid and the Baal HaTanya, presented for the Yom Hilula of the Maggid and the Chag HaGeula of the Alter Rebbe, on 19 Kislev.
As Yud-Tes Kislev, Rosh HaShana L’Chassidus, approaches, we present a compilation of stories about the Alter Rebbe and about the Tanya which we start learning on this day • From the notes of R’ Avrohom Weingarten a”h, l’ilui nishmas his son, R’ Matisyahu Aryeh Leib, may Hashem avenge his blood.
When the Rebbe announced in 1991-92 that the work has been completed, and now the only job that remains is to prepare oneself and the world to receive and embrace the reality of a G-dly world ushered in by Moshiach himself, once again the mission fell to a relatively small number of people, whether by design or by circumstance.
In honor of 24 Teives we present another chapter from the Sichos Kodesh of the Rebbe Rayatz. * From the sicha of Yud Kislev 5702 in which he spoke about the Mitteler Rebbe and the Alter Rebbe.
September 12, 2019