We continue with the chain of lineage, in lesson fifty-seven, in the story of the Rebbe's life - part seventeen, the year 5717.
"5717 - taught the niggun 'Ki Anu Amecha'" As we have already seen in previous years, after the conclusion of the hakafos on the night of Simchas Torah and after the yom tov meal, the Rebbe came into 770 toward morning. That year the Rebbe announced that he would distribute mashke to all those who would take upon themselves to add in the study of chassidus, and to those who had not yet studied chassidus until then and would begin studying it. During the distribution of the mashke, the Rebbe taught the niggun "Ki Anu Amecha", from the piyut recited in the Yom Kippur prayers.
In general, there are two niggunim for "Ki Anu Amecha" that the Rebbe taught: the first of them here, in 5717, and the second - as we will see later on - in 5723. The niggun the Rebbe taught in 5717 is the faster "Ki Anu Amecha".
"Travels (on Sunday, 15 Tammuz) to visit Camp "Gan Yisroel" and holds a farbrengen there" We have already seen earlier that the Rebbe traveled in the month of Tammuz to visit Gan Yisroel, the children's camp. In this year, 5717, a new place was purchased for the camp - until then the grounds had been rented. At the farbrengen in 770 on Shabbos parshas Pinchas, the Rebbe announced at the conclusion of the farbrengen that he intended to make a visit to the camp, and said that this was not a conclusion but a break, and the continuation of the farbrengen would be at the camp.
An interesting description of that visit: the Rebbe asked the camp directors not to make any change in the running of the camp upon his arrival, since he wanted to see the camp as it is in its natural state, and the children should be dressed in their regular clothing without any change. Along the way they stopped at a gas station to say tefillas haderech, and the Rebbe got out of the car, said tefillas haderech outside the vehicle, and returned. Upon arriving at the camp, the Rebbe first took a tour of the entire place.
In the dining room there was a permanent sign about the practice of giving a "tip" to the waiters; the Rebbe saw the sign, smiled, and took eighteen dollars and gave them to the waiters. In this way the Rebbe went through all parts of the camp, and he was very pleased with the order and the cleanliness that prevailed there. Afterwards he entered the large hall and held a large farbrengen in the shul, and at its conclusion he distributed to each child a small "Mincha-Maariv". From there the Rebbe traveled to the second camp, the girls' camp - Camp Emunah.
"Founds Yeshivas Lubavitch in the city of Toronto, Canada" That year Yeshivas Lubavitch in Toronto was founded by Rabbi Shlomo Hochner. In practice the yeshivah closed over the years and afterwards reopened, but essentially Yeshivas Lubavitch in Toronto was established in 5717.
The first thing that appears here: "5718 - taught the niggun "Tzomah Lecha Nafshi" ("Ech Ti Durin Marko" (in Russian))". As is known, there are two niggunim of "Tzomah Lecha Nafshi", and this is the niggun that includes within it the words in Russian. Here too, as in previous years, the Rebbe came in after the conclusion of the hakafos, before the morning prayer, and taught the niggun. On that occasion the Rebbe explained the niggun briefly, and at a later farbrengen, on 11 Shevat, he explained it at length.
Briefly, the Rebbe explained the meaning of the words in Russian: the address is to the yetzer hara, and one says to it - you are like that fellow who is in the marketplace and comes only to disturb, to make a quarrel between Yisroel and the Holy One, blessed be He; you do not buy anything and you do not sell anything, you just make noise. At the farbrengen of 11 Shevat the Rebbe expanded and explained the words: "durin" in Russian means a fool - as is said about the yetzer hara that it is "an old and foolish king"; and he travels to the "marko", which is the fair, the place where one buys merchandise. This world is like a fair, into which a person descended in order to profit, while the yetzer hara arrives at the fair and only makes noise.
And in fact it has a purpose: that the Jew should serve Hashem with toil and exertion and withstand tests. But one says to the yetzer hara: if you are of benefit - meaning that you only arouse the Jew and in the end he overcomes - then you are fulfilling your task, and the Holy One, blessed be He, even gives you reward; but if you cause the Jew to stumble, in the end you will be punished, for you are doing nothing but making a commotion and you accomplish nothing. This is the content of the niggun as the Rebbe explained it.
"Arouses regarding the spreading of the wellsprings, etc., that it should be in the manner of "ufaratzta"" That year, from the farbrengen of 12 Tammuz onward, the Rebbe spoke a great deal on many occasions about how a Jew's actions must be in the manner of "ufaratzta" - spreading Yiddishkeit without limitation, without limiting ourselves to certain areas, but simply to break through, in the language of the verse "ufaratzta yamah vakedmah vetzafonah vanegbah".
"Begins to print the maamarim of the Alter Rebbe" Today there already exists a very long series of many volumes, and in 5718 the Rebbe began to print the first volumes. The first book he printed is called "Hanachos HaRaP" - an acronym for "Rabbi Pinchas". The chassid Reb Pinchas Reizes, one of the chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, was extremely precise, and he transcribed the words of the Alter Rebbe in an exact manner; the sefer hamaamarim that he wrote is the first of the maamarim of the Alter Rebbe that the Rebbe printed in 5718.
Another volume that the Rebbe printed that year is called "Es'halech Liozna" - maamarim that the Alter Rebbe said in Liozna; and since the first maamar opens with the dibbur hamaschil "Es'halech lifnei Hashem b'artzos hachaim", the whole volume is called "Es'halech Liozna". These are the two volumes that the Rebbe printed in 5718, and from then onward, over the years, the series of the Alter Rebbe's volumes was completed to the end.
"Founds Shikun Chabad in Kfar Chabad" The Rebbe wrote a number of letters about this and aroused that they should establish a housing development in Kfar Chabad. The Kfar itself had already been established earlier, but that year the Rebbe asked that they add another housing development in it. At the farbrengen of 19 Kislev the Rebbe announced this publicly, and said that he had already written about the matter earlier privately, and he expressed his hope that now the division of the place and the establishment of a new Shikun Chabad in Kfar Chabad would already come to fruition. These are the things that appear about the year 5718.