Living Torah Archives

The founder of Chabad Chasidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe, was arrested by the Czarist authorities in Russia. He was accused of treason, aiding the Czars enemies in the Ottoman Empire. In reality, he was simply urging his followers to send charity to the poor Jews of Israel. Spiritually speaking, there was another reason that heaven orchestrated the arrest: the Alter Rebbe was spreading the secrets of Chasidism too widely.

We are approaching the 19th of Kislev, may the Chasidim be victorious. May God bless you to resemble the medieval sage Ralbag. He wrote widely on philosophy, but his rulings in Jewish law are very good.

The Alter Rebbe was arrested due to a heavenly decree against his dissemination of the Torah’s secrets in an intellectual manner. The Alter Rebbe spread these teachings in a manner that allowed it to be understood just like the revealed parts of the Torah, such as Talmud. But it was the self-sacrifice of Jews, that caused the Heavenly decree to be torn apart. This is the lesson of the 19th of Kislev: We need to know that the Jewish people aren’t divided into factions. This is no more than an illusion of the evil-inclination who fears unity among Jews.

It’s the 19th of Kislev today. The Alter Rebbe promised the chasidim victory, and you’re included in that. You’re included in the victory of the chasidim.

The eighteenth of Elul marks the birth of two leaders that revolutionized the Jewish world. The Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chasidic movement, and the Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad. Yet if their teachings are so vital, why did they come so late in Jewish history?

On the 19th of Kislev, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the first Rebbe of Chabad, was released from prison after being arrested by Czarist authorities on false charges of providing aid to the Turkish Sultan.

The Alter Rebbe’s release on 19 Kislev was so surprising that even government ministers were awed by the course of events. The same ministers who ordered his arrest and forbade the dissemination of Chassidism, gave him freedom and allowed him to continue spreading Torah.

Bread, water, wine, and oil represent various dimensions in Torah.

Although the Alter Rebbe was known for his piety and greatness in Torah, he also gained a reputation as a miracle worker.

The nineteenth of Kislev marks the liberation of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi from Czarist imprisonment for his efforts in spreading chasidic teachings.

Imprisoned in Czarist Russia, the Alter Rebbe’s case was at the mercy of the hostile officials of the most powerful country in the world. Miraculously, his acquittal was ordered by the Czar himself, and he was freed on the nineteenth of Kislev.

The nineteenth of Kislev marks the release of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi from imprisonment in Czarist Russia. He was imprisoned as a result of his efforts in spreading chasidic teachings, but it was only after this that he was able to continue his work without hindrance, and with greater success and intensity.

The Alter Rebbe relates that he was informed of his release from prison as he was reciting the verse in Psalms, “He redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that came upon me, because of the many who were with me.”

After his liberation from Czarist prison on the 19th of Kislev, 1798, the Alter Rebbe recounted that the souls of his masters, the Baal Shem Tov and Maggid of Mezritch, had visited him in prison, explaining that his ordeal on earth was the result of a decree against him in Heaven above, because of his widespread dissemination of Chasidic teachings. When he asked if he should stop teaching, his masters replied: “On the contrary. Your liberation from prison will be the Heavenly sign that you must not only continue, you must increase!”

After being freed from Russian prison on the 19th of Kislev, 1798, the Alter Rebbe wrote a letter describing the circumstances surrounding his liberation. It is striking to see how much emphasis he places on the impact his liberation had on the non-Jews of S. Petersburg.

With the Alter Rebbe's release from prison in 1798, he began to teach Torah's secrets in a way that would brighten every Jewish home, and would permeate the outside world.

On the 19th of Kislev 5559 (November 27, 1798) the founder of Chabad Chasidism was released from prison after being falsely accused of treason. A Jewish leader sacrifices his own standing to find every Jew in need of guidance and ensure that they receive it.