“Talking About Who Moshiach Is Makes It Realistic”

An interview with Rabbi Sholom Dovber Kalmenson, a successful shliach in Cincinnati, Ohio and a world-renowned lecturer on Moshiach.

Rabbi Kalmanson presents the Rebbe with the keys to the Chabad House during a farbrengenForty-five years have passed since Rabbi Sholom Ber Kalmanson went in for yechidus with the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, together with his late wife, Shterna Sara, of blessed memory, who passed away last Yud-Alef Nissan after a serious illness. During that yechidus, Rabbi Kalmanson gave the Rebbe a note listing various offers of shlichus. However, the Rebbe ignored these suggestions and made one of his own: “Why don’t you think about Cincinnati?” Rabbi Kalmanson, who until then had never heard of Cincinnati and didn’t even know where it was located on a map of the United States, plowed into the city like a true chassid, and with the Rebbe at his side every step of the way, he succeeded in establishing a Chassidic empire. In addition to the central Chabad House he runs, the city has other Chabad centers befitting a large Chabad community based on Chassidic avreichim who have come closer to Yiddishkeit over the years. All of them live with Moshiach in its simplest sense, and if you ask Rabbi Kalmanson, this is the secret to his success.

As the Rebbe’s shliach to the “Queen City,” considered the capital of the Reform movement in America, Rabbi Kalmanson has had his fair share of struggles. Some of them were well publicized in the media and had a dramatic influence upon other shluchim throughout the country, such as the battle to erect public menorahs in the city’s streets. There were also other struggles on this front, not as well known but no less important. During these disputes, Rabbi Kalmanson could have chosen to take a step back, and live a much calmer life. However, as one who was privileged to receive a blessing from the Rebbe Rayatz, promising that “a chassid vet er zein…” [= he will be a chassid], he has always conducted himself as a chassid who was one-hundred-percent certain in the truth of the Rebbe’s path and he never compromised when it came to issues of concern to the Rebbe. He stood firm, and when it was necessary, he even fought and struggled until he won. For when you know and are certain that this is the truth – you must go with it all the way.

With the truth, you go all the way. This is the message that came out of a recent interview we conducted with Rabbi Sholom Dovber Kalmanson in connection to Gimmel Tammuz. During this time, Anash and tmimim are in a state of great spiritual arousal to fulfill the Rebbe’s instructions, particularly those pertaining to the subject of Geula and Moshiach to hasten the complete revelation of the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach. We consequently turned to Rabbi Kalmanson and spoke with him about the proper way to publicize the Rebbe’s message of Moshiach.

TRUE FAITH CANNOT BE WEAKENED

As we stand in these days after Gimmel Tammuz, we are stunned by the realization that twenty-five years have passed since Gimmel Tammuz 5754, and we are still in galus r”l. How it is possible to strengthen our faith despite the many years that have passed?

Every moment that passes since Gimmel Tammuz without our meriting to see the hisgalus of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach should shake us to our very core. As the Rebbe states at length in his kuntres of Purim Katan 5752, when a Jew wants the Redemption with all his heart and soul, he is “ingantzen tzureislt” [= totally crushed].

Nevertheless, in the time that has passed since then, we still believe and trust absolutely in the prophecy of the Rebbe MH”M that Moshiach is coming, our generation is the last generation of exile and the first generation of Redemption, and the Rebbe Moshiach Tzidkeinu will soon reveal himself and bring us to eternal redemption.

Two thousand years of exile have not shaken the overall emuna in Moshiach’s coming, and Jews throughout the generations have continued to believe “with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach.” Furthermore, with the passing years, this faith has grown and intensified. As the Rebbe has stated, “in the time of the heels of Moshiach, when we are standing on the verge of the Redemption, then we will truly have the situation of ‘waiting and anticipating when he will come’, ‘I will wait every day that he should come.’ Not just every day, waiting for him to come that day, rather each whole day – at every hour, as we say three times a day (on weekdays), ‘For we hope for Your salvation all day.’” (Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 35, pg. 162).

Thus, in the years since, our pure and strong faith in the fulfillment of the Rebbe MH”M’s prophecy of the imminent Redemption has not dimmed.

And why? Because in the world of intellect, there is always room for doubt, and with the passage of time – the doubt increases.

