We are in the forty-seventh lesson in the chain of lineage regarding the life story of the Rebbe, in the seventh part. Today we will read [the years] 5695 and 5696. The first sentence about the year 5695: "In the month of Tishrei he travels in honor of his father-in-law in Warsaw." This the Rebbe himself related in a farbrengen of Shabbat Bereishit 5717, as printed in Torat Menachem. The Rebbe relates there that in this year, 5695, the Rebbe Rayatz was in Warsaw during the month of Tishrei. The Rebbe tells about himself that he too had the opportunity to be that entire month with the Rebbe in Warsaw. And the Rebbe also details there several customs that he saw on that occasion by the Rebbe Rayatz, explains them and relates to this.
The continuation that is related: "At the end of the month of Marcheshvan he travels on a mission of his holy father-in-law to comfort the Rebbe of Gur, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter, author of the 'Imrei Emet'." In that year, in 5695, on the 20th of Marcheshvan, the son of the Rebbe of Gur, Rabbi Yitzchak, son of the Rebbe Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter, passed away, as mentioned here. And then the Rebbe Rayatz sent the Rebbe on his mission to comfort the Rebbe of Gur. The Rebbe himself once related on an occasion that he tried to evade this mission, for he told about himself that generally he would not participate in conversations of rabbis, and would not make himself prominent on various occasions. So the Rebbe tried to escape from this, but then there was no choice. He carried out the mission and traveled there.
The next detail: "traveling to Perchtoldsdorf near Vienna to visit his father-in-law." In that year, in the month of Kislev, the Rebbe Rayatz traveled for medical examinations in Vienna, and the doctors determined that the Rebbe needed to rest in a spa town near Vienna. That is where the Rebbe Rayatz was. And the Rebbe, as related here, traveled at that time to also visit his father-in-law, the Rebbe Rayatz. How do we know this testimony? Interestingly, at exactly that time the chassid Reb Refoel Kahn, the father of Reb Yoel Kahn, left Russia, and he was on his way to Eretz Yisrael. He said that first of all he wanted to meet the Rebbe Rayatz and enter to him for yechidus. He heard that the Rebbe was then in Vienna, so he traveled to Vienna in order to continue from there to Eretz Yisrael. He traveled to that same town, and describes in his diary how he met the Rebbe there, how the Rebbe received him and cared for him, and so on. There is a detailed description there, and from this we know that the Rebbe also visited his father-in-law at that same time and in that same place.
The next thing recounted: during this period he was occupied with preparing for print the holy letters of his father-in-law, may his holy memory be a blessing. At that time the holy letters of the Rebbe Rayatz, which the Rebbe had edited, began to be published. Back then these were not yet books, books of holy letters, but rather thin pamphlets came out. In fact, before the war they managed to print only one collection, which was called Kovetz Michtavim Aleph, on the subject of reciting Tehillim. At the end of the book of Tehillim there is a collection of letters of the Rebbe Rayatz. This is the first collection that the Rebbe prepared, and it was printed even before the war, but in practice additional collections on additional subjects were already ready for print, and the one who dealt with them was the Rebbe.
The last thing mentioned here about the year 5695 (1935): he was occupied with editing the Hatamim anthologies. We already told about this when we recounted the life story of the previous Rebbe; we spoke about the Hatamim anthology, which began to appear in Warsaw in 5695. The one who was officially the publisher was the Union of Yeshiva Students, what was called Agudas Talmidei HaYeshivos. Until the war, eight booklets were published. The chief editor of this anthology was Rabbi Zalman. Rabbi Zalman relates that during that period the Rebbe was not in Warsaw but in Paris, but every booklet that they prepared, before it was printed, was sent to Paris to receive the Rebbe's approval. After the Rebbe corrected and approved everything, only then did it return to Warsaw and get printed. That is to say, the final approval for printing the booklets and books went through the Rebbe's approval. With this we have concluded the description of 5695.
Let us also read the account of 5696. In 5696 he traveled several times in honor of his holy father-in-law in Otwock. At that time the Rebbe Rayatz had moved to Otwock, and the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva had also moved to Otwock. And the Rebbe would travel to visit his father-in-law in Otwock. The temimim who were there at the time relate that they would ask the Rebbe to farbreng with the temimim there and to test them in their studies. The Rebbe was there in Otwock, and in one of the sources it is told that the Rebbe Rayatz wanted to appoint the Rebbe to be the director of the yeshiva. In practice this did not quite come about, but the Rebbe was very involved there in the affairs of the yeshiva.
One particular detail, as it is written: he was appointed as honorary chairman of the Students' Fund at the Tomchei Temimim Yeshiva. The Students' Fund is a fund that exists in the yeshivas to this very day. It is a fund that was established back when the Tomchei Temimim Yeshiva was founded in the time of the Rebbe Rashab. Its purpose is to help students who do not receive financial support from the yeshiva, but who need to have coats, suits, all sorts of things, and who are far from home and need assistance. There is a special fund called the Students' Fund, and the Rebbe appointed the honorary chairman of this fund at that time.
The next thing described here: he met with the great gaon Rabbi Shabtai HaKohen, the rav of Furth, author of the Siftei Kohanim. One of the students who was in Otwock, Rabbi Eshel Reisman, testified about this meeting. He testifies that on one of the days when there was a break in the studies, and the bochurim were in the courtyard, the famous gaon Rabbi Shabtai HaKohen, the rav of Furth, came to the yeshiva, and there outside he met the Rebbe. He was a member of the family of the Admorim of Gur. He began to speak with the Rebbe in a Torah dialogue, and he describes exactly on which subject and on which sugya they spoke. For two hours they learned in this manner through conversation, and he also describes how they learned each with a foot on the chair, and they learned this way for two hours and conversed. And the students were around, all in tremendous amazement at the topics that came up there. At the conclusion of the conversation, before the gaon left the place, he said: "Such greatness in such a young avreich, I have never seen in my life." This was his reaction.
The last matter that appears here: he visits the Rebbe Rabbi Aharon of Belz. The visit did not take place in Belz. The Rebbe of Belz traveled to a health resort town to be healed there, and the Rebbe wanted to visit him and to get to know him. The Rebbe came there anonymously, so as not to reveal who he was. The Rebbe simply wanted to arrive there anonymously and to see the figure of this tzaddik, Rabbi Aharon of Belz. Through Divine providence, at exactly that time, there was present there a Jew from Hebron, Rabbi Chaim Schneersohn, who knew the Rebbe. He had come from the Land of Israel, was a shadar, collected funds from the community in Hebron, and traveled to Europe. He happened to be there at that same place, saw the Rebbe, and the Rebbe saw him. The Rebbe told him not to tell anything, so that he would not be recognized.
And what is also told: that when the Rebbe approached the Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon of Belz, to give him "shalom aleichem," the Belzer Rebbe held the Rebbe's hand for a long time, and said: "a varemeh hant," a warm hand, a warm hand. And afterwards, Rabbi Chaim Schneersohn revealed to him and told him: this is the son-in-law of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. And the Belzer Rebbe derived much pleasure from this matter.
It is worth adding that the Rebbe himself once described, in a yechidus with the current Belzer Rebbe, that he had met the Belzer Rebbe, and expressed himself, saying: "I saw form without matter." Such a Jew, whom the Rebbe described, upon him one could see spirituality without a body, without physicality. That is to say, he was entirely a spiritual man. This is how the Rebbe expressed himself about his visit with the Belzer Rebbe.