Lectures used to be the way people learned. A teacher or lecturer who knew the information would come and convey it to students. Nowadays, workshops and round-table discussions are more popular, in which everyone brainstorms together. Each one feels he is taking part in finding the answer or solution. In this way, no one feels put upon. That is how it is supposed to be with Geula too.
What causes a person to reach beyond himself? What takes us out of our daily “Egypt?” What spurs us on to make changes in our lives, to overcome difficulties and relate to the neshama?
Sometimes, it starts within and sometimes it comes from the outside.
When the Jewish people left Egypt, it came from outside. Hashem revealed Himself to them from Above. They saw the revelation of G-d and thanks to this, in an instant, they left their exile mindset, were freed from idol worship, and devoted themselves to Hashem, to the point that they were ready to leave everything and follow Moshe into the desert.
When they received the Torah, the G-dly revelation was also enormous and made a change in the mindset of the entire nation. That same day, they began observing Torah and mitzvos (we eat dairy foods on Shavuos as a remembrance that they began observing the laws of kashrus).
But when the revelation comes from outside of us, it can remain outside. When the change in a person’s life starts from something external, the change itself can remain an external change. An inner change, a change that comes from the person, is more stable and permeates all dimensions of the soul.
Nearly 1000 years after we received the Torah at Sinai, the Jewish people were under the dominion of Achashverosh. The wicked Haman convinced the king to destroy all the Jews throughout the world. The Jews could forgo their Judaism, G-d forbid, and avoid this decree. The Jewish people of that generation revealed the innermost powers of their souls and were ready to sacrifice their lives not to forgo their Judaism.
They thus merited to receive the Torah on a completely new level. Until then, the Torah was given but had not been truly received. Until then, Mattan Torah was something external. It was thanks to their mesirus nefesh and the internal change that came from them, that enabled them to unite with the Torah on a higher level than before.
MESIRUS NEFESH – EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL?
But even mesirus nefesh can come from an external cause. Achashverosh’s decree forced the Jewish people to be moser nefesh. We see a similar thing with the generation prior to ours, when the decrees in communist Russia aroused the mesirus nefesh of Jews and especially of the Chassidim in that country.
When the change comes from an external cause, then if the cause dissipates the change will dissipate too. When the change is internal, and not dependent on something external, then there is nothing that can reverse it.
Ten people who try to clean a rooster will not be as successful as the rooster itself ruffling its feathers. If mesirus nefesh results from a decree, then when the decree is over, the mesirus nefesh also comes to an end.
Today, we are expected to reach a new level, one in which mesirus nefesh does not come from an external cause; going out of Egypt does not happen through a G-dly revelation; kabbalas ha’Torah does not land on us from Above.
In recent weeks we have discussed the yechida, that level of the soul to whom there is nothing but G-d, that level which feels and breathes the Creator and is not at all impressed by the world. But ultimately, even the yechida is a level of the soul and is revealed because of mesirus nefesh which comes from the outside. The essence of the soul (which is above even the yechida) is revealed when the mesirus nefesh comes from within.
It’s not only a decree that affects us from the outside. In a certain way, even hiskashrus to the Rebbe can be external. I change because the Rebbe asked me to change, but deep inside it is not my desire; I still haven’t taken it on as my own desire.
I shout that I want Moshiach, but it’s only because the Rebbe asked me to shout; I still haven’t fully integrated the cry into my very being. Hiskashrus to the Rebbe is the foundation of Chassidus in general, especially in our generation. The Rebbe reveals our yechida; the Rebbe helps and does things for us. But now we have reached the finish line, to reveal the essence of the soul as it is above the yechida. The Rebbe cannot do that for us. If he did, it would be counterproductive. If the change comes from outside of us again, it’s not the change we’re talking about. The Rebbe did his part and now it is our turn.
SO WHAT DO WE DO?
If there is no one outside of us forcing us to change, what will get us to change? What do we do when the opposition is no longer opposing us?
For example, what if someone was suddenly told that he won the lottery, and the prize is paying off all his debts, a new house, a fund from which he can pay for the weddings of his children, and a monthly salary that will cover all his needs, so that he doesn’t need to work anymore.
Sounds like a dream? You might be surprised to hear that many people did not know what to do with themselves in that situation. Their entire lives they were used to just getting through the day, to work in order to survive. What should they do now when they don’t have any money problems? What will motivate them to want to live?
The time has come to move into a Geula mindset. The time has come to jump into an entirely different place. The time has come to reveal within myself tremendous soul powers, not because of something external; to reach the conclusion that this is what I want. It is who I really am.
We need to stop living because we have to; stop shouting ad masai because we were told to, and asking for the Geula because we lack something. We have everything materially and spiritually and we still demand Moshiach. The essence of the soul is revealed and wants the essence of Hashem. Now is the time to reveal that inner, deepest me.
Although it is not customary to emphasize the “I” in Chassidus, now is the final birur before the Geula when even my “I” becomes G-dly. Not because it is nullified and does not want anything. We already passed that stage. Now the “I” wants, it wants G-dliness, it wants the Geula, it does not want to stay in galus for even one more moment.
LECTURE OR WORKSHOP?
This understanding also requires a change in how we educate those around us. We are not satisfied with people doing things because we said so; we want to lead them to a place where they will do it because they want to, because they understand that this is the best thing for them. Our goal is to help them make an inner change, to give them the tools for this, but to let them make the decisions on their own, to lead them to a point where they will demand Moshiach because this is what they really want.
To take an example from teaching, lectures used to be the way people learned. A teacher or lecturer who knew the information would come and convey it to students. Nowadays, workshops and round-table discussions are more popular, in which everyone brainstorms together. Each participant feels he is taking part in finding the answer or solution. In this way, no one feels put upon.
This is how we can create an inner change so that we cry out ad masai sincerely and not just because we were told to do so.