The Rebbe constantly encourages the publishing of sacred Jewish texts, particularly those of previous Lubavitcher Rebbeim. And with a revolutionary thrust in the Torah world, he has urged the compilation of detailed indexes for the numerous texts published.

In the winter of 1980, the Rebbe requested that a comprehensive index be compiled for all the texts authored by the founder of Lubavitch-Chabad, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. The challenge of preparing the index was increased by the Rebbe’s deadline: the project was to be completed within two weeks so that it could be published for the upcoming chassidic holiday of Yud-Tes Kislev, the anniversary of Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s release from a Czarist prison.

“We worked around the clock,” recalls Rabbi Menashe Perman, who was involved in the project. “In addition to our desire to meet the Rebbe’s deadline, we were continuously inspired by the fact that the Rebbe himself edited the material meticulously every day, verifying every entry, and making additions and corrections.

“When the work was completed, the Rebbe instructed us to include in the book a list of the people who had worked on the project. We compiled a list and handed it in to the Rebbe, who casually added his own name.

“When type-setting this page, we placed the Rebbe’s name at the top of the page. However, the Rebbe insisted that his name be included in alphabetical order, together with the others. The list of contributing editors to this index is arranged according to first names. In the middle of all the others, you can find a familiar name which begins with the Hebrew letter Mem.”