My revered father once said: “Today is Shabbos HaGadol,1 and concerning Shabbos it is written, ‘You shall call Shabbos a delight.’2 The difference between Shabbos and Yom-Tov is that concerning Yom-Tov we say ‘festivals for joy (simchah),’ whereas Shabbos is called ‘a delight’ (oneg). The phrase ‘Shabbos HaGadol’ thus implies ‘a great delight.’ I visited my grandfather3 at the heichal.4 He’s preparing himself for the hillula.”5
Footnotes
1.
I.e., the Shabbos before Pesach.
2.
Yeshayahu 55:13.
3.
I.e., the Tzemach Tzedek, who passed away on 13 Nissan, 5626 (1866).
4.
Lit., “sanctuary”; synonym for ohel or tziyun.
5.
Aram.: the anniversary of his passing.
To date, apart from the above paragraph, we have found no record of this farbrengen, nor of the first days of Pesach. If anyone of Anash has any such notes, we earnestly request that he forward them to the editorial board of Otzar HaChassidim. We will then publish them in the volume of appendices and omitted texts, “and the merit gained by the community will be attributed to him” [Avos 5:18].
From the writings & talks of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch.
Translated and annotated by Rabbi Uri Kaploun.
Translated and annotated by Rabbi Uri Kaploun.
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