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Menachem Ziegelbaum, Beis Moshiach

“If you ask me why 770 is closed, it is like the Beis HaMikdash. Hashem cannot enter His house because there is sinas chinam (baseless hatred)! This is the reason. The Rebbe cannot enter, not because of corona. The Beis HaMikdash was not destroyed because the Romans destroyed it. There is no Beis HaMikdash? It can be rebuilt. Sinas chinam is the reason.

“We have a problem which is the root of all troubles, that there are two Kinus HaShluchim. That there are two camps.

“Another korban and another korban. First we heard that Rabbi Schwei passed away, and then we hear that Rabbi Benny [Wolff] died, within one day of each other. That’s enough. Rabbi Leibel Groner is enough. Mottel Chein is enough. We don’t need the whole list! It’s terrible! Families and Anash are crying out! The families themselves are crying and pleading: Do something!”

These words were said by the Rebbe’s Shliach and chief rabbi of Moscow, Rabbi Berel Lazar, in a Zoom farbrengen which became famous as its many hours passed with tens of thousands of Chassidim joining. The background was the untimely passing of Rabbi Benny Wolff, Shliach in Hanover, Germany, which was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Rabbi Lazar continued to pound on the metal while it was hot:

I want to talk about the good and less about the bad. As everywhere else in the world, here in Moscow there is a community. There are meshichistim and those who are not, like everywhere in the world. People love one another, they get along. Why? Because we don’t shame anybody into pretending to be what they are not. Nobody will tell me I can go into this shul and not into that shul.

I’m not saying it’s easy. I understand that there are difficulties, but if we want to work it out, we will work it out. I myself am willing to travel to any shliach in the world and do all that I can. I am willing to do anything, really. I don’t know precisely what needs to be done to make it happen. This is not the problem; it’s the consequence.

This happened because we are being told: You cannot be together? Let’s see how you manage when you are unable to be together. You are not willing to kiss another Chassid? He is your brother, the son of your Rebbe. He is a shliach. Come, let us get out of this galus. How? I know that if we don’t fix this in the next 24 hours, it means we don’t care about the Rebbe’s sicha of 28 Nissan, “do all that you can,” and G-d forbid it’s all a bunch of stupidity, nonsense. Today, we need to break all barriers. Everyone needs to contact his fellow and work it out! How? I don’t know. We have no choice.

These words and the entire farbrengen (large portions of which were reproduced here in Beis Moshiach several months ago), created a storm and had many positive effects already in the realm of achdus. We hope for some more, and in the meantime, we sat down with the man behind this tidal wave of achdus for an open, heart-to-heart talk:

I’d like to begin our discussion from that night. For two months, Anash woke up every morning to terrible news about even more Chassidim who died of corona. Then came your trans-Atlantic farbrengen and since then we started getting news about Chassidim who were released from the hospital and returned home. Do you also connect this positive turn to the worldwide achdus farbrengen?

We do not know why Hashem does things, whether it happened because of the farbrengen or because of the zechus of that auspicious day of Beis Iyar, or perhaps because of good resolutions made at that farbrengen and, above all else, because of the Rebbe who looks out for every Chassid and does open miracles for us.

There is no doubt that this farbrengen brought blessings to us but to say that this was the reason for the dramatic change for the better, I don’t know. Hashem runs the world.

I can tell you that I’ve seen this many times, personally too, that when a person goes through a tragedy, it makes him think of achdus. This call for achdus is not just from me; Anash felt the time has come.

We don’t need to be very wise to know that machlokes never did Jews any good. It’s no secret that all of our nation’s tzaros, starting with the servitude in Egypt, the churban of the Beis HaMikdash and on, was all because of machlokes and sinas chinam (baseless hatred). The Rebbe speaks about this at length.

What is demanded of us, as Chassidim, is Ahavas Yisrael. Nobody demanded Ahavas Yisrael like the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid, the Alter Rebbe, etc. down to the Rebbe Nasi Doreinu. If more is demanded of us and we are still lacking, then the bracha is surely lacking too.

The fact that the achdus farbrengen was attended by thousands of Chassidim, tells us something. Boruch Hashem, since then there were hardly any tragedies but it’s certainly not enough, because the main thing is that we want the Geula and the hisgalus of Moshiach. Until that happens, then even if we have brachos and good things occur, that’s not enough for us.

