Being that shtus d’l’umas zeh and sins cause the Divine presence to depart, in order to bring about a change of course, so that “I shall dwell among you” [as before the sin], there must be “make for Me a Mikdash (specifically) of Acacia Trees, atzei Shittim” – shtus d’k’dusha is required.
Even the thought of distinguishing among Jews the extent to which they embody “his descendants are alive,” and how much more so regarding speaking or publicizing it – this detracts from the life of Yaakov Avinu, G-d forbid, and it is the opposite of simple faith in the Torah of Moshe, which states “Yaakov Avinu did not die,” for “just as his children are alive, so is he alive.”
R’ Zalman reports to the Rebbe about the miracles that happened in connection with the purchase of the new yeshiva building. * From the life of R’ Yehoshua Shneur Zalman Serebryanski a”h.
For thousands of years the Jewish people have been subjected to the worst forms of tyranny and oppression – the inner Esau – culminating with the Holocaust and the spread of Communism in the last century. The primary challenge we have today comes from our over indulgence in the material world – representing the inner Yishmoel.
I asked him if he could give me examples of his wife’s contribution towards being mekarev people, and he sounded surprised. “What do you mean? There are no examples of cases where she does not play a prominent role!”
Stories and sayings from R’ Chaim Shaul Brook a”h as recorded by his close talmid, R’ Chaim Ashkenazi a”h.
It is ten years since the passing of the Chassid, R’ Zalman Levin a”h of Kfar Chabad. He walked among us, but he belonged to the generation of giants, Chassidim who lived lives of mesirus nefesh. In a series of meetings with him, he recounted the story of his childhood in a Chassidishe home in the Soviet Union where children learned Torah and where kosher meat was secretly slaughtered. * Part 6 of 9
Why did the Rebbe want the study of Rambam to be promoted behind the Iron Curtain? What connection is there between the Rambam and the Alter Rebbe? * A compilation of insights and stories connected with the daily study of Rambam from the introduction to the book “Mishna Torah L’HaRambam.” * Presented for 20 Teives, the Rambam’s yahrtzait.
Sometimes there are things that cause us problems and we don’t know the reason why we must experience the challenges. We often are forced to search our hearts: perhaps we have done an offense against one of our fellow Jews – all of whom are on the level of “children of Hashem, your G-d.” Offending another Jew is no small matter – he is the King’s son. The following six amazing stories will testify to that.
Chazal tell us that the reason why King Dovid was not given the privilege of building the holy Beis HaMikdash was because his hands were red with the blood of the wars that he fought. How, then, can the Rambam say that Moshiach will fight wars and build the third Beis HaMikdash?
For six years, the Rebbe held his large farbrengens in four spacious halls in the vicinity of Crown Heights. * This began with the big farbrengen of Yud-Tes Kislev 5714, when the small zal of 770 was too small for the crowd. It ended in 5720 when the first phase in the expansion of 770 was completed.
January 11, 2013