הפטורה: חֲזוֹן עוֹבַדְיָ'. אֵין אוֹמְרִים אָב הָרַחֲמִים וְצִדְקָתְךָ.

The haftarah [for Parshas Vayishlach] begins Chazon Ovadiah (Ovadiah 1:1-21). [Whenever Yud-Tes Kislev falls on Shabbos],1 the passage beginning Av HaRachamim2 is omitted [after the Torah Reading] and, [in the Afternoon Service,] the passage beginning Tzidkas’cha3 is omitted.

אֵין הַשְּׁלִיחַ צִבּוּר מִתְעַטֵּף בְּטַלִּית לְמִנְחָה אוֹ לְמַעֲרִיב, לֹא בְּשַׁבָּת וְיוֹם טוֹב וְלֹא בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה.

The sheliach tzibbur should not wear a tallis for the Afternoon or Evening Services. [This applies throughout the year, including] Shabbosos, the festivals, and Rosh HaShanah.

הִלּוּלָא שֶׁל הָרַב הַמַּגִּיד — מִמֶּעזרִיטשׁ — ג' וַיֵּשֶׁב תקל"ג, וּמְנוּחָתוֹ כָּבוֹד בְּאַנאָפּאָלִי. אַדְמוּ"ר הַזָּקֵן יָצָא לְחֵרוּת מִמַּאֲסָרוֹ הָרִאשׁוֹן — יט כִּסְלֵו, ג' וַיֵּשֶׁב, תקנ"ט, לִפְנוֹת עֶרֶב.

מִמִּכְתַּב רַבֵּנוּ הַזָּקֵן: בְּרַם כְּגוֹן דָּא צָרִיךְ לְהוֹדִיעַ, כִּי יוֹם אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה ד' לָנוּ יוֹם יט כִּסְלֵו, יוֹם ג' שֶׁהוּכְפָּל בּוֹ כִּי טוֹב, יוֹם הִלּוּלָא רַבָּא שֶׁל רַבֵּנוּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ נִשְׁמָתוֹ עֵדֶן, וּכְשֶׁקָרִיתִי בְּסֵפֶר תְּהִלִּים בְּפָּסוּק פָּדָה בְשָׁלוֹם נַפְשִׁי, קוֹדֶם שֶׁהִתְחַלְתִּי פָּסוּק שֶׁלְּאַחֲרָיו, יָצָאתִי בְּשָׁלוֹם מֵד' שָׁלוֹם.

[Yud-Tes Kislev] is the yahrzeit of the Maggid of Mezritch,4 [who passed away] on Tuesday of the week in which Parshas Vayeishev is read, 5533 (1772). His resting place is in Hanipoli.

The Alter Rebbe was liberated from his first imprisonment on Yud-Tes Kislev, on Tuesday of the week in which Parshas Vayeishev is read, 5559 (1798), before dusk.

From a letter of the Alter Rebbe:5

This fact must be made known: [On] the day that G‑d made for us,6 Yud-Tes Kislev — [which in the year 5559 fell on a] Tuesday, the day concerning which the phrase “it was good” was repeated,7 and which is the yahrzeit of our holy teacher (the Maggid), whose soul is in Eden — when I read the verse in the Book of Tehillim, “He redeemed my soul in peace,” and before I began the next verse, I emerged in peace [thanks to] the G‑d of peace.

יוֹם הִתְוַעֲדוּת וְקַבָּלַת הַחְלָטוֹת טוֹבוֹת בִּקְבִיעוּת עִתִּים לַתּוֹרָה הַנִּגְלֵית וְדִבְרֵי אֱלֹקִים חַיִּים בָּרַבִּים, וְחִזּוּק דַּרְכֵי הַחֲסִידִים בְּאַהֲבַת רֵעִים. נוֹהֲגִים לְסַדֵּר חֲלוּקַת הַשַׁ"ס, וְעַל פִּי הַסֵּדֶר הַמְּבוֹאָר בְּאִגֶּרֶת הַקּוֹדֶשׁ, דִּבּוּר הַמַּתְחִיל הוֹכֵחַ תּוֹכִיחַ. בְּליוּבּאַוִויטשׁ מִשְּׁנַת תרס"ג וְאֵילָךְ הָיוּ מְסַדְּרִים חֲלוּקַת הַשַׁ"ס כ"ד בְּטֵבֵת — יוֹם הִלּוּלָא שֶׁל רַבֵּנוּ הַזָּקֵן — מִפְּנֵי אֶפֶס הַפְּנַאי בְּיט כִּסְלֵו.

This is a day for farbrengens,8 and for making positive resolutions to set fixed times for public Torah study, both in nigleh9 and Chassidus, and for strengthening the paths of chassidic conduct with brotherly love.

It is customary [on this day] to apportion the tractates of the Talmud10 [to be studied by the members of the local chassidic brotherhood] according to the pattern described in Tanya — Iggeres HaKodesh, in the epistle beginning Hocheiach Tochiach.11 In Lubavitch, from 5663 (1902) onward, the tractates were apportioned on 24 Teves — the Alter Rebbe’s yahrzeit — because of the lack of time on Yud-Tes Kislev.12

Delving Deeply

The above-mentioned concept of peace lies at the heart of the mandate that the Baal Shem Tov receivedfrom Mashiach to “spread the wellsprings of [his] teachings outward.”13 That mandate in turn is closely linked with Yud-Tes Kislev,14 the day on which the Baal Shem Tov’s spiritual grandson, the Alter Rebbe, emerged in peace from his incarceration.

Before the dawn of Chassidus, many Jewish communities lacked harmony. A gulf, rarely breached, separated the common folk from the scholarly elite. In many regions, that chasm had become so deeply entrenched that the townsmen who identified with either of the two diverse groups even congregated in separate shuls.

For many individuals, a similar cleavage marred the harmonious cross-fertilization that should spark all the positive components of one’s inner world. For such individuals, Divine service had been defined almost exclusively in terms of erudition. The potential fire and energy possessed by every soul were often allowed to lie dormant.

Chassidus broke through these barriers. This was no mere sociological phenomenon. It was a spiritual dynamic, for the study of Chassidus empowers a person to tap into the yechidah of the Torah, its spiritual essence, which arouses the very essence of his soul.15 This in turn creates harmony within the individual’s spiritual personality — between his intellect, on the one hand, and his superrational powers of faith and kabbalas ol, the acceptance of G‑d’s dominion.Furthermore, it engenders unity among the Jewish people by revealing and highlighting the common soul-root by virtue of which all Jews are brothers.

The study of Chassidus also uncovers the intrinsic harmony that underlies the Torah itself, unifying nigleh, the revealed corpus of the Torah, with pnimiyus haTorah, the mystical dimension which is its soul.16