יו"ד שבט, ה'תשמ"ג

With the Alter Rebbe's release from prison in 1798, he began to teach Torah's secrets in a way that would brighten every Jewish home, and would permeate the outside world.

After being freed from Russian prison on the 19th of Kislev, 1798, the Alter Rebbe wrote a letter describing the circumstances surrounding his liberation. It is striking to see how much emphasis he places on the impact his liberation had on the non-Jews o...

Maimonides rules that every Jew was commanded at Sinai to influence all of mankind to observe the Seven Noahide Laws. Therefore, even in a place where not a single Jew seems to live, you must do everything in your power to make that place more civilized, ...

The eighteenth of Elul marks the birth of two leaders that revolutionized the Jewish world. The Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chasidic movement, and the Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad. Yet if their teachings are so vital, why did they come so late in Jewi...

During a Farbrengen marking the Alter Rebbe’s liberation from Czarist prison on the 19th of Kislev, Chasidim sing a Nigun with words from Psalms that he was reciting at the time of his release.

The mitzvah to “love your fellow as yourself” raises a dilemma. What should you do when your needs are different from your friend’s? If you are thirsty while your friend is hungry, it would be un-loving to offer him a drink instead of food. If you have ti...

In ancient Egypt, the study of wisdom was limited to an intellectual elite – the sorcerers and astrologers. Ordinary people had no independent access to wisdom. When the Jews left Egypt, however, G-d commanded them to journey to Sinai and receive the Tora...

A person’s passing seems to be a time of sorrow, not happiness. Yet, we gather on the Rebbe’s Yahrzeit, to increase our energy, enthusiasm, and joy in fulfilling our life’s mission. Torah teaches that, “a greater light comes from darkness.” Torah instruct...

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 over...

Civilized society depends on proper education built on a healthy foundation. But the only true foundation for education is the same as that of all of creation: “In the beginning, G-d created the Heavens and the Earth.”