A Peek Into the Rebbe’s Library

Anash.org Exclusive: The story of Hey Teves centers around the Rebbe’s library and the priceless seforim and manuscripts contained within. Take a glance into the library, usually kept under lock and key, far from the public eye.

By Anash.org reporter

The Yom Tov of Hey Teves is centered around the library of the Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rebbe, and the priceless seforim and manuscripts contained within, passed down from generation from generation.

From the start of the story with the painful theft of the seforim, through the ultimate victory – Didan Notzach – of the Rebbe and the chassidim, the heart of the matter was who owned the thousands of seforim collected by the Chabad Rabbeim throughout the centuries.

After the victory on Hey Teves and the subsequent legal victories after various appeals, the Rebbe requested that his library and the library of the Frierdiker Rebbe be combined and housed in 766 Eastern Parkway, next door to Chabad Headquarters at 770.

By the Rebbe’s instruction, the nature of the library is a private one, and volumes are only available to research or study after filling out a request form. Accessing the actual library is almost always off-limits, reserved to only the librarians and select individuals, with the vast majority of Chabad chassidim never having laid eyes on the precious books whose victory we celebrate every year.

In honor of Hey Teves, Anash.org obtained an exclusive glance into a small section of the Rebbe’s library, giving a glimpse at just a few of the tens of thousands of seforim and books contained in the hundreds of bookshelves in the library.

While the pictures are just a taste of the collection, seeing some of the seforim that the Rebbe fought so strongly for makes the story come more to life, showcasing the ‘heroes’ of the story. Indeed, the Rebbe said that the Hey Teves victory was the victory of the seforim – Didan D’haseforim Notzach!

Im yirtzeh Hashem, in the future, we hope to present more pictures of the vast sea of printed books and manuscripts in the library.

Special thanks to Chief Librarian Rabbi Sholom Dovber Levine

Know any details about the seforim pictured? Let us know in the comments

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