We are in the sixth lesson, the chain of lineage of the leaders of Chabad and the princes of the House of Rebbe. We are in the description of the life of the Alter Rebbe, in the fifth part of the description of his life. What is recounted from 5551 (1791) onward. Regarding 5551, the Rebbe brings in the chain of lineage: "His writings in the revealed and the hidden [Torah] are spreading across a great expanse." The writings of the Alter Rebbe, what he wrote in the revealed [Torah] and in the inner dimension of the Torah, have a very, very great dissemination.
We have a detailed description, more so regarding his writings in the concealed teachings, in the Tanya. There is a note in which the Previous Rebbe describes that chassidim would search, truly with great longing, for copies of the book of Tanya. They knew there was a certain book called the Book of Avodah, that is what they called it, a book that provides an order of advice and guidance in the service of prayer and the service of teshuvah, and it was truly at the beginning, and they would copy it. So those responsible among the Chabad chassidim would take Jews who had very clear and beautiful handwriting, and who were also people of understanding whom one could rely upon, and they gave them the task of copying the Tanya, because at that time it was not yet available in print. They would make copy after copy, and it was specifically they who would be the ones to disseminate it, so that the situation would not arise where there are copies with errors—sometimes errors by mistake, and sometimes deliberate errors. So they would appoint those who would do this.
And in every settlement, so the Previous Rebbe describes, in every chassidic settlement, hundreds of chassidim, even the simplest ones, who were not at all great intellectuals, sought to have a copy of the sefer, a copy of the Tanya, and within a few months the sefer was published and spread also to many countries outside of Russia, to Romania, to Galicia and other places. Afterward in the reshima he describes that there were also those who deliberately copied it with forgeries, and with things that would arouse as if there were heresy here and the like, in order to speak against the chassidim. And there is a description there of how they dealt with this matter, but in any case, here it is described how in 5551 the writings of the Alter Rebbe spread.
He continues onward: in [5]554 he prints his book Hilchot Talmud Torah from the Shulchan Aruch. The portion that the Alter Rebbe himself printed during his lifetime was Hilchot Talmud Torah. This he printed, as noted here, in the year [5]554. The first printing of Hilchot Talmud Torah was in Shklov, and it was not indicated on the book who the author was. He made a composition for the world on Hilchot Talmud Torah, without anyone knowing who composed it at all. And this book was very, very well received. Even among the great mitnagdim—they did not know who the author was. So this book was very, very well received.
It is told that the Gaon of Vilna saw the book, and he saw the last section that the Alter Rebbe wrote in the margins of the page in Hilchot Talmud Torah, and he was amazed that here was truly an act of genius. He did not know who the author was. This was the first book. The Rebbe writes in one of his letters, why did the Alter Rebbe emphasize printing Hilchot Talmud Torah as the first book? In order to emphasize the obligation of every Jew to study Torah. The obligation of every Jew to uphold Torah, to conduct his life according to the Torah. Therefore this is the first thing the Alter Rebbe printed.
The next matter: in 5557 he prints the Tanya. The Tanya was printed during the lifetime of the Alter Rebbe, in 5557, after Hilchos Talmud Torah. These are the two works that the Alter Rebbe himself printed from his writings: Hilchos Talmud Torah and the Tanya. The exact date on which the Tanya was printed appears in the Hayom Yom for the 20th of Kislev. It was on Tuesday, the 20th of Kislev, in this year of 5557, in the city of Slavita. That is when the Tanya was first printed. We have already seen this too in the Hayom Yom.
We spoke about how the Alter Rebbe began saying the Tanya in 5550. Every Shabbat, every holiday, he would say half a chapter, a third of a chapter, depending on the length of the chapter. And on the 9th of Kislev 5554, after three years, the Alter Rebbe completed chapter 53 in the Tanya. The printing was years later, as he brings here in 5557.
It is interesting to note the connection between the two books that the Alter Rebbe printed, Hilchot Talmud Torah and Sefer HaTanya, which are two books that essentially complement one another. For in Hilchot Talmud Torah the Alter Rebbe elaborates mainly on the halachot, how a person fulfills his obligation in the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. Sefer HaTanya explains the inner dimension, what the content of the mitzvah of Talmud Torah is, what the purpose of a Jew is specifically in study. There are many places throughout the chapters where the Alter Rebbe explains the inner dimension and the reason for Torah study. To note that these two books complement one another, even in number—in Sefer HaTanya which was first printed, Likkutei Amarim, there are 53 chapters, plus the introduction, that is 54, fifty-four. In Hilchot Talmud Torah there are fifty-four halachot, all the laws of Talmud Torah. One truly sees a correspondence between the two first works that the Alter Rebbe printed.
