We are in the thirty-first lesson in the chain of tradition. Today we begin the first part of the biography of the Rebbe Rayatz, His Honor the Holiness of the Admur, our master and teacher Yosef Yitzchak. We will begin with his birth. It is written in four words: born on the 12th of Tammuz 5640. Behind these words lies an interesting story.
The mother of the Rebbe Rayatz was the Rebbetzin Sterna Sarah, the Rebbetzin of the Rebbe Rashab. Four years had passed since the wedding, and still no child was born, and she was very distressed by this. As is told, there was something in between, which is why the Rebbe was not considered a firstborn, but still she had not merited a child. She was very distressed; it truly touched her heart.
It was on Simchat Torah, when they held a farbrengen and kiddush in the home of the Rebbe Maharash, in the home of her father-in-law. There was a custom there, apparently, to bless all those present during the farbrengen. As is told, they made a special drink for all those present. Afterward they went into the women's room and made a special drink for all the women, and so it came about, through Divine providence, that they forgot about her, they did not even mention her. She took this very, very hard, and afterward they said: Ah, no, alright, we'll make one for her too. But this was no longer a remedy. This too—that they had forgotten her during the drink—was greatly added to her pain over the fact that she had no children.
In short, she went home, burst into tears alone in her room, and fell asleep while crying. She recounts that in her dream she dreams that a Jew enters—she doesn't know who it is—and asks her: Why are you crying? She poured out her heart and told him her situation. This Jew says to her: Don't cry, I promise you that this very year, with God's help, you will be remembered and you will have a son. But first condition: immediately after the holiday, immediately after Simchat Torah, you distribute eighteen rubles to charity, but from your own personal money. And second condition, that no one should know about this. And immediately this man disappeared.
Some time passes, still in the same dream, he returns with two other men, whom she also does not recognize. He repeats the promise in their presence. The three of them agreed, blessed her, and left, and she awoke from the dream.
Later, still on Simchat Torah, her husband, the Rebbe Rashab, returned from the farbrengen that was held at his father, the Rebbe Maharash, after saying l'chaim. As he entered her room, he did a somersault on the floor, rolling over, the Rebbe Rashab. He was in a very elevated mood, and she told him about the dream she had dreamt. The Rebbe Rashab heard the entire dream, and he too did not know who was being referred to, but he understood that such a dream has significance.
So he went with her to his father, Rabbi Maharash, so that she would tell him the entire dream. She told Rabbi Maharash the entire dream, and then he said to her: describe the figures to me, exactly how they looked. She described to him exactly the first figure, the second, and the third. Then he said to her: The first was the Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek, my father. The other two were the Alter Rebbe and the Mitteler Rebbe. And she understood that there was something wondrous here.
Now she had a project to obtain eighteen rubles of her own. There is a whole description there, that she had a garment which the Rebbe Rashab was not pleased that she wore, and she decided to sell this garment. But even this she had to do with wisdom. She said: it is not seemly for her to go and sell a garment for money, because they would say, what, the wife of the Rebbe. So she did some sort of trick so that no one would know. The main thing was that she would have the eighteen rubles, which was a considerable sum. She gave it to charity, and in that same year the Rebbe Rayatz was born. This is the birth of the Rebbe Rayatz on the 12th of Tammuz 5640.
The next thing that appears here is [the year] 5655. We are skipping fifteen years. In 5640 he was born, and by 5655 the Rebbe was already fifteen years old. He entered into communal work as the private secretary of his father, his honorable holiness, the Rebbe. That is to say, he entered to be the secretary of the Rebbe Rashab in communal matters, and participated in the gathering of communal activists in Kovna.
