Sichos In English   Holidays  Shabbat   Calendar  ×‘×´×”

     Sichos In English -> Books -> Stories & History -> Links in the Chassidic Legacy

Introduction

Rashbatz

Reb Chanoch Hendel

Reb Avraham Ber

Reb "Y.M."

Rashdam

Reb Chayim Yehoshua

Reb Gavriel Nossai Chein

The Vilenker Brothers

Reb Avraham Abba Persan

Typical Chassidic Businessmen:

Reb Yitzchak The Tailor's Father

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

   Chassidic Discourse On The Subject Of "Shining"

Appendix D

Founders Of Chassidism & Leaders Of Chabad-Lubavitch

Glossary

Links in the Chassidic Legacy
Biographical Sketches that First Appeared in the Classic Columns of HaTamim

Chassidic Discourse On The Subject Of "Shining"

Translated by Shimon Neubort

Published and copyright © by Sichos In English
(718) 778-5436   •   info@SichosInEnglish.org   •   FAX (718) 735-4139


Add to Shopping Cart   |   Buy this nowFor Palm Pilot
  Letter From The Tzemach Tzedek With Remarks By The Previous Rebbe, And Excerpts From His DiaryShort History Of Yeshivah Tomchei Temimim, A General Overview Of The Development Of Our Holy Yeshivah Tomchei Temimim Of Lubavitch  

[1]

Story Told By Reb Avraham Abba Persan

I was in Lubavitch visiting the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek during the festival of Shavuos 5621, which fell on Wednesday and Thursday [May 15 and 16, 1861]. During the festive meal on the second day of Yom Tov, which was held in the small shul, I was privileged to stand next to the Tzemach Tzedek's son, Reb Chayim Schneur Zalman.[2]

The order of seating was as follows: The Rebbe sat at the head of the table. The Rebbe's brother-in-law Reb Menachem Nachum, who was a son of the Mitteler Rebbe,[3] had come for Shavuos, and he sat at the Rebbe's right; continuing down the right side, sat in order: the Rebbe's second son, the tzaddik Reb Yehudah Leib;[4] his brother, the tzaddik Reb Yisrael Noach;[5] his brother, Reb Shmuel.[6] At the Rebbe's left sat in order: the Rebbe's eldest son, the tzaddik Reb Baruch Shalom; his brother, the tzaddik Reb Chayim Schneur Zalman; his brother, the tzaddik Reb Yosef Yitzchak.[7] The Rebbe's sons-in-law were not present on that occasion; therefore, the Rebbe's grandchildren sat further down the table, after his sons; further still, sat elder chassidim and prominent rabbis.

Since I had the good fortune to stand next to the chair of Reb Chayim Schneur Zalman, I was positioned only two chairs distant from the Rebbe's holy seat. Thus, I was able to hear every word that issued from his holy mouth. The things I saw and heard during that Shavuos festival make a story of their own, and this is not the appropriate place to tell it. Here, I will only relate what pertains to our story about Reb Gavriel.

The Rebbe began his remarks by saying: "During the festive meal of the second day of Shavuos 5555 [Monday, May 25, 1795], when I was six years old, my saintly grandfather[8] remarked that during the festive meal of the second day of Shavuos 5528 [Monday, May 23, 1768], his holy Rebbe[9] said: '[It is written], "You shall count for yourselves..." - the term "you shall count" also shares a connection to the concepts of shining and brilliance.[10] "You shall count for yourselves" thus can be interpreted as: See to it that your "self" is shining.'

"My saintly grandfather then leaned upon his elbows and sang the 'Niggun of the Four Stanzas'[11] with great deveikus. Afterwards, he raised his holy head and said, in the traditional melody of a [Talmudic] query: 'And with what does one make his "self" shine?' He then immediately continued, in the traditional melody of a [Talmudic] reply: 'This is with what one makes his "self" shine: with "seven complete weeks" - by refining his seven attributes so that each attribute itself will consist of seven; thus, the seven attributes themselves will constitute seven Shabbasos, for Shabbos itself needs no refinement.'

"When I grew older, and I became acquainted with my grandfather's chassidim," continued the Tzemach Tzedek, "I observed that they fulfilled the commandment of 'You shall count for yourselves'; they truly made their 'self' shine brilliantly.

"Our Rabbis of blessed memory tell us," concluded the Tzemach Tzedek, "that the Early Sages were called sofrim [literally 'scribes' or 'counters'] because they used to count all the letters of the Torah.[12] And my saintly grandfather's chassidim used to count the all the letters of what he said to them in yechidus."

   

Notes:

  1. (Back to text) From HaTamim, Issue No. 6, pp. 89-97; 2 & 13 Nissan 5697; excerpted from the story of Reb Gavriel Nossai Chein.

  2. (Back to text) [The Rebbe's third son, who later served as the Rebbe of Liadi.]

  3. (Back to text) His home was in the city of Niezhin, in the Ukraine.

  4. (Back to text) [Who later served as the Rebbe of Kapust.]

  5. (Back to text) [The Rebbe's fourth son; he was the son-in-law of his uncle Reb Menachem Nachum, and later served as the Rebbe of Niezhin. He was the father of the Previous Rebbe's father-in-law.]

  6. (Back to text) [The Rebbe's youngest son, who later became the Rebbe Maharash of Lubavitch; he was the Previous Rebbe's paternal grandfather.]

  7. (Back to text) [The Rebbe's fifth son, who later served as the Rebbe of Avruch; he was the Previous Rebbe's maternal grandfather.]

  8. (Back to text) The Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya.

  9. (Back to text) The Maggid of Mezritch.

  10. (Back to text) [A play on words: the Hebrew words for "counting" and "shining" have a common root (rpx).]

  11. (Back to text) See Issue No. 5 of HaTamim [for the musical notes, and a history and analysis of this niggun].

  12. (Back to text) [A play on words: the Hebrew word for "scribe" has the same root as "counting" (and "shining") (Samech-Peh-Resh).]


  Letter From The Tzemach Tzedek With Remarks By The Previous Rebbe, And Excerpts From His DiaryShort History Of Yeshivah Tomchei Temimim, A General Overview Of The Development Of Our Holy Yeshivah Tomchei Temimim Of Lubavitch  
     Sichos In English -> Books -> Stories & History -> Links in the Chassidic Legacy
© Copyright 1988-2024
All Rights Reserved
Sichos In English