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By Rabbi Gershon Avtzon

Dear Chassidim: Once again we find ourselves on 28 Nissan, the day – in 5751 – in which the Rebbe said the famous words: “What more can I do so that all the children of Israel should create an uproar and cry sincerely and cause Moshiach to come in reality, since all that was done until now, has had no effect, and the proof is, that we find ourselves still in exile, and most essentially – an inner exile in Divine service. The only thing I am able to do – is to turn the matter [over] to you: do everything in your ability – things that are in the nature of lights of Tohu, but, in vessels of Tikun – to actually bring our righteous Moshiach immediately, instantly, in reality.”

While these are the words that get the most attention, and rightfully so, I would like to discuss some words in the Sicha that do not get the most attention. The reason they do not get so much attention, although you could hear it yourself in the recording of the sicha, is because it seems that the words were said “by mistake” (cha”v). What are those words? Instead of referring to the day as the 28th of the month of Nissan, the Rebbe refers to the day of the month as the 28th of the Omer (which is 13 Iyar)! This is not just once, it is multiple times and in various sentences, so there must be a lesson.

[This idea, that if the Rebbe “mixes up” words it is not coincidental, is obvious to every Chassid. As Chassidim, we know that every utterance and action of the Rebbe is an expression of something going on “on high”. The following famous story illustrates this point:

During the month of Sivan 5740 Rabbi Moshe Dikshtein was in a private Yechidus with the Rebbe. At the end of the Yechidus the Rebbe gave him a blessing that he “be successful physically – the Rebbe coughed – and spiritually”. After the Yechidus Rabbi Moishe wrote down the Yechidus, and gave it in for the Rebbe to look over. On his notes he added that between physically and spiritually “the Rebbe coughed”. When he got back his notes the Rebbe circled the words “here the Rebbe coughed” and added “היו קיטרוגים” – there were negative things going on in heaven against Rabbi Dickstein that the Rebbe was working to avert. ]

I do not begin to claim that I know the reason that the Rebbe switched the words from Nissan to “Omer”, but would like to suggest the following (and everyone is free to disagree and share their own thoughts): The main point of the Sicha was to create a change a paradigm shift in how we see the role in our personal Avodah in bringing Moshiach. Instead of the lead coming from “above” (the Rebbe) and we just help out, it will be the other way around: The job and responsibility is ours and the Rebbe will “do what he can” to help us.

This shift of perspective is represented in the words “Nissan” and “Omer”. The month of Nissan is the time of revelation from above. The word Nissan comes from the word miracles which is a revelation from above. The avodah of the countinr of the Omer is the opposite: It is a person working on their own emotions, one day at a time. It is not miraculous or glamorous, just steady work that comes from within the person. It is therefore not shocking that in this sicha – where the Rebbe is changing the whole paradigm and dynamic – that the Rebbe changes from Nissan to Omer.

To add to the above: If you look at the Hayom Yom of 13 Iyar – the “28th of the Omer”, you will see the whole sicha of 28 Nissan (in slightly different words): “In the years during which the Alter Rebbe delivered short maamarim, he once taught: “The phrase, ‘Know what is above you,’ can be interpreted as meaning, ‘Know that what is Above, in the sublime partzufim and Sefiros, is from you’ — it is dependent upon man’s Divine service.”

This special Torah of the Alter Rebbe is – in essence – the message of 28 Nissan 5751: It is not the “above” that dictates what happens “below”, rather the other way around: It all has to start from the “from you” – from our Avodah – and that is the way to bring the Hisgalus!

Please feel free to share your thoughts on the above with me by sending me a personal email: [email protected]

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