Chabad Rebbes

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Introduction In the sichah that follows, the Rebbe focuses on a difference of opinion between Rambam and Ramban regarding the purpose of the Sanctuary and the Beis HaMikdash. Rambam states, Sefer HaMitzvos, positive commandment 20. “[G‑d] commanded us to ...

Our Sages point out that there were “three types of offerings (terumos) mentioned: the offering for the sockets that held the boards of the Sanctuary, the offering of the shekalim [the coins used to purchase the communal sacrifices,] and the offerings [of...

G‑d commanded the Jews to build a Sanctuary for Him using boards made of cedar wood as walls. How would the Jews get enough cedarwood in the desert to fulfill this instruction?

As the Torah will recount later, when the Jews became convinced that Moses was not going to come down from Mount Sinai, they committed the sin of making a golden calf. Some of the people worshipped this calf as an idol; as a result, G‑d withdrew His prese...

This Torah reading begins: “And you shall make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell within,” commanding the Jewish people to establish a place where G‑d’s presence will be manifest. Originally, this command was fulfilled through the construction of the Sanctua...

A Rabbi once presented a copy of his scholarly insights regarding the sacrificial service in the Temple to R. Baruch of Mezibush for an approbation. After receiving no reply, he asked R. Baruch the reason for his hesitation. “I haven’t been able to look a...

“Where is G‑d?” the Kotzker Rebbe once asked his students. The students were perplexed. The Rebbe had always told them that G‑d is everywhere, that His Being permeates every element of existence. They did not answer their teacher. And so the Rebbe told th...

The Jew faces a paradox when he considers himself: In the eyes of G-d all Jews are equal: They each have a soul whose source is from G-d (“And he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living soul”); but the Jew is an embodied...

In the Torah portion of Terumah, the Jews are commanded to bring terumah (offerings) for use in the Mishkan (the Tabernacle). The command is repeated three times: “They shall take unto Me terumah ;” “you shall take My terumah ;” “This is the terumah that ...