Your kehilla in Russia is known for its achdus. What’s the secret? How do you do it?

Many people who come and visit the kehilla in Moscow and Russia in general, ask what is the source of the bracha that the shluchim have here. Until twenty-five years ago there were no mosdos and suddenly we see such beautiful mosdos and good things happening here.

So what is the secret?

The Rebbe once said that the shluchim in France have a special bracha in their work. The Rebbe himself spent some time there and there is no question that his being there left a bracha that is impactful till today. If that is true for the Rebbe’s stay in France which was brief, you can imagine how many brachos and how much mesirus nefesh the Rebbeim invested in Russia which results in enormous blessing.

Aside from this, there is no question that the bracha here is also thanks to the achdus among the shluchim and I’m talking about achdus that is beyond the norm. People, including big donors, say to us, “We see that everyone works together, everyone loves one another.” Our kehilla is blessed with its achdus and it brings an abundance of bracha.

I am not only talking about the spiritual advantage of achdus. When a rich person comes and sees quarreling he doesn’t want to get involved. He doesn’t have the means nor the desire to figure out who is right. He only knows that something is not the way it should be and he leaves, but when he sees achdus, he wants to be a part of it.

I can tell you that where there is achdus, there is the greatest blessing.

Then why is it so hard to make peace and have achdus?

Spiritually, it is because the Satan gets involved. It knows what will happen if there is achdus; it knows how great are the blessings in the event of peace and unity, and it tries to prevent it. Satan whispers, “If you don’t build here, who knows how much aggravation the Rebbe will have from this.” It’s done with a veneer of holiness. Some mean well and want to give the Rebbe nachas but it comes along with one-upmanship and arguments and then it’s not worth it.

If you ask me, it is better, sometimes, not to build a certain mosad and maintain achdus than to make the mosad along with machlokes and one-upmanship. I think the Rebbe has more nachas from achdus than all the mosdos put together.

I constantly convey this message to the shluchim: If a certain activity will lead to machlokes, don’t do it; increase the achdus and this will surely give the Rebbe more nachas.

When people say that corona caused these tragedies, it is clear, especially to Chassidim, that it wasn’t corona but a message from heaven. It’s like saying the Romans destroyed the Beis HaMikdash but the real reason they were able to, say Chazal, was because of sinas chinam. Hashem allowed the Romans to destroy our Beis HaMikdash because there was sinas chinam.

The Rambam says that when someone looks at an event that happened to him and says, it was just happenstance, that this is cruelty. Why? Because he attributes the event to happenstance and not to Someone directing things and he won’t correct the reason that caused the problem.

When corona began, doctors said that they don’t know what the cure is and how to stop it, they don’t know how long it will last and whether it will end in a year or two etc. It was obvious that it was not in their hands but in our hands!

One of the hardest aspects of corona is isolation. People have to keep their distance from one another and sometimes even be in quarantine. The goal of the shluchim is to spread the wellsprings. They are not just limited now; they don’t know when they will be able to get back to work. Chassidim don’t know when they will be able to farbreng in a normal fashion, when they will be able to put tefillin on someone without fear. It’s really painful.

People today are afraid of someone approaching them to put on tefillin though it’s a bit better now. There were weeks when Mivtza Tefillin was on hold as were the other mivtzaim. You couldn’t go to people’s homes and put up mezuzos, and shiurim also took on a whole new format. It’s hard to make a minyan for davening and on Shabbos Mevorchim it’s not really possible to farbreng.

Can we say it is just happenstance, we are not at fault and that the one to blame for corona is a Chinese goy who brought it upon the world? Or do we need to understand that this is coming from Above?

No evil descends from Above! Corona has a mission to wake us up.

In what way?

Measure for measure. As I said, corona led to a situation in which we cannot be together, we cannot farbreng together. This is the greatest physical separation there can be. You don’t have to be exceptionally bright to figure out that we need to do something to fix precisely that thing.

Every day I heard about another person who had died, young ones too, people with their lives ahead of them. Can we remain apathetic and say, “It does not depend on us. What can we do …”

I’m not a doctor, I did not study science and I cannot be of help from a medical standpoint, but we can understand that this is meant to get us to do something. For me, this farbrengen did something.

TO SHAKE UP LUBAVITCH

What made you come up with the idea for the farbrengen just then? What were you feeling that made you want to shake up Lubavitch?

