Rebbe Rayatz (רבי יוסף יצחק שניאורסון) — Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn
Core definition
The Rebbe Rayatz — Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (referred to in the volumes as "Moharayatz," the Admor Moharayatz, of blessed memory) — was the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe [31621/michtav_001 :: Summary]. The Sefer HaMaamarim corpus is, in large part, the record of his own discourses: volumes gather "the Chassidic maamarim of the Rebbe (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak), of blessed memory," year by year (e.g., of the year 5705 / 1944–45) [19801/front_matter :: Summary]. He is the son of his predecessor, the Rebbe Rashab (Rabbi Sholom Dovber), who delivered discourses to him in yechidus and whose teachings he preserved in writing [31699/maamar_026 :: Intro]. His yahrzeit — the 10th of Shevat, observed as the day of his passing-hilula — is the calendar anchor for much of the publishing of his works [31695/maamar_054 :: Intro].
How the corpus presents him
The recorder and preserver. Even before his own leadership, the Rayatz served as the scribe of the chain: the Rebbe Rashab's maamar "ברוך שעשה נסים" (said 2 Kislev-eve, 5664, at the Tomchei Temimim meal) survives "as recorded by the Rebbe Rayatz from his own holy handwriting, including the Rayatz's parenthetical explanations marked א״ה ('said the writer')" [31695/maamar_054 :: Summary]. Likewise his own notebook — Hosafa Gimel, "the Rebbe Rayatz's collection of sichos, notes and letters about the maamarim of 5654–5656, recorded years later (the opening entry is dated 3rd day of selichos 5705, recalling 5655–5657)" — documents how maamarim were transmitted, repeated almost verbatim yet renewed, and guarded in secrecy between Rebbe and son [31699/maamar_026 :: Summary].
The third-day-of-selichos chain. On the third day of selichos 5655, the Rebbe Rashab "deigned to say before me this derush" — to his son, the young Rayatz — "and commanded me on the secret until the time when it will merit to be revealed" [31699/maamar_026 :: עב׳ 54–55]. This is the chain the Rayatz himself inherited and handed on: Alter Rebbe → Mitteler Rebbe → Tzemach Tzedek → Maharash → Rebbe Rashab → Rayatz [31699/maamar_026 :: Summary].
His own maamarim in print. The foreword to Sefer HaMaamarim 5698 announces the first-ever printing of the Rayatz's 5698 maamarim — most previously circulated only in booklet form — with new marginal notes and source-references; the volume also carries the 5698 sichos from unedited hearers' notes and the Rebbe's own topical index — all edited by R. Aharon Leib Raskin; the foreword is dated Purim 5748 [15881/petach_davar :: Summary].
His letters. The Igros Kodesh carry his voice directly: e.g., a short circular letter from Brooklyn, dated 10 Kislev 5708, addressed to Anash and the Temimim students in anticipation of 19 Kislev — "the Rosh HaShanah of Da"Ch" (Chassidus) — urging strength in the study of nigleh and Chassidus, devotion to prayer, refinement of middos, and boundless love of one's fellow [31621/michtav_001 :: Summary].
Key distinctions
- Rayatz vs. Rashab: the father (Rebbe Rashab, Rabbi Sholom Dovber) as the master who delivered and transmitted; the son (Rayatz) as the recorder, preserver, and continuator of the chain [31699/maamar_026 :: עב׳ 54–55; 31695/maamar_054 :: Summary].
- Public maamar vs. yechidus maamar: the third-day-of-selichos discourses were said in yechidus (private audience) and sealed in secrecy; the Rayatz's later publishing project brought both his father's and his own maamarim into print [31699/maamar_026 :: Summary; 15881/petach_davar :: Summary].
- Author vs. editor: in the printed maamarim, the Rayatz's own hand adds layers marked א״ה ("said the writer") — distinguished from the master's text and the modern publisher's apparatus [31695/maamar_054 :: Summary].
Related concepts
- Rebbe Rashab — his father and predecessor; the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe.
- Yud Shevat — the 10th of Shevat; his yahrzeit and the publishing anchor.
- Tomchei Temimim — the yeshiva at whose meals maamarim were delivered and recorded.
- Sefer HaMaamarim — the corpus of discourses; his volumes are its core.
Sources
- 31621/michtav_001 :: Summary — circular letter of the Rebbe Rayatz (the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn), 10 Kislev 5708, Brooklyn; on 19 Kislev, "the Rosh HaShanah of Da"Ch"
- 19801/front_matter :: Summary — the Chassidic maamarim of the Rebbe (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak) of the year 5705 (1944–45)
- 31695/maamar_054 :: Intro — the 10th of Shevat: the day of the passing-yahrzeit of the Admor Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (Moharayatz); the Rashab's "ברוך שעשה נסים" recorded by the Rayatz from his holy handwriting, with his א״ה glosses
- 15881/petach_davar :: Summary — foreword to Sefer HaMaamarim 5698: first printing of the Rayatz's 5698 maamarim; the 5698 sichos; the Rebbe's topical index; edited by R. Aharon Leib Raskin; Purim 5748
- 31699/maamar_026 :: עב׳ 45–55 — the third-day-of-selichos chain; the Rebbe Rashab's 5655 derush to his son, commanded in secrecy
- 31699/maamar_026 :: Summary — the Rayatz's own notebook: sichos, notes and letters on the 5654–5656 maamarim; the transmission chain documented