HISKASHRUS 101

Dear Reader sh’yichyeh,

We are now after the Yom Tov of Shavuos, and Chassidim are thinking about 28 Sivan-3 Tammuz and their Hiskashrus to the Rebbe. We all know that “…the true bond is created by studying Torah. When you study my maamarim, read the sichos and associate with those dear to me – the chassidic community and the T’mimim – in their studies and farbrengens, and you fulfill my request regarding saying T’hillim and observing Torah-study times, in this is the bond.” (HaYom Yom 24 Sivan)

There is no true Hiskashrus without learning the Torah of the Rebbe and following his directives. This is similar to the fact that true connection to Hashem (see Tanya Ch. 5) is only through learning Torah. Nevertheless, just as Chazal tell us that דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה , in this week’s essay we will be discussing the very important first step on the path to strong Hiskashrus: a deep love for and personal connection to the Rebbe.

The Rebbe (HaYom Yom 26 Shvat) writes: “Ahava, affection, is the breath of life in the avoda of Chassidus. It is the thread that binds Chassidim to each other, that binds Rebbe to Chassidim and Chassidim to Rebbe. Ahava works in a direct way (initiated affection) and also in a reflective way (responding to the other’s affection). It knows no barriers and transcends the limits of time and place.”

This HaYom Yom and the HaYom Yom of 14 Shvat are actually based on the same letter of the Frierdike Rebbe (Igros Vol. 4, pg. 431): “Our holy forebears, the Rebbeim through the generations, appealed to G‑d and evoked Divine compassion toward their Chassidim, those bound to them. This was not all; they also had an avoda of bringing their Chassidim to mind, inwardly, pondering their affection and attachment to the Rebbe, reciprocating that affection and attachment. Bringing someone to mind has the effect of arousing that person’s innermost powers. We see that when one looks deeply and intently at another he will turn around and return the glance, because the penetrating gaze awakens the core of the soul. Thought has the same effect.”

During the farbrengen of Motzaei Shabbos Parshas B’Shalach, 11 Shvat 5721 (printed in Toras Menachem Vol. 30, pg. 63) the Rebbe quotes this special HaYom Yom (of 14 Shvat) and teaches what we can learn from it. Sometimes a Chassid feels a sudden inspiration to develop his hiskashrus to the Rebbe and is not sure where this arousal is coming from. This Chassid should know that it could be coming from the fact that the Rebbe was thinking about the Chassid.

The Rebbe compares this notion to a similar concept that we find regarding a Jewish person and his connection to Hashem. Chazal (Avos 6:2) tell us: “Every day a Heavenly voice emanates from Mount Chorev and proclaims, ‘Woe to mankind for [its] insult to the Torah!’” Seemingly, if we do not hear the Heavenly voice, what is the point of this daily announcement? The answer is just as above: The inner-soul hears this announcement and will have the ability to give the Jew a sudden hisorerus to serve Hashem.

These loves, of the Chassidim to the Rebbe and the Rebbe to Chassidim, have a deep effect. This is evident in the following HaYom Yom (22 Iyar): “Several of the early Chassidim had a farbrengen sometime between 5544-47 (1784-87) and the core of the discussion was this: The Rebbe (the Alter Rebbe) had accomplished something novel, that we are not alone. At one time, the Master, the Rosh Yeshiva or Talmudic sage, was alone and his disciples were alone. The chassidic way instituted by the Rebbe is a tremendous Divine achievement, that the Rebbe is not alone, nor are the Chassidim alone.”

The letter of the Frierdike Rebbe (Igros Kodesh 13, pg. 273) is the source of this HaYom Yom. In that letter the Frierdike Rebbe tells us more about that farbrengen which took place in that group of Chassidim. These Chassidim, being the first generation of Chassidim, were not from Chassidic background and had all sacrificed to become Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe.

They were discussing what the Alter Rebbe accomplished for the individual Chassid himself. They contemplated: Torah learning we had before we came to the Alter Rebbe. We didn’t know that avoda existed, so we did not feel that we were missing it. Physical luxuries we did not have before we came to the Alter Rebbe and we do not have now. So what was the innovation of the Alter Rebbe? They concluded with the above-mentioned quote, finishing off “that the Rebbe is not alone, nor are the Chassidim alone.”