Ah, it’s hard like this, without mashke …

Look, there’s no question that corona shook up the world. The situation was such that people realized something not-good is happening in the world.

It happened at a time when, day after day, I would call people and console them upon the passing of their dear ones. Such a terrible situation that children could not even attend their parents’ funerals … Then you hear about the suffering that parents are undergoing in the hospital without their loves one allowed to be with them and help them.

How could one remain indifferent? I just don’t understand it!

I think that my outcry was not my personal outcry but the outcry of every Chassid in the world, at a time when everyone sought what could be done to stop this plague.

Well, it definitely generated a firestorm in Lubavitch…

After this farbrengen, I got hundreds of comments from around the world. People told me, “What you said is exactly what I wanted to say.” It’s ten years, twenty years, twenty-six years, that we need to speak. People are sick of machlokes; people are tired of it and looking backwards and seeing so many tragedies and nothing is happening.

We need heavenly mercy not only so that these tragedies stop but so that we can bring about real unity, and this is accomplished with Ahavas Yisrael. It definitely requires work; it’s not for naught that it is considered “klal gadol ba’Torah,” because it is the hardest thing to do.

Was there any response that stood out for you?

Some people contacted me and said, “I hadn’t spoken with my uncle in ten years.” There were people in families where some did not speak to others and they called one another and made peace.

Someone told me that there was a dispute in his family and because of the farbrengen he was inspired to pick up the phone. It turned out that the dispute, that went on for ten years, was based on a misunderstanding … “I called and said, hello, I want to talk to you, I want to apologize … I want to hear how you’re doing. And the ice broke.” The wall between them just crumbled.

The farbrengen took place on Beis Iyar and was a continuation of Chof-Ches Nissan when we heard the Rebbe cry out, “Do all that you can to bring Moshiach Tzidkeinu b’poel mamosh!” Over the years, I heard many explanations for those words. I can tell you that in addition to our cry of “Moshiach” and “Ad mosai” and “We want Moshiach now,” there needs to be some mesirus nefesh on our part to do all we can so that Moshiach can come.

What mesirus nefesh are you referring to?

Mesirus nefesh is uniting with someone I haven’t talked to in several years. It’s hard, very hard … to forgive someone who hurt me or to ask forgiveness from someone I hurt. It requires setting aside ego and it’s not easy. Chassidus is built on bittul and iskafia. What is the iskafia of today – that we shouldn’t eat ice cream? It’s much more than that.

The iskafia of today is to contact another Chassid who I used to think of as someone that I can’t connect with and to talk to him and ask how he is. After the fact, it turns out to be not be as hard as it seemed at first.

As you said, it entails putting ego aside and it’s not easy. How is this done?

Look at the Rebbe’s first maamar. It’s amazing to see how suddenly, in the middle of the maamar, the Rebbe starts telling stories. This is not at all standard for the Rebbe’s maamarim nor for the maamarim that were said over the generations.

The stories are about Ahavas Yisrael but if you look closely you see that the stories are about mesirus nefesh for Ahavas Yisrael. The Rebbe tells about the Alter Rebbe, on Yom Kippur (and you can imagine what kind of davening the Alter Rebbe did on Yom Kippur …), leaving shul and going to prepare a cooked dish for a new mother. And the Mittler Rebbe whose skin was shriveled because of a Chassid, and the Rebbe Maharash who made a long trip and went where he went in order to rescue one Jewish soul.

This is what the Rebbe demands of us in his first maamar: I can give and I can help but there needs to be avoda with your own efforts, namely to train ourselves to mesirus nefesh for Ahavas Yisrael.

You see mesirus nefesh for Ahavas Yisrael with shluchim on a daily basis; the shliach sacrifices his life and personal pleasure to help other Jews. He could learn, he could daven with avoda etc. but instead of that he farbrengs with someone or hosts him in his home. The shliach on shlichus sacrifices his personal comfort as well as his spiritual pleasure.

However, we have already gotten used to that kind of sacrifice, boruch Hashem. What is demanded now is simply to love another even if he does not think like you and there is disagreement. There cannot be a Chassid who loves the Rebbe, loves Hashem and the Torah but does not love every Jew; you cannot separate these three loves.

