The Rebbe Shlita proclaimed 5750 as “a year of miracles” and there is no need to elaborate on the miraculous series of events that occurred in that year. Our Sages relate that G‑d “looked into the Torah and created the world.” It thus can be inferred that these miraculous happenings have their source in the Torah and, surely each Chassid believes, are reflected in the teachings of the Rebbe Shlita of that time.

The sichos of this volume clearly point to this concept for they begin with the sichos preparing for the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of Yud Shvat, 5710, the Previous Rebbe’s yahrzeit and the Rebbe Shlita’s assumption of the Nesius. In these sichos, the Rebbe speaks of the unique potential this fortieth anniversary grants us, “a knowing heart, eyes to see, and ears to hear,” i.e., an increased ability to appreciate the unique Divine Providence which is controlling our existence. The Rebbe Shlita explained that the passing of this milestone represented the beginning of a new phase of activity which should be marked by the renewal of each person’s individual service of G‑d and the establishment of new Torah institutions in the world at large. In a similar vein, the sichos also note the 50th anniversary of the Previous Rebbe’s arrival in the United States and the beginning of his efforts to spread Torah on this continent.

This volume also contains several sichos connected with the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka נ"ע, whose yahrzeit and birthday fall in the period covered by these sichos. Similarly, the sichos mention the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shemaryahu Gourarie, the Previous Rebbe’s son-in-law and the director of Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim.

This volume also contains the Sichos associated with the festivals of Purim and Pesach and those associated with Yud-Alef Nisan, the Rebbe Shlita’s birthday.

This volume contains three sichos whose final text was edited and authorized by the Rebbe Shlita personally, the sichah to the Machne Yisrael Development Fund from the 23rd of Adar, the essay “The Innate Quality of Every Jew — The Indivisibility of the Land of Israel,” and the excerpts from the Rebbe Shlita’s address to the Lag BaOmer Parade. These three sichos — which have been printed and reprinted in several other publications — are classic statements of the ideals, goals and values that have motivated Lubavitch activities under the Rebbe Shlita’s leadership.

This volume of sichos is being published in the days preceding the 41st anniversary of Yud Shvat, 5710. In one of his recent sichos, the Rebbe Shlita quoted our Sages’ description of the era of the Future Redemption as the marriage between G‑d and the Jewish people. In Talmudic times, marriage was a two staged process including Eirusin (betrothal) and Nissuin (the consumption of the wedding bond). A bride was granted twelve months after Eirusin to prepare herself for Nissuin. Similarly, the Rebbe declared, “the Jewish people were granted the twelve months of ‘a year of miracles’ to prepare themselves for the Nissuin, the coming of Mashiach, in this 5751, the year when ‘I will show you wonders.”‘ May the twelve months in which we were granted “a knowing heart, eyes to see, and ears to hear,” heighten our perception and may we soon openly see the coming of Mashiach.

Sichos In English

Rosh Chodesh Shevat, 5751