A month of happiness

From an e-mail by Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver containing the Rebbe’s hora’os for the month of Kislev.

The following are some of the auspicious dates that occur in the month of Kislev:

1st of Kislev: The Rebbe returned home in 5738 (1978), having recovered from a heart attack.
2nd of Kislev: The books were returned to the Lubavitch Library following a lengthy court case in 5748 (1987).
3rd of Kislev: Marriage of the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, known as the Tzemach Tzedek, in 5564 (1803).
6th of Kislev: The Rebbe’s engagement in 5689 (1928).
9th of Kislev: Birth and yahrtzait of the second Lubavitcher Rebbe, known as the Mitteler Rebbe; he was born on the 9th of Kislev, 5534 (1773), and passed away on the same date in 5588 (1827).
10th of Kislev: Release of the Mitteler Rebbe from Czarist imprisonment in 5587 (1826).
11th of Kislev: The Rebbe was called to the Torah in preparation for his marriage in 5689 (1928).
14th of Kislev: Marriage of the Rebbe in 5689 (1928).
18th of Kislev: Completion of the annual study of Tanya.
19th of Kislev: Yahrtzait of the Magid of Mezritch in 5533 (1772).
19th-20th of Kislev: Release of the Alter Rebbe from Czarist imprisonment in 5559 (1798); this date marks the “Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus.”
20th of Kislev: The Tanya was first printed in 5557 (1796).
26th of Kislev: The Alter Rebbe received the first edition of Tanya in 5557 (1796). Bris of the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, known as the Rebbe Rashab, in 5621 (1860).
27th of Kislev: Release of the Alter Rebbe from his second imprisonment, in 5561 (1800); this coincided with the third day of Chanukah. Although he was freed, he was required to reside within the city of Petersburg.
29th of Kislev: Release of the Alter Rebbe from his second imprisonment — according to alternative accounts. The Rebbe suggested that significant developments in his release occurred on both the 27th and the 29th of Kislev.

I personally welcome this month, because, with all due respect, this Cheshvan was supposed to be very happy for me, but turned out to be one of the unhappiest months in my life (in a revealed way only — and even then, not in all areas, since there were some things which went very well, boruch Hashem… and of course, b’pnimiyus, everything was a blessing from Eibeshter).

In retrospect, actually, it makes a lot of sense. Which brings me to my main question: why so much simcha in Kislev? Why less simcha in some other months? How did it happen that we have holidays in particular days and not others? Coincidence? Random historical occurence? The following is an exerpt from a post I wrote last year, around Chanukah time.

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In one of his shiurim on Chanukah (listen also to this shiur on the whole month of Kislev), Rabbi Paltiel explains that time is also a creation. Besides the time that is bound to space (which Einstein’s theories of relativity talk about), there is a more general, “background” time. Every moment of this time has its unique spiritual energy — Sunday has one type of energy, Monday another, etc.

This explains why certain holidays in Jewish history came and went, and other holidays remained. The particular day on which a particular holiday happened had its unique spiritual energy. The holidays with “universal” spiritual energies are still celebrated by Jews. For instance, the 15th of Nissan (the day when Jews left Egypt) had an energy of liberation, redemption from slavery, overcoming of one’s limitations and so on. This is why Pesach is celebrated throughout generations — not (only) to commemorate the leaving of Egypt, but mainly because the day itself is liberating; the same spiritual energy that allowed Jews to leave Egypt many years ago on this day appears again every year.

This applies to any holy day on Jewish calendar. On Rosh HaShana (New Year), the source of energy that allows the world to exist is renewed. By celebrating Rosh HaShana, we are celebrating literal rebirth of the Universe.

Shabbos is not merely a day to commemorate the fact that G-d “rested” (i.e., did not create the world actively); on this day, the stretch of time itself (and as a result, the world that exists in this time) is holy. The same mode of creation that was during the first Shabbos — through “thought” as opposed to “speech” — happens every Shabbos. It is as if on Shabbos we did not exist “outside” of Hashem, but inside His “mind”.

Rabbi Paltiel gives another example. In Sha’alos veTeshuvos min haShomayim (“Questions and Answers from Heaven”), a book in which halachic questions are asked “beyond the Curtain” and answers are recorded, at the end of one such teshuva, it is written: “Today is 19th of Kislev, Tuesday, and it is a day for celebration”. For a thousand years it was not known why 19th of Kislev was a happy day — until 1799, when on a Tuesday, 19th of Kislev, the first Rebbe of Chabad Chassidus, R’ Shneur Zalman of Lyadi (“Alter Rebbe”) was released from prison. This day became known as “New Year of Chassidus”, and it is generally recognized amongst Chabad Chassidim as a day instrumental for dissemination for Chabad Chassidus, which is a recipe for bringing Mashiach.

Yud-Tes Kislev is a lot bigger than Chabad. It is not New Year of Chassidus Chabad; it is New Year of Chassidus. In Yud-Tes Kislev lies spiritual victory of Baal Shem Tov. Baal Shem Tov was a special soul that came from heavens to introduce new, special type of Judaism, and it was being judged. [...] And the miracle of Yud-Tes Kislev effected not just Chabad Chassidim, but all Jews. [Listen on for explanation.]

The same is true regarding Chanukah. The day of 25th of Kislev has the special spiritual energy of renewal and dedication of Beis HaMikdosh. When the Mishkan was built, it was ready to be dedicated on the 25th of Kislev. Moses was told by G-d to wait until Adar, but the energy of this day revealed itself when it came time (on the same day) to renew and rededicate Beis HaMikdosh after victory over Greeks.

So, it is true that we celebrate the historical occurence of each holiday, but this occurence is but a keili, a vessel for the spiritual energy behind the occurence. We are really celebrating the spiritual occurence of a particular day (that is happening on that day), but since we live in the physical world and cannot “grasp” the spiritual events in their purity (they are beyond this world) — nor should we do this, because the ultimate purpose of creation is making a dwelling place for G-d in this, physical world, — we “dress” the spiritual energy of a particular day in the “vessel” of a particular holiday, with its history, customs, special prayers, symbolism, etc.

That is why Purim, for instance, could be meaningful even for Jews in the middle of Holocaust. While the historical relevance of this holiday was seemingly distant and reversed by contemporary events, the spiritual relevance (Purim is higher that Yom Kipur, as the Lubavitcher Rebbe explains in one of his ma’amorim) was nevertheless there. […]