I remember that the Rebbe once said in a farbrengen that someone told him that in Chabad there is no Ahavas Yisrael and the Rebbe’s reaction was: It can’t be, because the entire essence of Lubavitch is love; if you don’t have Ahavas Yisrael, it is not Lubavitch.

So yes, it is very easy to love every mekurav, to love every Jew that you’ve never seen, but it is hard to love in a way of “love your fellow like yourself” as Chassidus demands.

OLD-WORLD FLAVORED AHAVAS YISRAEL

You spoke earlier about the achdus in your kehilla among the shluchim. I’ve read about Chassidim in Russia “way back when,” when the main characteristic was the feeling of achdus that prevailed among them.

That’s right. If we look at the history of Chassidim in Russia, we will see that the mesirus nefesh was not for doing mitzvos. Whoever wanted to put on tefillin could do so; if you wanted to daven with avoda, you could do so. They did not bother you. The communists’ primary war against the Chassidim was because Chassidim were willing to sacrifice themselves in order to help another Jew. They fought against the shochet who slaughtered for others, against the one who taught Torah to children of other people, and so on.

And this is what led the Chassidim of those times to “dibuk chaveirim” (bonding between friends).

There are many stories about how they were willing to take the last of their money to help another. Chassidim gave all they had for another.

When I came here, I still got a taste of the sweet atmosphere of achdus in the spirit of those days. I’ll tell you a story from the period when I first came here. My first farbrengen here was on 2 Kislev 5748. We sat and fabrengened with tremendous inspiration with the youth until one in the morning. At the end of the farbrengen, one of the bachurim came over to me and said very politely: You probably noticed that one of the bachurim was missing tonight …

Unfortunately, I had not noticed. I didn’t really remember who came and who didn’t. The bachur said: He didn’t feel well. He’s at home. I think we need to go to his house and review the farbrengen.

So at one in the morning, we traveled to that bachur’s house and I had to repeat everything that was said at the farbrengen. The bachur who brought me to him had heard it all before, but he sat with kabbolas ol and listened a second time just so that his friend, who had not been there, could be inspired by what was said.

When the situation in Russia eased up a bit, at the end of the 80s, they spoke about the possibility of exchange students between Moscow and New York. I came with this news to the talmidim and it was major news for them because all those years, these bachurim lived the Rebbe, spoke about the Rebbe but had never seen the Rebbe. They hadn’t seen a video either, and maybe not even a picture of the Rebbe. Their greatest dream was that Moshiach would come and they would finally see the Rebbe. They did not imagine that it would ever be possible to see the Rebbe before Moshiach came.

Now imagine what happened when I arrived with the news about the possibility of going to learn in New York by the Rebbe. Suddenly, nearly every bachur with whom I discussed this said, “Look, I think it would be more appropriate for the other bachur to go. He worked on himself much more, he is much more mekushar to the Rebbe than I am; he should go.”

This was the dibuk chaveirim that I found here; it is not to be believed how Chassidim here were willing to be moser nefesh for one another. Machlokes? To quarrel with another? That was not even in the realm of the possible. It is unbelievable how much they loved one another and how much they cared about one another.

Just recently, someone sent me a great picture of R’ Mendel Futerfas and R’ Dovid Raskin dancing on the table in 770, hugging one another with open love. Around them you see the faces of bachurim, and their faces are all smiles expressing the enjoyment of this open display of love.

Nobody thought in their worst nightmare that the day would come when they would say: in Chabad there is this group and that group … I don’t even know whether it’s okay to write this …

There were always differences of opinion but chalila, not separation and certainly not factions.

THE REBBE REVOLUTIONIZED ALL OF RUSSIA

When we tell the children nowadays stories of mesirus nefesh, about when every Jew in Russia was persecuted and then, on occasion, they see pictures of Rabbi Lazar alongside President Putin at a meeting in the Kremlin, how can they bridge the gap? How can we tell the history of Judaism in Russia these days?

If you want to tell about the Rebbe’s great victory in some area, it’s definitely the revolution taking place here in Russia. I still remember standing at the Lag B’Omer parade in 5740 or other occasions when the Rebbe spoke in Russian and we knew that the Rebbe was attempting to accomplish things in the upper realms on behalf of Russian Jews. How the Rebbe cried at farbrengens when he spoke of them and how much he prayed for their relief.

