We are on the chain of lineage, lesson fifty-two, in the life story of the Rebbe, part twelve. We have reached the year 5710. In 5710, on the eve of the holy Shabbat, the ninth of Shevat, he published, within the series of kuntreisim of his father-in-law the Rebbe, the kuntres of the tenth of Shevat 5710, the discourse beginning "Basi LeGani."
I will remind you that in his final years the Rebbe Rayatz no longer delivered maamarim in public, due to a difficulty he had with speech, and written maamarim would be published. Usually these were maamarim that had already been said years earlier, and they were reissued with changes and adaptations to the date on which they were released. The one who was engaged in the publication of the maamarim and in writing the source references and notes in the margins of the page was the Rebbe, by the instruction of the Rebbe Rayatz.
Approaching the date of the tenth of Shevat 5710, which is the yahrtzeit of the grandmother of the Rebbe Rayatz, the Rebbetzin Rivkah, the Rebbetzin of the Rebbe Maharash, the Rebbe Rayatz requested that the maamar "the dibbur hamatchil 'Basi legani achosi kallah'" be published. In the original, the maamar does not begin with this dibbur hamatchil, but with a different dibbur hamatchil; in fact, on this very day it begins in 5683. But the Rebbe Rayatz requested to begin from the section "Basi legani," and it was published approaching that date according to an instruction of the Rebbe Rayatz. And the continuation was on the thirteenth of Shevat, which is the yahrtzeit of the mother of the Rebbe Rayatz, the Rebbetzin Sterna Sarah.
This maamar was in fact the last maamar published during the lifetime of the Rebbe Rayatz. As he says immediately afterward, "On the holy Shabbos, Parshas Bo, the tenth of Shevat, the honorable holy Rebbe, my father-in-law, passed away." The maamar was published toward the eve of Shabbos, on the eve of the ninth of Shevat, and the next day, on the tenth of Shevat, the passing of the Rebbe took place. The Rebbe indeed related to this maamar, "Basi LeGani," as the will-maamar of the Rebbe Rayatz. And throughout all the years he spoke about the points in this maamar as a directive for the mission of our generation.
The continuation is described here that "the crown of leadership was placed upon him," meaning of course that in the full place of the Rebbe Rayatz was the Rebbe, even though officially the Rebbe did not agree to accept the leadership until about a year later. But the chassidim already, right from the beginning, related to the Rebbe as the successor. Immediately after the passing, he comforts the chassidim and strengthens them to go in the path that his honorable holiness the Rebbe Maharayatz instructed them.
The Rebbe greatly encouraged the chassidim, spoke with them, wrote letters about this, and so on, that despite the passing, there would be no interruption in the path and mission that the Rebbe Rayatz asked the chassidim to carry out. And this was expressed in many points.
What is noted here, "and continues to publish the Torah of his father-in-law, and of the rest of our Rebbes, our leaders." The Rebbe printed additional maamarim of the previous Rebbe and maamarim of the previous Rebbes. Indeed, the previous Rebbe proposed to the Rebbe to be chairman of the publishing house, as advisor and organizer of Otzar HaChassidim and Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, as already noted in the years prior to that.
The Rebbe continued to publish all these matters, adding very lengthy introductions. The Rebbe provided introductions to every kuntres that was released, a preface and an introduction, and one truly saw in this the conduct of the generation.
He publishes general letters. The Rebbe sent general letters to all of Israel. The first general letter that the Rebbe wrote was on the first of Rosh Chodesh Adar, about three weeks after the passing of the previous Rebbe. There, in this general letter, the Rebbe strongly encourages going in the way that the Rebbe Rayatz instructed us. Let me perhaps quote a line from the letter, where the Rebbe writes: "Through going in the straight path which he taught us, to connect and become close to him, we will merit to be comforted doubly, and the honor of the holiness of our teacher and father-in-law will go before us to lead us upright to our land." This was in the first general letter of the first of Rosh Chodesh Adar.
Throughout the year the Rebbe publishes several general letters on this matter, "containing words of inspiration and encouragement for his farbrengens, whereby he continues to conduct his holy path as in days of old." The Rebbe held farbrengens even during the lifetime of the previous Rebbe, on fixed dates, such as on Shabbos Mevorchim HaChodesh. This was an instruction from the Rebbe Rayatz, who also wrote to the Rebbe that the order on Shabbos Mevorchim is a day of reciting Tehillim and a day of farbrengen. There was also a specific instruction to the Rebbe to hold a farbrengen every Shabbos Mevorchim.
