19 Kislev is known in Chabad as the Rosh haShana of Chassidus, as it is the day the Alter Rebbe was freed from prison in 1798.
The Baal haTanya attributes his release to a particular zechus, and believe it or not, it's not the zechus of his disseminating chassidus or any of the other important activities he engaged in. In a letter to the Berdichever informing him of his release (quoted in the first intro to the sefer Aim haBanim Smeicha), the Baal haTanya writes:
בּזכות ארץ הקדושׁה ויושׁביה היא שׁעמדה לנו ותעזור לנו בּכל עת להרחיב לנו מצר ולהחליצנו ממיצר
R' Teichtel writes in Aim haBanim Smeicha that he never heard of such an idea before -- that Eretz Yisrael itself should be a zechus for us -- but since the Alter Rebbe said so it must be true, and he then goes on to find mekoros for such an idea.
(Parenthetically, in the edition of Mishnas Sachir, R' Teichtel's sefer on chumash, that I have at home, the letter and R' Teichtel's hesber are quoted in a piece on P' Vayeitzei. In the edition of Mishnas Sachir online, that passage seems to be missing. This is not the first piece of torah that I have found to be missing in that edition (see post here), and I am not sure why there should be a discrepancy between the two.)
Ah, reminds me of Rabbi Bulman's deathless observation.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the Lubavitchers, we can't ציפית לישועה.
Because of the Conservatives, we can't have decorum in Shul.
Because of the Zionists, we can't have חיבת ארץ ישראל.
Soon, there'll be nothing left for the Frummeh Jews.