We are at the thirty-first lesson in the Shalsheles HaYachas. Today we begin the first part of the life of the Rebbe Rayatz, his honorable holiness the Admur, our teacher and master Yosef Yitzchak.
In the Shalsheles HaYachas it is stated in four words: "Born 12 Tammuz 5640". But behind these words stands an interesting story.
The mother of the Rebbe Rayatz was the Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah, wife of the Rebbe Rashab. Four years had passed since the wedding and they still had not had a child, and this weighed on her greatly. As is told, there was something in between, and therefore the Rebbe Rayatz was not considered a firstborn, but still she had not merited a child, and the matter touched her to the heart.
On Simchas Torah a farbrengen and a kiddush were held in the home of the Rebbe Maharash, in her father-in-law's house. Apparently there was a custom there to bless all those present during the farbrengen, and they made a special Mi Shebeirach for each of those present. Afterwards they went into the women's room and made a special Mi Shebeirach for each of the women, and by divine providence it happened that they forgot her and did not even mention her. This was very hard for her, and although afterwards they said "we will make one for her too," that was no remedy; to the pain of not having children was added the pain of having been forgotten in the Mi Shebeirach.
She returned to her home, burst into tears in her room, and fell asleep from her weeping. And this is how she tells it: in her dream a Jew whom she did not recognize came in to her and asked her why she was crying. She poured out her heart and described her situation, and that Jew said to her: Do not cry, I promise you that this very year, with God's help, you will be blessed with a son. But on one condition - immediately after the holiday, immediately after Simchas Torah, you must distribute eighteen rubles to tzedakah from your own personal money; and on a second condition - that no one should know about it. And the man immediately disappeared.
After some time, still within that same dream, that Jew returned and with him two other men whom she also did not recognize, and he repeated his promise in their presence. The three of them agreed, blessed her and left, and she awoke from her dream.
Later on, still on Simchas Torah, her husband the Rebbe Rashab returned from the farbrengen at his father the Rebbe Maharash, after having said lechaim. When he entered her room he did a "kulye" on the floor and rolled about, for he was in an exceedingly elevated mood. It was then that she told him her dream. The Rebbe Rashab heard the entire dream, and he too did not know who was being spoken of, but he understood that such a dream has meaning.
He went with her to his father, the Rebbe Maharash, so that she would tell him the dream. After he heard it, he said to her: describe the figures to me, exactly as they appeared. She described to him the first figure, the second and the third, and he said to her: the first was the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, my father; and the other two were the Alter Rebbe and the Mitteler Rebbe. Then she understood that something wondrous was happening here.
Now the task stood before her of obtaining eighteen rubles of her own. It is described there that she had a garment which the Rebbe Rashab was not pleased that she wore, and she decided to sell that garment. But even this she had to do wisely, for it would not be fitting for the Rebbe's daughter-in-law to go and sell a garment for money, and therefore she did it in a way that would not become known. The main thing was that she have the eighteen rubles in hand, which was a considerable sum. She gave them to tzedakah, and that very year the Rebbe Rayatz was born - on 12 Tammuz 5640.
The next thing that appears here is the year "5655". We are skipping fifteen years, since in 5640 he was born and in 5655 he was already fifteen years old. In that year "he entered communal work as the private secretary of his honorable holiness his father the Admur" - that is, secretary of the Rebbe Rashab in communal matters - "and participated in the assembly of communal activists in Kovna".
The Rebbe Rayatz himself tells about this in Sefer HaSichos 5697, part two. He relates that on his fifteenth birthday, 12 Tammuz, which fell on a Thursday, his father called him and said to him: I wish to describe to you one hundred and forty years of communal activity of the Admurim, the leaders of Chabad. For four hours he described before him how the Alter Rebbe began from the age of eleven to occupy himself with communal matters, and he went through and told him about each one of the Rebbes in order, about all the periods - challenging periods in which things were accomplished with difficulty.
And at the conclusion he said to him: mazal tov, now you are entering the work of haskalos and the work of the community. The Rebbe Rayatz describes there with tremendous enthusiasm that he told his father that he was placing himself at his disposal, and whatever would be required of him to do - he would do to the very end. Immediately his father gave him instructions on how one adapts oneself to communal work, and all the guidance on the matter. And from that moment he entered upon being a great activist in communal work.
The next thing that appears here is "5656 - participates in the Vilna assembly" - apparently a continuation of the previous one, the communal assembly in Kovna, and a year later the assembly in Vilna. It is not described here which subjects the assemblies dealt with, but these were matters of saving the Jewish people, as will be detailed further on.
"5657 - 13 Elul - he married the daughter of the Rav and chassid Rav Avraham, the Rebbetzin Nechama Dina". In Tammuz 5656 the Rebbe became a chosson, and the wedding was on 13 Elul 5657.
And what was her lineage? We have already mentioned this earlier, and we will repeat it: here it is mentioned only that she was the daughter of the Rav and chassid Rav Avraham Schneerson, and he was the son of the Maharin, Rav Yisrael Noach, son of the Tzemach Tzedek. It emerges that the Rebbetzin was a direct granddaughter of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek. She was born a year and four months after the Rebbe Rayatz - the Rayatz was born on 12 Tammuz 5640, and she was born on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan 5642, and passed away on the tenth of Teves 5731.
As long as she was alive, the Rebbe would hold all the holiday meals in her home, on the second floor; all the meals that the Rebbe held continued to be held there as always, until the tenth of Teves 5731. Thanks to this we have in our possession very interesting things that the Rebbe spoke during those meals - as long as she was alive.
Let us continue on: "5658 - the administration of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva was entrusted to him". As we said, on 13 Elul 5657 was his wedding, and during the seven days of feasting, at the end of 5657, the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva was founded. Apparently only a few weeks passed after the wedding, and immediately his father placed upon him the task of serving as director of the yeshiva. That is, from its very beginning he was the director of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva.
The next item: "5661 - he makes his travels" - for what purpose? "For the sake of the preparations for the establishment of the factory in Dubrovna" - where did he travel? "To Vilna, Brisk, Lodz and Koenigsberg".
And what was this factory? It was the first large factory in the world in which the managers, the clerks and the workers were all Jews - some two thousand Jews; and the only factory in the world whose official day of rest was on Shabbos. We already learned about this in the life of the Rebbe Rashab. In the factory they spun wool, and the entire purpose was to provide a livelihood for thousands of Jews, so that they would have what to eat and what to wear, in comfort and not under pressure.
And the Rebbe Rayatz traveled to all those places in order to raise the resources that would make the establishment of the factory possible. One can also see in the Igros Kodesh of the Rebbe Rashab the references to this factory, and his encouragement, following it, to open more. We mentioned in the life of the Rebbe Rashab which family assisted greatly in its establishment.
We see and follow how all the Rebbes, each one in his time, gave of themselves literally - with money and with time - to help Jews, so that they would have a livelihood in whatever form it might be. All the Rebbes occupied themselves with this in a wondrous manner at all times. And it will be continued, with God's help.