From a speech delivered at a Kinus Achdus in 770 on 3 Tammuz
It is hard to believe that it’s twenty years already without farbrengens, sichos, maamarim, dollars or yechidus. The question that everyone asks himself today is: What do we need to do? How can we change the situation? I am sure that there are many answers and everyone has a response.
I would like to share with you the thoughts I had on my flight to New York today. We all know that 3 Tammuz had a special significance before 3 Tammuz 5754. 3 Tammuz was the Is’chalta D’Geula of the Rebbe Rayatz and as the Rebbe related in sichos, it was almost a situation of the “opposite of life.” The Rebbe Rayatz said that he saw his sentence to the “opposite of life” written on a paper with a line on the words and next to it the word nyet (no).
That is what the situation was supposed to be. 3 Tammuz is the day that everything changed; from the “opposite of life” it changed to Is’chalta D’Geula which continued to the Geula of “everyone who is known by the name Yisroel.” It affected the entire world as we see today. Furthermore, it affected Russia itself and we are witnesses today to the extreme changes there.
The question is, how did 3 Tammuz devolve to a state of such terrible darkness? There are many sichos of the Rebbe in which he explains that the main inyan of the Rebbe Rayatz was mesirus nefesh. He had mesirus nefesh not just before being imprisoned and while in prison, but also when they came to tell him that he was free to leave prison for exile. He said an emphatic no! Why? Because it was a situation of safek chilul Shabbos and the train might arrive in Kostroma on Shabbos.
The Rebbe brought many reasons in his sichos as to how the Rebbe Rayatz could still have traveled, but the bottom line is that it could have been a Chilul Hashem, in which people would think he would arrive in Kostrama on Shabbos and therefore he refrained from doing so.
The price for this possible Chilul Hashem was not trivial, for he knew that he was endangering not only himself but the Chassidus altogether, and the continuation of Chabad Chassidus.
What does this teach us? That we cannot bring the Geula while we continue living our lives as we have until now, as we choose to do the easy tasks. The way to bring the Geula is through mesirus nefesh. That is, essentially, the inyan of Chassidus.
I remember that when we first arrived in Russia, we looked at the locals to see who prevailed after seventy years of communism. Before the spread of communism, Jews belonged to various sectors which all learned in yeshivos, but out of all of them, the ones who survived communism were the Chassidim. We found Chassidim who had learned in Tomchei T’mimim and in the chadarim that were founded with mesirus nefesh. They told us that the only way they could surmount the difficulties was through Chassidus. Whoever does not live and learn Chassidus cannot survive the hardships. I’m not talking about the ordinary vicissitudes of life, but hardships that have to do with living a life of mesirus nefesh.
That is the difference, in two words, between a shliach and an askan. An askan does what he needs to do as long as it is within the rules. If he has a budget he will build, if people help him he will stay. A shliach, on the other hand, knows that he is taking action no matter what, because that is his raison d’etre. He must act, and he will do all he can to get things done.
EASY COME, EASY GO
How does this happen on a practical, daily basis?
Each person has many ways through which he connects to the Rebbe; by learning his teachings, carrying out his horaos, and the mivtzaim that he initiated. We often say we will do all the above. We learn Chitas, Rambam, maamarim and sichos, on condition, though, that it comes easy. However, when it starts getting difficult, then we throw up our hands.
We go on mivtzaim as long as it is accepted by the environment but when difficulties arise, we say it’s too much, it’s beyond our abilities. Who knows how they will react and whether it is possible or not.
I can say about myself that in recent months I made a decision about something that I always tried to do. I fly a lot and I decided that on every flight I will walk around and offer t’fillin to Jewish men. I am sure this is not easy to do and I am sure everyone has a valid reason why it’s no simple matter. This one doesn’t know the language, the other one is shy about approaching strangers, a third is an introvert, and a fourth has another reason. I also had excuses with which I convinced myself that I am not the right person for this. It did not suit me, and maybe they would refuse, etc.
But when you break through the wall of fear and actually get to work, you see success. Not only that, but every single time you find out that the people who looked the toughest are the ones that are the most affected. They are the ones who will thank you the most and they are the ones who will come back and tell you, “We admire what you do and we want to remain in touch.”
There is a saying: money that comes easily goes easily. This applies to our subject too. It is also true about learning the Rebbe’s teachings and true for going on mivtzaim and for going on shlichus. If it comes easily, it will disappear easily. Those things which come with great difficulty are those things which penetrate and have the most long term impact.
