The Alter Rebbe: Difference between revisions

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''"Whoever grasps my ‘handle’ (i.e., follows my teachings and ways), I will do good for them in this world and the next."''

He also ~~shared profound teachings on the nature of the soul’s~~ transition from this world to the ~~next~~, ~~emphasizing~~ that the ~~spiritual state of a person’s~~ life on ~~earth determines~~ their ~~experience after passing~~.

He also said: "The transition from this world to the Next World is a simple matter and depends only on the one who transfers. There are those who are in their final moments for a long time, apparently their transferor is among the tormentors. There are those whose final moments last only a few moments, apparently their transferor is among the good messengers. The obligation of departing from the body depends on the time of life in the body, and the verse explains 'better is my death than my life,' that the good and life after death depends on bodily life according to how one lived while the soul was in the body, and from this comes my excitement."

Moments before his passing, the Alter Rebbe wrote on a note the teaching about the lowly soul: "The truly lowly soul in its root - its service is physical Torah."

The Alter Rebbe instructed to close the room where he lay and only allow in those who wanted to pray, and if two Jews who were lax in their Judaism happened to come there - the homeowner should try to frighten them and bring them to teshuva. As reward for this, the Rebbe promised long life to the homeowner (the non-Jew).

== The Passing of the Alter Rebbe ==

On ~~Motzaei~~ Shabbos Parshas Shemos, 24 Teves 5573 ~~(1813)~~, ~~shortly~~ after Maariv and ~~havdalah~~, at ~~precisely~~ 10:22 PM~~, the Alter Rebbe~~ passed away.

On Motzei Shabbos Parshas Shemos, 24 Teves 5573, immediately after Maariv and Havdala over coffee, at 10:22 PM - he passed away.

== Burial in Haditch ==

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The Alter Rebbe was laid to rest in the Jewish cemetery in Haditch, where an ''ohel'' was later built over his gravesite. Following the burial, the Tzemach Tzedek moved to Haditch to reside near the holy resting place of his grandfather.

== His Resting Place - Haditch ==

Since there was no Jewish cemetery in the village of Piena, they transported the Alter Rebbe the next day by snow sled to the town of Haditch, about 300 kilometers away, where there was a Jewish cemetery.

When they were transporting the Alter Rebbe for burial in Haditch, the wagon stopped in the middle of the road and it appeared that the Alter Rebbe raised himself and was lying in the air. The escorts were very frightened and then they noticed that an impure animal had gone under the wagon. They chased it away and the Alter Rebbe returned to lying as before.

The Alter Rebbe was brought to rest in the Jewish cemetery in Haditch and later an ohel (structure) was built over the gravesite.

After the burial, the Tzemach Tzedek moved to live in Haditch, near the holy resting place.

== His Family ==

* His daughter, Rebbetzin Freida - married Rabbi Eliyahu Klutzker

* His daughter, Rebbetzin Devorah Leah - married Rabbi Shalom Shachna Altshuler

* His daughter, Rebbetzin Rachel - married Rabbi Avraham Sheines

* His son, Rabbi DovBer, the Mitteler Rebbe - married Rebbetzin Sheina Schneuri

* His son, Rabbi Chaim Avraham

* His son, Rabbi Moshe - married Mrs. Shifra Schneuri of the Rivlin family

== His Lineage ==

The Alter Rebbe's lineage reaches back to the Maharal of Prague, who himself traced back to Rav Hai Gaon son of Rav Sherira Gaon son of Rav Chanina Gaon, who were from the family of the heads of the exile and the nesi'im until the kings of Judah and King David.

== His Written Works ==

* Igros Kodesh (Alter Rebbe)

* Amirah L'Nochri

* Biurei HaZohar (Alter Rebbe)

* Hilchos Talmud Torah

* Likkutei Torah

* Meah Shearim

* Sefer HaMaamarim (Alter Rebbe)

* Siddur Admur HaZaken

* Sefer HaTanya

* Piskei HaSiddur

* Kuntres HaRav

* Shaalos U'Teshuvos Admur HaZaken

* Shaalos U'Teshuvos HaRav

* Shulchan Aruch Admur HaZaken

* Torah Ohr

* Boneh Yerushalayim

* Maamarei Admur HaZaken - HaKetzarim

* Luach Birchos HaNehenin

== His Innovations and Enactments ==

The Alter Rebbe was a pioneer not only in Chassidus but also in halacha and custom. Besides the Shulchan Aruch he composed, the Alter Rebbe instituted several enactments and innovations:

