Seeds of Wisdom is a new anthology of life-lessons from the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, gleaned from the personal recollections of people from all walks of life and a myriad of backgrounds and countries of origin, as recorded in the "My Encounter with the Rebbe" oral history project, launched by Jewish Educational Media to document the untold story of the Rebbe’s life stretching back to his childhood in the Tsarist Empire more than a hundred years ago.

The book is based on individual interviews, with a focus on the legendary private visits with the Rebbe, known to Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidim as yechidut, where individuals sought the Rebbe’s counsel, direction and blessing in meetings, normally held as they were in the dark stillness of a Brooklyn night many years ago. The book does an excellent job of conveying that atmosphere, conjuring up a telling vividness.

While the Rebbe’s published works fill many volumes, the details of how he influenced individuals and communities—an entire generation—are being documented, conversation by conversation in these fascinating stories.

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Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in London, England, has mined this immense lodestone of precious ore for nuggets which epitomize the Rebbe’s unique style, and has encapsulated them in an attractive book of 175 pages.

The editor deftly weaves the material into six sections; Nurturing the Human Spirit; Parenting; Knowledge and Learning; Love and Relationships; Faith and Prayer; and Jewish Leadership—addressing issues of marital conflicts, raising children, strategies for actualizing spiritual and emotional growth, dealing with health and financial difficulties, leadership challenges in the communal, institutional and other spheres, and many other topics.

Each short chapter encompasses advice that is simultaneously personal and universal by providing an individual anecdote, engagingly summarized and presented by the editor; as told by a fascinating diversity of people who sought the Rebbe’s advice; including Torah scholars, statesmen, educators, scientists, teachers, business people and home-makers. Each story ends with a pithy "mission statement."

However, the purpose of this book isn’t just to tell stories, no matter how striking and inspirational. Rabbi Kalmenson has chosen and edited each selection to drive home the Rebbe’s essential advice as typified in the following; showing how to take the first step in bettering oneself spiritually:

‘A young man who was struggling with bad habits requested the Rebbe’s advice. He had tried to improve his behavior, but found that his resolve was too often defeated by his deep-seated impulses. “How can I achieve a lasting transformation?” he asked. The Rebbe responded: “The key to real change is to firmly resolve in your heart of hearts that this behavior doesn’t reflect who you truly are’

While people would utilize their precious few moments with the Rebbe to focus on "essentials," there’s humor as well:

“Rebbe,” the woman said in yechidut, “my daughter is struggling to find a good shidduch (marriage prospect)!” “Does she know what she is looking for in a husband?” the Rebbe asked. “She sure does,” said the woman, proceeding to enumerate every imaginable quality. “It sounds to me like you’re describing at least three different boys,” the Rebbe said with a smile.

Each story demonstrates in a different way how the Rebbe would, while delving into the individual’s predicament, never lost sight of the bigger picture; the person’s family, communal and where appropriate national and even international situation, focusing especially on how the person could reach into himself to discover hitherto unrecognized spiritual powers and find practical ways to utilize these for the good.

As the author notes in Seeds of Wisdom’s Foreword:

‘This book is not about the Rebbe’s piety. Nor is it about his character, or his scholarship. It’s not about his sensitivity, his leadership, nor his contribution to the Jewish people. In fact, one might say that this book is not really about the Rebbe at all. It doesn’t tell the story of his life. Rather, it’s a book of short stories about the Rebbe's interactions with others, and the life-lessons that can be gleaned from them. It’s a small book of big ideas, hence the title: 'Seeds of Wisdom'

Now that we can no longer benefit from the Rebbe’s advice by meeting him in person and receive his wise, personalized counsel at critical times, Seeds of Wisdom is a treasury to draw upon, and to be fascinated, moved and inspired by.

Rabbi Kalmenson has taken his pick of encounters with the Rebbe, selected those which will resonate most widely and presented them in a book which will serve as a companion to provide sustenance when we most need it, to dip into and savor and by so doing, hopefully internalize his wisdom and inspire us to be better human beings.

Seeds of Wisdom, Jewish Educational Media, 192 pages. Available November 2013.