There were those who said that the Rebbe had unrealistic ideas when he spoke about Judaism in Russia. He spoke about Russian law allowing Jews to keep Torah and mitzvos and teach their children as they pleased. What was he talking about? What law? What Chassidim?

I once heard from the secretary, Rabbi Binyamin Klein, that there was an occasion when the Rebbe asked Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu to do something on behalf of Russian Jewry. Then the Rebbe asked R’ Klein to call Rav Eliyahu and ask his pardon for bothering him instead of the Rebbe himself doing it. But the Rebbe explained that the very name “Schneerson” in Russia posed a danger. There were things that the Rebbe himself could not do just because of his name; he was the great enemy of communism.

Then, suddenly, there is this great flowering of Judaism throughout the former Soviet Union. There is no doubt that what we are seeing today is all thanks to the Rebbe. You see President Putin standing respectfully near a picture of the Rebbe … It is really a mighty revolution, the scope of which is incalculable.

When you see Judaism in Russia today and try to compare it to what was, you cannot say it is the difference between day and night because it is far greater than that. From the place where so many endured, there is the greatest flowering of Jewish life.

The Rebbe accomplished all this and showed us open miracles.

Today, 93 years since the Rebbe Rayatz’s arrest, I picture the Rebbe Rayatz coming to Russia to see what has happened in the interim; and you, representing Russian Jewry, go over to welcome him. What would you tell him?

Next to the Rebbe, we say nothing! We just stand, remain silent, ready for the next order.

There is no question that what is happening today is the Rebbe’s victory and like the Rebbe says in his sichos that the Rebbe Rayatz stood against 200 million people; according to the laws of nature there was no way to win.

Despite this, after the arrest of the Rebbe Rayatz, he told the Chassidim to continue the work. What purpose was there in this when the Rebbe was caught and the communists demonstrated that they were going till the bitter end? But even when he was in prison, he gave orders to continue the work.

Obviously, this is all mesirus nefesh with no rhyme or reason and no rational calculations. That is the way it has to be and there is no alternative.

This is precisely what the Rebbe Rayatz’s victory symbolizes. If he did not win then, who knows what would have happened today to the entire Jewish people! Therefore, whatever we see today is a result of the mesirus nefesh of the Rebbe Rayatz.

Can this mesirus nefesh of old still be found in Russia today or has Russian Jewry changed?

I can tell you that there are people here that are embracing Yiddishkeit who were completely disconnected from anything Jewish, and who are completely changing their lives. They have mesirus nefesh no less than back then. I don’t know whether it’s with the same sweet flavor or a different sweet flavor, but it’s literal mesirus nefesh!

There are people here who discover their Judaism and suddenly find out what it means to be a Jew and start practicing Judaism. Some divorce their wives after many years of marriage because they are not Jewish. There are Jews who are willing to lose their jobs because they are unwilling to desecrate Shabbos, even though just a few months ago they did not know about Shabbos. There are people who are willing to give up everything they have just because they understand that this is what Hashem wants. You look at them and are blown away in amazement.

I’m not even talking about those who are latecomers to Judaism and Chassidus and became ovdim or maskilim, learning Chassidus copiously every day for hours. Some have senior positions but they will not miss a minyan for mincha or maariv at shul.

Just look at us; sometimes you are busy and you daven mincha wherever you are or you are on the highway and you stop the car and daven.

There are people here who stop everything going on in their lives and go to shul to daven with a minyan. With corona, they are “turning the world upside down” to find minyanim, without having to make concessions.

When you see the mesirus nefesh of these Jews you find it hard to believe that there are such strengths inside these people, but it seems this is the power of the neshamos here, of Russian Jews.

UNFORGETTABLE CHICKEN DINNER

When you arrived here in 5748 (1988), at the start of perestroika, did you still get a taste of the old-world mesirus nefesh, or had times already changed?

We definitely could still get a taste of it from the Chassidim who were here. I’m not even talking about R’ Getche who was completely consumed with mesirus nefesh but about the other Chassidim who were here. If I hadn’t seen it, I would have had a hard time believing that I would be able to see Jews ready to be moser nefesh for even the “smallest” things.

