Today in Jewish History: Yud (10) Shvat

Yud Shvat is the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, sixth Rebbe of Lubavitch, of blessed memory (1950), and is also the date on which, one year later, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of blessed memory, assumed the mantle of leadership of Chabad. It was on this day that the Rebbe delivered the famous “Bati Legani—Enter my Garden” discourse, marking his official acceptance of the position of Rebbe.

This day is observed as one of the most important events in the Chabad-Lubavitch calendar, with an estimated 15,000 individuals travelling to New York to pray at the resting place, the Ohel, of the sixth and seventh Rebbes.

To learn more about the Rebbe, you can take a look at “Early Years,” a new Kehot Publication Society/Jewish Educational Media publication that provides a comprehensive and deeply personal overview of the Rebbe’s early life through the lens of recently uncovered journals, diary entries, letters, and other documents.