Therefore, throughout all the years, it was always customary that the Rebbe held a farbrengen on Shabbos Mevorchim. There were certain periods, under certain circumstances, when the farbrengens were held on Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh, as is also written in the guidance in Hayom Yom, that if the conditions are suitable, one may hold the farbrengen on Motzaei Shabbos. But it was always on Shabbos Mevorchim, in accordance with the directive of his father-in-law.
The Rebbe farbrenged with chassidim. "Multitudes of chassidim and ordinary Jews began to stream in, thirstily drinking in his holy talks." The Rebbe spoke and farbrenged. Naturally, this spread more and more, still not in a truly official manner, but chassidim and Jews came to hear from the Rebbe what he was saying.
"They are transcribed and afterward proofread by him for print." All the farbrengens were recorded. Today we have transcripts from the Rebbe's farbrengens from 5710, and they are proofread by him for print. The first time was on the Shabbos Mevorchim of the month of Sivan. The Rebbe proofread his farbrengen, and it was published in print with the Rebbe's proofreading. Afterward this repeated itself quite a number of times.
"Many turn to him seeking his holy advice and his holy blessings." There is a book called Yemei Bereishit, which describes the entire progression from 5710 until 5711, and there it also describes the way in which Jews would come in to the Rebbe personally, in yechidut, to ask for advice and to request blessings, and the Rebbe received everyone. At times he did not agree to receive everyone, because the Rebbe had not yet agreed to accept the leadership, but the advice and blessings the Rebbe certainly gave even during that year.
He worked with great vigor on the expansion and spreading of the institutions of Torah and education, which had been established by his holy honor, our master and king. The Rebbe had already received this task years earlier, to be responsible for the entire Central Organization for Educational Affairs and the founding of the institutions. Of course there was no interruption in this; it continued throughout all the commotion and all the change.
The founder of the Ohalei Yosef Yitzchak Lubavitch schools in the countries of North Africa. It is told about the establishment of the institutions in Morocco, in the month of Shevat of 5710. One of the chassidim who had left Russia and was still in France, in Paris, Rabbi Michael Lipsker, received from the Rebbe in Shevat, a short period after the passing of the previous Rebbe, a surprising letter.
The Rebbe writes to him as follows: that one of the matters the Rebbe Rayatz spoke with him about, with the Rebbe, in the days close to the histalkus, was the issue of educating Jewish children in the countries of Africa. The Rebbe Rayatz wanted branches of schools and the like to be established there. And then the Rebbe recounts in the letter to Rabbi Lipsker that the Rebbe Rayatz told him to write to him, to Rabbi Lipsker, that he should travel there, to visit the situation and survey it, to organize and manage the work there and to be there. The Rebbe writes all of this to him, and recounts that these were the last things he heard from the Rebbe Rayatz, and instructs him what to do, also from a financial standpoint and so on, and requests from him a prompt reply as to whether he agrees to take upon himself the work. Of course he agreed immediately, and from here branched out all the Chabad institutions in Morocco. The details and the process can be seen in a book called "Mosdos Chabad B'Morocco."
The last section arouses regarding the strengthening of the shlichus for the shluchim of the Central Organization for Jewish Education, which is called Merkos Shlichus during the summer vacation. The concept of Merkos Shlichus actually began already in 5703. The Rebbe aroused the temimim then that, when not during the study time in yeshiva, during vacations and the like, they should travel to certain cities in America, to examine there the state of Yiddishkeit and to work there.
In the beginning this was only for specific bachurim who were given a personal directive to work on this. Afterwards, already in 5708, the Rebbe turned this into a general decision, and requested from all the students that everyone who could should utilize the available times and visit the cities and see how it is possible to strengthen Yiddishkeit there. This became, in chassidic parlance, Merkos Shlichus, which is the shlichus of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch. And this continued all the years, expanded and operated, meaning in all the places where there are no permanent shluchim, bachurim would visit there in the summer in order to work, and afterwards many of these places became a permanent center already.
The Rebbe already aroused, back then in 5710, [the need] to strengthen this matter and to act regarding a center of shlichus during the summer vacations, during which there is usually the "bein hazmanim," the breaks in the yeshiva—to utilize this for this purpose.