Good, we are in lesson forty-one of the chain of lineage. Today we will begin the life story of the Rebbe, the seventh, and "all the sevenths are beloved." In the heading appears the name of the Rebbe: the light of the honor of the holiness of our master, teacher, and Rebbe. The name of the Rebbe, as is known, is after the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek.
Let us begin from the beginning. The first thing that appears: he was born on the 11th of Nissan 5632 in the city of Nikolaev in Ukraine. The Rebbe's father, the kabbalist and gaon Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, married the Rebbetzin Chana, the Rebbe's mother, on the 11th of Sivan 5660. About two years after the wedding, the firstborn son, the Rebbe, was born, and this came as a result of a blessing from the Rebbe Rashab. The Rebbe Rashab gave him a blessing that with God's help it would be exalted, and on Friday, the 11th of Nissan, the Rebbe was born.
The Rebbetzin Chana, the Rebbe's mother, once told one of the chassidim, Rabbi Ber Yuni, that from the day her eldest son, the Rebbe, was born, her husband Rabbi Levi Yitzchak instructed her that every time the child would wake up she should wash his hands before nursing him, and she emphasized that with the other children there was no such instruction, only with the eldest son. She says that apparently this was an instruction of the Rebbe Rashab, for it is known that when the Rebbe was born there were several telegrams, instructions that the Rebbe gave regarding how to conduct oneself with the infant.
Whoever wishes to see in detail the entire life story of the Rebbe—there are books that are recommended for study. For example, about the first twenty-seven years, a book was published containing over six hundred pages, called "Early Years," with documents, photographs, and very detailed documentation. We will follow the details found in the "Chain of Lineage," which also passed through the Rebbe's proofreading.
The next detail that appears here is when the Rebbe reached the age of seven, in 5669. Let us read a few lines: he relocates his residence together with his family to the city of Yekaterinoslav, which is in Dnepropetrovsk. The Rebbe's family, the parents and the children, in the winter of 5669, when the Rebbe was seven years old, left Nikolaev and were transferred to Yekaterinoslav.
What was the reason for the move? The rabbi of Yekaterinoslav had passed away. His name was Rabbi Dov Ze'ev Kozbenikov. And the Rebbe Rashab very much wanted Rabbi Levi Yitzchak to fill his place. He sent letters to the community, and to encourage Rabbi Levi Yitzchak himself, and therefore he moved to become the rabbi of Yekaterinoslav.
The Rebbe once spoke about the city of Yekaterinoslav where he grew up, and expressed that this city was considered the capital city of all Ukraine, and especially the primary city in all matters relating to Jewish affairs.
As is told, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak asked the shochet who was in the city, the chassid Rabbi Shneur Zalman Vilenkin, to be the tutor for his sons, for the Rebbe and for the two brothers. For about four and a half years the Rebbe and his brothers studied with Rav Shneur Zalman Vilenkin. Many times at a farbrengen he would speak fondly of him and say: he taught me Chumash, Rashi, Gemara. The Rebbe even used the expression: he set me on my feet. He was an exalted Jew, Rav Vilenkin. These were the Rebbe's studies during those years, as a child, from the age of seven, over the course of four and a half years.
The following passage details here: For a number of years, the arrangement was that for several weeks at the conclusion of the summer months, he would stay with his great-grandmother, the Rebbetzin Mrs. Rachel, may God avenge her blood. Rebbetzin Rachel was the daughter of the Rav of Dobrinka, Rabbi Yitzchak Koshnitz, and she was the grandmother of the Rebbe. For a number of years, the Rebbe would travel to stay with his grandmother. Where did the grandmother live? Still in Nikolayev; they remained living there.
In practice, the Rebbetzin Rachel was murdered by the Nazis, may their name be blotted out, on the 24th of Tishrei in the year 5702, together with many Jews, the Jews of Nikolaev. On one of the days when the Rebbe says Kaddish, he would always say Kaddish on this day, because this is the day on which the grandmother, the Rebbetzin Rachel, was murdered.
The Rebbe says that he traveled and stayed with her. In parentheses he added: "he lived with the great Rav" etc., that her husband, the Rebbe's grandfather, Rabbi Meir Shlomo, may his memory be a blessing, Yanovsky. Meir Shlomo Yanovsky, after he married the Rebbetzin Rachel, was among those they call the "yoshvim" [sitters] in Lubavitch.
