28 Sivan

28 Sivan a Preparation for Gimmel Tammuz?

We find that the Rebbe teaches a firm principle: the flow of the year is a continuum.  This means to say that each holiday or commemoration day is a preparation for the one that follows it on the calendar.  For example: Pesach (coming out of Egypt) is a preparation for Matan Torah on Shavuos; the day of Yud Kislev (the redemption of the Mitteler Rebbe) is a  preparation for Yud-Tes Kislev (the day of redemption 29 years earlier of his father, the Alter Rebbe).  The year that things happened in history is of much less significance than the order that they happen on the calendar.

From this we understand that since 28 Sivan precedes Gimmel Tammuz by 5 days — according to the Rebbe’s principle it serves as a preparation for Gimmel Tammuz.  In what do we see this?  On 28 Sivan we celebrate the Rebbe coming to America, being miraculously saved from the “valley of tears” of war-torn Europe.  Gimmel Tammuz is marks the end of the era (until now, at least) when we could see and hear the Rebbe in the usual ways.  What sort of preparation is this one for that one?

The day of 28 Sivan is noted in the “Shalsheles Hayachas” printed (at the Rebbe’s behest) at the beginning of the sefer Hayom Yom.  It begins with the Maharal of Prague, indicating the 7 generations to the Alter Rebbe.  Then it lists by year the major events and accomplishments of each of the Rebbeim of Chabad, concluding with the Rebbe.  For the Rebbe it states (after the year he was born and married) that in “5701 — Sivan — came to the city of New York”.  Not “arrived” (as a refugee) but “came” (purposefully).  A few comments about the Rebbe’s coming to New York:

Firstly, in the farbrengen of Shavuos 5701, about 10 days before Continue reading →

Chof-Ches Sivan, 5751: Where is the Beis Hamikdash Now?
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Chof-Ches Sivan, 5751: Where is the Beis Hamikdash Now?

The Rebbe spoke this sicha on the 50th anniversary of his arriving safely to the shores of America (together with the Rebbetzin) from war-torn Europe in 5701 (1941).  America is identified in Chassidus as a place where Matan Torah did not take place (in a revealed way), and is referred to as the “lower half of the world” (חצי כדור התחתון).  It is, in this regard, the lowliest place.  But specifically from the lowest place one can elevate everything (like a lever  positioned under a building, which can lift up the entire building).

Here, in the lower half of the world, the Previous Rebbe settled in 5700 (1940), joined by the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin a year later.  The (now-famous) building at 770 Eastern Parkway was acquired as the home, shul, and study-hall of the Previous Rebbe, and the Rebbe explains the significance of this number.  (This sicha is one of the talks that would be compiled into the unprecedented sicha of “Beis Rabbeinu sh’b’Bavel“.)

As is know, there are 7 sefiros, from Chesed to Malchus.  The state of perfection is represented by 10, so the ultimate perfection of 70 is 700, and of 7 is 70, both of which combine to make 770.  The completion of the task of refining the sefiros.  This is not just number-play, as the Continue reading →

9) Kuntres 28 Sivan: I Will Show You Wonders Behind the Miracles
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9) Kuntres 28 Sivan: I Will Show You Wonders Behind the Miracles

A Chassidic discourse on the verse “As in the days when you came out from Mitzrayim, I will show you wonders” was edited and distributed by the Rebbe on 28 Sivan, 5751 (50th anniversary of the Rebbe’s arrival to America together with the Rebbetzin).  The subject is the nature and varying levels of miracles and wonders in general, and particularly as they will be in the Messianic age.  This not only shares an obvious connection with the miraculous escape of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin from Europe to America 50 years earlier, but also with the year 5751 תנש”א, which the Rebbe repeatedly referred to as the year of “I will show you wonders” (the letters of the Jewish year — Nun-Alef — standing for the  Hebrew words in our verse “I will show you wonders.”)

First, we need to understand the varying levels of miracles: there are miracles above nature (transforming water into blood, splitting the sea), and also miracles enclothed in nature.  Miracles enclothed in nature themselves divide into 3 types: recognizable miracles (Purim, Chanukah); miracles concealed by nature but there is still a recognition that something out of the ordinary occurred for which one is obligated to thank Hashem (an ill person who is healed, a prisoner who is freed, etc); the third and lowest level is where nature so completely obscures the miracle to the point that one doesn’t even recognize that a miracle occurred (אין בעל הנס מכיר בניסו).

