דעֶר רֶבִּי (רַבֵּנוּ הַזָּקֵן) פלעֶגט זאָגעֶן אוֹיף אֲצִילוּת "אוֹיבּעֶן". מעֶן דעֶרצֵיילט אַז אִין כְּתָב פלעֶגט עֶר פוּן הִתְרַגְשׁוּת, מעֶר וִוי "אֲצִי" נִיט קעֶנעֶן אָנשׁרַייבּעֶן.

The [Alter] Rebbe used to refer to the World of Atzilus (אצילות) as “above.” As is related, writing about this concept would bring him to such exhilaration that he could write no more than its first three letters — אצי.

A Pearl to Cherish

We tend to value the maamarim of the Rebbeim for their intellectual content. The above account reminds us that for the Rebbeim, delivering a maamar was a spiritual experience, current and intense. (This is clearly apparent to anyone who, either at the time or on a screen, ever observed the changed facial expression of the Rebbe whenever he was delivering a maamar, as distinct from a sichah.1 ) As with the Alter Rebbe, whenever the Rebbeim spoke of the ongoing dynamics that occur in the spiritual worlds, they were not talking in the abstract; they were describing truths that they passionately lived.

R. Shalom Posner, a vintage chassid of an earlier generation who had studied in Lubavitch in his youth, related that when the Rebbe Rashab delivered a maamar, he occasionally emphasized a point by making motions with his hands. This became a subject of debate among some of his chassidim: Did he move his hands in concert with what was happening above, or did he move his hands in order to cause things to happen above…?