What does "hayoshvim" mean? This was a term for the chassidim who came after their marriage to settle in Lubavitch. They studied nigleh there and studied Chassidus there, and they were there, as they say, their place all day long. And Reb Shlomo remained there until the passing of the Rebbe Maharash. And this is what he notes here: "of the hayoshvim in Lubavitch, by the Admur Maharash." He was permanently established there, of the "hayoshvim" in Lubavitch.
And after the Rebbe Maharash passed away, he was the head of the beit din in Nikolayev. He lived in Nikolayev, Rabbi Meir Shlomo, and in Nikolayev there was a rav, Rabbi Avraham David Lavut. Avraham David Lavut was the grandfather of Rabbi Meir Shlomo, and after the grandfather passed away, there was a will that his grandson, Rabbi Meir Shlomo, be appointed to be the head of the beit din, the rav of Nikolayev. And as appears here, that he was afterward "the successor of his grandfather," filling the place of his grandfather, the rav, the chief head of the beit din, "Rabbi Avraham David Lavut."
Rabbi Avraham David Lavut was a person of tremendous perception. In addition, he was an immense Torah scholar, and he had a tremendous sense for melody. There is a niggun that the Rebbe taught on Simchat Torah in 5708 (1948); it is a niggun of the grandfather, Rabbi Avraham David Lavut—the niggun "Rachamana" that we sing, which the Rebbe taught, one of his niggunim.
The Rebbe brings here about the greatness of his great-grandfather, Rav Avraham David Lavut, and the books he authored. Which books does the Rebbe mention here? "Kav Naki" and the book "Beis Aharon V'Hosafos," and more. We will give an overview of the books he authored, and with this we will conclude today.
"Kav Naki," what is this? A book that dealt with the laws of gittin (divorce documents). He was a rav in the city, and he had involvement in this field, so he made a book on the laws of gittin, and he called it "Kav Naki." In the introduction he writes why he called it "Kav Naki." Because "Kav Naki" in gematria is two hundred sixty-two, and his name, Avraham David, is also two hundred sixty-two. Therefore he intertwined his name with the name of the book.
The next book he mentions here is the book "Beit Aharon veHosafot." What is "Beit Aharon veHosafot"? The book Beit Aharon was published in the year 5450 (5450 = tav-nun), many years before this. "Beit Aharon" is a very interesting book, one of the great ones. The book contains five sections with tremendous erudition across all of Torah.
What is this book comprised of? There is a section called "Beit Aharon," which is also printed in many Chumashim, on the side there is "Beit Aharon," "Toldot Aharon." What is "Toldot Aharon"? References to all the verses in Tanach that are explained in the Gemara. This is one part of the composition. Afterward there are several more parts that are references to the Midrashim, to the Zohar, to the Yerushalmi, to the Yalkut Shimoni, and so on. This is a book that was published many years before this.
Rabbi Labkovsky took this sefer and reissued it anew, "Beit Aharon VeHosafot." First of all, he adjusted all the source references to the reprinted seforim, because when the pages changed, he updated all the source references, and he added more sections to them. For example, he added a sefer called "Mitzvot Hashem." What is "Mitzvot Hashem"? All the verses of the Torah that contain some mitzvah of the taryag mitzvot—he made a list so that for each verse we would know to which mitzvah it belongs, plus source references to chassidic seforim and so on. He edited the sefer and added a great deal to the original sefer.
These are the two books that the Rebbe cites here: Kav Naki and Sefer Beis Aharon VeHosafos, and he writes "and more" without specifying, but he has additional works. For example, there is a very famous book of his called "Shaar HaKollel," on the Siddur of the Alter Rebbe, explaining all the points in the Siddur. This is one of the famous books of Rav Lavut. There is a book called "Nesiv HaChaim," a halachic book. He republished the Siddur Torah Or, arranged and organized. There are Piskei Pri Megadim, notes on the Shulchan Aruch, and many other books that Rav Lavut authored.
And Rav Labkovsky was the great-grandfather of the Rebbe, whom the Rebbe mentions here in parentheses, at whose grandson's home, Rav Meir Shlomo's, the Rebbe would stay for several weeks at the end of the summer months, when the Rebbe was a child, from the age of seven until bar mitzvah, more or less during those years.