Editing French (section)

== In Chabad Chassidus ==
About the French language, the Alter Rebbe said that he didn't even want to look at the letters of the language.

The Rebbe testifies that several of our Rebbeim spoke the French language, and on one occasion when the Rebbe Rashab visited France with the Rebbe Rayatz, he spoke continuously for four hours in the French language, and connected this to the fact that our Rebbeim dressed in the garments of what was being refined in France in order to purify and refine it and elevate it to holiness.

During the period of the Rebbe Rayatz, when Reb Hillel Zlatopolsky wanted to translate and disseminate chassidic teachings in the French language, the Rebbe Rayatz expressed reservations about it, and on a unique occasion gave a private instruction to Reb David Brawman to learn French.

The Rebbe wrote many times to French-speaking people that although the secretaries do not understand this language, the Rebbe himself does understand it, and therefore they can continue to write to him in French, even though the response they will receive (typed by the secretaries) will be in the holy language [Hebrew], and they can continue to write to him in French, even though the responses to the letters come in other languages.

During the farbrengen of Shabbos Parshas Chukas-Balak 5749 (1989), a group of guests from France was present, and during the farbrengen the Rebbe dedicated a short sicha to them in a rare manner, in the French language, and this was also the case in the sicha of Shabbos Parshas Vayeshev 5752 (1991).

Apart from this, there were several occasions during general yechidus for guests from France that the Rebbe spoke to them in French, and there is even documentation of this, in addition to dozens and hundreds of people who conversed with the Rebbe in this language during private yechidus and dollar distributions.

The Rebbe's books that were translated into the French language were mostly translated by Reb Chaim Mellul and published by Beit Lubavitch Paris.

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