Prepared for publication by Rabbi Boruch Sholom Cohen
Edited by Y. Ben Boruch
The light of day (of the Geula) has already begun to shine and the darkness is powerful and it has become very dark. We don’t need to wait for the light of day, because when the day will shine brightly everyone will know that day has arrived, something even a blind man can see! * From the Sichos Kodesh of the Rebbe Rayatz, the sicha of Yud-Tes Kislev 5702
SAYING “GUT YOM TOV”
There is a custom that on Erev Yom Tov before Maariv, people wish one another “Gut Yom Tov,” and after Maariv, they wish again “Gut Yom Tov.” Jewish customs are Torah, as per the saying, “Go out and see what the people take on.”
There is a difference between the “Gut Yom Tov” before Maariv and the “Gut Yom Tov” after Maariv. This difference is based on kabbala, which explains that every Yom Tov the lofty lights of that holiday are drawn down, and saying “Gut Yom Tov” before Maariv is a preparation and vessel to receive the lights and revelations of this Yom Tov.
CHASSIDIC PRACTICES ON YUD-TES KISLEV
It is Yom Tov for us today, a Yom Tov for Chabad Chassidim in all ends and expanses of the world. We have a custom, from the Chassidic customs of the Alter Rebbe, that on Yud-Tes Kislev we wish “Gut Yom Tov” before Maariv and after Maariv. Throughout the 24-hour period of Yud-Tes Kislev, when Chassidim meet in shul or on the street, they wish one another “Gut Yom Tov.”
Chassidim immerse before Shacharis on Yud-Tes Kislev, because the accepted practice from the early Chassidim in the name of the Baal Shem Tov was that on Erev Shabbos and Erev Yom Tov, as well as on Shabbos and Yom Tov morning, they went to the mikva. The early Chassidim considered the dipping in the mikva on Shabbos morning before the davening as a segula for a davening of deep contemplation and spiritual arousal.
There was a tradition from the early Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe that the custom of observing Yud-Tes Kislev as a Yom Tov is a conduit for the revelations that the Alter Rebbe drew down through his mesiras nefesh for the customs of Chabad Chassidim.
RECEIVING THE LIGHTS AND REVELATIONS
Saying “Gut Yom Tov” on Yud-Tes Kislev is a solid foundation for receiving the lights and revelations of the Chag HaGeula, to draw them down for the Jewish people throughout the world, as well as for the entire world, because the true intention is for the G-dly revelation to illuminate throughout the world via the Jewish people.
We can understand this idea from the wording of all brachos, which is divided into two parts: 1) the general wording for all brachos, “Boruch Ata Hashem Elokeinu Melech HaOlam,” and 2) the specific blessing (such as “Borei Pri Ha’adama,” “Ha’eitz,” “Sh’ha’kol”).
In the first part of the bracha we say Elokeinu before Melech HaOlam. The meaning of Elokeinu is our strength and our life. Then we say Melech HaOlam, with “HaOlam” referring to all the rest of creation in all the worlds all the way down to this world, and in all types – human, animal, plant, inanimate – and Hashem is Melech HaOlam, the life force of everything He created.
This bracha gives a Jew the strength to complete the Avodas HaBirurim, to actualize the elevation of all material matters by transforming them into vessels for the revelation of G-dliness, and this accomplishes an elevation higher than the world of Atzilus into the infinite Ohr Ein Sof.
May it be that this be felt deeply within every person and that we merit the true Geula that we are waiting for, which Hashem will grant us soon, amen.
ALTER REBBE’S NIGGUNIM
It is necessary to collect the ten niggunim of the Alter Rebbe and learn them well, so they can be sung properly… If you don’t know all ten niggunim, at least sing the niggunim you know, but don’t sing the famous niggun of Dalet Bavos yet.
(The people sang the niggunim of the Alter Rebbe that they knew including B’nei Heichala).
5646 IN YALTA
On Yud-Tes Kislev 5646/1885, my father was in Yalta with R’ Shneur Zalman Slonim of Chevron. I was in my sixth year at the time.
The night of Yud-Tes Kislev (the first night of the Chag HaGeula) my father sat and learned with R’ Slonim. There were hardly any Chassidim there, just a few B’nei Torah who lived there. They may have known about Yud-Tes Kislev, but they had no connection with Chassidus.
I did not understand what my father and R’ Slonim learned, but among the things they learned were topics that I understood on my level.
TO GRASP THE REBBE’S DOORKNOB
My father then said that one who grasped the Rebbe’s (Alter Rebbe’s) kliyamka (doorknob) would be saved and would experience the personal salvation he needed. Then (in 5646) the discussion was about salvation regarding physical health which is also salvation.
When I heard that, I said, “I also want to grasp the Rebbe’s doorknob! Where is the doorknob?” At that time I was a shtifer (frisky fellow), and “shtifer” and “kliyamka” have a connection between them.
My father said to me, “Daven the Rebbe’s nusach from a Siddur without mistakes and that is the Rebbe’s doorknob!”
I had been davening the Rebbe’s nusach before then, but with errors. I was very weak in reading. I had begun learning to read very early, but the melamed who taught me to read wasn’t so particular and I would daven by heart (not from a Siddur). My father was not pleased about this.
THE LIGHT OF THE GEULA HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO SHINE
The light of day (of the Geula) has already begun to shine and the darkness is powerful and it has become very dark. We don’t need to wait for the light of day, because when the day will shine brightly everyone will know that day has arrived. Rather, from the fact that now there is a strong slumber, that proves that the light of day has begun to shine, and that is something that even a blind man can see!