Rebbe MH”M instructed us to publish and publicize that the guiding principle to know Moshiach’s identity is this: The leader of the generation is the Moshiach of the generation. * Chapter Three of Rabbi Shloma Majeski’s Likkutei Mekoros Vol. 2. (Underlined text is the compiler’s emphasis.)
לע”נ הרב רחמים ב”ר יואב אנטיאן ע”ה
The leader of the generation provides all people of the generation with the ability to complete their mission to publicize G-dliness in the world.
This empowerment especially applies to those shluchim (emissaries) who the leader of our generation himself appointed (or appointed through his emissary, etc.) as his shluchim for the dissemination of Judaism in general, and in particular for spreading the wellsprings [of Chassidus] outward. It is through these shluchim that Judaism and the teachings of Chassidus are extended to all the people of the generation (as discussed above).
However, it is not enough to be granted this special empowerment from the leader of our generation; personal toil is also required. This principle is, as discussed above, reflected in the approach of Chabad that there should not only be “‘a tzaddik lives with his faith’ – don’t read ‘lives’ but ‘enlivens,’” but that the “enlivens” quality of the tzaddik and leader of the generation requires the effort of each individual, “…lives with his (own) faith,” through and in his ten soul-powers.
And when we fulfill this mission by utilizing the ten soul-powers in the fullest measure, it openly reveals how “shliach” together with ten equals “Moshiach,” leading up to the advent of Moshiach, when G-dliness will be openly apparent, “and the glory of G-d will be revealed, etc.”
Moreover, when we fulfill the shlichus of the leader of our generation, it brings about, “the emissary of a person is like the person himself” literally. The shliach thus embodies the likeness of the meshaleiach (the director, the one who sends agents), who is (the leader of the generation, the Rebbe, my father in-law) the “Moshiach of the generation,” with all the interpretations of the matter, including the interpretation that Moshiach means “mashuach (anointed),” and “chosen” and “nasi (leader or ruler),” as well as “Moshiach” in the simple sense [i.e., the redeemer]. The logic here [behind identifying the Rebbe as Moshiach] is that the leader of each generation is the Moshe of each generation, of whom it is said: Moshe is the first redemption; he is the final redeemer (Moshiach). Also, Moshiach is the general Yechida of the generation, for the aspect of Yechida corresponds to the level of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, as explained in the writings of the Arizal.
4. In order to more clearly understand how one “is like the meshaleiach,” Moshiach himself, when he fulfills the shlichus of the Rebbe, we must preface it with what the Gemara (mentioned above) says with regard to the concept of “the emissary of a person is like the person himself”: “just as you are members of the covenant [Jews], so are your emissaries members of the covenant.” That is, shlichus hinges on whether or not the shliach resembles the meshaleiach; only then can the shliach be “like the person [who sent him] himself.”
The above sheds light on the role of shlichus, as discussed above, whose purpose is to bring about the advent of Moshiach and reveal Moshiach in the world. This dynamic is engendered by the fact that in essence, every shliach has within him a semblance of and a manifestation of the aspect of Moshiach that exists in the meshaleiach.
Just as in each generation there is a Moshe Rabbeinu, the leader of the generation, so is this notion expressed in particular within each individual: each person has the Moshe that exists within him. As the Alter Rebbe explains in Seifer HaTanya, every single Jew has the aspect of Moshe within; it exists in his or her core. In fact, this aspect of Moshe causes fear of G-d to be “a small matter” for the Jew [just as it is with regard to Moshe Rabbeinu himself].
And this concept, which is said of Moshe Rabbeinu, the first redeemer, also applies to Moshiach (the final redeemer), as follows.
The nasi, the leader, is the Yechida HaKlalis – the Moshiach – of the generation. In our generation it is the nasi ha’dor, the Rebbe, my father in-law. Similarly, every Jew has in his soul the aspect of Yechida.
Our Sages mention the Yechida in their discussion of the soul: “It is called by five names: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, Yechida.” That is, every Jew possesses within his soul the aspect of Yechida [the highest dimension of the soul]. This is true not only of the soul as it exists On High, but also as it exists within the body. The idea that the Yechida extends to even the soul within the body is simply understood from the fact that every morning G-d returns to the Jew his soul, “the soul you have given within me” – in all five levels, including the aspect of Yechida.
According to what was said above – that the Yechida is the aspect of Moshiach – every Jew has Moshiach (Yechida) within him.
Indeed, it is explicitly mentioned in the work M’or Einayim (of Reb Nachum Chernobyler, the disciple of the Baal Shem and the Maggid) that every Jew has in his soul a spark of Moshiach.
As discussed on various occasions, this concept is also understood from the two interpretations of our Sages on the same verse, “A star will shoot forth from Yaakov”: One interpretation is that this refers to Moshiach, and the second is that it refers to a regular Jew. According to the well-known principle that two interpretations on the same verse have a connection between them, it is understand that every Jew is connected with Moshiach, in virtue of the fact that he possesses within him a spark of Moshiach.
In Kabbalistic lexicon, the Yechida that exists within every soul (as above), the tiny spark, the mortal spark which is one with – “Yechida l’yachadach” – the spark of the Creator.
From the above it is understood how the concept of “the emissary of a person is like the person himself,” referring to the leader of the generation and the Moshiach of the generation, applies to every Jew. Namely, it is in virtue of his resembling the meshaleiach in this respect [that he too possesses the aspect of Yechida within him]. And he must reveal this aspect by fulfilling the shlichus with his ten soul-powers.
(Address given on the night of Simchas Torah 5746; Likkutei Sichos Vol 29, pg. 360-361)