Chapter 7 of Rabbi Shloma Majeski’s Likkutei Mekoros discusses how the Rebbe taught us in advance how to view the events of Gimmel Tammuz 5754. (Underlined text is the compiler’s emphasis.)
Translated by Boruch Merkur
The Rebbe said that the Rebbe Rayatz’s sichos just prior to Yud Shvat 5710 were meant to provide us with a message as to how to understand the events that were to follow. * In the most recent sichos of 5751- 5752, the Rebbe reiterates in an unprecedented way that there will be eternal life as a soul in a body without any interruption (i.e., the Rebbe will live on forever without the need to experience histalkus).
1. It says in the Zohar that all days are blessed from Shabbos, meaning that all days of the week, beginning with Sunday, receive a blessing and vitality from the preceding Shabbos.
The power Shabbos has to affect the days of the week is one of the reasons why it is customary for chassanim
(grooms) to have an aliya to the Torah on the Shabbos before their wedding. The custom is not that a chassan should get an aliya on the day of reading from the Torah that is closest to his wedding day but specifically on the preceding Shabbos, for
Shabbos includes within it all the days of the week that are blessed from it.
Now, since it is the Shabbos prior to 12-13 Tammuz, the Shabbos that blesses these days, the relevance of this holiday is already felt today. Thus, it is appropriate to begin with the words my revered father in- law, the Rebbe, מ”הכ, spoke on 12-13 Tammuz of last year, and to discuss its connection and relevance to the preceding Shabbos, Parshas Chukas (as well as its connection to the aliya to the Torah on this Shabbos Kodesh, on this parsha).
2. In his address of the 13th of Tammuz of last year, my revered father in-law, the Rebbe, spoke about the concept of life, long life, uninterrupted life (eternal life). And he discussed this concept in terms of avoda.
Namely, in addition to the fact that each person has an individual life-force, he also enlivens others. And the Rebbe concluded by saying “True life is holiness, and holiness is Ein Sof [eternal].”
But first to preface: Since everything is by Divine particular providence (as in the famous teaching of the Baal Shem Tov that the Alm-ghty causes wind to gust forth from its Heavenly storage house in order to [attend to even the seemingly inconsequential task of] turn[ing] a leaf or a piece of straw, etc. That is, Divine providence extends to the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms as well, and certainly to mankind – and how much more so to the Jewish people, who are the crown glory of all of Creation. And how much more does G-d’s providence apply to a nasi (the leader or prince) of the Jewish people, upon whom everything depends, as reflected in Rashi’s commentary on this week’s parsha, where he writes that “the nasi is everything.”) [certainly then Divine providence keenly extends to] the words of my revered father in-law, the Rebbe, regarding eternal life, spoken on 12-13 Tammuz.
(From the address of Shabbos Parshas Chukas, 9 Tammuz 5710; Torash Menachem pg. 119)