The next thing that appears here is [the year] 5559. Two years after the printing of the Tanya. What happened in 5559? "On Isru Chag of Sukkot he was arrested." The arrest of the Alter Rebbe was on Isru Chag of Sukkot. There is a very interesting description, which does not appear so much in all the versions, but in the book Beit Rebbi a very interesting thing is described, what the order of events was when they came to arrest the Alter Rebbe, so I will bring an interesting point from there.
It is written like this, that an order was issued, for they had informed against the Alter Rebbe that he was rebelling against the monarchy, and an order was issued that he must be brought to the capital city and investigated as to whether this was true, whether he was rebelling against the monarchy or not. So they sent some harsh, wicked officer to bring him, the Alter Rebbe. The officer arrived at the Alter Rebbe's house, entered the Alter Rebbe's room, and the Alter Rebbe was—this was Isru Chag—so he was in the middle of prayer with only a tallit, for on the holiday of Sukkot one does not put on tefillin. He was with a tallit in the middle of prayer. So the officer said "he will not disturb him," let him finish the prayer, and he went outside to eat and drink in the meantime, until he would finish the prayer.
In that same room, at that same time, when the Alter Rebbe was praying, there was a Jew—his name was Rabbi Dovber Litman. That was his name. He was a Jew from the residents of the place, of Liozna, and he was in the room. The Alter Rebbe says to him: "The order of things, when they come to take someone to imprisonment, is that first of all one must flee." As it is stated in the Torah, "And Yaakov fled." First of all one must flee. Or there is a verse that says "Hide yourself for but a brief moment." Hide a little. Not an actual flight. Why? Because when judgments are aroused upon a person, when they come to imprison him, one must conceal oneself, and then the judgments are sweetened. Afterward we will see what will be. So the Alter Rebbe says to him: "One must flee now."
So he took off the tallis and tefillin. Now, he could not leave through the regular door, because the officer was sitting there waiting. In his room, the Alter Rebbe had a door that led outside toward another direction. So he left the room, his house. There is a description there that this man, who was inside, took the Rebbe on his shoulders, and carried him all the way toward the river, and there was a cemetery there, and he hid there in the cemetery. And the man went, brought a wagon driver with a wagon, and very quickly they took the Alter Rebbe to some place, some inn.
Meanwhile, after some time, the officer entered to see whether he had already finished praying, and he sees that the Rebbe is not there. He understood that something had happened here and began to shout: "Where did he disappear to?" He asked the Rebbetzin where he was. He even struck the Rebbetzin, and one sees there a description of how he became so angry that he threatened to burn down the entire town. He had already brought all sorts of barrels and fire around. He came to burn down the entire town, and after he saw that shouting does not help and threats do not help, he began to change his manner of speech and said with blessings: "Tell me where he is, for in the end I will find him anyway. Reveal to me where he is."
Meanwhile, people went to the place where the Rebbe was, and told him what the reactions were, what was happening there. And the Rebbe said: "My flight was, after all, only for a short time, as it is said 'and Yaakov fled.' Now you may reveal to him where I am located." And then they took him in the black carriage and so forth. This is the version of the event as it is described in the book Beis Rebbi.
The last thing that is written, which we will call "the day," is that on the 19th of Kislev he was freed. On the 19th of Kislev, after fifty-three days of imprisonment, the Alter Rebbe was freed. It is already known and famous that the Alter Rebbe wrote two things about that day. First, he wrote and described when he received the tidings of the redemption—when he was reciting Tehillim, in chapter 55 he reached verse 19, which says "padah beshalom nafshi" ("He redeemed my soul in peace"). Before he began the verse that follows it, he received the tidings of the redemption.
The Alter Rebbe determined that this day, the nineteenth of Kislev, has very special language, for he said: "This day shall be established as a permanent festival in Israel, for on it the Name of Heaven shall be magnified and sanctified, and thousands of Jewish hearts shall be aroused to teshuvah and to the service of the heart." This is the great day of the nineteenth of Kislev, the Festival of Redemption of the Alter Rebbe.