Gaining Momentum throughout the Month of Kislev
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
In the coming week we will enter the month of Kislev, a Chassidishe month. The special days of Kislev begin with Rosh Chodesh Kislev followed by Tes and Yud Kislev, Yud Daled Kislev, Yud Tes and Chof Kislev, and ends with Chanukah (see the Chabad Chodesh for more details). Surely after refreshing our own memory about the greatness and significance of these special days we will sit down with our families and share the meaning of these days as well as what they mean to us personally.
I recall as a child in the years before phone hookups to the Rebbe’s farbrengens in New York were available how my father would make a farbrengen for the community in our home. We had to rent tables and chairs. My mother cooked fish and baked mezonos. My father would sit and retell the story of Yud Tes Kislev. Anywhere between 40-50 people would gather and sit together for up to two hours. That’s how we as children knew that these days were special. The same was true for Yud Beis Tammuz.
Not everyone is a shiach, nevertheless we can all create an atmosphere in our homes when we sit together and go over the stories of these days and relate what they mean to us and why these days are so special.
This year Rosh Chodesh Kislev marks 40 years since the Rebbe went home after recovering from the heart attack on Shemini Atzeres. A lot has been written about the events surrounding the heart attack and the Rebbe’s recovery. When we take time to attend a Rosh Chodesh farbrengen and we hear the story from those who were present at that time as they relate their personal experience, it provides an entirely different depth to the significance of the day and it gives us a living sense of what those tumultuous moments felt like.
When the Rebbe in the middle of hakafos had a heart attack and then went up to his room on the night of Shemini Atzeres everyone in 770 and throughout Crown Heights were in a state of shock. The shockwaves reverberated with an increasing intensity with every passing hour. Notwithstanding the shock and our dismay, we came to hear that the Rebbe was demanding simcha and dancing. We heard this because of Rabbi Kazanovsky. The next day in the afternoon of Shemini Atzeres Rabbi Kazanovsky was in the Rebbe’s room. While standing near the Rebbe he began to break down and weep. The Rebbe told him that if he was concerned about his health he would increase his simcha. The Rebbe added that his health depended on it. Soon afterwards Rabbi Kazanovsky went outside of 770 together with Rabbi Groner, stood on a bench and repeated the Rebbe's words for all to hear. (For more details about these events see the Chabad Chodesh for Kislev)
When we listen to this story being told from someone who was present, we feel what it was like and we relive these events. When we reflect we begin to understand what a great impact these days have had on our lives. The entire generation would look completely different if the outcome would have been different. Our participation during these days makes a immeasurable difference in how we understand and live with these events. This is true for all the special days in the month of Kislev. That's why it's so important to attend the farbrengens throughout this special month. In this way we connect ourselves our families and our communities to the Rebbeim and to the ways of Chassidus in an ever increasing manner.
The days of Rosh Chodesh Kislev and Hei Teves are similar in my view to Yud Tes Kislev and 3rd night of Chanukah in the following way. On Yud Tes Kislev the Alter Rebbe was released from his arrest and incarceration on charges of rebelling against the government. This was a physical decree against the Rebbe. The release from the second arrest of the Alter Rebbe on the 3rd night of Chanukah and did not relate to the Alter Rebbe physically rather to the study and dissemination of Chassidus. We are able to see a similar pattern in the events of the life of the Rebbe. Rosh Chodesh Kislev was a physical geula when the Rebbe became well again, and in that way is similar to Yud Tes Kislev. The celebration of Hei Teves did not relate to the Rebbe’s health nor to his physical being rather to the very definition of what a Rebbe is, and in that way is similar to the 3rd night of Chanukah.
When we think about our Rebbe and participate in farbrengens, we relive and energize ourselves our families and our communities during these special days throughout the month of Kislev. Through our participation and through listening to those who experienced it first hand tell their stories we strengthen our special bond to the Rebbe and to Chassidus and integrate that bond into our lives and homes just as the Chassidim of the previous generations did in their times. Through continuing in the pathways of of our Rebbeim and of Chassidus in an ever increasing manner may we merit the revelation of Moshiach now.
A Good Shabbos A Good Chodesh