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By Rabbi Zushe Posner A”H

Once, I met two “Chabadnikim” and I asked if I could ask them something:

“At the tziyun there are two matzeivos, one on the right side and one on the left side. Do you even pay attention to the matzeiva on the right side? Do you notice it at all?”

They told me, “No.”

It turns out that most of the people who go there don’t give much attention to the matzeiva on the right side.

I told them that if that’s the case — if the one on the right side is not a Rebbe — then the one on the left side is also not a Rebbe. And if neither of them is a Rebbe, we might as well go to Uman.

They were shocked, “How can you say such a thing?!”

“What’s the difference?” I answered, “If it’s a place of tzaddikim, there are many other kivrei tzaddikim ! Why do you specifically come here?…”

The sun rose, and only then did it set

When it was Moshe Rabbeinu’s time to depart from the world, Am Yisrael pushed him to the mountain: “Go, ascend, die!” If they didn’t want him to die, they would have held him back, they would have prevented him from going up, as the Rebbe brings in a sicha in Likkutei Sichos [on Parshas Haazinu, Vol. 19 p. 339].

But what was the reason they let him die?

Because they knew that if he entered Eretz Yisrael, he would build the Beis HaMikdash and it would be an eternal building. They also knew that they would sin. And if that’s the case, the Jews would die, because there would not have been a possibility of “He let out His anger on the wood and stones.” So, they made the simple calculation that if Moshe won’t enter Eretz Yisrael, they would stay alive, and therefore they said, “You die so we can live!”…

This is more or less what you read “between the lines” in that sicha in Likkutei Sichos…

This time too, they pushed and buried him by force! But the difference between Moshe Rebbeinu and a Rebbe is that there must be a Rebbe in a physical body at any given moment. After Moshe there was Yehoushua bin Nun, as it is written, “And Moshe died,” the Torah says he died… But with a Rebbe, it says in the passuk, “V’zorach hashemesh, u’va hashemesh — And the sun rose and the sun set.” For some reason, there are some who purposely distort the passuk and say, “And the sun set and the sun rose.”

What’s the difference?

There is a precise order. Only when there was “and the sun rose” can there be “and the sun set.” If there was no “and the sun rose” before, there cannot be a situation of “and the sun set.” A Rebbe must be present in a physical body at all times. That’s why I say the Rebbe is alive, because there is no other possibility. The fact that I don’t see him is my problem, not his.

That’s how it was with all the Rebbeim: there was never a moment without a Rebbe. After Chof Dalet Teves, there is the Mitteler Rebbe; after Tes Kislev, there is the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek; after Yud Gimmel Nissan, there is the Rebbe Maharash; after Yud Gimmel Tishrei, there is the Rebbe Rashab; [after Beis Nissan, there is the Rebbe Rayatz,] and after Yud Shevat, there is the Rebbe. There is never a single moment without a Rebbe in the world.

When the Rebbe arrived at the Rebbe Rayatz for the first time in the years 5683-5684, among the things the Rebbe Rayatz said then was the statement: “Ah lebedige Rebbe darf men hobben — A living Rebbe is a must!”

If it’s just a spiritual matter, then you have the ispashtusa d’Moshe (Moshe’s influence) in every generation; for that, we don’t need a Rebbe. We can go to Uman. A Rebbe must specifically be in a physical body.

A Problematic Day

On Gimmel Tammuz, I try to avoid being around people because it’s a day that makes me nervous, a problematic day. It’s the day when the Rebbe disappeared from us. He didn’t die, but he disappeared from us.

A few years ago, on Gimmel Tammuz, I was sitting at home, and a yungerman who was in touch with me (apparently, he had a bit of l’chaim already) came in and said to me, “Zushe, come to the farbrengen!” I told him, “I’ll get upset, I don’t want to come.” He replied, “That’s good! Come for a few minutes, get upset, and then go back home…”

I entered the farbrengen and found beautifully set tables and the mashpia was farbrenging nicely and I couldn’t take it. I told them that I know that when I leave, they will start singing a niggun and serve more food, etc., because after all it’s Gimmel Tammuz…

They organize events to mark 20 years, 25 years, etc., people make hachlatos tovos connected with the number anniversary, and I’m sure they’re already planning the 50th and 100th anniversary events, and because the Rebbe has a good heart, he won’t ruin the plans, and chas v’Shalom, won’t be nisgaleh in the middle…

Why do we want the Rebbe?

If the Rebbe would have asked me if he should be nisgaleh I would clearly tell him no. For whom?

Generally, most of us — not all of us, but most of us, and I don’t exclude myself from this — what do we want? We want things to be good, we don’t want Rebbe. If it can be good without Rebbe – then the Rebbe can remain where he is.

The problem is that there are Tziyunistn – those who go to the tziyun, and Igrosniks – those who write letters to the Rebbe in the Igros Kodesh, or those who do both – go to the tziyun and write letters to the Rebbe in the Igros Kodesh.

I have seen and heard nisei nissim, miraculous miracles, that happened with both things, both at the tziyun and with the Igros Kodesh.

Why do we need the Rebbe? There are those who tell me, “I need the Rebbe to get answers.” So those who go to the tziyun get answers and those who write to the Rebbe in the Igros Kodesh also receive answers, but people from both these types don’t need the Rebbe.

I’m not, chas v’Shalom, telling anyone to stop what they’re doing, but it’s important to pay attention that we don’t get “addicted” to this. The situation where we don’t see the Rebbe is a problematic situation, and we should want it to stop!

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