A Special Day
After the geula of the Alter Rebbe, the chassidim wanted to write a Megillas Yud-Tes Kislev to be read each year, so they prepared a draft to present to him. The matter was kept a secret until they traveled to Liozna, where they asked for his consent for their project. The Alter Rebbe did not grant it, but told them, "This day will be established as a Yom-Tov amongst Yidden, in which HaShem's Name will be glorified and thousands of Yidden will be aroused to teshuva and avoda. This episode is engraved in the 'heart of Yisroel' above and is written in the heart of every Yid below."
(לקוטי דיבורים ח"א ע' 38)
The Seudas Hoda'a
How did the chassidim in Liadi celebrate the seudas hoda'a for the geula of Yud-Tes Kislev which took place in תקס"ב (1801)?
Reb Aizik Homiler described it for us: "That year, during Tishrei, the Rebbe was extremely joyful. He mentioned to the chassidim who were close to him that he had not yet made a seudas hoda'a for his geula, as one is obligated to do, al pi halachah. From this, they understood that the coming Yud-Tes Kislev would be something out of the ordinary.
At the beginning of Kislev, we, the young chassidim of Homil, Bobruisk and the surrounding villages, put together whatever money we had, hired a wagon, and bought a dozen pairs of volikess, felt-lined winter boots. We set off together by foot, except that from time to time we took turns resting on the wagon. As we passed through various towns, we were joined by many more chassidim – eight minyonim in all – and on Thursday of Parshas Vayishlach we arrived in Liadi.
That Shabbos was the most joyous that chassidim ever experienced. During Shabbos the Rebbe delivered three maamarim – one before Kabbalas Shabbos, another early on Shabbos morning, and a third maamar after Mincha. We chazered the maamarim over and over, under the guidance of the chozrim, carefully recalling divrei harav.
On Sunday and Monday people began arriving from far and near, from dozens of towns and villages. The townsmen of Liadi announced that all the orchim would be served meals without payment for the entire week, until after the forthcoming Shabbos. Even some of the goyishe townsmen took part in the hachnasas orchim, and dozens of them even cleared out their houses to make room for orchim to sleep. The manager of the estates of Count Liubermirsky announced that every single day a shipment of food would be delivered to them from the count's estates, including 1200 kg (over 2600 pounds) of flour for bread, as well as three cows and a few calves for shechita. In addition, he would deliver a few wagonloads of hay for the visitors' horses.
On Tuesday, Yud-Tes Kislev, the chassidim went to daven in both the small and the large beis midrash, as well as in all the other batei midrashim in town. Wherever you went, the place was packed with people. It was announced that after Mincha Gedola everyone should gather in the large courtyard of the beis midrash, where the Rebbe would say a maamar. The courtyard was packed with people, and in the center of the large beis midrash, the big bima was set up, with a long table on it. Suddenly we heard the huge voice of Reb Shmuel Elye der Heizeriker ('the hoarse' – the nickname that jokingly referred to his resonating roar). He announced that the Rebbe was arriving and everyone should be silent. When Shmuel Elye said Sha! the entire room shook. Soon a group of broad-shouldered yungeleit arrived, and like strings, they slipped through the packed crowd, and in just a few short minutes they created a broad path from the door to the bima.
As soon as the Rebbe appeared at the door, we were overcome by awe, a deeply-felt hadras kavod. The Rebbe was singing alone, to the words tze'ena ure'ena. He was accompanied by a brother on either side, a third brother and two eminent elders behind them, the Rebbe's three sons following, and then the Tzemach Tzedek. Approaching the steps leading up to the bima, the Rebbe began to sing Keili Atah, and took his seat at the table, along with those who were with him. As he sang, the awesome hislahavus within us grew from moment to moment, and the silence echoing in the beis midrash overwhelmed us with an inner dread.
The Rebbe then began the maamar beginning with the words, pada beshalom nafshi. When he completed it, the entire olam burst out in a joyful niggun. In the smaller yechidus-beis-midrash, a table had been set for a seudas hoda'a. This was attended only by the Rebbe, his sons and brothers, and a few selected elder chassidim."
(סה"ש קיץ ה'ש"ת ע' 49)
Celebrating the Yom-Tov
Amongst chassidim Yud-Tes Kislev was traditionally celebrated as an actual Yom-Tov. All would dress in their finest attire and would greet each other throughout the day with a meaningful “gut yom-tov!” Tremendous feasts were held in all shuls and homes in honor of the occasion. As a child, the Rebbe collected the funds for a special children’s feast – this being the only time when he would be involved in something else other than Torah.
(סה"ש תש"ב עמ' 19, ימי מלך ח"א ע' 152)
Year after year, as if for the first time, Reb Nachum, the Alter Rebbe's grandson, would relate in patient detail all the events that took place during the stormy time of the Alter Rebbe's arrest. He would describe the tense atmosphere of that period, the libelous accusation the misnagdim brought to the czarist authorities, and their exultation when the Alter Rebbe was arrested. Reb Nachum would then describe the Alter Rebbe's stay in prison, his geula, the way in which the good news spread, and the Rebbe's return trip to Liozna from the prison in Petersburg. When he recalled the arrest, his voice would drop, as if he were weeping; when he described the liberation, his voice would rise with the simcha of a remembered victory. Like the Megilla Reading on Purim, he would tell the whole story once at night and again by day. Moreover, if one of the dignified elder chassidim would join the gathering after he had begun, he would go back to the very beginning and start all over again!
(לקוטי דיבורים ח"א ע' 22)
Consider
Over what did the chassidim rejoice on Yud-Tes Kislev? How can we feel today the same joy as they did?
