On this date, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, who supported and aided the Czar's army during the Napoleonic wars, was forced to flee his hometown from Napoleon's forces which were advancing through White Russia in their push toward Moscow. After five months of wanderings he arrived in the town of Pyena. There he fell ill and, weakened by the tribulations of his flight and the harsh Russian winter, passed away on the 24th of Tevet, 5573 (1812).
Links: The Rebbe vs Napoleon
R. Eliezer Zusia Portugal (1898–1982), the Skulener Rebbe, is best known for his superhuman efforts to rescue Jewish orphans and refugees in Eastern Europe before, during, and after World War II and his continuing support of them. He immigrated to the United States in 1960, after imprisonment in Rumania and international efforts to secure his release. He was renowned for his lengthy prayers and the beautiful tunes he composed.
To whom does a Jew pray?
Can He be described? Does He have a name?
No, there is no description with which to imagine Him, no name with which to grasp Him.
Even the pronoun “Him” implies too much to be true—as though He could be a third party, absent or present. Even the title “Infinite Light” misses the mark, as though He were only light.
But He is not light. He is the source of light. At the source of all light, there is no absence or presence, no being or not being.
There is only “You.” Here, now, known to all beings. And yet beyond the grasp of any knowledge.
It is truly inconceivable, certainly outrageous, but we puny, mortal creatures turn to the heavens and beyond the heavens and say, “You.”
As Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch wrote:
You, that all know of You.
You, that all put their trust only in You.
You, that all plead only to You.
You, that no creation nor emanation knows who and what You are.
And so we pray to You alone, for You alone, the Unknowable, are known to all.