It is both timely and meaningful to recall the following episode from his life and teachings:

13 Kislev, 5723 [1962]

I was pleased to receive the news of your forthcoming Dinner on the 20th of Kislev, the day after the historic Day of Liberation of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman, author of the Tanya and Shulchan Aruch and founder of Chabad.
It is both timely and meaningful to recall the following episode from his life and teachings:
The Alter Rebbe shared his house with his oldest married son, Rabbi Dov Ber (who later succeeded him as the Mitteler Rebbe). Rabbi Dov Ber was known for his unusual power of concentration. Once, when Rabbi Dov Ber was engrossed in learning, his baby, sleeping in its cradle nearby, fell out and began to cry. The infant's father did not hear the baby's cries. But the infant's grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, also engrossed in his studies in his room on the upper floor at the time, most certainly did. He interrupted his studies, went downstairs, picked the baby up, soothed it and replaced it in its cradle. Through all this Rabbi Dov Ber remained quite oblivious.
Subsequently, the Alter Rebbe admonished his son: "No matter how engrossed one may be in the most lofty occupation, one must never remain insensitive to the cry of a child."
This story has been transmitted to us from generation to generation; I heard it from my father-in-law of saintly memory. It was handed down because of the lasting message it conveys, one which is particularly pertinent to our time. It characterizes one of the basic tenets of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement - to hearken to the cry of our distressed Jewish children.
The "child" may be an infant in years, a Jewish boy or girl of school age, fallen from the "cradle" of Torah-true Jewish education, or it may be someone who is chronologically an adult yet an "infant" insofar as Jewish life is concerned, an infant in knowledge and experience of the Jewish religion, heritage and way of life.
The souls of these Jewish "children" cry out in anguish, for they live in a spiritual void, whether they are conscious of this or feel it only subconsciously. Every Jew, no matter how preoccupied he may be with any lofty cause, must hear the cries of these Jewish children. Bringing these Jewish children back to their Jewish cradle has priority over all else.

The Eve of Yud Tes Kislev, 5724 [1963]

...In one of his well-known letters, the Alter Rebbe declares that the happy tidings of his liberation reached him when he was reading the verse (Psalms 55:19): "[G-d] has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle against me, for many were with me."
This Providential coincidence surely carries a message for every one of us. Indeed, every individual is in need of a personal liberation from all the difficulties and hindrances encountered in daily life which hamper the attainment of the goals which should be achieved every day, in both material and spiritual endeavors.
Thus, our Sages make the following meaningful commentary on the verse: "Said the Holy One, Blessed Be He: He who engages in Torah, and in acts of loving-kindness, and prays with the congregation, is regarded by Me as if he redeemed Me and My children from among the nations of the world" (Talmud, Berachot 8a).
In this way, our Sages emphasize that the personal redemption of every Jew, as well as of the entire Jewish people, together with G-d (so to speak), is directly linked with the dissemination of Torah, acts of benevolence ("duties toward fellow-Jews"), and prayer ("duties toward G-d").
Thus, every man or woman who is involved in these three things brings liberation and redemption to himself as well as to our people as a whole.

The Eve of 19 Kislev, 5730 [1969]

The Festival of Liberation of the Alter Rebbe on Yud Tes (the 19th) Kislev, and the festival of Chanuka, though widely apart in historic perspective, have much in common in spirit and significance. It is therefore no accident that Divine Providence has brought both of them together in the same auspicious month of Kislev, within a week of each other.
The Alter Rebbe sought to illuminate Jewish life, even Torah life, with the inner light of the Torah and mitzvoth [commandments], giving a new dimension of vitality and meaning to each and every Jew in his daily life. However, the light of Chabad Chasidus was threatened with extinction just as the light of the Torah and mitzvoth was in danger in the time of Matathias. Thus, Yud Tes Kislev, the day on which the Alter Rebbe and Chabad were completely vindicated, may be considered a "festival of lights" much in the same way as Chanuka.
Similarly, both Yud Tes Kislev and Chanuka stress the importance of Jewish education in all its Torah purity, permeated with the spirit of self-sacrifice. It is no exaggeration to say that the dedicated workers of Chabad-Lubavitch are true heirs of the Hasmoneans of old. They render a most vital service in forming Torah outposts and strongholds in many parts of the world, in order to preserve and spread the light of the Torah and mitzvoth, and to strengthen the foundation of Torah-true education.