* Sefer HaTanya - the way of serving Hashem

* Prayer text - a siddur suitable for every soul

* Polished knives - polishing shechita knives on both sides of the blade

* STaM script - a new form of letters combining Kabbalah and halacha

* Division of Shas - completion of the Talmud yearly by each Chabad community

* Mikvah enactment - halachic solution facilitating immersion in a spring

* Arev Kablan - selling chametz to a non-Jew before Pesach through a guarantor

* Tefillin knot - special method in tying head tefillin and arm tefillin

== The Portrait of the Alter Rebbe ==

====== Extended Article - Portrait of the Alter Rebbe ======

In 1799, when the Alter Rebbe was imprisoned, he was painted by the nobles of Petersburg, showing him at his age during that period. The existence of this portrait became known through a chassid who heard, in 1862, the Tzemach Tzedek telling this to his son, the Rebbe Maharash.

It is not known with certainty whether the original portrait was drawn in black lead, as it is known from the prints, or in color. The earliest surviving item from the original portrait is a copy from the first printing of the portrait, in large format. It was made by R' Shmarya Schneerson and is currently preserved in the Lubavitch Library.

== Ten Niggunim (Melodies) ==

The musical notes of the "Four Gates" from the Ten Niggunim

Expanded entry - '''Ten Niggunim'''

There is a tradition among Chabad chassidim that the Alter Rebbe composed ten specific niggunim that have a special segula - bringing those who sing them to spiritual awakening (hisorerus teshuva) and connection of the soul to Elokus. It is customary not to sing these niggunim routinely, but rather at designated times or at appropriate moments. We know the identity of five of these ten niggunim, while the rest are attributed to him but there is uncertainty whether he actually composed them himself.

# Avinu Malkeinu

# Keli Atah

# Arba Bavos

# Bnei Heichala

# K'Ayal Taarog

# Lecha Dodi

# Niggun Deveikus Rosh Hashanah

# Niggun Deveikus Shabbos

# Tzeina Ureina

# Kol Dodi

== See Also ==

* Tanya

* Union of Descendants of the Alter Rebbe

* Haditch

== Further Reading ==

* Rabbi Shalom DovBer Levin, "History of Chabad in Czarist Russia", Kehot Publication Society, New York, 2010

* Sterna Sarah Schneerson, '''The Life Scroll of the Rav of Liadi''' - Documentation of the arrest and redemption of the Alter Rebbe as written by the wife of the Rebbe Rashab in her youth and was lost over the years. In 1940 it was found by her step-nephew, Rabbi Shimshon Dov Yerushalimski who gave it to the Frierdiker Rebbe.

* Rabbi Chaim Meir Heilman, '''Beis Rebbi'''

* Mordechai Teitelbaum, '''The Rav of Liadi and the Chabad Movement''', 1910

* Rabbi Yehoshua Mondshine, Journey to Berditchev

* Rabbi Shneur Zalman Berger, History of Chabad in Petersburg, Chapter 4 - The Alter Rebbe in Prison

* Arrest and Redemption of Yud Tes Kislev, Special supplement in Beis Moshiach magazine 207

* Overview - Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe (Gedolei Yisroel and the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, How the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch was received in the Lithuanian community), Beis Moshiach magazine 1343

* Rabbi Chanoch Glitzenstein, '''Sefer HaToldos''', Alter Rebbe

* Shneur Zalman Berger, HaTamim (Beis Moshiach) (supplement in Beis Moshiach magazine). Series about his great students

* Rabbi Dov Tverski, '''Hilchasa K'Rav''' - Commentary on the laws of Shabbos according to the Alter Rebbe, Kfar Chabad

* R' Avraham Levi, '''Ksav Chabad''' pamphlet - Overview and analysis of the Alter Rebbe's handwriting. Migdal HaEmek, Teves 2009

* '''HaRishon''', Published by Toras Chabad L'Bnei HaYeshivos, 2013

* Menachem Ziegelboim, Istalek Yekara - The story of the passing of Chabad Rebbes page 54, 2013

* Rabbi Nachum Greenwald, The Rav, 2015

* Matanya Engelman, '''A New Path of a 'New Soul'''', Kfar Chabad magazine issue 1992 page 20

[[he:רבי שניאור זלמן מליאדי (אדמו"ר הזקן)]]

