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The Rebbe Speaks About the Sixth Rebbe View all 10

8:19

Living Torah

One time, my father-in-law, the Rebbe, was scheduled to travel from Leningrad to Moscow on secret business concerning his underground network. Such a journey was fraught with peril, especially because his movements were closely monitored by the communist authorities.

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8:56

Mission of the Generation, Part 1: “Yosef”

Living Torah

Rachel named her son ‘Joseph,’ as a prayer: “May G-d add to me a different son.” The Tzemach Tzedek explains: Rachel prayed that Joseph have the ability to transform someone “different” – someone far from G-dliness, into a “son” – someone righteous, like himself.

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8:57

Mission of the Generation, Pt. 2: “Yitzchak”

Living Torah

The Previous Rebbe’s lifelong tireless efforts for Jewish youth are well-known. First in Eastern Europe, then in America, he succeeded in drawing the hearts of the younger generation back to their age-old Jewish heritage.

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7:54

“America Is No Different”

Living Torah

In 1940, my father-in-law, the Rebbe, was miraculously saved from the Nazis and brought to the safe shores of America. Upon his arrival he declared: “America is not different;” he would continue all the activities to strengthen Judaism which he began overseas.

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7:46

The Previous Rebbe's Dangerous Speech in Moscow, 1927

Living Torah

He spoke about the imperative to provide Jewish children with an authentic Torah education, even under communist rule.

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6:30

The Meaning of Sacrifice - Part 1

Living Torah

In Sefer Hasichos 5702, the Previous Rebbe relates some of the struggle that Chassidim endured in the Soviet Union. Warned against practicing Judaism under threat of danger to their lives, the Previous Rebbe gathered his closest Chassidim and made a pact. They swore not to be deterred from their mission, in spreading and promoting a life of Torah.

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8:12

Never Too Young

Living Torah

Long before his bar mitzvah, the Previous Rebbe was already preoccupied with doing acts of kindness. At age eleven he established a free-loan fund, allowing him to help the needy in a dignified manner.

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6:29

Bar-Mitzvah Lessons

Living Torah

At the Previous Rebbe’s Bar Mitzvah, following a custom passed down through the generations, he asked his father a question.

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8:43

Chassidic Coal Miners

Living Torah

The Previous Rebbe gives a parable for what it means to be a Chabad chasid.

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8:07

Not Alone

Living Torah

The events of the Previous Rebbe’s liberation on the 12th of Tammuz raise a fundamental question: How is it that one solitary individual was able to stand against a tyrannical world power?

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Stories About the Sixth Rebbe View all 8

6:17

Torah Education in Israel

Living Torah

Rabbi Menachem Porush was born in Jerusalem in 1916. A seventh-generation Jerusalemite, he devoted his life to championing Torah values and Torah education in Israel. A story about the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch.

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5:16

Laying Down Roots

Living Torah

Reb Shmuel Isaac Popack recalls events after the Previous Rebbe’s arrival in America.

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5:41

Think of Me, and I’ll Think of You

Living Torah

Reb Mendel Futerfas, imprisoned in a Soviet gulag and unable to communicate with the outside world, composed a unique letter in his mind and “sent” it off to the Previous Rebbe. Reb Mendel’s wife was shocked to receive a letter from the Previous Rebbe in reply to her husband’s “telegram.”

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3:13

“You’ll be Asking Him Soon…”

By David Luchins

Dr. David Luchins’ father, Dr. Abraham Luchins, was a renowned psychologist and an admirer of the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch. In a private audience, he learned that the Previous Rebbe was also an “admirer” — of a certain Rebbe-to-be.

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6:47

For The Sake of Torah

Living Torah

Rabbi Mayer Plotkin was a student in Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, when he heard a former faculty member recount that the Previous Rebbe boldly kept the doors of the Yeshiva open during a financial crisis in the late-1940s.

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4:10

The Previous Rebbe's 4 AM Diary Entry

By Yossy Gordon

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3:59

Hiding and Seeking

Living Torah

Reb Chonye Morosow served as a personal secretary to the fifth and sixth Lubavitcher Rebbes in Russia. His son, Reb Mendel, was born in 1916, and recalls two episodes in the Rebbes’ homes.

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3:54

My Dear Children: An audience with the Previous Rebbe

By Leibel Posner

In 1941, Yehudah Leib Posner, age 13, and his brother Zalman, age 14, were students at the Yeshiva in 770.

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Original Footage View all 4

1:56

Farewell Gathering

Living Torah

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Scheersohn, the Previous Rebbe, attends a farewell gathering before his return to Europe after his first visit to the United States.

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4:01

America Is No Different

Living Torah

An excerpt from a new JEM film featuring the films of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Rebbe, with original commentary and first-hand interviews.

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2:14

The Previous Rebbe Accepts US Citizenship

Living Torah

US citizenship proceedings for the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch. Vintage color film footage from 1949.

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2:11

The Previous Rebbe’s Arrival to America

Living Torah

The Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, arrives in America after his miraculous rescue from Nazi-occupied Poland.

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Moments of Comemoration and Celebration View all 7

2:45

The Previous Rebbe’s Library

Living Torah

Fifth anniversary of the US District Court’s verdict ordering the return of books from the Previous Rebbe’s library in 770.

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1:54

42nd Yahrtzeit of the Previous Rebbe

Living Torah

The Rebbe leads the Morning Prayers on the 42nd Yahrtzeit of his father-in-law and predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch.

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2:27

The Previous Rebbe’s Yahrzeit

Living Torah

The Yahrzeit of a Rebbe is a day of blessing. A Tzaddik never abandons his flock, and even after his passing, beseeches G-d, Who bestows blessings for everything we need.

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2:52

Previous Rebbe's Yahrtzeit

Living Torah

The Rebbe leads Morning Prayers at 770 on the 30th Yahrzeit of his father-in-law and predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch.

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2:19

Histalkus

Living Torah

The funeral of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Scheersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, took place outside his residence and synagogue, 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn.

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1:09

2nd Yahrtzeit of the Previous Rebbe

Living Torah

Vintage film footage of the Farbrengen upstairs at 770 on the second Yahrtzeit of the Rebbe’s father-in-law and predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch.

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1:33

The Blessings Continue

Living Torah

I see that my father-in-law, the Rebbe’s, blessing succeeded. May it continue to succeed for many healthy years.

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26:44

Women and Torah Study

A Meditation System for a Young Woman, Riga 1939

By Tali Loewenthal

An introduction to the subject of women and Torah study is followed by the study of a letter written by the sixth Chabad Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch, to an 18-year old Chassidic woman who belonged to a women's mystical study group in 1930s Riga.

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45:36

Principles of Education and Guidance

Pedagogical Model of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

Rabbi Shmuel Lew

Jewish educator, Rabbi Shmuel Lew, gives an overview of "Principals of Education and Guidance," a treatise by the sixth Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson. Rabbi Lew explains how the sixth Rebbe's book served as the basis for the educational approach of his successor, the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson. (Presented at the Chabad and the Academy Conference at The University of Pennsylvania.)

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The Previous Rebbe

In the face of Tsarist anti-semitism, communism, and the Holocaust, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak resolutely perpetuated traditional Jewish life and the potent spirit of Chassidism.