DON’T BRING MOSHIACH - PREPARE THE WORLD TO ACCEPT HIM

We believe the Rebbe when it comes to everything, except when it comes to this. We’re having a hard time understanding it. Naturally, this is the biggest thing he ever said, the most revolutionary mivtza he ever came up with… * The following is a transcript of a farbrengen held in Morristown, New Jersey in late MarCheshvan 5753, with Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak “Fitzy” Lipskier, of blessed memory. Part 4

PROPHECY VS. WISDOM

The Rebbe gave us a mission to publicize the good news to people around the world that there is a prophet who says, “The time of your Redemption has arrived” and “Moshiach is on his way.” Did you hear that? This is not wishful thinking. Furthermore, the Rebbe used the word prophecy, a term that he had never used before, not even when he started his revolutionary mitzvah campaigns. There’s a footnote in the sicha from Parshas Shoftim 5751: Prophecy – not as a wise person, but as a prophet. There’s a difference. The Gemara states that a chochma has an advantage over a navi because he possesses the wisdom of Torah. On the other hand, there’s also an advantage to prophecy over wisdom.

There’s a story from the times of the Tzemach Tzedek about a prediction for the coming of Moshiach in a certain year. When the year passed and Moshiach hadn’t arrived, Chassidim went to the Tzemach Tzedek and asked him why the prediction had not come true. “What do you mean?” he said. “The Likkutei Torah was printed.” Is that an answer? It says in the Zohar that Moshiach was supposed to come in such-and-such a year and he didn’t come. What’s going on? If you understand the question you’ll understand the answer.

The answer is very simple: The Rebbe refers to one of the Alter Rebbe’s maamarim, where he writes that a chochma sees things with the wisdom of Torah. You’ve all heard of Atzilus; some of you have even been there, right? Some of you are still there… The chochma sees things in the highest places, but they could stay there. What he saw was true. Where did he see it? He saw it up there. However, there’s one problem: It never came down. It’s not ch”v a lie; it happened in the spiritual realm. But it never materialized in a physical sense. That’s why he’s called a chochma. He saw it with spiritual wisdom in the spiritual worlds, and he tells you what’s going on. There was a messianic revelation (as goyish as it sounds) that Moshiach is coming. It happened – “The Likkutei Torah was printed.” Thus, when the Baal Shem Tov heard from the Moshiach that the revelation of Chassidus brings the Redemption, Moshiach actually came on a certain Torah level. That’s not really what we want, but it did happen.

A navi is a different story. He does it through the power of speech, and that’s the whole prophecy. A prophecy comes forth in this physical world with words. The Alter Rebbe says that when a navi speaks as an actual prophet, not merely as a Torah sage, it happens down here. There’s no doubt that it’s going to become a reality; it cannot remain up there.

REBBE, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF?

A few years ago on Vav Tishrei, the yahrtzait of his mother, the Rebbetzin Chana a”h, the Rebbe gave out lekach, as is customary before Yom Kippur. The Rebbe davened Shacharis from the amud. You may have been tired from the farbrengen, but the Rebbe was still going strong at nearly ninety years of age. Some people have doubts about Moshiach being old and tired. We’re old and tired; Moshiach is young…

After Shacharis, the Rebbe went to the Ohel. Customarily, you don’t eat before going to the Ohel. You have something to drink, as you’re generally not allowed to fast because you’re going to the Ohel. Therefore, he probably had something to drink before he went. He was basically there all day. Of course, he wasn’t there to relax. He was doing his thing: standing on his feet and talking until eight o’clock at night. He came back to 770, davened Mincha from the amud, and then davened Maariv. You have to keep in mind that by then we had all eaten three meals already. The Rebbe hadn’t had breakfast yet. It’s now nine o’clock, and the Rebbe decided that he’s going to give out lekach that night, prepared with a kuntres and a dollar. To how many people? You know how many. No, that’s not enough. Men, women, and children, he decided – and the Rebbe gets what he wants. It lasted until around two or three in the morning.