What does “the Rebbe is not alone, nor are the Chassidim alone” mean? It means that while usually a Rav and his Talmidim do not have a soul-connection or think of their love for each other, it is not so with the Rebbe and his Chassidim. In the Rebbe-Chassid relationship there is a deep and loving soul-connection. The Rebbe thinks of the Chassid and the Chassid is thinking of his Rebbe. This is evident in the source of this HaYom Yom. The letter was written to a Chassid who wrote to the Frierdike Rebbe that he is really interested to find out how the Rebbe was feeling, to which the Rebbe responds that he is really interested in knowing how the Chassidim are doing and then he recounts the above-mentioned story.

When the Rebbeim see how the Chassidim express their love and affection and go out of their way to be גורם נחת רוח רב, they respond with much love and Brachos. The following story is connected to the HaYom Yom of 25 Iyar, which reads as follows: “Among the Alter Rebbe’s maamarim of 5555 (1795) in Liozna: ‘The reward of a mitzva is the mitzva.’ The mitzva in its ultimate essence state is the reward. The revelation of this essence will take place in the Time to Come. This is the ‘enduring principal of the mitzva.’ However, man also ‘eats of its fruits in This World,’ each mitzva according to its particular nature; i.e. when man has that particular need, he is answered.”

A group of Chassidim in a Russian village had been imprisoned because of the libel of an informer. When the charges against them were dropped and they were released, they wrote a letter to the Alter Rebbe telling him of G‑d’s kindness. One of the Chassidim, R. Shimon Blecher, a man of very meager means, wanted to hire a special courier to deliver the message to the Alter Rebbe as soon as possible.

When his Chassidic brethren learned of his plans, they protested that it was wrong for him to deprive his family of this money. R. Shimon insisted, however, and explained that the satisfaction he could bring to the Rebbe was worth more to him and his family than material benefits.

The matter was brought before the mashpia, the local Chassidic mentor, who ruled that R. Shimon could undertake the expense. The courier was dispatched and the letter delivered. Some time later, when the Alter Rebbe sent a Chassid to that region to collect tz’daka, he also sent a personal handwritten letter to R. Shimon, thanking him for his initiative and giving him a distinctive blessing that he should always be a bearer of good tidings. Within a short time the Alter Rebbe’s blessing bore fruit, and R. Shimon and his family were granted a unique measure of health and prosperity.

The Rebbe Rayatz concludes there: “‘The reward of the mitzvah is the mitzvah,’ but for fulfilling the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel with self-sacrifice, R. Shimon was granted both material and spiritual blessings.”

We all know that “the intense longing to be bound closely (to a Rebbe) can be satisfied only by learning maamarim of Chassidus which the Rebbe delivers as oral discourses and writes down; simply seeing him is not enough.” (HaYom Yom 9 Adar II) There must be a practical application and expression of the love that the Chassid has for his Rebbe.

If by all Rebbeim it was so important that the Chassidim express the love and connection and thereby “the Rebbe is not lonely,” this is most important in our generation, when we are preparing the world for Moshiach. A Jewish king receives his life from the people, “אין מלך בלא עם.” This idea, that the chayus of the king is dependent on the acceptance of the people, is especially true regarding Moshiach (See Sicha of Beis Nissan 5748).

This practical act of Kabbalas HaMalchus by the people can be the one act that will actually bring about the hisgalus. As the Rebbe told us (Mishpatim 5751), “The appointment of David, the King Moshiach, has already occurred, as it says, ‘I have found David My servant, with My holy oil I have anointed him.’ It requires only an acceptance of his kingship by the people and a complete revelation of the attachment between the king and the people in the true and perfect Redemption.”

לזבות ידידי היקר הרה”ח חיים שניאור זלמן בן מרים לרפואה שלימה

Rabbi Avtzon is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati and a well sought after speaker and lecturer. Recordings of his in-depth shiurim on Inyanei Geula u’Moshiach can be accessed at http://www.ylcrecording.com