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I was in Lubavitch visiting the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek during the festival of Shavuos 5621, which fell on Wednesday and Thursday [May 15 and 16, 1861]. During the festive meal on the second day of Yom Tov, which was held in the small shul, I was privileged to stand next to the Tzemach Tzedek's son, Reb Chayim Schneur Zalman.
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The order of seating was as follows: The Rebbe sat at the head of the table. The Rebbe's brother-in-law Reb Menachem Nachum, who was a son of the Mitteler Rebbe,[3] had come for Shavuos, and he sat at the Rebbe's right; continuing down the right side, sat in order: the Rebbe's second son, the tzaddik Reb Yehudah Leib;[4] his brother, the tzaddik Reb Yisrael Noach;[5] his brother, Reb Shmuel.[6] At the Rebbe's left sat in order: the Rebbe's eldest son, the tzaddik Reb Baruch Shalom; his brother, the tzaddik Reb Chayim Schneur Zalman; his brother, the tzaddik Reb Yosef Yitzchak.[7] The Rebbe's sons-in-law were not present on that occasion; therefore, the Rebbe's grandchildren sat further down the table, after his sons; further still, sat elder chassidim and prominent rabbis.
Since I had the good fortune to stand next to the chair of Reb Chayim Schneur Zalman, I was positioned only two chairs distant from the Rebbe's holy seat. Thus, I was able to hear every word that issued from his holy mouth. The things I saw and heard during that Shavuos festival make a story of their own, and this is not the appropriate place to tell it. Here, I will only relate what pertains to our story about Reb Gavriel.
The Rebbe began his remarks by saying: "During the festive meal of the second day of Shavuos 5555 [Monday, May 25, 1795], when I was six years old, my saintly grandfather[8] remarked that during the festive meal of the second day of Shavuos 5528 [Monday, May 23, 1768], his holy Rebbe[9] said: '[It is written], "You shall count for yourselves..." - the term "you shall count" also shares a connection to the concepts of shining and brilliance.[10] "You shall count for yourselves" thus can be interpreted as: See to it that your "self" is shining.'
"My saintly grandfather then leaned upon his elbows and sang the 'Niggun of the Four Stanzas'[11] with great deveikus. Afterwards, he raised his holy head and said, in the traditional melody of a [Talmudic] query: 'And with what does one make his "self" shine?' He then immediately continued, in the traditional melody of a [Talmudic] reply: 'This is with what one makes his "self" shine: with "seven complete weeks" - by refining his seven attributes so that each attribute itself will consist of seven; thus, the seven attributes themselves will constitute seven Shabbasos, for Shabbos itself needs no refinement.'
"When I grew older, and I became acquainted with my grandfather's chassidim," continued the Tzemach Tzedek, "I observed that they fulfilled the commandment of 'You shall count for yourselves'; they truly made their 'self' shine brilliantly.
"Our Rabbis of blessed memory tell us," concluded the Tzemach Tzedek, "that the Early Sages were called sofrim [literally 'scribes' or 'counters'] because they used to count all the letters of the Torah.[12] And my saintly grandfather's chassidim used to count the all the letters of what he said to them in yechidus."
Notes:
- (Back to text) From HaTamim, Issue No. 6, pp. 89-97; 2 & 13 Nissan 5697; excerpted from the story of Reb Gavriel Nossai Chein.
- (Back to text) [The Rebbe's third son, who later served as the Rebbe of Liadi.]
- (Back to text) His home was in the city of Niezhin, in the Ukraine.
- (Back to text) [Who later served as the Rebbe of Kapust.]
- (Back to text) [The Rebbe's fourth son; he was the son-in-law of his uncle Reb Menachem Nachum, and later served as the Rebbe of Niezhin. He was the father of the Previous Rebbe's father-in-law.]
- (Back to text) [The Rebbe's youngest son, who later became the Rebbe Maharash of Lubavitch; he was the Previous Rebbe's paternal grandfather.]
- (Back to text) [The Rebbe's fifth son, who later served as the Rebbe of Avruch; he was the Previous Rebbe's maternal grandfather.]
- (Back to text) The Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya.
- (Back to text) The Maggid of Mezritch.
- (Back to text) [A play on words: the Hebrew words for "counting" and "shining" have a common root (rpx).]
- (Back to text) See Issue No. 5 of HaTamim [for the musical notes, and a history and analysis of this niggun].
- (Back to text) [A play on words: the Hebrew word for "scribe" has the same root as "counting" (and "shining") (Samech-Peh-Resh).]
