(a) Tes Kislev:

The Mitteler Rebbe — R. DovBer [Shneuri], of sainted memory, the second of the Rebbeim of Chabad — was born on the ninth of Kislev in the year 5534 (תקל"ד; 1773). He was Rebbe from 5573 (תקע"ג; 1812) until his passing on the ninth of Kislev, 5588 (תקפ"ח; 1827). His resting place is in Niezhin.1


(b) Yud Kislev, the Festival of Liberation:2

On the tenth of Kislev in the year 5587 (תקפ"ז; 1826) the Mitteler Rebbe was freed from imprisonment in Vitebsk.

During the preceding Chol HaMoed Sukkos it became known that he had been slandered. On the first day of the week of Parshas Noach, the 28th of Tishrei, government officials escorted him from Lubavitch. At midday he arrived in Dobromisl, where he delivered the maamar beginning Mayim Rabim. The next day he travelled to Liozna, where he delivered the maamar that opens with the phrase, Reshafeha Rishpei Esh. On Tuesday he set out for Vitebsk, where he was imprisoned until the first day of the week of Parshas Vayishlach, which was the tenth of Kislev.593

Chassidim mark this day by a farbrengen.

Tachanun is not said on this day, nor at the preceding Minchah, on the ninth.

“Yud Kislev is when a chassid is born;.... The birth takes place between Yud and Yud-Tes Kislev; it begins on Yud Kislev. A chassidisher farbrengen is the birth of a chassid.”3


(c) Yud-Daled Kislev:

On the third day of the week of Parshas Vayishlach, the fourteenth of Kislev, 5689 (תרפ"ט; 1928), the Rebbe Shlita married the Rebbitzin Chayah Mushka [of saintly memory], daughter of the Rebbe Rayatz, in Warsaw.4


(d) Chai Kislev:

The eighteenth of Kislev marks the completion of the annual cycle of daily readings from the Tanya.5


(e) Yud-Tes-Chaf Kislev, the Festival of Liberation:594

The 19th and 20th of Kislev are the Rosh HaShanah of Chassidus.

The following is the festive greeting used on these two days: “A good Yom-Tov! May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year in the study of Chassidus and in the spiritual lifestyle of Chassidus.”6

* * *

The 19th of Kislev is the yahrzeit of our saintly master, R. DovBer, the Maggid of Mezritch, who [as successor to the Baal Shem Tov] was the mentor of the second generation of the chassidic movement — from 5521 (תקכ"א; 1761) until his passing on the third day of the week of Parshas Vayeishev, Yud-Tes Kislev, 5533 (תקל"ג; 1772). His resting place is in Anipoli.7

* * *

R. Shneur Zalman [of Liadi, author of the Tanya], known as the Alter Rebbe, founder and first leader of the Chabad chassidic movement from 5533 (תקל"ג; 1772) until [his passing on the 24th of Teves in] 5573 (תקע"ג; 1812), was released from his first imprisonment on the 19th of Kislev, late in the afternoon of the third day of the week of Parshas Vayeishev, 5559 (תקנ"ט; 1798).8

From a letter of the Alter Rebbe: “This indeed must be made known, that on the day which G‑d made for us — on the 19th of Kislev; on the third day of the week (concerning which the Torah twice writes ‘It is good’9); on the yahrzeit of our holy master [the Maggid of Mezritch], whose soul reposes in Eden; — on that day, while I was reading the verse in the Book of Tehillim that begins, ‘He has redeemed my soul in peace,’10 and before I began the following verse, I went forth in peace through the G‑d of Peace.”11

The following statement, [handed down by the oral tradition of elder chassidim of that time,] was made by the Alter Rebbe in connection with Yud-Tes Kislev:12

(First Version:) “This day will be fixed as an everlasting festival for Israel, a day on which the great Name of G‑d will be exalted and hallowed. The hearts of thousands of Jews will be aroused in repentance and the service of the heart (i.e., prayer), for this episode is engraved in the heart of the Israel of the World Above, and inscribed in the heart of Israel in This World.”

(Second Version:) “This day will be fixed as an everlasting festival for Israel, a day on which the great Name of G‑d will be exalted and hallowed. The hearts of thousands of Jews will be aroused in repentance and the service of the heart (i.e., prayer), for when this episode will be engraved in the heart of Yisrael Sava,13 it will be inscribed in the heart of Israel in This World.”

* * *

From a letter of the Rebbe Rashab:14 “Yud-Tes Kislev,...the festival on which ‘He redeemed our soul in peace,’ and the light and vitality of our souls were given to us, is the New Year for Chassidus — which our saintly forebears, [the Rebbeim of their respective generations,] have bequeathed to us — i.e., the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov.15

“[We read in the Machzor:] ‘This is the day which is the beginning of Your works.’16 [G‑d’s] true and ultimate motive for creating man upon earth is [His desire] that man cause the light of the innermost dimension of our holy Torah to be revealed. On this day, that light is forthcoming in a general way for the entire year. On this day, therefore, it is our duty to awaken our hearts to an inward and elemental desire and yearning, within the very core of our hearts, that G‑d illuminate our souls with the light of the innermost dimension of His Torah.”

