In the tenth lesson in Shalsheles Hayachas we reach the final part of the chapter on the biography of the Alter Rebbe - the ninth part. In this lesson we will learn about the brothers, sister, and brothers-in-law of the Alter Rebbe, as well as his seforim.
"The brothers" of the Alter Rebbe:
"a) Harav Hagaon Harav Hachosid Rabbi Yehudah Leib" known as the Maharil (an acronym for Moreinu Harav Yehudah Leib), the Maharil of Yanovitch. He was born in the year 5509, and the Alter Rebbe was four years older than him. The Alter Rebbe said of him: "My brother the gaon, the Maharil, possesses straightforward logic, and he told me that I should go to Mezritch". The majority of the sefer of maamarim "Torah Or" of the Alter Rebbe consists of 'hanachos' of his maamarim written by the Maharil, and the Alter Rebbe said of his writing that it is very accurate and precise as the words were spoken. He also authored a sefer named "She'eris Yehudah" on Hilchos Melichah. He is buried in Yanovitch.
" b) Harav Hagaon Harav Mordechai" his family name was Pozner. The Tzemach Tzedek related about him that he was sharp, wondrous, and possessed straightforward reasoning. When the Alter Rebbe established the "chadarim" - cheder aleph, cheder beis, etc., as we mentioned in his biography - he appointed his brother Rabbi Mordechai to be in charge of them. He served as a rav in the city of Orsha, and in his appearance he closely resembled the Alter Rebbe. He passed away on 11 Adar 5583, and is buried in Kapust.
"c) Harav Hagaon Harav Moshe" little is told about him. His family name was also Pozner; he served as a rav in several places - in the city of Kiev, in Lepel, and in Rudnia. He passed away during the lifetime of the Alter Rebbe, and is buried in Rudnia.
The Alter Rebbe had one sister, "his sister Rebbetzin Sarah", and his wife Rebbetzin Sterna also had one sister; their husbands are the two brothers-in-law of the Alter Rebbe.
His brother-in-law Harav Yisroel, known as Rabbi Yisroel Kazak - and he was the husband of his sister" Rebbetzin Sarah. It is told of him that he engaged with actual mesiras nefesh for the liberation of the Alter Rebbe during the known imprisonment in the year 5559. As related in "Beis Rabbi", immediately when the Alter Rebbe was taken to prison he told him to travel immediately to Petersburg; and there it is detailed - and we will not enter into all the details - how he searched for one of the ministers according to the guidance of the Alter Rebbe to meet him, and ultimately passed through him a note in the handwriting of the Alter Rebbe, in which was written "Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echod". The note was passed inside a gourd that was thrown from the window, and this was a message to the chassidim that the Alter Rebbe was alive. He lived a long life after the Alter Rebbe.
"His brother-in-law Rabbi Akiva Fradkin of Shklov - the husband of his wife's sister" for Rebbetzin Sterna had one sister, and he was her husband. At the time when the Alter Rebbe was in the home of his father-in-law and mother-in-law, he suffered there greatly, as has already been related earlier; however, the sister of Rebbetzin Sterna, the daughter of his father-in-law and mother-in-law, recognized the holiness of her brother-in-law, the Alter Rebbe, and warned her sister not to listen to what they were telling her and not to demand a divorce from the Alter Rebbe. She said to her: Do not listen, you have a holy husband. And in secret, without her father's knowledge, she did everything in her power to improve the situation of the Alter Rebbe and to obtain all his needs for him. The Alter Rebbe remained grateful to her all his days for the mesiras nefesh she displayed, without the knowledge of her parents, to help him in that place.
"The seforim" of the Alter Rebbe:
"a) Hilchos Talmud Torah" - as has already been related, the first halachos that the Alter Rebbe printed, without mentioning his name, were Hilchos Talmud Torah.
"b) Birchos Hanehenin" - Seder Birchos Hanehenin of the Alter Rebbe, which was also printed on its own.
"c) Tanya, and Mahadura Kamma" Sefer HaTanya is one of the most famous seforim of the Alter Rebbe, and one of the Jewish seforim that have been printed in the largest number of editions: to this day there are about six thousand different editions and printings. The sefer has also been translated into many languages - Yiddish, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, German, Georgian, and also into Braille.
