Gimmel Tammuz – Lubavitcher Lore & Holy Days

Today marks an auspicious day on the Chabad Lubavitcher’s calendar. Today is Gimmel Tammuz (the third day of the month of Tammuz).

On this day in 5754 or 1994 in Gregorian years, the Lubavitcher Rebbe passed away. This dealt a hard blow to the community. He and his wife were childless and he did not appoint a successor. This divided the community, some believing that he was the Moshiach (messiah) and some not believing in that. It is a topic that still divides Crown Heights today.

A newly published biography of the Rebbe’s life has caused a stir in the Crown Heights community as well. The New York Times touches on that today, with a nod to the holiness of the day within Chabad.

But beyond the debate, this day is very special to those who affiliate Chabad or are friends of Chabad. And it cannot be denied that The Rebbe sent thousands of people all over the world to be “a light unto the nations” and to give all Jews everywhere a place to eat Kosher food and pray and find their Judaism. Because of this, thousands of people will descend on Queens today to pray at the grave of The Rebbe and his father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe. Don’t believe me? It’s already started! Here are some wounded Israeli soldiers who were invited to come. And here are the people trying to get a head start on the lines.

From the last time I was at The Ohel – the Rebbe’s grave:

From Chabad.org, they tell us that there is a lot more that has happened on this date in Jewish history:

• Joshua Stops the Sun (1273 BCE)
On the third of Tammuz of the year 2488 from creation (1273 BCE), Joshua was leading the Jewish people in one of the battles to conquer the Land of Israel. Victory was imminent, but darkness was about to fall. “Sun,” proclaimed Joshua, “be still at Giv’on; moon, at the Ayalon valley” (Joshua 10:12). The heavenly bodies acquiesced, halting their progress through the sky until Israel’s armies brought the battle to its successful conclusion. Three Natural Miracles The Book of Joshua

• R. Yosef Yitzchak Released from Prison (1927)
The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), who was arrested on Sivan 15 of 1927 by agents of the GPU (soviet secret police) and the Yevsektzia (“Jewish section” of the Communist Party) for his work to preserve and disseminate Jewish learning and observance throughout the Soviet Empire. Held in the notorious Spalerno prison in Leningrad, he was repeatedly interrogated and beaten. Initially sentenced to death, international pressure compelled the Soviet regime to first commute the sentence to ten years hard labor in Siberia, and then to a three-year term of exile in Kostrama, a town in the interior of Russia.