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BEGIN WITH A GRIN

The Russian broadcast network made an official announcement firmly denying that Putin’s military advisor fell under mysterious circumstances from the balcony of his room on the fourteenth floor of the hotel he was in.

As proof, they said anyone familiar with that hotel knows it only has twelve floors.

UNIFYING THEME

This Shabbos is very special. It’s not every year that the great day of Yud Shevat falls out on Shabbos. This day marks the passing of the Rebbe Rayatz and the acceptance of the Chabad leadership by his successor, the Rebbe MH”M.

Seventy-four years ago, the morning of Shabbos, parshas Bo, at eight in the morning, the Rebbe Rayatz passed away. The Rebbe first unofficially accepted the nesius and then, a year later, formally accepted it.

The way things fall out in the Jewish calendar has meaning. It’s all by divine providence and this is all the more true when speaking about a date on which a Nasi passes away. Since this year, Yud Shevat falls out on Shabbos, just as it did in 5710, we must see there is a connection between the two, along with a lesson which connects the parsha, the yom hilula and mainly, bringing the Geula.

What is the three-fold connection here and what is the lesson for us?

On the day of the passing of a tzaddik, everything that he was involved in during his lifetime reaches its perfection. “The service that he served” during the seventy years of the Rebbe Rayatz’s life finds its fullest expression on this holy day. What is the main work and ‘service’ of the Rebbe Rayatz for the thirty years of his nesius and for the seventy years of his life?

Some will say that his life focused primarily on the war to preserve Judaism in Soviet Russia. Others will say that his main work was establishing Judaism in America which was a spiritually frozen wasteland at that time. Someone might suggest that the previous Rebbe’s life revolved around absolute self-sacrifice to the divine will in every place and every situation. Others will say that Ahavas Yisrael was the crowning glory of his spiritual service. Who is right? What is really the key point which we need to internalize on this day?

Fortunately for us, the Rebbe MH”M, who was the previous Rebbe’s greatest Chassid, tells us the answer. The Rebbe also provides us with insight about himself and the main focal point of the seventh generation. In a sicha, the Rebbe relates to the question and explains that the central point in the previous Rebbe’s life can be found in the maamar which he left in honor of his yom hilula, the famous maamar, “Basi L’Gani,” whose main message can be summed up in two words, “dira ba’tachtonim.”

That means, that all of the previous Rebbe’s service focused on one thing only, finishing and completing the all-encompassing mission of bringing the Shechina down below ten hands-breadths, in the most perfect way possible. To embed the Shechina down below in such a way that it will never depart again. He did this with mesirus nefesh and Ahavas Yisrael, by preserving the embers of Judaism in Russia and by spreading Judaism in America. These are merely details within a much more comprehensive objective of “dira ba’tachtonim” which will be fully revealed with the Geula.

If we think for a moment about the true significance of a dira ba’tachtonim and the type of service required to attain it, we will find that it is all encapsulated in one word: achdus!

UNIFYING THE WORLD

When Hashem will be revealed with His entire essence in this lowly world, then it will be revealed that the very existence of the world is utterly united with the existence of the Creator, as the verse says, “There is nothing but Him.” Or, as it says in another verse, “On that day [the day that the dira ba’tachtonim is revealed and the Geula comes], the L-rd will be one and His name will be one.” Just as the desired goal is unity, so too, the way to achieve it is through unity! Unity among us is what brings the Shechina within us. By our being “all of us as one,” there can be fulfilled, “Bless us, our Father… in the light of Your countenance” – the light of the Shechina.

So much so, that this infectious unity also needs to reach the nations of the world. Therefore, the previous Rebbe (and the Rebbe a thousand times more), wanted Chassidus translated and spread in seventy languages so that the wellsprings of Chassidus could reach even the non-Jews, so they too will come to recognize the existence and unity of the Creator. Then, the prophecy of Tzefanya (3:9) can be be fulfilled, “Then, I will convert the peoples… to worship Him of one accord.”

This is also the central theme of parshas Bo. Parshas Bo represents the Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt. This is the first Geula, which opens the channel for all the future redemptions, including the true and complete Geula. Furthermore, we see the idea of achdus openly in the parsha. First of all, there’s the famous verse, “with our youth and our elders… with our sons and our daughters, we will go.” Despite the divisions and despite the differences between them, there is something in common which unites us all, “we will go” – all of us are marching forward toward the Geula.

