We are at the twenty-seventh lesson in the chain of the succession, and in it we begin the first part of the life of the Rebbe Rashab.
The heading reads: "His Honorable Holiness Admur Moreinu VeRabbeinu Shalom DovBer".
At the bris, the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek instructed how he should be named, and said that he should be called by the name Shalom Dov Ber: the first name - after the father of the Tzemach Tzedek, who as is known was called Shalom Shachna; and the second name - after the Mitteler Rebbe, who was called Dov Ber.
It is known that the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek used to refer to his sons and grandsons by their initials, and already at the bris he called him "Rashab". And why did he call the Rebbe Shalom Dov Ber by these initials? Because the letters of "Rashab" are the letters of "basar shaver" - that one must break the flesh of the body.
Over the years, at various farbrengens, the Rebbe spoke about the meaning and the lesson learned from the name of the Rebbe Rashab. There are also various discussions as to whether these are two names or three: are they Shalom, Dov, Ber, and only in writing is the matter divided into two, or from the outset there are only two names here. In the shtar tena'im of the Rebbe Rashab, which we have in a photocopy, and likewise in the place where his name is mentioned by the Rebbe Maharash, it appears as two names. On the other hand, in the explanations of the Rebbe's father in "Likkutei Levi Yitzchak", when he speaks about his name, he connects it to the concept of "shnayim mikra ve'echad targum": two names in the holy tongue - Shalom and Dov, and "Ber" in Yiddish, the translation of the word dov, something like "ve'echad targum". So there are several approaches to this, whether it is one name or two names, and this is not the place to elaborate.
The Rebbe Rashab was born in Lubavitch. His mother, Rebbetzin Rivkah, related that about a year before the birth, on 10 Kislev 5620, she dreamed and saw her mother, Rebbetzin Sarah, who was the daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe, coming to her in the dream together with the Mitteler Rebbe. Her mother said to her: "You and your husband" - she and the Rebbe Maharash - "should write a Sefer Torah", and the Mitteler Rebbe added and said: "You will have a good son, and do not forget about my name". The dream repeated itself on 19 Kislev, and only then did she tell it to her husband, the Rebbe Maharash.
We will not go into all the details of the story. The Rebbe Maharash wanted very much that the Sefer Torah be written on hides of animals that were slaughtered and kosher, and therefore the writing began only on 15 Shevat, since several weeks passed until such hides were found. They finished writing the Sefer Torah in Elul of that year, and the completion and the bringing in of the Sefer Torah took place discreetly, with a very small group, on 13 Cheshvan; and a few days later, on 20 Cheshvan, the Rebbe Rashab was born.
And this is the next passage: "Born in Lubavitch, 20 Marcheshvan 5621". At the bris, at which the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek established his name, as mentioned, he also referred to the date and said "20, 5621" - the two kaf's in the date, an allusion to the level of keser ila'ah.
The Rebbe Rashab "married his cousin, Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah", the daughter of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Avrutch, son of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek. She was born almost a year before the Rebbe Rashab, on 15 Teves 5621, in Lubavitch.
Let us say a few words about her from what her son, the Rebbe Rayatz, wrote about his mother Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah: with her great wisdom, her abundant understanding and her fine and wondrous character traits, she worked and acted for the benefit of the family of the household of the Rebbe and for the benefit of the chassidim. She would pray unhurriedly three times a day until her very last day, and she said Tehillim before Shacharis and Tehillim after Shacharis, and she had daily study sessions in Midrash, in Aggadah and in chassidus, until her very last day.
She passed away on Shabbos Kodesh 13 Shevat of the year 5702, in New York in the United States. On the morning of that Shabbos she said: "Today is Shabbos Shirah. The prayer must be entirely different". She began to pray, and in the middle of the prayer, during the saying of "Nishmas kol chai", she passed away with the siddur in her hand. Her resting place is in New York, not far from the Ohel.
The Rebbe Rayatz related that he once told his mother about the passing of Rebbetzin Rivkah, the wife of the Rebbe Maharash, who also passed away suddenly, immediately upon the conclusion of her prayer. It is described there that she finished praying, gave the siddur to the Rebbe Rayatz, placed her hand on his head and blessed him for having helped her, and immediately afterward she passed away suddenly. When his mother heard this, she responded: "I am blessed that with me too it should be the same way" - and indeed so it was with her as well.
The wedding was on "the night after Shabbos Kodesh, 11 Elul 5635". The Rebbe Rashab was then fourteen years old, and the Rebbetzin was fifteen. And when was the match settled? When the Rebbe Rashab was four years old and the Rebbetzin was five. This was at the instruction of the grandfather, the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, that they settle the match, and then rosh perakim were written between the brothers - the Rebbe Maharash and his brother Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak - in the presence of their father, the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, regarding the match of the two children, and then it was established that the wedding would take place ten years later, in the summer of 5635.
The wedding was held in Avrutch, on the night after Shabbos, 11 Elul 5635. The Rebbe Maharash, father of the Rebbe Rashab, was not present at the wedding, since the state of his health did not allow him to travel from Lubavitch to Avrutch, and only the mother, the Rebbetzin, traveled. The Rebbe Maharash wanted very much that they manage to return for the last sheva brachos in Lubavitch, but in practice there was a delay, and the last sheva brachos was held in Avrutch.
The next thing related here is about the year "5640 - he began to work in communal affairs". At that time, as we already related in the life of the Rebbe Maharash regarding that year, 5640, there were pogroms against Jews, and the Rebbe Maharash was occupied for an entire year with helping Jews during that period. The Rebbe Rashab had already then entered into communal activity, brought his father all the information he needed to know on the matter and everything that was happening in the country, and helped in the efforts on behalf of the Jewish people.
From that year, 5640, which is three years before the passing of the Rebbe Maharash, his father began to draw him closer than the brothers and the brother-in-law; he drew him very close and transmitted to him all the principles and all the matters involved in dealing with communal affairs. Already then he designated him for the continuation.
The next matter, and with it we will conclude, is the year "5643 - he began to guide anash and received the nesius". At the very beginning of the year 5643, on 13 Tishrei, the father of the Rebbe Rashab passed away, as we related earlier. It is known that the Raza, the older brother of the Rebbe Rashab, Rabbi Zalman Aharon, did not want to accept the nesius. The Rebbe Rashab began to guide anash, as noted here in 5643, and began to say maamarim of chassidus; the first maamar he said was already on Sukkos, literally two days after the passing.
Here it is written "he received the nesius", even though in practice the matter took time: he said chassidus publicly, but he began receiving chassidim for yechidus only in 5650, and until then he did not receive chassidim for yechidus. The Rebbe would relate that these first ten years could be called ten years of seclusion of his father, and only after ten years, in 5653, is that considered the year in which Lubavitch awakened - chassidim felt that they had a Rebbe and that they had a guide. The matter took ten years, but simply put, already in 5643 he was the successor, and therefore the matter is noted for the year 5643, without going into all the length of the stories as they appear in the memoirs of the previous Rebbe and in other places.