Avira,
I don’t mean to draw this into a whole back and forth, but I just want to clarify my argument.
My last statement about the Rebbe was qualifying what I said about the way 19 Kislev was celebrated by the oilam, however within Chabad nothing was changed (or “inflated” as you put it”), not in regards to minhagim, or anything. And even among the velt, Chabad was always celebrated as a yom tov for chassidus. That’s why I took issue with the way you said “19 Kislev was never a huge yom tov until present day chabad”.
It could be were both agreeing, and this whole discussion boils down to phraseology…..
My point about nefesh hachaim was that your analogy is unfair; chabad doesn’t learn nefesh hachaim we already 250 plus sefarim, whereas in the litvishe world, teachings of chassidus (or kabbalah as you call it) aren’t offered. If litvishe bochurim are learning n”h then great, but those chabad bochurim probably kept coming back to your yeshiva for the few bochurim that preffered Tanya.