כ"ד טבת, תשמ"א

1. This farbrengen commemorates the passing of the Alter Rebbe. In Tanya (Iggeres HaKodesh ch. 27,28), the Alter Rebbe writes “that when a Jew (and especially a Tzaddik, particularly a Rebbe) passes away, his deeds and Torah ascend to the source from wher...

There are many similarities between Maimonides and the Alter Rebbe, the Founder of Chabad Chassidism. They both faced extreme opposition to their teachings, yet the opposition fell away. Eventually, their detractors became ardent disciples.

There are two spiritual paths for the Jewish soul: the Torah scholar, who is completely engrossed in, and surrounded, by Judaism, or the supporter of Torah, “the businessman,” who is in constant contact with the influences of the world.

Sung by Chassidim as they traveled to the town of Lubavitch to visit the Mittler Rebbe, the words allude to their hopeful yearnings: When they reach the Rebbe, they will drink from “the well of Torah and Chassidism,” and lack nothing.

The Midrash asks: “Torah and the Jewish people both preceded creation. But which of the two came first?” The Midrash concludes that in G-d’s Divine plan, the Jewish People came first...