As I was standing out in the hall I heard Rabbi Yaakov Yehuda (J.J.) Hecht a”h say, “I can’t go up there. The Rebbe has been on his feet the whole day, he’s hasn’t eaten anything yet. Fine, I won’t be saving the Rebbe more than a fraction of a second – but it just isn’t right.” People started arguing with him that the Rebbe wants everyone to take, otherwise he wouldn’t do it – and he eventually agreed to go up. When his turn came he mustered all his courage and asked, “Rebbe, when are you going to eat? When are you going to take care of yourself?” The Rebbe smiled and replied, “Tomorrow we’ll think about it…” If you have any doubts about the Rebbe, that’s how much he’s “into himself.”

The Rebbe would be the last person to say all these things as a prophecy, yet this is the message he wants us to announce everywhere. Furthermore, the Redemption is a reality; it’s already started. You can now begin to see Moshiach’s effect upon the world. He first referred to the Midrash in Yalkut Shimoni in connection with the Gulf War, how the Gentiles are fighting with one another. The Rebbe said that Eretz Yisroel is the safest place to be. When people came to the Rebbe for dollars and asked if they should go to Eretz Yisroel, the Rebbe said yes. He added that people shouldn’t go feeling threatened, but wholeheartedly with joy and confidence that it’s safe there.

There’s a tragic story about a family that wanted to send their daughter to Eretz Yisroel, but since it wasn’t “safe” there, they were going to send her to England instead. The Rebbe said that Eretz Yisroel is the safest place to be and there’s no reason not to send her there. The parents thought they knew better and sent her to England anyway. Unfortunately, she didn’t last very long. Within a week, she lost her life in a freak automobile accident.

IT EVEN APPEARED IN “THE TIMES HA’KADOSH”

We’re not talking about just another Torah scholar or a great leader. Do you know what a Rebbe is? This is not your average rabbinical personality. It’s above and beyond all that. Look around and understand what’s happening. The same Rebbe, whose record is flawless, says that this is it. You have doubts? People bet on horses with riskier odds. Why is it so hard to believe? It’s very easy to believe everything people say about the Rebbe. However, when you ask me to change myself and become different, that’s something else entirely.

When the Rebbe is “free of charge,” when he gives out dollars – he’s the greatest Rebbe. However, when it comes time to pay, when he’s demanding something from us, all of a sudden, it’s difficult. Anyone who thought that he got rid of his yetzer ha’ra, let it be known… Not yet, you still have a yetzer ha’ra. Of course it’s difficult. Yet, at the same time, we have to know and think about it on a daily basis. What is the Rebbe saying? When was the last time we thought about it? The Rebbe says that it’s in the process and he gave examples. The Gulf War is just one of them. Then, he spoke about the prophecy in Yeshayahu, how the nations would scrap their war machines and spend their money on food instead of weapons, as was decided in the United Nations. If the Rebbe says it I know that it’s true.

We’re witnessing here a mini-fulfillment of Yeshayahu’s prophecy. As the Rebbe put it, G-d is having a “Moshiach effect” upon the world. Then we have the “ingathering of the exiles”: Jews are being let out without any problems. In some cases, the Russian government was helping to pay for their airlifts out of the country. There was even an article in the New York Times. (“The Times HaKadosh,” the Rebbe once said.) Several convoys of Jews came out of the war zone in Bosnia, with other people being killed left and right. Yet, not one Jewish casualty or injury was sustained during the entire evacuation. No other ethnic group could make such a claim. The Eibeshter is gathering all the Jews together, and when He does it, they’re untouchable.

We still find all this hard to believe. “What? This can’t be true. You mean to say that I’m going to live to see the Redemption?” However, the Rebbe said this forty years ago, and he said it in 5752: This is the seventh generation. We are the first generation of Redemption and the last generation of exile. It’s so interesting. We believe the Rebbe when it comes to everything, except when it comes to this. We’re having a hard time understanding it. Naturally, this is the biggest thing he ever said, the most revolutionary mivtza he ever came up with. All the others by now are just small potatoes. Anyone can relate to them.

A year ago, when the crazy Lubavitchers were talking about Moshiach, do you know what they were saying out in the streets? “Chutzpah! How dare you say such a thing? Heretics! Where did you get the right to say ‘Moshiach Now’!? It goes against the Torah to demand from G-d!”