It is told that the Rebbe Rayatz himself recounts this situation in the Sefer HaSichos 5697, part two. He relates that his birthday arrived, the age of fifteen, the twelfth of Tammuz, which was a Thursday of the week. His father calls him and says to him: I want to depict for you one hundred and forty years of communal activity of the Admurim, the Nesi'im of Chabad. He began to describe to him over the course of four hours how the Alter Rebbe began, from the age of eleven, to occupy himself with matters of the community, and he goes on this way and tells him about each one of the Rebbes in order. And all the periods, which were challenging periods, it was with difficulty, everything he describes to him over the course of four hours.
And then he says to him at the conclusion: Mazal tov, now you are entering into the work of the intellectual comprehensions (haskalos) and the work of the community (klal). The Rebbe Rayatz says: I said to my father, and he describes there with tremendous enthusiasm, that he surrenders himself to his father's authority. Whatever he is asked to do, he will do it to the very end. And then the father immediately gave him instructions on how to adapt yourself to the work of the community, and all the tips in the matter. And from that moment he entered into being a great activist (askan) in the work of the community.
The next thing that appears here, 5656, [he] participates in the Vilna gathering, apparently a continuation of the previous one, which was the general gathering in Kovno, and a year afterward a gathering in Vilna. These were gatherings that are not described here regarding which topics, but these were matters of saving the Jewish people, as will be detailed further on.
Another interesting point. In 5657, on the 13th of Elul, he married the daughter of the chassidic Rav, Rav Avraham, the Rebbetzin Nechama Dina. In Tammuz of 5656 the Rebbe became a chosson, and the wedding took place in 5657 on the 13th of Elul, [to] the Rebbetzin Nechama Dina.
What was her lineage? We already mentioned this earlier, but let us return to it once more. Here it is mentioned only that she was the daughter of the chassidic Rav, Rav Avraham Schneerson. Who was he? He was the son of the Maharin, Rav Yisrael Noach, the son of the Tzemach Tzedek. That is to say, the Rebbetzin was actually a direct granddaughter of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek. She was born a year and four months after the Rebbe the Rayatz. The Rayatz, as we said earlier, was born on the 12th of Tammuz 5640. She was born on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan 5642, and passed away on the tenth of Teves 5731.
As long as she was alive, the Rebbe would customarily hold all the festival meals at her home on the second floor. All the meals that the Rebbe held, he continued as always at her home, until the tenth of Tevet 5731. Thanks to this we have many very interesting things that the Rebbe said during the meals. This was as long as she was alive.
Let us continue. In 5658 the administration of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva was entrusted to him. As we said earlier, in 5657, on the 13th of Elul, his wedding took place; during the sheva brachot the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva was founded at the end of 5657. Apparently only a few weeks passed after the wedding, and immediately his father gave him the task of being the administrator of the yeshiva. That is, from the very beginning he was the administrator of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva.
The following, called one point about 5661, he makes his travels. Where did he travel? I will skip the parentheses for a moment. He traveled to Vilna, Brisk, Lodz, and Königsberg. For what purpose did he travel to these places? For the sake of the preparations for the establishment of the factory in Dubrovna.
What was this? It was the first large factory in the world where the managers, the clerks, and the workers were all Jews—approximately two thousand Jews. We already read about this earlier, in the history of the Rebbe Rashab. It was the only factory in the world whose official day of rest was Shabbos. This factory was a place where they spun wool, and the entire purpose was simply to provide a livelihood for thousands of Jews, so that they would have what to eat and what to wear, with ease and not under pressure. That was the purpose of all this.
And the Rebbe Rayatz traveled to all these places simply to raise resources, so that it would be possible to establish the factory. One can also see in the letters, in the Igrot Kodesh of the Rebbe Rashab, the reference to this factory, and following this he encouraged that more should be opened. We mentioned this in the biography of the Rebbe Rashab, which family it was that helped greatly with establishing this.
In any case, you can see and follow, all the Rebbes, each one in his time, gave over their soul literally, with money and with time, to help Jews, that Jews should have a livelihood in whatever form it may be. All the Rebbes occupied themselves with this in a wondrous manner all the time. To be continued, be'ezras Hashem.