The Rebbe proceeds to explain that the last type of miracle, unrecognizable from the ordinary process of nature, is actually the highest in it’s source. As the verse states עושה נפלאות גדולות לבדו, Hadhem performs great wonders “alone”, no one knows about them.  It is from this level that the great wonders of the Messianic age will come, which will be wonders even compared to the wonders of Mitzrayim.  This can explain Continue reading →

The Hidden Connection: 28 Sivan and July 4th
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The Hidden Connection: 28 Sivan and July 4th

The year 5751 marked the 50th anniversary of the Rebbe’s arrival to the United States (together with the Rebbetzin).  That year, the Rebbe received well-wishes from then-President of the United States, George Bush, in honor of the anniversary of the Rebbe’s arrival.  We have the Rebbe’s response to President Bush, dated the 3rd of Elul, 5751 (13 August, 1991)1.  After the formal pleasantries, the Rebbe writes something that perhaps conceals more than it reveals.  The Rebbe writes:

“By Divine Providence your kind letter was dated on the morrow of the anniversary of the Nation’s birthday.  It is well to remember that the founders of this Nation considered Independence Day as ‘a day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to G-d Al-mighty.’  By Divine Providence also my arrival in the United States in 1941 coincided with Continue reading →

28 Sivan a Preparation for Gimmel Tammuz?

We find that the Rebbe teaches a firm principle: the flow of the year is a continuum.  This means to say that each holiday or commemoration day is a preparation for the one that follows it on the calendar.  For example: Pesach (coming out of Egypt) is a preparation for Matan Torah on Shavuos; the day of Yud Kislev (the redemption of the Mitteler Rebbe) is a  preparation for Yud-Tes Kislev (the day of redemption 29 years earlier of his father, the Alter Rebbe).  The year that things happened in history is of much less significance than the order that they happen on the calendar.

From this we understand that since 28 Sivan precedes Gimmel Tammuz by 5 days — according to the Rebbe’s principle it serves as a preparation for Gimmel Tammuz.  In what do we see this?  On 28 Sivan we celebrate the Rebbe coming to America, being miraculously saved from the “valley of tears” of war-torn Europe.  Gimmel Tammuz is marks the end of the era (until now, at least) when we could see and hear the Rebbe in the usual ways.  What sort of preparation is this one for that one?

The day of 28 Sivan is noted in the “Shalsheles Hayachas” printed (at the Rebbe’s behest) at the beginning of the sefer Hayom Yom.  It begins with the Maharal of Prague, indicating the 7 generations to the Alter Rebbe.  Then it lists by year the major events and accomplishments of each of the Rebbeim of Chabad, concluding with the Rebbe.  For the Rebbe it states (after the year he was born and married) that in “5701 — Sivan — came to the city of New York”.  Not “arrived” (as a refugee) but “came” (purposefully).  A few comments about the Rebbe’s coming to New York:

Firstly, in the farbrengen of Shavuos 5701, about 10 days before the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin would set sail for America, the Previous Rebbe said:

According to universal custom, preparations for an important guest begin well in advance.  Every corner in the house is cleaned two weeks in advance, the family talks about the upcoming visit, and the neighbors are duly updated. He’s arriving soon. It’s now close to the time when Mashiach will come. It’s time to prepare for his arrival….  

Many see in this a hint to the arrival to America of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.  The old-timers who were in New York at the time tell that from the moment the Rebbe arrived, “everything changed”.  In fact, the Rebbe even testified on himself that something changed when he arrived to the USA.  At a farbrengen (Chol haMoed Pesach, 5748), the Rebbe addressed his arousal to cry out “Ad Mosai” (“until when” must we remain in golus):

I never heard this from my father, and certainly not from my grandfather. Even from myself, I never heard such talk before I arrived here in the United States…

So even the Rebbe’s impatience for Geuloh started when the Rebbe came to America (on 28 Sivan)!

