Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Hebrew: שניאור זלמן מליאדי), the first Rebbe of Chabad (also known as the "Alter Rebbe" in Yiddish), was informed upon by a misnaged named Hirsh ben Baruch, who sent letters to two Czarist ministers, and arrested on charges of supporting the Ottoman Empire by urging his followers to send money to the Land of Israel as "evidence" of his alleged insurrectionist aspirations (in fact, the money was sent to support poor Jews).

[citation needed] When the Alter Rebbe left prison he was mistakenly brought to the home of a misnaged (one opposed to Chassidus), who caused him to suffer with his questions.

After ascertaining that the minister believed in the eternality of the Torah and its directives, Rabbi Shneur Zalman replied: "When a person is, for example, so and so many years old (mentioning the exact age of his questioner), God asks him: Where are you?

"[5] Chasidic lore tells that the spirits of the Maggid of Mezeritch and the Baal Shem Tov came to visit Rabbi Shneur Zalman in prison.

After discussing the concept that one should study Torah only after immersion in a mikveh (ritual bath), he describes 19 Kislev as "a day that will herald good tidings.

[8] 19 Kislev 1772 - the Maggid of Mezeritch, Rabbi Dov Ber, the Alter Rebbe’s teacher, and the successor of the Baal Shem Tov, passed away on this day.

[citation needed] 19 Kislev 2017 - U.S. president Donald Trump pronounced Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, and that the U.S. Embassy would be relocated to the city.