Discovering the ‘First Sicha’

By COLlive reporter

Members of Congregation Beis Shmuel Chabad in Crown Heights attended a chol hamoed Sukkos farbrengen at the sukkah of Zalman and Esther Skoblo on Sunday.

The guest speaker was Rabbi Levi Garelik, a posek and teacher in Brooklyn, who reviewed the happenings during the month of Tishrei that were spent with the Rebbe over the years.

In a detailed talk, he retold what transpired over Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and later Sukkos and Simchas Torah – events he merited to witness himself.

Being that R’ Binyomin Levitin passed away that morning, an interesting and personal episode that happened with the legendary chossid, R’ Shmuel Levitin OBM, was told.

Sefer Hamaamorim Tof Shin (1940) mentions the first sicha that the Previous Rebbe said after moving into 770 Eastern Parkway towards the end of Elul of that year.

Rabbi Garelik told participants, however, that there was actually a sicha said before that.

“In 1940, when they needed funds to buy the building of 770, Reb Shmuel sent a letter to all the chassidim asking for assistance,” he said.

The letter Rabbi Levitin sent to Rabbi Garelik’s grandfather, Rabbi Sholom Posner (the Shliach in Pittsburgh for close to 50 years), included a P.S. at the end of it.

It read as follows: “Last week, in the middle of the month of Menachem Av the (previous) Rebbe came to visit the new house that was purchased [770] and he said…”

Rabbi Garelik related how he found the letter in his grandfather’s files. “I quickly made a copy and brought it to the editors of the Igros Kodesh so we can all know what were the first words uttered by the Frierdiker Rebbe in 770.”

The whole P.S. is printed in the introduction to the Letters of the Previous Rebbe Volume 5.