We could say that 28 Sivan is an aspect of Moshiach being revealed.  Revealed to the Chassidim in America, revealed to the Rebbe himself, revealed in the new activities of Lubavitch that began only after the Rebbe’s arrival.

Based on this, we can see how 28 Sivan is a preparation for Gimmel Tammuz: on 28 Sivan Moshiach is revealed, on Gimmel Tammuz Moshiach is concealed.  As Rashi brings from on Daniel 12:12:

“in the future our Moshiach will be concealed after he has been revealed and will return and be revealed [again]” (שעתיד משיחנו להתכסות אחר שנגלה וישוב ויתגלה)

In order to fulfill the second step of being concealed (with the great value of the Divine service of the period of concealment, as discussed, for example, in the Kuntres of Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5751 which addresses the concealment of Erev Rosh Chodesh), there must be the preparation of Moshiach being revealed.  The aspect of revelation of 28 Sivan precedes and prepares for the aspect of concealment of Gimmel Tammuz (and it’s connected to Erev Rosh Chodesh, which is the day after 28 Sivan).  Of course Gimmel Tammuz is not an end in itself — it leads to the ultimate redemption of 12-13 Tammuz.  And as the Rebbe says many times: the Geuloh of 12-13 Tammuz showed in retrospect how Gimmel Tammuz itself was “the beginning of the Geuloh”.  May we bring it about now!

Chof-Ches Sivan, 5751: Where is the Beis Hamikdash Now?
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Chof-Ches Sivan, 5751: Where is the Beis Hamikdash Now?

The Rebbe spoke this sicha on the 50th anniversary of his arriving safely to the shores of America (together with the Rebbetzin) from war-torn Europe in 1941/5701.  America is identified in Chassidus as a place where Matan Torah did not take place (in a revealed way), and is referred to as the “lower half of the world” (חצי כדור התחתון).  It is, in this regard, the lowliest place.  But specifically from the lowest place one can elevate everything (like a lever  positioned under a building, which can lift up the entire building).

Here, in the lower half of the world, the Previous Rebbe settled in 1940/5700, to be joined by the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin a year later.  The (now-famous) building at 770 Eastern Parkway was acquired as the home, shul, and study-hall of the Previous Rebbe, and the Rebbe explains the significance of this number.  (This sicha is one of the talks that would be compiled into the unprecedented sicha of “Beis Rabbeinu sh’b’Bavel“.)

As is know, there are 7 sefiros, from Chesed to Malchus.  The state of perfection is represented by 10, so the ultimate perfection of 70 is 700, and of 7 is 70, both of which combine to make 770.  The completion of the task of Continue reading →

9) Kuntres 28 Sivan: I Will Show You Wonders Behind the Miracles
by

9) Kuntres 28 Sivan: I Will Show You Wonders Behind the Miracles

A Chassidic discourse on the verse “As in the days when you came out from Mitzrayim, I will show you wonders” was edited and distributed by the Rebbe on 28 Sivan, 5751 (50th anniversary of the Rebbe’s arrival to America together with the Rebbetzin).  The subject is the nature and varying levels of miracles and wonders in general, and particularly as they will be in the Messianic age.  This not only shares an obvious connection with the miraculous escape of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin from Europe to America 50 years earlier, but also with the year 5751 תנש”א, which the Rebbe repeatedly referred to as the year of “I will show you wonders” (the letters of the Jewish year — Nun-Alef — standing for the  Hebrew words in our verse “I will show you wonders.”)

First, we need to understand the varying levels of miracles: miracles above nature (transforming water into blood, splitting the sea), and miracles enclothed in nature.  Miracles enclothed in nature themselves divide into 3 types: where the miracle is recognizable (Purim, Chanukah); where nature conceals the miracle but there is still a recognition that something out of the ordinary occurred and one is obligated to thank Hashem (an ill person who is healed, a prisoner who is freed, etc); and the lowest level, where nature so completely obscures the miracle to the point that one doesn’t even recognize that a miracle occurred (אין בעל הנס מכיר בניסו).

The Rebbe proceeds to explain that the last type of miracle, unrecognizable from the ordinary process of nature, is actually the Continue reading →