* * *

“One ought to prepare oneself for the approach of the Rosh HaShanah of Chassidus in ways that recall the days of Selichos and the month of Elul.”17

“For a chassid, Yud-Tes Kislev is the day of his [spiritual] circumcision.”595

One does not say Tachanun on the 19th or 20th of Kislev, nor at the Minchah that precedes the 19th of Kislev.

“It is customary for chassidim to immerse in a mikveh before Shacharis on the 19th of Kislev, in keeping with the practice handed down by the earliest chassidim in the name of the Baal Shem Tov — that with the approach of Shabbos and Yom-Tov, and on Shabbos and Yom-Tov mornings, one immerses in a mikveh.

“The elder chassidim of Chabad have received an oral tradition handed down by the earliest chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, that the celebration of Yud-Tes Kislev as a Yom-Tov is crucial to the manifestation of the joy of this day, which the Alter Rebbe drew down to this world by means of his own self-sacrifice for the sake of the customs of Chabad chassidim.”18

“This is a day for farbrengen and for resolving to set aside fixed times for the study of Torah in public, both its revealed planes (nigleh) and its hidden dimensions (Chassidus). It is a day for the strengthening of the spiritual lifestyle of chassidim in a spirit of brotherliness.”19

The Rebbe Rashab used to make an appeal for charitable purposes during the farbrengen of Yud-Tes Kislev.20

* * *

It is customary to distribute the tractates of the Talmud which various individuals undertake to study in the course of the coming year, in accordance with the letter of the Alter Rebbe, beginning Hocheiach Tochiach, that closes Kuntreis Acharon at the end of Tanya. (The tractates are commonly apportioned on Yud-Tes Kislev.21)

The following is the relevant passage: “Complete the study of the entire Talmud every year and in every community, the tractates being apportioned by lot or by consent. In a city where there are numerous synagogues, each congregation should complete the Talmud. And if a congregation is too small to implement this, they should join forces with men of a larger one. This program shall be neither violated nor varied.”

Those who belong to a community which, for whatever reason, is “too small” to cope with the entire Talmud, customarily participate in the distribution of tractates that is arranged by the Machne Israel organization in the beis midrash of the Rebbe Shlita.

* * *

On Yud-Tes Kislev one recommences the annual cycle of daily readings in Tanya, as divided by the Rebbe Rayatz.22

In the letter which he appended to his study guide he referred to “the readings in Likkutei Amarim — Tanya as apportioned for each day of the year, from the Rosh HaShanah of Chassidus, Yud-Tes Kislev, until next year’s Yud-Tes Kislev. (May it greet us and all our Jewish brethren with goodness and with blessing, both materially and spiritually.)”23

* * *

Extract from a letter of the Rebbe Shlita:

“The practice has become widespread24 to hold the main farbrengen of Yud-Tes Kislev on the eve of the 20th, because the Alter Rebbe was released from prison on the 19th at Minchah time, and for the following three hours he found himself in the home of an antagonist to Chassidism, where he suffered spiritual anguish.25

“In many places, nevertheless, people foregather for a farbrengen on the eve of the 19th as well — and may chassidic blessings light upon them.

“In general, the farbrengens of any city are arranged in either of two ways: (a) they can be spread out in many locations, so that people who would not travel far afield should also participate; or (b) all those interested can meet at one location, for ‘In a multitude of people is the King’s glory.’26 Such a farbrengen should be steered by the venerable elders and the men of stature within the community.

“Abundant quantity or superior quality?27 Their relative merits are the subject of a classic debate.28 For comparable cases see: Shabbos 127a (למעוטי בהילוכא vs. למעוטי במשוי); Megillah 3a (in Tosafos, s.v. מבטלין בסופו); Avos 3:15 הכל לפי המעשה), and see Peirush HaMishnayos there); Iggeres HaKodesh, Epistle 21; and other sources. These are obviously not exact parallels to our case, but space does not permit further elaboration.

“At any rate, I would recommend that on the first night, the eve of the 19th, farbrengens should be held in various places (where the following night’s gathering should be announced), and the next evening all concerned should assemble in one place.

“It goes without saying that what matters ultimately is that people should rouse themselves and ‘resolve to set aside fixed times for the study of Torah in public, both its revealed planes (nigleh) and its hidden dimensions (Chassidus), and strengthen the spiritual lifestyle of chassidim in a brotherly spirit.’ ”29