Rabbi Leibel Schapiro
The anniversary of the passing of the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad Chasidism, is on the 24th of Tevet each year. 1963, however, wasn’t just any year: Since it was the 150th anniversary of the passing, the Rebbe placed a great emphasis on that date for the entire year.
Actually, it all started months earlier. I was a young yeshivah student at the time, learning in Crown Heights. While the older students studied in 770, we learned in a building that was about a fifteen minute walk from 770, on Bedford Avenue.
On the 18th of Elul, the Alter Rebbe’s birthday, the Rebbe announced that there would be an unscheduled farbrengen – a chasidic gathering where he would speak publicly. This was quite unusual in those years, as most such gatherings were planned in advance.
We would never miss a farbrengen, and we certainly didn’t want to miss this one. So when we got the message about what was happening, we literally ran from Bedford to 770 and made it in six or seven minutes, and got to our places just a few minutes before it began.
With the 150th anniversary of the Alter Rebbe’s passing coming up on the 24th of Tevet, the Rebbe said that we have to start preparing for it now — on the Alter Rebbe’s birthday.
Since the Alter Rebbe’s most prominent books are the Tanya and his Code of Jewish Law, the Rebbe suggested that the chasidim divide up these two works, with everyone studying his share before the 24th of Tevet. Learning his teachings would be a way to strengthen our connection to the Alter Rebbe. In addition, he asked us all to donate some money towards printing more of the Alter Rebbe’s teachings. (more…)