טֶרֶם הַנְּסִיעָה מִמְּקוֹם מְדוּרוֹ יְסַדֵּר אַ חַסִידִישׁעֶן פאַרְבּרֵיינְגעֶן, וִיקַבֵּל בִּרְכַּת הַפְּרֵידָה מֵחֲבֵרָיו הַטּוֹבִים, וּכְמַאֲמָר הַיָּדוּעַ: חֲסִידִים זעֶגעֶנעֶן זִיך נִיט, ווַייל מעֶן פאָהְרט זִיך קֵיינְמאָל נִיט פאַנאַנְדעֶר, וואוּ מְ'אִיז — אִיז מעֶן אֵיין מִשְׁפָּחָה.

Before leaving your hometown, you should hold a chassidic farbrengen and receive the parting blessings of your good friends, in the spirit of the well-known adage: Chassidim don’t bid each other farewell, for they never really separate. Wherever they are, they are one family.1

A Faithful Shepherd

For over ten years, after every major Yom-Tov or chassidic festival, the Rebbe would hold a group yechidus for the guests who had come to visit him. One recurring theme was based on our Sages’ directive that2 “one should not take leave of his friend except amidst words of Torah.” Interpreted figuratively, this means that by sharing words of Torah, people do not really part. Despite their geographical distance they remain bonded, for this spiritual connection transcends space and time — as is clear from the following exchange.

An earnest young visitor from Eretz Yisrael once asked the Rebbe: “How can I tighten my bonds of hiskashrus [with you]?”

The Rebbe replied: “When I walk down the street, I think over words of Tanya. When you walk down the street, do the same: think over words of Tanya. And there we will meet.”3