Shevat 10: A Day of Two Rebbes

"770" - the world headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak passed away in 1950, on Shabbat morning, Shevat 10, in his apartment on the 2nd floor. Exactly one year later, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson held the historic farbrengen in the first floor synagogue, at which he formally accepted the leadership of Chabad.

The 10th day of the Jewish month of Shevat ("Yud Shevat" in Hebrew) is a most significant date on the Chassidic calendar. It is the yahrtzeit of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950)), of righteous memory. It is also the day when, in 1951, the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), of righteous memory, formally accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch with a historic maamar (discourse) and address at a gathering marking the first anniversary of his predecessor's passing.

The links below include a selection of stories and diary entries chronicling the amazing life of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, whose battle for the physical and spiritual life of the Jewish people pitted him against the Czarist regime in the first two decades of the 20th century, Stalin's henchmen in the '20s and '30s, the Nazi Holocaust, and the spiritual apathy of the "New World."

Also included are links to an anthology and a website presenting the life, times and teachings of our generation's Rebbe, who built upon the foundations laid by his predecessor and made "Chabad-Lubavitch" the force for Jewish renaissance it is today.


		A Rebbe's Education From the writings & talks of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch When I was 11 years old, my father gave me the manuscript as a gift. "This is a chassidic kiss," he said, "in time I will explain" 2 Comments



		A Boy and a Calf From the diary of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch At the age of ten, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak was thrown into jail for helping a fellow Jew. This story is indicative of the pattern the rest of his life would follow.



		“To the Point of Self Sacrifice” Told by the Lubavitcher Rebbe The guard was stupefied: few were the cabinet-level ministers granted such a privilege, and here stood a young chassid with a beard, sidelocks, chassidic garb and a Yiddish accent, at a time when to even reside in Petersburg was forbidden to Jews



		Monotheism in Rostov From the writings of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch The three emissaries from the court of death entered the room, dressed in their uniforms of red and black, rifles in hand, their belts filled with bullets and hung with a pair of revolvers and another pair of Cossack knives, with helmets of brass and their faces aflame 1 Comment



		The Rebbe's Prison Diary From the writings of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch Nachmanson turned to me, his face red with rage: "Forget that you are Schneersohn, the distinguished Bogamolnik. You are now a simple person who is being punished for your flagrant acts against the proletariat. Now you will pay for everything"



		Love According to the Rebbe By Yanki Tauber What if someone said to you, "I love you, but I don't like your children"? You'd probably say: "You don't know anything about who and what I am, and you don't know what love is, either!" 15 Comments



		A Yud Shevat Farbrengen 10 Shevat 5732 Some teach by writing books, others deliver lectures, still others regularly issue public letters, essays and commentary. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, widely regarded as one of the most influential teachers of our generation, did all of the above; but his primary medium of teaching was the farbrengen. 2 Comments



		TheRebbe.org Essays, insights and letters, stories and first-person accounts, and an online biography of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson



		54 Years, 54 Ideas Compiled by Yanki Tauber Love, leadership, childhood, marriage, aging, rebellion, sleep, money, anxiety, death, life, and 43 other things according to the Lubavitcher Rebbe



		Yahrtzeit Observances for the 10th of Shevat Yahrtzeit candles, Mishna study, and more customs to be practiced on the day of a yahrtzeit.