They quoted Gemaras, as if they knew what they’re talking about. As time progressed, the Rebbe took no steps back and continued pressing forward. It’s not “We Want Moshiach Now”; that’s history. Whoever sings that niggun today must be living in the past – or he’s a misnaged. The misnagdim would probably sing that niggun today. It’s not so bad anymore. You know why? “We’ll accept anything. You guys are altogether crazy. Now you say that the Rebbe is Moshiach. We’ll accept anything but that.” We’ve made progress. The crazier we go, the more they accept. What was crazy last year is not crazy anymore. It’s hard to accept, but if it’s hard for us, what do you want from them?

FREEDOM IS THE BIGGEST TEST – MORE THAN COMMUNISM

The Rebbe gave the orders to the shluchim: You have to prepare the world and prepare yourselves, your family, and your environment to welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu. In years gone by the emphasis was on helping to “bring Moshiach.” Sorry, that’s ancient history. That’s all over with. We’re finished, the Rebbe says. The job was completed. The avoda of “raising the sparks” has ended. We just had to polish the buttons, but that was done already – Judaism around the globe. Self-sacrifice for Yiddishkait – a thing of the past. That’s why the Soviet Union no longer exists. There’s no need for mesirus nefesh anymore. Why do you think Communist Russia existed until now? There was a need for self-sacrifice. G-d got His taste of it, and the Jews survived – Czarist Russia, Communist Russia, even the freedom of the United States. We’re working on that; it’s worse than Communist Russia. Freedom is the biggest test.

It’s very easy to serve G-d when you’re under the threat of the sword, because your self-sacrifice comes out automatically. However, when things are fine and dandy it’s very difficult to serve the Eibeshter. You don’t even feel like crying out to Hashem. You lack nothing; you’ve got it made.

The mission is not to help bring Moshiach. You have to prepare the world to receive Moshiach. Start living the Redemption, start feeling the Redemption. Tune in, wake up. No matter how crazy people might think you are, it won’t take away the fact that this is really happening. The problem is that we fail to make the connection: Why should I think that because they let the Jews out of Russia, it has something to do with G-d and His prophecy about the Redemption? What does the world have to do with G-d? Someone who has a little insight sees what’s going on, and he knows. There’s no coincidence here; it’s not because the Soviet Union collapsed. How could this have happened? After all, the U.S.S.R. was a superpower. What went wrong? The economists and scientists have their own interpretation, and the politicians explain things their way. Everybody knows why. If all these reasons are so true, then how is America still around?

There are things that don’t necessarily have a logical explanation. The Baal Shem Tov says that when a Jew sees or hears something, it ultimately has some connection to the purpose of Creation, under the constant control of the Alm-ghty. The Rebbe goes one step further: If you’re not ready to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu, why should everyone else lose out because you haven’t gotten your act together? If you can’t convince yourself, that’s no reason to stop from spreading the word to others. To those who say that the world isn’t ready for this, it’s too revolutionary, etc., the Rebbe says: Maybe you’re not ready, but the world is ready. Go out there and spread the word. Talk to Gentiles; they have no problem with Moshiach. “Moshiach? How’s he doing?” they ask.

If you believe the message and feel it, it will naturally be felt out there much better. And if you don’t, so what? Does that mean that the world has to endure more pain and anguish for the time being? That’s a crime. Do the best you can under the present circumstances. Ay, you won’t be the best? At least you won’t be left out and you’ll be doing whatever you can. In the process of helping others, don’t you think that it will clear things up a little for you? Work on it.

The Rebbe gave us a formula: Learn about Moshiach and do it properly. Go through the subject from A to Z. Know the Rambam on the qualifications for Moshiach like an expert. Learn Chassidus, especially the Rebbe’s maamarim. How can a Lubavitcher Chassid go a week without learning the Rebbe’s Chassidus?

IF YOU’RE REALLY A CHASSID, DO WHAT YOU KNOW MUST BE DONE

On the 3rd of Shvat 5752, a little less than two months before Chaf-Zayin Adar Rishon, the Rebbe said (in reference to the previous Rebbe): What can you do for the Rebbe’s speech? You learn his Chassidus and this helps his speech. Everybody wants to do something, and the Rebbe told you what to do. If you call yourself a Lubavitcher Chassid, why aren’t you doing it? The last maamer that the Rebbe gave you with his own hand, do you remember which maamer it was? Do you remember the name of the maamer? Did you learn the maamer? Do you know it by heart? Did you ever learn it inside once? Do you possibly learn it once in a while? A line or two? How could you not? You’re not a Chassid; you’re hardly a misnaged. Worse than a misnaged – you know what to do and you don’t do it.

