These days contain two very special anniversaries in the Jewish calendar. As I already noted last week, the 20th of Teves (which was this past Monday, 1st of January), was the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Moses Maimonides, otherwise known as the Rambam. The 24th of Tevet (Friday, 5th of January) is the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shneur Zalman, founder of Chabad Chassidism.
These two Torah giants have arguably made the greatest and most important contributions towards the revealed and esoteric parts of Torah.
In his magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah, compiled in the years 1170-1180 CE, Maimonides incorporated the details of all the laws pertaining to all of the 613 commandments of the Torah including the final chapters which cover the commandments and laws relevant to the Messianic era. His work is the most oft-quoted rabbinic source within all Rabbinical writings during the past millennia.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman also trail-blazed a new path which allowed the teaching of the previously hidden aspects of the Torah - P'nimiyut HaTorah - to be comprehended intellectually and thus allowed for the esoteric to be studied as one would the revealed dimension of Torah..
Rabbi Shneur Zalman was not only a master in the area of the more esoteric aspects of the Torah. Even as a child he was considered great even amongst the greatest scholars with regard to the revealed parts of the Torah - nigle d'Torah, as well.
This quality of Rabbi Shneur Zalman is alluded to in his name, Shneur, which can be broken up into two Hebrew words, "Shnei" and "ohr" which mean "two lights." Rabbi Shneur Zalman illuminated the world with his greatness in the two lights of the Torah. His Magnum opus, the Tanya, has illuminated the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jews worldwide and to date more than 8000 editions have been printed in many languages and in thousands of locations around the world. His Shulchan Aruch - code of Jewish Law is also avidly studied, referenced, analysed and appreciated by the most astute Talmudic scholars and Halachic experts across all circles.
