Happy Yom Tov! Happy Yom Tov! Today is the 19th of Kislev, the day of the release of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, in 1798. The Alter Rebbe was falsely accused of treason against the Tsar's government and, after 53 days of imprisonment, was acquitted of all charges. Throughout the years, Hasidim have celebrated this day with gatherings (farbrengens) that emphasize and encourage the study of the hidden aspects of the Torah, Hasidic philosophy. To understand the significance of this date, we must first understand the development of the Torah since its giving 3,323 years ago.
In general, when we observe the evolution of legal codes that humanity has produced throughout different eras, we see that they add laws and clauses as society changes, and those laws that become obsolete are either repealed or modified to adapt to the times. In other words, the law changes according to humankind. We might think that the same is true of the Torah, but this is not the case: the Torah has remained the same since it was given; what has changed is humanity.
In halakha (Jewish law), the difference between cheftza (the object) and gavra (the individual) is often discussed. Which factor is fixed and which is variable? In the legal codes of humanity, the individual is fixed, and the object (in this case, the law) changes. In Judaism, it is the other way around: the object (the Torah) is fixed, and humankind (society, mentality, and idiosyncrasies) changes.
This helps us understand why, throughout Jewish history, we see a constant development in the revelation of the Torah: first came the Written and Oral Torah given to Moses at Mount Sinai. Then the Oral Torah was transcribed in the Mishnah. Then in the Gemara, both together forming the Talmud. Then came (in short) the Geonim (geniuses), the Rishonim (the first ones), and then, to this day, the Acharonim (the last ones), commentators and legislators.
The same is true of the hidden part of the Torah, Jewish mysticism. At first it was hidden, then it was embodied in a few books written in a cryptic way, then came the Zohar, only a little clearer, then an era of great mystical commentators until reaching the Arizal, around the middle of the 1500s CE, and then the Baal Shem Tov and Hasidism in general.
All this evolution, both in the revealed and hidden aspects of the Torah, is not a change in the Torah itself. Rather, according to the needs of the times, depending on the spiritual state of the Jewish people at a given moment, another aspect of the Torah was revealed—an aspect that was previously present in its full force and validity, but hidden, so to speak, in potential. The object of the Torah always remained the same; it was only partially hidden, while changes in humanity caused more of it to be revealed.
From the 19th of Kislev onwards, Chabad-style Hasidic philosophy was widely revealed, that is, the rational and logical explanation of concepts such as the oneness of God, love and fear of God, Divine Providence and other very deep and complex matters that make up the relationship of man with God, with his peers and with himself.
It is this way of seeing Judaism, the Hasidic perspective, which is called the Torah of the Messiah, that will help us make the final preparations to bring about the Final Redemption, through our Righteous Messiah, speedily in our days, Amen. A Gut Yom Tov!.