@@ Line 143: / Line 143: @@
 ''"Whoever grasps my ‘handle’ (i.e., follows my teachings and ways), I will do good for them in this world and the next."''
-He also shared profound teachings on the nature of the soul’s transition from this world to the next, emphasizing that the spiritual state of a person’s life on earth determines their experience after passing.
+He also said: "The transition from this world to the Next World is a simple matter and depends only on the one who transfers. There are those who are in their final moments for a long time, apparently their transferor is among the tormentors. There are those whose final moments last only a few moments, apparently their transferor is among the good messengers. The obligation of departing from the body depends on the time of life in the body, and the verse explains 'better is my death than my life,' that the good and life after death depends on bodily life according to how one lived while the soul was in the body, and from this comes my excitement."
+Moments before his passing, the Alter Rebbe wrote on a note the teaching about the lowly soul: "The truly lowly soul in its root - its service is physical Torah."
+The Alter Rebbe instructed to close the room where he lay and only allow in those who wanted to pray, and if two Jews who were lax in their Judaism happened to come there - the homeowner should try to frighten them and bring them to teshuva. As reward for this, the Rebbe promised long life to the homeowner (the non-Jew).
 == The Passing of the Alter Rebbe ==
-On Motzaei Shabbos Parshas Shemos, 24 Teves 5573 (1813), shortly after Maariv and havdalah, at precisely 10:22 PM, the Alter Rebbe passed away.
+On Motzei Shabbos Parshas Shemos, 24 Teves 5573, immediately after Maariv and Havdala over coffee, at 10:22 PM - he passed away.
 == Burial in Haditch ==
@@ Line 152: / Line 156: @@
 The Alter Rebbe was laid to rest in the Jewish cemetery in Haditch, where an ''ohel'' was later built over his gravesite. Following the burial, the Tzemach Tzedek moved to Haditch to reside near the holy resting place of his grandfather.
+== His Resting Place - Haditch ==
+Since there was no Jewish cemetery in the village of Piena, they transported the Alter Rebbe the next day by snow sled to the town of Haditch, about 300 kilometers away, where there was a Jewish cemetery.
+When they were transporting the Alter Rebbe for burial in Haditch, the wagon stopped in the middle of the road and it appeared that the Alter Rebbe raised himself and was lying in the air. The escorts were very frightened and then they noticed that an impure animal had gone under the wagon. They chased it away and the Alter Rebbe returned to lying as before.
+The Alter Rebbe was brought to rest in the Jewish cemetery in Haditch and later an ohel (structure) was built over the gravesite.
+After the burial, the Tzemach Tzedek moved to live in Haditch, near the holy resting place.
+== His Family ==
+* His daughter, Rebbetzin Freida - married Rabbi Eliyahu Klutzker
+* His daughter, Rebbetzin Devorah Leah - married Rabbi Shalom Shachna Altshuler
+* His daughter, Rebbetzin Rachel - married Rabbi Avraham Sheines
+* His son, Rabbi DovBer, the Mitteler Rebbe - married Rebbetzin Sheina Schneuri
+* His son, Rabbi Chaim Avraham
+* His son, Rabbi Moshe - married Mrs. Shifra Schneuri of the Rivlin family
+== His Lineage ==
+The Alter Rebbe's lineage reaches back to the Maharal of Prague, who himself traced back to Rav Hai Gaon son of Rav Sherira Gaon son of Rav Chanina Gaon, who were from the family of the heads of the exile and the nesi'im until the kings of Judah and King David.
+== His Written Works ==
+* Igros Kodesh (Alter Rebbe)
+* Amirah L'Nochri
+* Biurei HaZohar (Alter Rebbe)
+* Hilchos Talmud Torah
+* Likkutei Torah
+* Meah Shearim
+* Sefer HaMaamarim (Alter Rebbe)
+* Siddur Admur HaZaken
+* Sefer HaTanya
+* Piskei HaSiddur
+* Kuntres HaRav
+* Shaalos U'Teshuvos Admur HaZaken
+* Shaalos U'Teshuvos HaRav
+* Shulchan Aruch Admur HaZaken
+* Torah Ohr
+* Boneh Yerushalayim
+* Maamarei Admur HaZaken - HaKetzarim
+* Luach Birchos HaNehenin
+== His Innovations and Enactments ==
