The Power of Yechi

Dear Reader sh’yichyeh,

This Shabbos, Parsha Bo, is the Shabbos before Yud Shvat, and everyone is preparing themselves accordingly. IN the Farbrengen on 19 Kislev 5738 the Rebbe says that , when celebrating a Yom Tov, once should first focus on the general theme of the Yom Tov and then focus on the specialty of that year. The general theme of Yud Shvat is Kabbalas HaNesius, accepting upon ourselves to be Chassidim of the Rebbe, as Chassidim have named the day “Rosh Hashana of Hiskashrus”.

The theme of this specific year, being 68 years of the Nesius (5710-5778) is without question the theme of “Chayim Shana”. As we will explain, this is one of the deepest concepts of Hiskashrus. When we generally speak of Hiskashrus, we highlight the Ko’ach that the people receive from the king. The word Melech (king) is the acronym of mo’ach lev and kaved (brain, heart and liver) the three most vital organs in the human body. We explained at length that through connecting to – and hearing Torah from – the king, the Jew receives the strength to serve Hashem.

In this article we are going to explain the other half of the equation: The king actually gets his strength – to give us strength – from us! Chazal say “Ain melech belo Am – there is no king without a nation,” and Chassidus tells us that this means that the king actually receives his own ko’ach from the people that accept him.

In the famous Maamer “V’Ata Tetzaveh” the Rebbe speaks at length that the connection between Moshe and B’nei Yisroel is like the connection of the head and the feet of the body. While the head directs and gives life to the body, the feet are the ones that bring the head where it needs to go. There are certain things that can only be accomplished by the feet.

As the famous HaYom Yom (16 Iyar): “R. Elye Abeler, a simple man of scant learning, was a chassid of my revered grandfather, the Rebbe [Maharash]. Once, when he entered his study for yechidus, my grandfather said: “Elye, I envy you. You travel to regional fairs and markets and you meet many people. When you’re in the midst of your transactions and you get to talk with someone about a Torah thought or a saying from Ein Yaakov, and you inspire them to study nigleh and Chassidus, great joy is generated Above. G‑d pays up the commission for this with blessings of children, health, and livelihood. And the bigger the market, the more work, and the more livelihood.”

R. Elye related this encounter to the Rebbe Rayatz thirty years after his yechidus. He described it with such freshness and vitality as if it had happened the day before. “After the Rebbe told me this,” he exclaimed, “my head began to spin. I decided immediately to hire a tutor for myself, for I understood that it was high time that I became a mensch.” He further related that when he returned home, he assembled all of his townsfolk and shared his yechidus. “The Rebbe’s words spread through the entire region. They lit a fire in all the listeners, and brought enthusiasm and vitality to many hundreds of Jews.”

With this introduction, let us return to a visit that took place in the Rebbe’s house during the Shiva for the Rebbetzin. It was in the middle of the Shiva and many people and dignitaries came to give Nichum Aveilim to the Rebbe. There was one person, Rabbi Binyomin Williger, who came as the personal shliach of the Klausenberger Rebbe. The Rebbe had a short but powerful conversation with him (recorded in the Seifer Menachem Tziyon chelek beis):

 The Rebbe asked Rabbi Williger about the health of the Klausenberger Rebbe and told him that he should encourage the Chassidim to request from the Klausenberger Rebbe to say Torah. Rabbi Williger responded that to say Torah the Klausenberger Rebbe needs ko’ach. To which the Rebbe said “Chassidism give ko’ach (to the Rebbe)!”

This concept that Chassidim give Ko’ach is especially relevant to the relationship, Ko’ach and very life that we give to Moshiach. This infusion of strength is expressed in the proclamation “Yechi HaMelech – Long live the King.”

In the well-known sicha of Beis Nissan 5748 (Seifer HaSichos 5748, vol. 1, pgs. 350, 351, 354), which marked 68 years – chaim shana! – since the Frierdike Rebbe assumed leadership, the Rebbe discusses the concept of a Jewish king. The following are some of the main points of the sicha which shed light on this topic and explicate how we can express our acceptance of the king:

The relationship between the king and the people is manifested in two opposite ways. On the one hand, the king is totally exalted above the people which inspires awe and fear of the king. On the other hand, the relationship between the nation and the king is one of absolute connection. As the Rambam says, the king is the heart of the Jewish people. We are the limbs. The connection that exists between the heart and the limbs of the body is the ultimate of closeness. Just like the body receives its life-force from the heart, the Jewish nation receives its life from the king.

Not only does the nation receive its life from the king, but the entire existence of the king is dependent on the nation, as is written, “There is no king without a nation.” The fact that the nation is removed from the king directly affects his malchus-sovereignty, for true sovereignty of a king pertains only to those who are removed from him.

Therefore, when the nation announces “Yechi HaMelech-Long live the king,” as was done in connection to Shlomo HaMelech and Dovid HaMelech, this affects not only the existence of the king, but the very life of the king as well.

We should all think of the following story that was told over by the Frierdike Rebbe: he Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek was deeply involved in learning the sugya (topic) of aguna (women “chained” to husbands who had abandoned them or were missing). He was well known for his successful efforts to help many agunos out of this terrible predicament. Two of his sons and his son-in-law entered and they all began discussing this topic with the Rebbe in great depth and with great scholarship. After a while, one of them exclaimed (regarding the Rebbe’s incredible grasp of the halachas, etc.) “Look at the great power of the Brachos of chassidim!”

“Indeed,” said the Rebbe, “when the simple chassid, Reb Elya, out of full and sincere love, blesses me in bentching (‘harachaman hu yevaraich es adonainu…..’) it produces spiritual fruits in the heavens which are then drawn down and benefit me to an incredibly powerful extent.”

We must not underestimate the power of a sincere “yechi” that we all say. We must value, appreciate and live with this special revelation and instruction. We need to keep in mind (HaYom Yom 7 Shvat): “In these days especially, when by G‑d’s kindness we stand at the threshold of redemption, we must make every conceivable effort to strengthen every facet of our religion. Mitzvot must be observed b’hiddur, with “beauty,” beyond minimal requirements. Customs must be kept scrupulously, nothing compromised.”

While there obviously is a time a place for everything, and we all need to be “Makir Mekomo – know our place”, we must not compromise our principles. We must know, and our children must know, that “Yechi” is not a political slogan and party affiliation. It is not a statement created by a few “fringe and right wing fanatics”. It was created by the Rebbe himself and personally encouraged, with great and obvious pain, daily for almost two years.

In one of our previous articles we wrote at length about the HaYom yom (14 Teves):The Shpoler Zeide was a man of ardent feeling, more intensely so than his colleagues, the other disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch. When he visited the Alter Rebbe in Liadi, in the year 5569 (1809) or 5570 (1810), he related that when he was three years old and saw the Baal Shem Tov, “he placed his holy hand on my heart, and from that time onward, I have felt warm.” A [mere] gesture of a tzaddik, and all the more so, seeing him or hearing his voice, should generate an effect that will never be forgotten.”

The difficulty, is that we do not see with our physical eyes, unless we have already “opened our eyes”, the effect of our sincere proclamation. Yet that is the test of this physical world, as we know (HaYom yom 24 Shvat): “if you only knew – The Tzemach Tzedek said – the power of verses of T’hillim and their effect in the highest Heavens, you would recite them constantly. Know that the chapters of T’hillim shatter all barriers, they ascend higher and still higher with no interference; they prostrate themselves in supplication before the Master of all worlds, and they effect and accomplish with kindness and compassion.”

Moshiach is closer than ever. Let’s add in our hiskashrus – in Thought, speech and action – and tip the scale for good!

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