The Rebbe referred to this day as a yom segulah and an eis ratzon.
The horaos of this day include the following:
- To increase set times for Torah study, especially in public.
- To expand your personal library with sefarim of our Rebbeim and with sifrei kodesh in general.
If you will ask the sefarim themselves how their victory should be celebrated, they will tell you that their greatest honor lies not in being kept out of arm’s reach, but in being used even more. (Sefer Hasichos 5748 vol. 1, pp. 184-187)
To elaborate on the directive of acquiring sefarim:
- Each Jewish home should possess basic Jewish sefarim, and especially sefarim of practical halachah, which will be studied on a frequent basis. (This is in addition to possessing a Chumash, siddur, Tehillim and Tanya.)
- Each Jewish child should possess his or her own sefarim. They should be told that they do not need to worry if the sefarim will rip due to constant use, because if that happens, they will be replaced with even nicer ones.
- The minhag of buying a set of Shas for a chosson and a “Korban Minchah” siddur for a kallah should be fulfilled. (Today, this siddur can be replaced with sefarim of practical halachah relevant to women, written either in Hebrew or in any other language.)
- Similarly, sefarim should be given as presents in honor of personal milestones or birthdays. They should be given to children on such occasions as well.
When the Alter Rebbe was released from imprisonment, he took it as a sign that he was to increase in spreading Chassidus even more than before. A similar conclusion can be made regarding the events of Hei Teves. One of the claims of the ‘other side’ was that Agudas Chassidei Chabad and its library of Chabad books and manuscripts was not being used to spread Chassidus. The lesson of Hei Teves is that we must now increase in spreading Chassidus even more than before.
Today’s shiur Chumash concludes with haba’ah mitzraymah shiv’im (46:27).