We fulfill Torah and mitzvos and this is part of our daily routine, not because it’s easy or because it’s comfortable. Chassidus provides us with a new insight into the concept of “kabbalas ol” – ibergegebenkait – that is what drives us, those things that come with difficulty which we do with kabbalas ol.
The Rebbe invested in us to enable us to withstand difficult situations and periods when the going isn’t easy. That is when we need Chassidus in order to move things from the potential state to the actual.
So how is mesirus nefesh connected to all of us? Unfortunately, we see that Moshiach hasn’t come yet. There is no need to look far; if we look at the Rebbe’s sichos we see that the main point is achdus among Chassidim.
In the famous sicha in Likkutei Sichos, Volume 11, “please send with the one You will send,” the Rebbe quotes a sicha of the Rebbe Rayatz from Acharon Shel Pesach 5699 where he explains “Yavo Shiloh” – “Shilo” is numerically equivalent to “Moshe.” “Yavo” is equal to “echad.” He says that if all the Chassidim will be united and speak about Moshiach, Moshiach will come.
If we examine Volume 11 of Likkutei Sichos (the sicha of Parshas Shmos 2 of Acharon shel Pesach 5729), in footnote 48 the Rebbe writes, “even though in the above mentioned sicha this, that ‘Moshe’ plus ‘echad’ equals ‘Moshiach,’ is when the Jewish people are unified in general and in particular when there is unity in the talk about Moshiach, etc. this will draw down the complete Geula through Moshiach. However, since the revelations of the Future depend not only on refining the state of the Jewish people themselves, but refining the world, as it is explained in Tanya (chapter 37 and on) and in every place, there also needs to be the inyan of ‘echad’ in the world. But in order to affect unity in the world, there first has to be unity among the Jews (see Likkutei Sichos Vol. 9, p. 159 and footnote 49 there.) True unity among Jews is also similar to the idea of ‘echad,’ in that even from the aspect of their individuality, despite each one being different than the other, they are unified.” That is the end of the Rebbe’s footnote.
All this means that it is not enough that Chassidim be united and talk about Moshiach. The emphasis is in the manner in which they speak together about Moshiach. Each person understands the matter differently, including the details about how to publicize about Moshiach, how to speak about Moshiach, how to spread the news, and how we need to live with Moshiach.
However, the Rebbe says clearly: As long as Chassidim are not united in speaking about Moshiach …
The Rebbe says so clearly – Moshe Rabbeinu plus one – when you bring the unity of Chassidim to discuss Moshiach, this is what brings the Geula.
UNITING EVEN WITH THOSE WHO THINK DIFFERENTLY
Until now, each person had his perspective and way of doing things. If someone disagreed with him, he was labeled as a “nifrad” and was doing the worst thing possible, and therefore one cannot talk to him and cannot discuss the matter with him at all.
Sad to say, twenty years later, there has been no change. These think like this and those think like that. I have yet to see someone convinced of anything by being thrown out of a place or by not speaking to him or disagreeing with him. Unfortunately, we are still in the same bitter galus.
There are two possible scenarios: either we decide we are going with the mesirus nefesh approach to bring Moshiach, and this is key to everything that is demanded of us: mesirus ha’ratzon, true devotion to the Rebbe which simply means not to do what I want but what the Rebbe wants me to do. Or, G-d forbid, we don’t unite and wait for the Rebbe’s mercy.
I have no doubt that the Rebbe prefers to return to 770 when he sees all his Chassidim in true unity. I don’t think anybody disagrees with that. The question is only how we’re going to accomplish it. The question is whether there will be a way for Chassidim to gather together, sit together, in order to find a way. If the Rebbe asks and demands this of us, we certainly have the ability to do it.
We see that Boruch Hashem there are many families that live in peace and unity even though there are differences of opinion among them. I can tell you that in Russia there are Chassidim whose views are polar opposites but the unity in the work of shlichus and the message to the broader public is united and clear. The public knows that we are united and our great success is that the public sees this.
Often, sponsors and donors who help us point out that what spurs them on to help is the fact that they see us working together. This is what the world expects of us: that we come together, that we are together; the differences between us are so minimal, and people are bothered by the split. For things to be as the Rebbe says, we have to be stubborn and engage in a form of mesirus ha’ratzon – when I know that my way is the right way but I am ready to retreat and look for a way to sit with “others” in order to find a solution about how we can be unified.
The message of unity that goes forth from us, from every Chabad community, can transform the world because the world is looking at us and then it will be ready for Moshiach and, most importantly, to bring the Rebbe back and he will redeem us.