BRIEF HISTORY & INTRODUCTION
In 5751 (1991), the Rebbe published and personally distributed a booklet in honor of the 50th anniversary of the 28th of Sivan. The preface to that booklet (Kovetz Chof Ches Sivan, Yovel Shanim) explains that the uniqueness of the 28th of Sivan is expressed in two ways:
- It is the anniversary of the miraculous rescue of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin from the warn-torn European 'Vale of Tears' due to the immense efforts of the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. After a perilous journey, the Rebbe and Rebbetzin finally arrived on American shores on the 28th of Sivan 5701 (1941).
Clearly, such a rescue obligates a thanksgiving to Hashem. Now since this rescue concerns the Rebbe, the Leader of Chabad and thereby of all Jewry (because "The Leader is all" - Rashi, Chukas 21:21) we are all obliged to show our gratitude!
- On this day, an entirely new phase begun that bolstered and brought the dissemination of Torah, Judaism, and Chassidic teachings to an entirely unprecedented level. Upon the Rebbe’s arrival, the Previous Rebbe established three institutions and placed them under the Rebbe’s leadership: Machne Israel (for large-scale activities), Kehot Publishing House, and Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch (educational branch).
It is clear that the Rebbe's arrival completed the transition of the Chabad movement to America ("the lower hemisphere, where the revelation of Matan Torah did not reach in an obvious manner"), from where it spread forth across the entire globe.
Sivan, the third month, is distinguished by the Giving of the Torah on Shavuos, "a threefold Torah to a threefold nation". The number 28 spells the word Ko’ach (power), meaning ‘power’, and the 28th of Sivan thus embodies the power of Sivan, the power of Torah.
The Torah – especially its inner dimensions – enables us to draw forth and reveal the innermost levels of G-dliness and the Jewish soul into the world, transforming the universe into a home for Hashem, and converting exile into redemption. In order to bring Torah into America (where "the revelation of Matan Torah was never openly revealed"), the inner power of Torah was required. This then is the theme of the 28th, the power, of Sivan.