If you are 99.9% certain of something, and that’s the way it goes in matters of intellect – there always remains a sliver of possibility that maybe it won’t happen… — the more time that passes and the matter has yet to be fulfilled, the doubt grows stronger, to the point that only a small ray of hope is left…

However, we are not waiting for the hisgalus of Moshiach due to our intellectual understanding. Our overall faith in Moshiach is due to the clear prophesies of the prophets of Israel over the generations. Furthermore, our faith that the Future Redemption will take place in our generation, now, is the result of the clear prophecy of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, emphasizing that he says this “not just as a sage or a judge, but as a prophet, which is certain.” Furthermore, since the faith is one hundred percent certain – time is unable to make the slightest crack in the wall of emuna.

Once again, there can be no doubt that after nearly a quarter of a century – and that’s a long time, if the Rebbe demanded that we scream out over a delay of one day in Moshiach’s coming – it should be clearly understood how much we need to cry “Ad Mosai?” for the many years that have passed. Yet, when we are absolutely certain in this one hundred percent truth – there is no weakening on our part.

We must learn from the Rebbe’s faith in the words of the Rebbe Rayatz, which have not only failed to diminish over the years, but have grown even stronger from year to year. For example, in the sicha from Shabbos Parshas Naso 5751, the Rebbe mentioned the Rebbe Rayatz’s affirmation that all matters of avoda have been completed and we only have to “polish the buttons” and stand ready to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu. The Rebbe then noted that while this proclamation was made “decades ago”, the passing years have detracted nothing: “After the tremendous avoda in spreading Torah and Yiddishkait and the wellsprings outward ever since and until now…the ‘polishing of the buttons’ have surely been completed as well, and we stand ready to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu.”

REVEALING THE IDENTITY OF MOSHIACH – YES OR NO? AND WHY?

Why it is so important and necessary to publicize the identity of the Rebbe as Melech HaMoshiach? Isn’t this merely a superfluous addition to besuras ha’geula or is it impossible to convey the message without identifying the Redeemer?

When we speak about a certain matter, regardless of the subject – if you can’t identify or point your finger at it, it’s hard for us to consider it as real. In particular, when we seek to instill our faith in the future and the imminent arrival of the Moshiach, the need grows to connect this faith to something concrete.

When we consider our sources, we see that even in the time of the Gemara, the Sages realized that in order for the prophecies of the Redemption to be more tangible, they must be connected to the image of a flesh-and-blood human being who lived among them. The Gemara in Sanhedrin tells how the students of the Tanna’im and Amora’im searched the Torah sources and found allusions to their rabbi being Moshiach.

Why was it important to them to know who the Moshiach is? Furthermore, why was it important for Rabbi Ashi, who compiled the Gemara, to include the words of these Amora’im in the Talmud for generations to come?

Clearly, these words were preserved for the coming generations in order that we should learn something from them. In general, we can derive from this sugya two essential points:

We should not leave our faith in Moshiach in abstract terms. Instead, we should try to connect it to our physical world, and specifically through the “supporting pillar” of the Redemption – none other than Melech HaMoshiach, whom we want to identify in order to point at him with our finger and say, “Behold, this is the man who is meant to be Melech HaMoshiach and redeem us.”

As the Rebbe has said, we must learn from this Gemara that chassidim have to believe that their Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach (sicha, Shabbos Parshas Tazria-Metzora 5751, note 67). “We (chassidim) will reply after them (in regard to our Rebbe’im, and in particular, my holy and revered teacher and father-in-law, the Rebbe, leader of our generation): His name is Yosef, as is said, ‘G-d shall continue [yosif] to apply His hand a second time, etc., and He shall gather the lost of Israel, etc.’, his name is Yitzchak, as is said, ‘Then our mouths will be filled with laughter.’”

The need to connect the Redemption with a physical person, who was a most dominant figure in the era of the Amora’im has somewhat lessened over the years, although not totally weakened. The most prominent is the Rambam, who devoted entire halachos in his magnum opus Mishneh Torah to describing the personage of Melech HaMoshiach and the criteria necessary to identify him. (When someone sent to the Rebbe a Torah dissertation about how the Rambam hinted about himself that he was the Moshiach, the Rebbe accepted it, even added an additional proof, and then concluded that the Rambam “refers to Rabbeinu HaKadosh that he is from the seed of Dovid HaMelech a”h.” See ‘Otzar HaMelech’, Vol. 1, pg. 185.)

In the years that followed, there were cases of leading Torah scholars who hinted about themselves or others that they were fit to be Moshiach. Rabbi Shachna, the teacher of the Rema, added a gloss to the said portion in the Gemara. He wrote, “I say his name is Shachna, as is said, ‘You shall inquire after His dwelling [shichno]’. Rabbi Chaim Vital said that the Arizal was Moshiach, and in a letter to the Maharal, one of his students writes, “Moshiach Tzidkeinu, our King at our head, King of Yehuda, etc., the magnificent gaon and teacher, Rabbi Yehuda Loew. Long live our master forever.” Similarly, it is known that the holy Ohr HaChaim hinted that he was Moshiach (in his commentary on Parshas Re’eh [16:7] – “Moshiach of G-d – his name is Chaim”).

