Yechidus, a personal meeting with the Rebbe, has always been regarded as a special experience. For the Rabbinical students in 770, however, the event was treated with a uniqueness all its own. Well before the day of yechidus , and certainly on the day itself, the student would occupy himself in earnest preparation. As he waited outside the Rebbe’s door, he would recite Tehillim (Psalms) with devotion. He would write out his requests beforehand and, when his turn came, would enter the Rebbe’s room with awe and trepidation. He would not dare shake the Rebbe’s hand, or sit. Instead, he would stand at rigid attention, straining to concentrate on every word the Rebbe said.

Just as the student strove to focus his spiritual energies, so too the Rebbe responded with intense concentration. He would read the student’s letter carefully and responded with short, pointed answers.

There was a student from a non-Lubavitcher yeshivah who came to many leading Rabbis seeking blessings and advice. Before he visited the Rebbe, he asked several of the students at the Lubavitcher Yeshivah students how they conducted themselves during yechidus, and tried to imitate their behavior. For several years, he went to yechidus once a year. He was inspired by these meetings, but would have liked to relax and exchange ideas.

After four years of visiting the Rebbe, and before leaving to study in Eretz Yisrael , he decided to change his approach. “I don’t have the advantage of being a Lubavitcher, so why should I have the disadvantage?” he asked himself. “I don’t have the intense, ongoing relationship with the Rebbe that the other students have, so why should I be limited by the restrictions associated with it?”

He decided that this time, he would talk freely, and air several issues of concern.

With this thought in mind, he entered the Rebbe’s room. As if he had read his mind, the Rebbe welcomed him with a warm Shalom Aleichem, and extended his hand in greeting!