הַנָּהוּג אֵצֶל הַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק, כִּי בְּאֶחָד מִלֵּילֵי חֲנוּכָּה הָיוּ עוֹשִׂים כְּעֵין פאַרבְּרֵיינגעֶן עִם בְּנֵי הַבַּיִת, וְהָיוּ בָּאִים גַּם כַּלוֹתָיו, וְנִקְרָא “לאַטקעֶס אָוועֶנט". וְכֵן הָיָה אֵצֶל רַבֵּנוּ‏ הַזָּקֵן וְאַדְמוּ"ר הָאֶמְצָעִי. בֵּין הַסִּפּוּרִים שֶׁהָיוּ הָרַבֵּיִים מְסַפְּרִים בִּסְעוּדָה זוֹ, הָיוּ סִפּוּרִים אֲשֶׁר בְּכָל חֲנוּכָּה הָיוּ מְשׂוֹחֲחִים אוֹדוֹתָם, אַף שֶׁכְּבָר דִּבְּרוּ מִזֶה בְּשָׁנָה הֶעָבְרָה. אַאַמוּ"ר הָיָה נוֹתֵן דְּמֵי חֲנוּכָּה בְּלֵיל נֵר הָרְבִיעִי אוֹ הַחֲמִישִׁי.

On one of the evenings of Chanukah, the Tzemach Tzedek would customarily hold a kind of farbrengen with the members of his family, including his daughters-in-law. This gathering was known as a “latke evening.”1 The Alter Rebbe and the Mitteler Rebbe had done likewise. The stories and subjects that they passed on at this festive meal included some that they spoke of every Chanukah, even though they had spoken of them the previous year.2

My revered father, the Rebbe [Rashab], would distribute Chanukah gelt3 on the fourth or the fifth night of Chanukah.

To Fill In the Background

Particularly in the later years of his leadership, the Rebbe encouraged the custom of giving Chanukah gelt. He suggested that schools and yeshivos distribute Chanukah gelt to their students and that parents should give Chanukah gelt to their children on every weekday of the holiday. In some years the Rebbe himself would distribute Chanukah gelt to each of the Yeshivah students, and at times, to every chassid present.