You don’t feel Moshiach? How could you feel it? For the last two thousand years we have been living with a galus mentality. All of a sudden, you are told to feel Moshiach and the Redemption. It’s like asking someone to feel the moon or the effect that Mars has on him. What are you talking about? UFOs? You’re speaking Chinese. It’s impossible to feel such things. A person can’t spend his whole life in exile and suddenly start feeling Geula. How can I feel free when I’m so caught up in my own inner and outer galus?

However, there is a solution: Learn Torah, specifically on the subject of the Redemption. G-d wrote the Torah and it possesses an unlimited supply of wondrous G-dly powers. It can take an idiot with no feeling for Geula and instill that feeling within him. Only the Torah can do that.

“Okay,” you say. “In the meantime, I’ll master the subject of Moshiach, and then I’ll go tell people about it.” Are you crazy? How can you do a thing like that? How can you deprive millions of people from such good news? Do you know what it says about a navi who withholds a prophecy? The worst punishment you could imagine. It’s like saying that you won’t go out on mivtzaim and help others until you become a perfect Jew yourself. “First, I have to learn to put on t’fillin with proper kavana before I put t’fillin on another Jew.” Can you imagine if we had that attitude? You can’t wait for that. We’d never go out on mivtzaim. Why does the other Jew have to wait? He needs you out there.

You have to educate people about Moshiach in detail. They still don’t know what it’s all about. They need to hear what Moshiach means to them and that he’s actually coming now. What can you do about it? What should you do about it? Prepare yourself. You have to start thinking Moshiach in a very practical way. Think about Moshiach during davening – maybe you’ll daven better. Everything we do has to be permeated with Moshiach.

If you walk into 770, it’s easy to scream and sing – but do you know what it means to greet Moshiach? Are you ready? Do you really want it? What are you going to do? Are you prepared for it? This is serious business. If you knew that the king was actually coming to your house tomorrow morning, what would you do? You’d clean up the house. This is a project that everyone would like to do, and I’ll supply you with the paper and the envelopes. This is practical Moshiach.

What’s practical about it? Everyone who feels he can should sit down and write at least one letter to someone close to him – a parent or a sibling – over whom he can have some positive influence. There are millions of people out there who would give anything to have a fraction of what we have, and we are depriving them of that knowledge. However, there’s something that we can do about it, and it will only cost you a postage stamp. Send a letter with a newspaper clipping and your own personal note about the Rebbe and his message that Moshiach is on his way. This may sound completely stupid to you, but that’s only because you’re not comfortable with the idea.

This project provides you with a solution to two problems. First, you are forcing yourself to become comfortable with the idea. How? Do something about it. You have your own doubts? Go solve them. In the process, at least you will have sent out the Rebbe’s message to another Jew. Successful or not? How many times did you go out on mivtzaim, ask someone to put on t’fillin, and the person said no? You have the same thing here. You send a letter to someone and you didn’t excite him. How do you know you didn’t? You don’t know what the results are going to be. One thing is for sure: the word got to another Yid. He heard the word “Moshiach.”

You think it’s so crazy? It is. So was mivtzaim thirty years ago. Take a look at yourself. Why are you here? Because some meshugganeh did mivtzaim. You did the same thing in the past, but now you’re dealing with a touchy subject. You’re not getting into debates with anybody. You’re writing him a letter and that’s it. You can leave a return address. Don’t worry; no one will come after you. What’s the worst thing that can happen? He’ll write back and call you a couple of names? He thinks you’re crazy anyway, right? What else is new? You have nothing to lose and only everything to gain. I think this is a worthwhile project.

The truth is that as much as we find it impossible to expect that a person can feel the Redemption, and with good reason – as the Rebbe himself said, nevertheless, you have to do it. What did you do for Moshiach this week? Did you at least think about him? Everything else revolves around this main point. Of course, you put on t’fillin with other Jews. Why? The reasons are different now. This is the Rebbe’s campaign, and there can be no question that this is what he wants. You know what he said in 5751-5752. The sichos are printed, and if you don’t understand them, you can sit down and learn them over and over again. See first-hand exactly what the Rebbe said and act accordingly. This is it.