There was someone who, aside from being an oived, was involved in spreading Chassidus. In those days, there were no printers or photocopy machines; they were illegal. There was no way to make copies of works of Chassidus, of which there were very few in Russia. So what did he do? He would use a camera to take pictures of pages of sifrei Chassidus and develop the pictures and Anash would learn from these pictures. I remember when I would sit at a shiur and people would sit with these black and white photos and learn from them.

This man had a small apartment, really tiny, in which a couple with three or four children lived. Why? Because one room was designated as a darkroom. It is hard to fathom the mesirus nefesh of this Chassid who lived in such small quarters just so that he could help other Jews learn Chassidus.

How did you, a bachur from the affluent West digest this?

I remember looking at them and promising that I would do everything in my life to help them!

Every now and then, before I returned to New York, I would ask them what I could bring for them from New York, maybe cheese or meat, and they would say, “No, we don’t need cheese or meat; we need sefarim. Send us sefarim.” Their thirst to learn was enormous.

I can still picture my first Friday night in Russia. I went to eat at the home of the Chassid R’ Getche and I was warmly welcomed.  His wife served a piece of fish for the first course. Actually, you couldn’t call it a piece of fish; it was more like a patty with some fish in it. Then she served soup and not just soup; it had a little piece of chicken in it. I had the soup and left the piece of chicken in the bowl.

Every so often, his wife would come in and urge me to eat it while I said, “No, it’s okay,” as I waited for the main course. It was only at three in the morning that I realized that there was no main course. We stayed to farbreng until three in the morning and the meal was over.

It was a few days later that I found out that the year before, R’ Getche received a packaged chicken from New York but he put it aside and waited to eat it on a special occasion when the Rebbe’s shluchim would come to him. I had come for Shabbos and they cooked this chicken. Till today I feel bad for not eating the chicken.

So you can imagine how hard it was here, and how everything associated with the Rebbe was the most precious thing to these Chassidim, even a young bachur who hardly knew anything about life but was a shliach of the Rebbe. All they wanted was to learn another maamar, to hear a vort from the Rebbe, to understand better what the Rebbe demands of us.

One could say you did not taste the chicken but its taste remains with you till today …

For sure! Whenever I have a piece of chicken, I remember that scene.

THE BOY WITH THE TZITZIS IN RED SQUARE   

The last mission the Rebbe gave to the shluchim at the Kinus HaShluchim 5752 was to prepare their city and country to welcome Moshiach. How are you preparing Russia to greet Moshiach?

One of my favorite stories is the story with the Chassid, I think it was R’ Michoel Vishedsky. When he was a boy, he asked his father how the world will look when Moshiach comes. His father said, when Moshiach comes you will be able to go to Red Square with your tzitzis out and stand there freely without being arrested.

The boy heard this and thought, that is totally unrealistic…

That means that the boy believed that Moshiach will come but he did not believe he would be able to stand in Red Square with his tzitzis out. To him, this was fantastical.

Today, we see things that the Rebbe promised and although they sounded fantastical they have taken place, one by one. This is the koach of the Rebbe. Not only we know this but the entire world has caught on.

There were times with virulent machlokes against Chabad. Whatever the Rebbe announced immediately generated opposition. This was so with Mivtza Sefer Torah, Tzivos Hashem; all were opposed. So too with the other campaigns. Kiruv in general was rife with machlokes. In our childhood we knew that whatever was accepted in Chabad was opposed by the entire Jewish world.

Suddenly, we are seeing such admiration for the Rebbe. Everyone is now copying what the Rebbe did. Moshiach too, the entire world is talking about Moshiach and Geula. The Rebbe literally changed the world. You can say that it is only that we are still lacking this emuna and anticipation; we are lacking the feeling that Moshiach is our entire existence.

The Rebbe says that everything that we do needs to be permeated with Moshiach, i.e. with every action a Chassid does, he needs to think how this brings about the hisgalus.

The truth is that this is not easy. Since Moshiach will shatter all of the kelipos the Satan gets involved and starts to dance at all the weddings. No doubt we all need to strengthen ourselves in this matter and we need to open our eyes and see what is happening around us and to realize that the world is ready for the Geula.

If today, children can stand in Red Square with their tzitzis out and say the 12 Pesukim as Vishedsky’s child could not dare to imagine, then we are certainly in Yemos HaMoshiach. The main problem is not with the world, because we see that the world is ready. It is we who still need to wake up, and when this happens, surely we will merit the hisgalus immediately. ■

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