As Lubavitcher Chassidim around the world prepare to mark a milestone Hei Teves, A Chassidisher Derher magazine is providing meaningful insight into the meaning of the day; the storyline of the trial and victory, the “spiritual side” of the court-case, and how it all applies to us today.
The 70-page supplement magazine has been sent to subscribers around the world and is already being enjoyed in thousands of homes and yeshivos.
A highlight of the magazine is a roundtable discussion with three shluchim who lived through the entire story, the trial and the victory, as bochurim.
Rabbi Avraham Sternberg, shliach in New London, CT recalls how in those early months just before the trial began, Chassidim understood that a very serious issue was at hand:
“I remember in the winter of 5746 (1985-86) during the Rosh Chodesh Kislev seudah that Rabbi Meir Harlig organized, a few of the members of Agudas Chassidei Chabad—Rabbi Moshe Pinchas Katz, and perhaps Rabbi Mordechai Mentlick too—shared with the Chassidim what had happened during the yechidus that had taken place a few days earlier. They recounted how the Rebbe had banged his hand on the wall and emphasized that this wasn’t just about the sefarim from the library, but a milchamah against the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe Rashab, and went on and named all the Rabbeim until the Baal Shem Tov!
“This was the first time that I heard it spoken about in public, in such an open forum, in front of a packed shul. Up until then, there had been quiet meetings and discussions, but never in such a public way. The words spoken that night had a tremendous effect on the audience…”
For almost a year, Chassidim waited impatiently for a verdict from the judge. Finally, on Hei Teves 5747, the ruling was issued that affirmed total and unequivocal victory for the Rebbe and Chassidim.
Rabbi Mordechai Glazman, shliach in Riga, Latvia recalls those exciting moments:
“On Hei Teves I was in the dining room of the yeshiva, and there was a rumor that there was a ruling from the judge, and it was didan notzach. We ran to 770, some other bochurim and I, and we went straight to the mazkirus office and asked Rabbi Binyomin Klein if it was true. He looked at us as if he didn’t know anything; I think he knew already, but he didn’t want to say.
“Outside people already started dancing. It was a very small crowd but it was very lebedik; as time passed more and more people came, and the crowd grew bigger. Never in my life Have I experienced such simcha; it is very hard to describe the feeling of happiness and the simcha that we experienced on that day.
“Later, we danced days and nights, and while there were many other days of didan notzach victories, the simcha of that day was just extraordinary; it was out of this world…”
The powerful message of Hei Teves is summed up by Rabbi Yosef Greenberg, shliach in Anchorage, AK:
“Looking back at the years of the case, it is clear that the essence of the court case was about the future. Now after Gimmel Tammuz, we can have a better understanding of what the Rebbe was speaking about during the entire case.
“At the time, the Rebbe was constantly emphasizing that “hu bachayim,” the Frierdiker Rebbe is here with us and still guiding us.
“The Rebbe was teaching us that a Rebbe is nitzchi, everlasting, and that his hashpa’ah continues even many years after the histalkus. He was telling us that the future of Lubavitch and 770, and all that comes with it, is still in the Rebbe’s hands, and can continue to grow and become b’ein aroch—incomparably greater to what it was before, even though today we cannot see the Rebbe physically…”
The booklet also offers a collection of the Rebbe’s talks emphasizing the spiritual aspect of the trial and victory, an in-depth look at the history of the Chabad library itself, and much more.
The full booklet is available for download here.
Relive year-round occurrences in the Rebbe’s presence and fascinate your mind with little-known facts and accounts by subscribing to A Chassidisher Derher’s monthly magazine. Visit Derher.org/subscribe
