On a very cold Shabbat like this, I usually share the Chassidic message contrasting “The Fur Coat Jew” vs. the Jew who lights a fire to warm others as well.(Amazed how many of you remember it!) Or see this book-commentary version “Cold Snap”. But on this freezing cold January Shabbat, walking to campus for Shabbat dinner required layering up against the cold, so decided to share a different wintry fur-coat message instead.
My father, Rabbi Israel Rubin, grew up in Montreal. One of his most memorable childhood teachers was Rabbi Yehudah “Yudel” Chitrik, a man who lived to be 106 (1899-2006) who lived in three different centuries and was a Chassid of 3 Chabad Rebbes. He was a meticulous particular man, with a storehouse of memories and a wonderful teacher.
Rabbi Yudel Chitrik shared this teaching, this layered Chassidic expression, that he heard from his mentors back in the town of Lubavitch, saying that this goes back to the Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, or perhaps the Alter Rebbe himself:
The wintertime Torah portions (of Genesis and Exodus, with the biblical stories of Joseph and his brothers, the descent into Egypt, the slavery and the Exodus etc) they wear a heavy fur coat (i.e. they are dressed in layers, they hide much within).
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This brutally cold and blustery Friday Night, to see so many students present, who braved the cold and exercised their Jewish dedication muscle to be here – this reminds me that not only does Torah have layers, but we, too, the Jewish people, have layers. Many deep warm layers. There’s much more inside than often meets the eye.
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Now for a deeper and longer Yud Shevat 5786/2026 Basi L’Gani connection:
We’re approaching Yud (10th of) Shevat, which is a big Chabad calendar date. In 1950 it marked the passing of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak, the 6th Chabad Rebbe, the Rebbe of tremendous sacrifice, who stood up against the communists. And a year later, in 1951, after much hesitance and reluctance, it marks the day that our Rebbe, Rebbe Menachem Mendel, formally accepted to become the 7th Rebbe of Chabad, and set in motion the global Jewish transformation and renaissance tbat was a hallmark of his leadership. Our Shabbos House, this Chabad on Campus, the very concept and all that goes into it, is thanks to the Rebbe’s vision and love.
But let’s focus on the biblical stories dressed in layers:
First, some Chabad Chassidic history as background: In the last years of his life it became increasingly difficult for Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak to speak, and so his method of sharing Chassidic teachings became much more of the written word. He prepared many Maamorim (Chassidic discourses) for publication, each one with set publication dates. For the 10th of Shevat (his grandmother’s yartzeit, and what would become his own yartzeit as well) Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak prepared a beloved magnificent Maamar titled “Basi L’Gani” (I have returned to My Garden) that in total has 20 chapters. And on that day of publication, the 10th of Shevat 5710/1950, he passed away.
Starting on Yud Shevat 5711/1951, our Rebbe, Rebbe Menachem Mendel, the 7th Rebbe, began to say a Basi L’Gani discourse each year, that was based on and expanded upon the themes of each succeeding chapter of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak’s original Basi L’Gani. In 1951 it was on the first chapter in great depth, in 1952 the focus was on the 2nd chapter, and so on. And in 1971, the Rebbe began the series once again anew, each year focusing on a successive chapter of the original 20 chapters.
This year, 5786/2026, approaching Yud-Shevat, Chassidim around the world are focusing their studies and inspiration and life-application on the 16th chapter of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak’s Basi L’Gani, and our Rebbe’s subsequent related Maamorim of the Basi L’Gani’s of 5726/1966 and 5746/1986.
It so happens that this Chapter 16 is a complicated one. Highly esoteric, very kabbalistical. There are many online classes and articles grappling with this text. But it ends off with an interesting take and takeaway, that brings us back to the “biblical stories in a fur coat.”
This year’s chapter is a lot about the most infinite light & revelation (and a lot of talk of what that means) being way beyond our grasp and reach. And any revelation, no matter how revealing, is incapable and wholly inadequate in expressing the divine essence or the most removed levels of the infinite light. But then the Maamar says, that in a way, G-d hides in plain sight, the divine essence and those inaccessible levels of infinite G-dliness is very much present within the hidden folds and layers of the biblical stories!
My daughter Bassie shared with me a writing tip that says “Show don’t tell”. Telling doesn’t do the trick as well as showing does. Sometimes a hidden story conveys (or at least contains) the essence more than all the revelation and telling in the world.
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One year, maybe a dozen years ago, we traveled as a family down to NY for the Rebbe’s Gimmel Tammuz yartzeit. The lines to visit the Rebbe’s Ohel are especially long that day, and its an emotional and deeply meaningful time for Chassidim. We got back in the car after hours at the Ohel. Our kids were all younger then. I, their father, very much wanted to share a Rebbe story with them as we pulled away from the Ohel to drive back home to Albany.
But I could not remember a single story. My mind was blank, I couldn’t think of anything! How could this be? There are so many Rebbe stories, so many to share and learn from! But somehow I could not remember anything. And I was upset about that.
Our daughter Bluma was 5 or 6 years old at the time. She piped up from the back seat of the car and said this: “Don’t worry Tatty (father) if you can’t remember any stories now. WE ARE THE REBBE’S STORY!”
That’s what she said. And it’s so true. And I think of this a dozen or so years later as we learn this year’s Basi L’Gani. The Rebbe and the Rebbe’s vision and the essence of what a Rebbe is and what the Rebbe stands for – more than all the telling, more than the explaining – might be best captured in our stories.