The author of the Sdei Chemed summed up the matter with these words, “And in this way, it was estimated by them in every generation who he is.”

However, since the holy light of the Ba’al Shem Tov first began to shine, after his soul’s famous ascent to the chamber of Moshiach, marking a new stage of the revelation of Melech HaMoshiach’s illumination in the world through spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus, the faith in the coming of Moshiach has become more and more palpable. Together with the increasing perceptibility of the Redemption, the move towards searching for the tzaddik fit to be Moshiach has gone into high gear. There is an abundance of Chassidic stories on the subject, including those compiled in the kuntres “Moshiach in Every Generation” by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Keller. It contains about a dozen cases of Chassidic rebbes who said about themselves or were called by their chassidim as fit to be Moshiach.

Chabad tradition also brings that the chassidim of the Tzemach Tzedek believed that he was fit to be Moshiach. According to what is written at the end of the preface to the first edition of Derech Mitzvosecha, “And we shall all merit speedily in our days to the coming of the Redeemer, Menachem is his name, and he is our portion.” Similarly, chassidim of the previous generation believed that the Rebbe Rayatz was the Moshiach, as is known from the story about R’ Itche der Masmid, who quoted the saying of the Alter Rebbe in the name of the Mezeritcher Maggid: “The origin of Moshiach will be from the elder students or from the younger students.” The elder among the Maggid’s students was Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl, and the youngest was the Alter Rebbe. To remove any doubt, the Alter Rebbe made a shidduch between the Mitteler Rebbe’s daughter and the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl. And R’ Itche der Masmid concluded: “The Rebbe Rayatz is of distinguished lineage, a descendant of the Alter Rebbe and Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl.”

And above all, the dozens and perhaps hundreds of times the Rebbe referred to the Rebbe Rayatz as Moshiach Tzidkeinu in various expressions, and as the Rebbe MH”M summed up once: “Every chassid believes with complete faith that the Rebbe of his generation – as with the leader of our generation – is the Moshiach” (sicha, fifth night of Sukkos 5747).

In light of all the aforementioned, it is clear that the essence of the faith that the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach is not an innovation of this recent generation, rather a direct continuation of the path and approach of Torah Sages throughout the generations. The innovation of this generation is that in all the previous generations, the tzaddik identified as Moshiach was in doubt whether his generation would be worthy of Redemption, and therefore he would be considered only “fit to be Moshiach.” However, in our generation, the Rebbe announced as soon as he accepted the leadership that our generation is the generation of the Redemption. He repeated this on hundreds of occasions over the years, emphasizing that “our generation is clearly the last generation of the exile and the first generation of the Redemption”, and even announcing that there is already a king who is considered to be Moshiach. Then, in 5751, the Rebbe publicized “besuras ha’geula”, in which he defined the Moshiach of our generation as the actual Moshiach, not just one “fit to be Moshiach.”

The Rebbe stated this clearly in the sicha during the 5752 International Shluchim Conference, explaining that G-d has already instructed the Moshiach of this generation to come and redeem the Jewish People. “As is known that ‘someone is born in every generation from the seed of Yehuda who is fit to be Moshiach for Israel’, ‘one who is fit due to his righteousness to be a Redeemer, and when the time comes, G-d will reveal Himself to him and send him, etc.’, and according to the declaration of my teacher and father-in-law, the Rebbe, leader of our generation, the only shliach of our generation, the only Moshiach of our generation, that all the avoda has already been completed – it is understood that there will begin to be fulfilled the shlichus of my teacher and father-in-law, the Rebbe – ‘Send now [Your message] with whom You would send.’”

Getting back to your question, after we learn the relevant sources, and we see quite clearly the importance that Torah Sages throughout the generations attached to Moshiach’s identity, we can understand how important it is for the announcement of the Redemption to go hand-in-hand with identifying the Rebbe as Melech HaMoshiach. Thus, we transform besuras ha’geula from something surreal and abstract into literal reality.

To our great regret, when a person only believes in the coming of Moshiach in general terms, without knowing who the Redeemer is – his faith can prove very weak. Thus, you can have Jews who say their whole lives ‘I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach,’ yet when you speak with them about the coming of Moshiach as an actual event, they reject it by saying, “Nu, really, I pray that my grandchildren should merit to see it…”

THE BAN WAS DESIGNED TO BE TEMPORARY – AND THE REBBE LIFTED IT!

