Sunday, December 8, 2013

Tevet 5 is celebrated as a day of rejoicing in the Chabad-Lubavitch community. On this date in 1987, U.S. Federal Court issued a decision in favor of Agudas Chassidei Chabad ("Union of Chabad Chassidim") regarding the ownership of the priceless library of the 6th Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. The ruling was based on the idea that a Rebbe is not a private individual but a communal figure synonymous with the body of Chassidim. The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Rabbi Yoseph Yitzchak's son-in-law and successor) urged that the occasion be marked with time devoted to study from Torah books ("sefarim") as well as the acquisition of new Torah books.

Links:
Books with Souls
The Rebbe's Library
Chabad.org online library

The ancient philosophers divided the world into four realms, each realm transcendental in a way beyond those that precede it:

The “silent” realm—earth, rocks, water, air, etc., do not transcend their bounds in any way.

Plants transcend their bounds by growing.

Animals transcend their bounds by traversing space.

And Man, how does he transcend his bounds?
Man reaches outside of himself with words. With dialogue.

Man alone is capable of hearing his own self through the ears of another. Man alone is capable of transcending the very bounds of self.