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“These are the thoughts I had on Tuesday, the 8th of Tammuz,” wrote The Frierdiker Rebbe in the summer of 5688 (1928), one year after his release from Soviet imprisonment. “At 8 p.m., as the sun began to set, my son-in-law and I boarded two carriages with foreign bodies and souls — without horses — to journey toward the resort town of Bulduri [in the Jūrmala area], situated along the seashore. For 5,687 years, nine months, seven days, and nine hours, this place awaited these Jews to come and revive it with words of prayer and Torah.”

It was in this very area — Jūrmala, on the shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Latvia — that The Frierdiker Rebbe celebrated the Yud-Beis–Yud-Gimmel Tammuz Chag HaGeulah for the first time, together with his Chassidim. In that special letter, The Rebbe explained that even in a distant place far from any Jewish community, every location in the world awaits Jews to arrive and elevate it with holiness and meaning.

Years later, The Rebbe Shlita revealed that this was, in fact, the first-ever celebration of Yud-Beis–Yud-Gimmel Tammuz:

“Only in the following year, once the Rebbe [the Frierdiker Rebbe] had completely left their [the communists’] control and was outside their territory, did they begin to realize this was a complete victory… that’s when the public celebration and official recognition began.”

Nearly 100 years later, Chabad Shliach to Jūrmala, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Zilberstrom, visited the very site where The Frierdiker Rebbe stayed — and held a small and heartfelt Farbrengen there with a local Jew, Avraham Oppenheim, who recently began putting on tefillin daily and was recently gifted a pair of his own.

That Farbrengen followed a major concert event earlier in the week — the largest ever held in the Jūrmala area — in honor of Gimmel Tammuz. Over 100 Jews from Riga, Jūrmala, and nearby towns gathered at the prestigious Baltic Beach Hotel, situated right on the Baltic Sea.

This was the second consecutive year that Chabad of Riga and Jūrmala organized a special event marking Gimmel Tammuz. But this year’s gathering was significantly larger and more impactful. The event opened with an emotional prayer, led by Rabbi Mendy Zilberstrom, for the safe return of the hostages in Gaza and the victory of Am Yisrael.

The highlight of the evening was a stirring concert by a top-tier string quartet, which performed The Rebbe’s niggunim — melodies the Rebbe himself had taught. Each niggun was accompanied by a multimedia presentation that illuminated its spiritual and inner meaning.

Later in the program, Rabbi Shneor Kot, Shliach to Riga and one of the event’s organizers, addressed the crowd, sharing powerful insights about The Rebbe’s teachings — especially how a single “small” Mitzvah can tip the scale and bring salvation to the world.

To close the event, participants raised a Lechaim, took on good resolutions, and wrote personal letters of prayer and blessing to be sent to The Rebbe.

During the event, a particularly moving moment came when two Jewish men — both ‘karkaftas’ (who had never before worn tefillin) — donned tefillin for the very first time in their lives, one of them at the age of 74!

“These melodies are much more than music — they awaken the Jewish soul,” the organizers said. “In the Rebbe’s spirit, which aimes to ignite the inner spark within every Jew, we hope this event inspired and united all who attended.”

The organizers expressed heartfelt thanks to Rabbi Mordechai Glazman, Head Shliach to Latvia, for his support and assistance in making the event possible.

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