Second, in this parsha, the Torah calls the Jewish people, “Tzivos Hashem.” We are the army of Hashem! And not just in times of war, not just starting on October 7, but starting with the exodus from Egypt!

An army has many “colors,” many faces, many opinions, many ideas, many different kinds of people, but there are principles which unite them all. Every army is built on two rock-solid foundations:

1-Obedience, which includes unconditional following of the commander’s orders.

2-Self-sacrifice to the point of endangering one’s life so that even if I don’t think like you, even if I disagree with you, even if I don’t agree with anything you think, say, or do, I will endanger my life to save you! (As we see happening every day).

There is no greater Ahavas Yisrael and Achdus Yisrael than that!

So, the common denominator between Yud Shevat, Parshas Bo, and the bringing the Geula is that the Geula, since day one, can be and needs to be brought with achdus! Unity between us and G-d, unity among ourselves, unity between us and the world around us. The lesson for us is clear. Who, to us, is greater than the Rebbe who raised the banner of these two points which are actually one thing, the point of bringing the Geula together with the point of Ahavas Yisrael and Achdus Yisrael.

We could tell hundreds and even thousands of stories about how much the Rebbe loves every Jew, and about how much the Rebbe wants the Geula. When we combine both things, we can truly sense the key point of this great and holy day, the day about which the Rebbe himself said, “the tenth is holy.” In other words, we need to add in all activities connected with Jewish unity, starting with achdus through Torah study, keeping the shiurim of Chitas and Rambam and spreading Torah in general, all the way to bringing the teachings of Chassidus to the nations of the world.

TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY

We will end with a story which expresses the potential that the Rebbe sees in every Jew and his special connection with Torah and Yiddishkeit, even those who appear otherwise. The Bnei Brith Youth Organization is one of the oldest Jewish organizations in America. On Chanuka 1967, the organization held a three-day youth conference in Minnesota and the organizers of the gathering asked Rabbi Moshe Feller, then a young shliach, to be one of the three main speakers.

This was half a year after the Six Day War, when the Rebbe announced “Mivtza Tefillin” and issued a call to arm the Jewish masses with this mitzva. R’ Feller figured that most of the youth attending the conference never saw tefillin in their lives and this would be an opportunity to suggest that they put on tefillin.

R’ Feller set up a tefillin stand on the first day of the conference at the opening of the program and he asked those running the conference to include the putting on of tefillin on the program for the second day of the event. As for the third day, he was afraid to ask again to put tefillin on with the youth, thinking it would be pushing it too far.

His suggestion was accepted and then he had a problem. Where would he get tefillin for two hundred boys? He called the Rebbe’s office and a few minutes later he was told that the Rebbe himself would pay for all the tefillin he would find. R’ Feller pressured various sofrim in New York and got 130 pairs of tefillin and two bachurim to come and help him.

The next day, the second day of the conference, the two hundreds boys were sitting in their places. R’ Feller asked the director himself to roll up his sleeve and R’ Feller tied the tefillin straps on his arm as the boys watched and did the same themselves. After the lecture, R’ Feller rushed to report to the Rebbe’s office. As he was on the phone, he suddenly heard a voice quietly asking, “What about tomorrow?”

The Rebbe himself was on the line, wanting to know what would happen on the third day of the conference. R’ Feller said he was afraid to push too far and he hadn’t asked for it. The Rebbe said, “the concern in this case is unwarranted,” and therefore gave him four instructions: 1) to ask those in charge to officially include it in the program the next day too; 2) to offer that the boys could buy the tefillin at half price and take them home; 3) to invite the media to report on the event; 4) to arrange a menorah lighting at the conference with the participation of all the youth and the media.

To R’ Feller’s great surprise, the director of the event responded enthusiastically to the Rebbe’s suggestion. He loved the idea of the boys buying tefillin and announced that the organization would pay a quarter of the cost so that the boys would only have to buy a quarter.

The hanochas tefillin the next day was very impressive, as was the menorah lighting. Members of the press were excited by the scene and pictures were published in nearly every English language Jewish newspaper.

Good Shabbos!

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