הַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק סִפֵּר לִבְנוֹ אַאַזְמוּ"ר אֲשֶׁר הַדְּרוּשׁ וּמַרְאֵיהֶם וּמַעֲשֵׂיהֶם — תּוֹרָה אוֹר פָּרָשַׁת יִתְרוֹ — הוּא דְּרוּשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁאָמַר הָרַב הַמַּגִּיד מִמֶּעזרִיטשׁ בְּשַׁעַת קַבְּלוֹ אֶת הַנְּשִׂיאוּת — חַג הַשָּׁבוּעוֹת תקכ"א, — כְּפִי אֲשֶׁר שְׁמָעוֹ רַבֵּנוּ הַזָּקֵן מִפִּי הָרַב מְנַחֵם מעֶנְדל מֵהָארָאדָאק — בַּעַל פְּרִי הָאָרֶץ — שֶׁהָיָה בְּאוֹתוֹ מַעֲמָד, רַק שֶׁרַבֵּנוּ בֵּאֵר הַדְּרוּשׁ עַל פִּי סִגְנוֹנוֹ.

The Tzemach Tzedek told his son, my revered grandfather, the Rebbe [Maharash], that the maamar entitled U’Mareihem U’Maaseihem1 — which appears in [the Alter Rebbe’s] Torah Or, Parshas Yisro2 — was the first maamar that the Maggid of Mezritch delivered when he accepted the leadership [of the chassidic brotherhood]3 on Shavuos, 5521 [1761].4 It was relayed to the Alter Rebbe by R. Menachem Mendel of Horodok, the author of Pri HaAretz, who was present when the maamar was first delivered, although the Alter Rebbe explained the maamar according to his own style.5

A Story with an Echo

The Rebbe once related6 that when the Alter Rebbe was imprisoned in Petersburg in 1798, he was visited7 by the Baal Shem Tov8 and the Maggid of Mezritch.9 The Alter Rebbe asked them why he had been imprisoned, and they told him it was because he was revealing the teachings of Chassidus without restriction. He asked them if he should continue to do so if released, and they replied that if he was released, this would be a sign from Heaven that his approach was favored Above and that he should continue.

The Baal Shem Tov then asked the Alter Rebbe to deliver a maamar. The maamar he delivered was entitled U’Mareihem U’Maaseihem. The Baal Shem Tov later told the Maggid that the Alter Rebbe’s transmission of the maamar was entirely faithful to what he himself had originally transmitted to the Maggid.