Yet, despite all this, there were years when the Rebbe prohibited the publicity of Moshiach’s identity, even expressing himself sharply that this might drive Jews away from studying Chassidus. What has changed?

From the nature of your question, one can understand what everyone knows today: Many years ago, chassidim already believed that the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach, and they even asked that it be publicized to the world, in connection with what we discussed previously. However, at that stage, the Rebbe forbade any such publicity. But a few clarifications are in place:

1. From the very outset, the prohibition against publicizing Moshiach’s identity was meant to be a temporary one. Everyone agrees that after the Rebbe’s hisgalus, there will be no need to prevent publicity of his identity as Moshiach…

2. Even during the years when the Rebbe prohibited any publicity, he never expressed any rejection of the actual belief of chassidim that the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach. It is known about numerous chassidim who wrote letters to the Rebbe, addressing him with the title “Melech HaMoshiach”, yet they never received a negative reply in reference to this. The ban placed by the Rebbe was only concerning the publicity.

3. The Rebbe stated clearly the reason why this ban had been imposed: concern that it would drive people away from the teachings of Chassidus. Due to this very fact, it’s understood that when it doesn’t drive people away from Chassidus – there’s no reason not to publicize it.

In summation: The natural feeling among chassidim always was that we must publicize that the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach. However, during a certain period, the Rebbe exercised a temporary “veto” due to fears that it would distance people from the world of Chassidus.

The Rebbe himself began publicizing in his holy sichos, including those edited and printed in the newspapers, clear hints that he is Melech HaMoshiach, such as the end of the sicha from Shabbos Parshas Mishpatim 5752. In this sicha, the Rebbe brings how Moshiach will be coming immediately, adding all the explanations on the word “miyad” with particular reference to our generation. He notes how “miyad” is an acronym alluding to the three periods pertaining to the Rebbe Rayatz – Moshiach (his name is Menachem), Yosef Yitzchak, Dovber – the last three Rebbeim of the Chabad dynasty, starting with himself, as he clearly writes, “Moshiach’s name is Menachem.” The Rebbe added this note at the conclusion of the sicha devoted primarily to the disclosure that Melech HaMoshiach has already begun his activities with the nations of the world. And where is he conducting these activities from? The City of New York… You have to be totally blind not to see that the Rebbe is saying that he is Moshiach. 

From this sicha, we can understand that the time for being overcautious is over, and the Rebbe is outlining a new approach. It is now both desirable and essential to publicize who is Melech HaMoshiach and that he is already beginning to fulfill the tasks of Moshiach to hasten the imminent Redemption.

However, chassidim are exceedingly careful, and when they asked the Rebbe for permission to publicize the identity of the Redeemer – almost all of them received the Rebbe’s permission. His replies on this subject have already been printed in numerous publications.

Things reached their zenith during 5753-5754, when we saw with our own eyes how the Rebbe encouraged the chassidim as they proclaimed “Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu V’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L’Olam Va’ed” – including before the television cameras of the world’s mass media.

Since, a) this is the truth, b) it is important to publicize the truth, and c) the Rebbe removed restrictions on its publicity, it is clear that today it is most important to publicize the announcement of the Redemption with the identity of the Redeemer.

WHAT DOES THE REBBE Expect OF A “NORMAL” CHASSID?

You lecture all over the world and meet with Jews from every sector. How do they react to discussions about the Rebbe as Melech HaMoshiach?

Once I spoke before a “Yekke” community in England, and I explained to them about the whole concept of belief in Moshiach. After they realized that since the beginning of Creation, there was “the spirit of Moshiach”, and they grasped in general terms what are the concepts of Moshiach, Rebbe, and in the seventh generation in particular – they understood on their own that the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach. They summed up their feelings on the matter when they said, “Why didn’t we think of this before?”

I told them that this is the irony of this whole subject. “You, who say ‘Ani Ma’amin’ after davening every morning, are surprised by a practical application of the matter, whereas we, who don’t have that custom – have no such problem…”

I often suggest to people that they participate in a little “exercise:” “If this is your only problem, why don’t you just to choose one of your Torah giants who is suitable to be Moshiach?” After they laugh to themselves about the idea, I make things much clearer for them. “Your problem isn’t with the identity of Moshiach, rather in general with the belief in Moshiach’s coming. When the faith in Moshiach as something real is not one hundred percent, you don’t go looking to know who Moshiach is.”

How do you explain the fact that there are shluchim who are repelled by any involvement in the subject of Moshiach, particularly the identity of the Redeemer?