+The Alter Rebbe was a pioneer not only in Chassidus but also in halacha and custom. Besides the Shulchan Aruch he composed, the Alter Rebbe instituted several enactments and innovations:
+* Sefer HaTanya - the way of serving Hashem
+* Prayer text - a siddur suitable for every soul
+* Polished knives - polishing shechita knives on both sides of the blade
+* STaM script - a new form of letters combining Kabbalah and halacha
+* Division of Shas - completion of the Talmud yearly by each Chabad community
+* Mikvah enactment - halachic solution facilitating immersion in a spring
+* Arev Kablan - selling chametz to a non-Jew before Pesach through a guarantor
+* Tefillin knot - special method in tying head tefillin and arm tefillin
+== The Portrait of the Alter Rebbe ==
+====== Extended Article - Portrait of the Alter Rebbe ======
+In 1799, when the Alter Rebbe was imprisoned, he was painted by the nobles of Petersburg, showing him at his age during that period. The existence of this portrait became known through a chassid who heard, in 1862, the Tzemach Tzedek telling this to his son, the Rebbe Maharash.
+It is not known with certainty whether the original portrait was drawn in black lead, as it is known from the prints, or in color. The earliest surviving item from the original portrait is a copy from the first printing of the portrait, in large format. It was made by R' Shmarya Schneerson and is currently preserved in the Lubavitch Library.
+== Ten Niggunim (Melodies) ==
+The musical notes of the "Four Gates" from the Ten Niggunim
+Expanded entry - '''Ten Niggunim'''
+There is a tradition among Chabad chassidim that the Alter Rebbe composed ten specific niggunim that have a special segula - bringing those who sing them to spiritual awakening (hisorerus teshuva) and connection of the soul to Elokus. It is customary not to sing these niggunim routinely, but rather at designated times or at appropriate moments. We know the identity of five of these ten niggunim, while the rest are attributed to him but there is uncertainty whether he actually composed them himself.
+# Avinu Malkeinu
+# Keli Atah
+# Arba Bavos
+# Bnei Heichala
+# K'Ayal Taarog
+# Lecha Dodi
+# Niggun Deveikus Rosh Hashanah
+# Niggun Deveikus Shabbos
+# Tzeina Ureina
+# Kol Dodi
+== See Also ==
+* Tanya
+* Union of Descendants of the Alter Rebbe
+* Haditch
+== Further Reading ==
+* Rabbi Shalom DovBer Levin, "History of Chabad in Czarist Russia", Kehot Publication Society, New York, 2010
+* Sterna Sarah Schneerson, '''The Life Scroll of the Rav of Liadi''' - Documentation of the arrest and redemption of the Alter Rebbe as written by the wife of the Rebbe Rashab in her youth and was lost over the years. In 1940 it was found by her step-nephew, Rabbi Shimshon Dov Yerushalimski who gave it to the Frierdiker Rebbe.
+* Rabbi Chaim Meir Heilman, '''Beis Rebbi'''
+* Mordechai Teitelbaum, '''The Rav of Liadi and the Chabad Movement''', 1910
+* Rabbi Yehoshua Mondshine, Journey to Berditchev
+* Rabbi Shneur Zalman Berger, History of Chabad in Petersburg, Chapter 4 - The Alter Rebbe in Prison
+* Arrest and Redemption of Yud Tes Kislev, Special supplement in Beis Moshiach magazine 207
+* Overview - Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe (Gedolei Yisroel and the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, How the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch was received in the Lithuanian community), Beis Moshiach magazine 1343
+* Rabbi Chanoch Glitzenstein, '''Sefer HaToldos''', Alter Rebbe
+* Shneur Zalman Berger, HaTamim (Beis Moshiach) (supplement in Beis Moshiach magazine). Series about his great students
+* Rabbi Dov Tverski, '''Hilchasa K'Rav''' - Commentary on the laws of Shabbos according to the Alter Rebbe, Kfar Chabad
+* R' Avraham Levi, '''Ksav Chabad''' pamphlet - Overview and analysis of the Alter Rebbe's handwriting. Migdal HaEmek, Teves 2009
+* '''HaRishon''', Published by Toras Chabad L'Bnei HaYeshivos, 2013
+* Menachem Ziegelboim, Istalek Yekara - The story of the passing of Chabad Rebbes page 54, 2013
+* Rabbi Nachum Greenwald, The Rav, 2015
+* Matanya Engelman, '''A New Path of a 'New Soul'''', Kfar Chabad magazine issue 1992 page 20
 [[he:רבי שניאור זלמן מליאדי (אדמו"ר הזקן)]]