December 1991. The Rebbe walked in to the Shabbos farbrengen. To everyone’s shock, his opening talk was not in Yiddish, but in… French.
He went on to explain why he converted the French anthem, composed during the French Revolution in 1792, into a Chassidic melody.
A new Tisha Ba’v video by Rabbi YY Jacobson tells this remarkable story.
Exactly 200 years ago, on the 9th day of Av 1815, one of the greatest Chassidic masters of Poland, the Seer of Lublin, passed away after falling out of a window on Simchas Torah. Somehow he felt his death was mysteriously linked with Napoleon’s invasion of Russia three years earlier.
On August 15, 1769, one of the most fascinating, brilliant and powerful leaders in the history of the West was born. He would change the face of Europe and profoundly impact the destiny of the Jewish people.
Who was Napoleon? How did he change the world forever? What was his lasting impact on the Jewish nation? Why were the Chassidic masters so conflicted about his goals? Why did the Alter Rebbe despise him so deeply? Why did he convene his own Sanhedrin in Paris?
The new Tisha B’av Video video, containing over 100 video clips of the war and images, tells this riveting story of the man who dreamt to rule the world and almost pulled it off.
Watch trailer now. To view the whole class, go to theyeshiva.net/product.
Napoleon was a friend of the jewish people. He was an advocate for the emancipation of the Jewish people across Europe.
That is super generous
That site is amazing.
You can learn deep in depth Seforim and download classes to listen to on the road
G-d Bless R’ YYJ
It is hard to understand why the big shock/puzzlement over the Rebbe singing a tune from Napoleon, a rasha whom his ancestor the Alter Rebbe despised, when the Alter Rebbe himself sang a quite famous niggun called “Napoleon’s March”?!… It should have only aroused a curiosity as to the Rebbe’s intention behind taking the niggun.