How do we stay strong 22 years after Gimmel Tammuz? And what is the significance of this day? How do we handle the challenges of the times and how do we teach our children about hiskashrus to the Rebbe? * Rabbi Moshe Kornwitz, rosh mesivta and mashpia in the Chabad yeshiva in Natzrat Ilit, in a fascinating farbrengen for Gimmel Tammuz
Twenty-two years have passed since we last saw the Rebbe. Many ask how we can be truly mekushar under these circumstances. * Let us go back many decades to life behind the Iron Curtain where many Chassidim were trapped without a direct connection to the Rebbe, where the bond of love and longing connected them and melted any iron curtain that threatened to separate between them and the Rebbe. * Presented for Gimmel Tammuz
I remember that day more than any other day from my childhood. I was a little second grader. During recess I liked sitting near the booth of the school guard, located near the entrance to the school. During that particular recess the radio was blasting and its noise carried into the horizon under the summer sun that beat down too strongly. Then came the 10:00 news and the newsreader announced sadly that “The Lubavitcher Rebbe
Since Moshiach still has not come, it is clear that in heaven they came up with a strategy as to how to have the tzaddik delay his appeal until later… * The correct approach here may well be to take an oath according to the knowledge and consent of the public, in which case the law is that “there is no disavowal of the oath without public consent.”
Menachem Ziegelboim sat with R’ Yossi Ginsburg, rosh yeshiva in Ramat Aviv, for a talk about the significance of Gimmel Tammuz. * How can we go from “galus people” to becoming “the Rebbe’s people?” * What’s wrong with saying that what the Rebbe said was a wish and hope rather than a statement of fact? * This and more in this timely interview.
We are quickly approaching the day of Gimmel Tammuz, the day about which the Rebbe writes (Likkutei sichos vol. 4 page 1315): “Chassidim who are connected to the Rebbe should celebrate Gimmel Tammuz!” Since 5754, it seems very difficult to celebrate Gimmel Tammuz.
This process also brings about the concept of “chukas” meaning “chakika,” engraving, signifying an (unchanging) eternal manifestation, which is connected with the letter Tav, as our Sages say, “Tav – t’chiya, enlivens,” the ultimate expression of which is chaim nitzchiim, eternal life.
As Gimmel Tammuz approaches, twenty years in which we haven’t seen the Rebbe, we wanted to know how the “lions of the group” reacted after Gimmel Tammuz 5754, those senior Chassidim who raised a generation of thousands who were influenced by their behavior, teachings, and guidance. * The reaction of R’ Mendel to the idea of changing the proclamation of Yechi, the request of R’ Michoel before reciting the bedtime Shma, the interview with R’ Itzke by Beis Moshiach in Tishrei 5755, the p’nimius’dike cry of R’ Reuven, R’ Heishke’s farbrengens, and the response of R’ Mottel to those who asked him, after Gimmel Tammuz, what do we do now? * Beis Moshiach follows in the footsteps of six of the ziknei ha’chassidim of the seventh generation.
Erev Gimmel Tammuz, when questions arise, I visited the mashpia, R’ Zushe Posner, one of the veteran shluchim that the Rebbe sent to Eretz Yisroel, to hear answers. R’ Zushe makes no concessions to anyone and he demands living with the Rebbe not for ourselves, but for the Rebbe!
As everyone is preparing themselves for Gimmel Tammuz 5774, I want to bring an enigmatic Midrash to your attention.
Even now, as darkness has been covering the world for so many years, when I came and saw that the enthusiasm for the Rebbe was far greater than what I had previously experienced, my spirit was uplifted. The holiness has remained undiminished
“On Yom Tov one is supposed to spend time with his family. Why do you think I left my family and walked for hours in the pouring rain to come to your shul? It is only because “De Rebbe Lebt!”
In honor of Gimmel Tammuz, we present a collection of stories that demonstrate the Rebbe’s concern and sensitivity towards each man and woman, young and old.
July 6, 2016