Editing The Alter Rebbe (section)

==== Marriage ====
When the Alter Rebbe reached marriageable age - at fourteen - his reputation as a gaon (genius) had already spread throughout the region.

Reb Yehuda Leib Segal, one of the wealthy and distinguished residents of Vitebsk, took him as a son-in-law for his daughter, Rebbetzin Sterna. Initially, the wedding was set for Elul 5519, but since the Alter Rebbe's father Rabbi Boruch had to travel at the beginning of Elul, the wedding was postponed.

The mechutan (in-law) Reb Yehuda Leib Segal demanded to hold the wedding in the winter of 5520, but Rabbi Boruch did not agree. After Pesach, Rabbi Boruch traveled again and returned in the month of Tammuz, when he set the wedding date for Friday, Erev Shabbos Nachamu, 12 Menachem Av 5520.

One of the conditions the Alter Rebbe stipulated in agreeing to the shidduch was that he would receive control over the five thousand gold coins that were brought as his dowry, to use as he saw fit. Indeed, in the first year after his marriage, with his wife's consent, he gave the entire sum to families who wished to earn their livelihood from working the land. With this money, he helped them purchase land and farming equipment. Through this initiative, large settlements of Jewish farmers were established along the Dvina River that crosses through Vitebsk. The Alter Rebbe visited these settlements frequently, encouraging the Jews to establish fixed times for Torah study, and would often share stories from Torah and Chazal.

By age eighteen, he was thoroughly versed in all of Talmud with its commentaries, including the works of the Rishonim and Acharonim.