Here appears "Mahadura Kamma" - the first edition of the Tanya written by the Alter Rebbe, after which he wrote a second edition. One of the prominent differences between the editions is chapter 32 in Tanya, which in Mahadura Kamma was not present at all, and was inserted only in Mahadura Basra. Following the directive of the Rebbe, in the year 5742 they printed Mahadura Kamma of the Tanya, with comparisons and notes showing the differences between the two editions.
"d) Siddur" the nusach of the Siddur compiled by the Alter Rebbe.
"e) Shulchan Aruch" which the Alter Rebbe wrote following the directive of the Maggid.
"f) Sefer She'elos Uteshuvos" initially the questions and answers of the Alter Rebbe were printed at the end of the Shulchan Aruch, a not large collection; but over time, as additional questions and answers that he wrote were discovered, it was published as a sefer on its own - Sefer She'elos Uteshuvos of the Alter Rebbe.
"g) Biurei HaZohar" maamarim that the Alter Rebbe delivered in explanation of the Zohar, especially to his sons. These maamarim were written by the Mitteler Rebbe, one of the sons of the Alter Rebbe, and therefore the sefer Biurei HaZohar is often attributed to the Mitteler Rebbe, since he was the one who wrote it; but in fact they are maamarim of the Alter Rebbe, and therefore the sefer is counted among his seforim.
"h) Torah Or i) Likkutei Torah" the famous seforim of the Alter Rebbe, which were edited by the Tzemach Tzedek.
"j) Boneh Yerushalayim" - short maamarim of the Alter Rebbe. All these maamarim were subsequently printed also in "Sefer Hamaamarim Haketzarim", which will be mentioned below. The sefer was printed by Rabbi Chaim Elazar Bichovsky, and it is among the first to be printed from the maamarim of the Alter Rebbe. He is the one who gave it the name "Boneh Yerushalayim", because the study of chassidus brings the Geulah and the building of Yerushalayim.
"k) Maamarei Admor Hazaken Hanachos HaRav P." maamarim written by the chossid Rabbi Pinchas Reizes, who was known as uniquely precise and was very exact with the words of the Alter Rebbe. The entire sefer is from his writing, and hence its name: Hanachos HaRav P. - an acronym for Harav Pinchas.
"l) Maamarei Admor Hazaken - Es'halech Liozna" - maamarim delivered by the Alter Rebbe in Liozna, between the years 5556 - 5562. The name of the sefer was given based on the first maamar in it, on the possuk "Es'halech lifnei Hashem b'artzos hachaim".
Maamarim by years: "m) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5562, two volumes", "n) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5563, two volumes", "o) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5564", "p) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5565, two volumes", "q) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5566", "r) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5567", "s) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5568, two volumes", "t) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5569", "u) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5570", "v) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5571", "w) Maamarei Admor Hazaken 5572" - which is already the year of the passing of the Alter Rebbe. This concerns thousands of maamarim.
"x) Maamarei Admor Hazaken Haketzarim" maamarim whose style makes it evident that they were delivered in the period known among chassidim as "before Petersburg", meaning maamarim that the Alter Rebbe delivered before the known imprisonment, which were short and in a brief style. They are all concentrated in this sefer, and some of them are also found in the sefer "Boneh Yerushalayim" mentioned above.
Maamarim that were not printed by years but by topics: "y) Maamarei Admor Hazaken on Parshiyos HaTorah and Moadim. z) Maamarei Admor Hazaken Inyanim. aa) Maamarei Admor Hazaken Maamarei Chazal. bb) Maamarei Admor Hazaken Nach, 3 volumes".
Igros Kodesh - two volumes" of the letters of the Alter Rebbe. Some of the letters are found in Tanya, in the section called "Igeres Hakodesh", and additional letters that he wrote are found on their own in the sefer Igros Kodesh of the Alter Rebbe.
With this, the chapter on the biography of the Alter Rebbe in Shalsheles Hayachas concludes.