I think that the differing opinions in Chabad regarding publicizing the identity of Melech HaMoshiach stem from the lack of a thorough study of the Rebbe’s sichos from 5751-5752. If everyone would sit and learn these sichos in greater depth, we long since would have reached the one and only conclusion: the Rebbe wanted us to publicize everywhere the announcement of the Redemption, including the identity of Moshiach.

During this period, after all of the Rebbe’s expressions and sichos about “the conclusion of the avoda of spiritual refinement”, “the only avoda remaining is to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu”, and in particular, the Rebbe’s well-known expression that he is “crazy about Moshiach”, how can someone consider himself to be a chassid of the Rebbe in its fullest sense, when he only deals with the subject of Moshiach based on his own understanding, and not according to the Rebbe’s sichos?

Every shliach must devote himself to his shlichus twenty-four hours a day. They must think about the Rebbe on their shlichus at all times, and when they do so – they will succeed! It should never cross the mind of a single Jew ch”v that anything has changed in recent years.

THE TRAIN OF YIDDISHKEIT – TWENTY CARS LONG

On the other hand, we have seen in recent years, even among the Litvishe communities, a change for the better in all matters pertaining to faith in the Redemption and Moshiach…

I’ll tell you a story: In 5752, N’shei Chabad held a “ The event received the Rebbe’s blessing and encouragement, and I was invited by N’shei Chabad in Montreal to speak at a “Melave Malka To Greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu.” Since I had lived in this city many years earlier, I had a close friend there, a non-Chassid, who ran the local “Beis Yaakov” school.

When I arrived in the city, I received an angry phone call from him: Who had the gall and the chutzpah to send his wife an invitation to the Melave Malka? “If you want to make a Melave Malka for Moshiach, go right ahead, but why this provocation of sending my wife an invitation?” he claimed.

“First of all,” I said in reply, “it wasn’t me who sent her the invitation, and it’s quite possible that they sent it to her by mistake. However, I am certain that they didn’t mean to annoy you, and if they did, they would immediately offer their apologies. Secondly, we have been good friends now for twenty years, and as well as we’ve known one another, if we would have made such an event twenty years ago, you would have said that its very existence was a big chutzpah. Thank G-d, today you no longer get angry over such events, just over the fact that they sent your wife an invitation. Wait just a little more time and you’ll agree to that as well…”

Afterwards, I thought about the matter and developed a metaphor in my own mind. We are on a train twenty cars long; the Rebbe and the chassidim are in the front car, while the rest of the world is in the following cars. The Rebbe is the one leading us on our mitzvah activities, and throughout the years, everyone has been pulled and drawn after the Rebbe’s “presence.” This reality has proven repeatedly that when we move on to the next stage, those behind us start dealing with things we dealt with previously, and they admit – a bit late obviously – that it is correct and proper. So it was when the objective was reaching out to unaffiliated Jews and bringing them closer to Yiddishkeit. At first, everyone laughed at the idea, whereas today, there is almost no sector in ultra-Orthodox Jewry that isn’t involved in such activities.

 As one who has been to numerous locations all over the world, I have often seen other organizations send out decorated cars with loudspeakers on their roofs spreading Yiddishkeit, just like “mitzvah tanks”…

Yet, despite the fact that all these groups are now engaging in those programs we have worked on for all these years, Chabad’s approach was far more unique, with the special Chassidic fervor that only it can arouse. This reminds me of the joke about two tailors who always had trouble scratching out a living. As a result, one of them was very sad, but his friend remained happy. The first tailor turned to the second and asked him, “Why are you happy that we have no parnassa?” The second tailor replied: “Moshiach will be coming soon, and since all material good will be as plentiful as the dust, our livelihood will surely be much easier to come by. Therefore, I’m happy.” Still worried, the first tailor said, “But haven’t you forgotten? When Moshiach comes, all the dead will return to life, including tens of thousands of tailors – and again we won’t have parnassa!” The happy tailor chuckled and replied: “Don’t worry, my friend, everyone will come only to us, because we will be the only ones who know the latest style…”

The latest style is spreading everywhere – the style of Moshiach. Today, other sectors in observant Judaism, even those far removed from Lubavitch, also make workshops, study days, and lectures on the subject of Moshiach and the Redemption. Only recently, there was an amazing organization of women from across the spectrum of Yiddishkeit, which arranged Geula evenings all over the world with the blessings of a variety of prominent rabbinical authorities.

We must remember only this: We are doing the shlichus of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, and we must not hesitate to convey the message in a clear and loud voice. It’s the style of the times. ■