7 Adar, 5675-1915: During a visit to the town of Lubavitch, the Rebbe’s grandfather, Rabbi Baruch Schneur Schneerson, informed the Rebbe Rashab that the Rebbe would begin to don tefillin a few days later in preparation for his Bar Mitzvah. Rabbi Baruch Schneur asked for a blessing that his grandson’s ‘mind and heart be subservient to G-d through donning tefillin,’ and mentioned that ‘he is a young man who, thank G-d, excels in learning to an exceptional degree.’
3 Adar, 5734-1974: The Rebbe discouraged a family from temporarily moving away from Israel to earn money and pay off their debts. ‘The financial gain is a mere possibility; while having to expend time, money, and energy is for certain,’ the Rebbe explained in his letter. ‘Moreover, the impression that people of your stature and age — residents of the Holy Land for eight generations — are escaping’ is the opposite of the encouragement that people need in the months after the Yom Kippur War. ‘G-d, who feeds and sustains all, will provide a livelihood for you in the Holy Land, in a proper and respectable manner.’
