Dear Reader sh’yichyeh,
This year of 5776 has been a very special year. The Rebbe›s campaign about the inyan of Hakhel was felt and continues to be felt everywhere. It seems that every community and family is having Hakhel gatherings and there is a general feeling of unity. As mentioned last week, this must continue. Even more so, we should be creative with new ideas as we are still in Shnas Hakhel.
The real goal is that the ko’ach and unity that we receive from the year of Hakhel should continue and permeate all the coming years as well. The Pasuk that describes the purpose of the Mitzva of Hakhel tells us: «Assemble the people: the men, the women, and the children, and your stranger in your cities, in order that they hear, and in order that they learn and fear the L-rd, your G-d, and they will observe to do all the words of this Torah. And their children, who did not know, will hear and learn to fear the L-rd, your G-d, all the days that you live on the land, to which you are crossing the Jordan, to possess.»
It is also a very special Jubilee year: This year we commemorated the 150th Yahrtzait, «Shnas HaKaN,» of the Tzemach Tzedek. We know how strong of a shturem the Rebbe made in 5724 in honor of the 150th Yahrtzait of the Alter Rebbe. We can learn from this about the necessary shturem that we ought to make about the Tzemach Tzedek. This is especially timely as we are about to celebrate the birthday of the Tzemach Tzedek on Erev Rosh HaShana, the last day of Shnas Hakhel!
I was reflecting on the connection of all these ideas when I recalled an amazing letter that the Rebbe›s Father, the holy Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, wrote to his son, our Rebbe. The letter is referenced as a footnote in a «Michtav Klali,” a general letter that the Rebbe wrote to Klal Yisroel on Chai Elul 5748.
The letter, which is printed on page 239 of Likkutei Levi Yitzchak-Igros, was written to the Rebbe and Rebbetzin in honor of their third anniversary, Yud-Daled Kislev 5692. The theme of the letter is that “Shvii Talui B’Sh’lishi,” the seventh is dependent on the third. The main topic of discussion in this unique letter is the connection between Vidui Maaser, which took place in the fourth year but is dependent on the third year, and Hakhel, which although it takes place in the eighth year is dependent on the 7th year, the year of Shmita.
On the one hand, we find that these two mitzvos are connected to each other. During the Hakhel ceremony in the Beis HaMikdash, the king would read parts of the Torah that speak about Vidui Maaser. And the fact that Vidui Maaser takes place on a Yom Tov (Pesach) is something that our Chachomim learn from the mitzva of Hakhel. On the other hand, Vidui Maaser is said by everyone, in any language and during the day, while the reading of the Torah, which is performed with the mitzva of Hakhel, is done only by the king, only in Lashon HaKodesh and on «Motzaei Yom Tov Rishon Shel Chag.»
As I was learning this letter, it occurred to me that Reb Levik is not just teaching the Rebbe about the Mitzva of Hakhel according to Kabbala, rather, and perhaps, he is giving over a message for the future. We all know that the Rebbe, the seventh Rebbe, is a direct descendant and is named after the Tzemach Tzedek, the third Rebbe.
The Rebbe›s father was telling the Rebbe that as a direct descendant of the third Rebbe, he would be the seventh Rebbe! This must be so, as the maamer quotes: «Shvii Talui B’Sh’lishi” – the seventh is dependent on the third.
And the Mitzva that is especially connected to the seventh Rebbe is the Mitzva of Hakhel! The Rebbe›s father was initiating and planting seeds for the mivtza of Hakhel already in the year 5692! What Hashgacha Pratis that the Shnas HaKaN of the Tzemach Tzedek, who is the third, has fallen out during Shnas Hakhel, connected to the seventh as «Shvii Talui B’Sh’lishi” – the seventh is dependent on the third.
This coming year, 5777, is obviously very connected to the number seven. There is another letter of the Rebbe›s father which points out that the name Zalman is 777 as Zayin is Gematria 7, Lamed-Mem is 70, and Final-Nun has the numerical value of 700. All together that is 777.
We all know that the Rebbe told us that «Kol HaShviin Chavivin” – all seventh are beloved. I will share with you a very interesting experience that I had, where I saw this concept actualized in such a way that the world absorbed this concept as well. When I was a bachur, I was a learning teacher for two consecutive summers in a Yeshivas Kayitz that took place in Portland, Oregon. The Yeshivas Kayitz, named Beis MiDRaSH, after the legendary chassid and Shliach Rabbi Menachem Shmuel Dovid Raichik, included some travelling around the west coast. We would see some of the touring sights and do much Mivtzaim. We had many amazing stories of finding Yidden in the most remote places.
One of our trips was to Seattle, Washington. The main attraction – besides the famous fish-throwing market – was a tour of the Boeing plane plant. At the time, it was the largest indoor manufacturing plant in America. During the tour, the guide told us, the bachurim, while showing models of planes being built right in front of our eyes, all about the different planes, the 747, 767, 777 etc. The bachurim asked the guide when the «770» plane would be made. Then a bachur asked the obvious question: Why do all the names of planes start and finish with the number 7? The guide did not know the answer and so a manager was called.
The manager explained: When Boeing was founded and the planes needed to be manufactured, they realized that people have a natural fear of flight. It naturally makes people feel insecure to be in the air without the reassurance of having two feet on solid ground. They decided that they wanted to endear the planes to people. So they took a survey of many people and found that by an overwhelming majority, people like the number seven. Since then, all planes are surrounded by the number seven! This obviously shows us that we are to expect a very special and cherished year for Klal Yisroel. It is the year of the «triple lucky seven.»
This should be a constant reminder of our job which the seventh Rebbe, our Rebbe, gave us, his Chassidim, on the very first day of accepting the Nesius (in the very first maamer Basi L’Gani):
«It is true that the seventh of a series is very much loved and that this status comes not as a result of choice nor as a result of one›s Divine service, but as a finished product, merely as a result of birth. Nevertheless, there are no inherent limitations that should cause an individual to say that this status is beyond him and that it is accessible only to a select few.
“On the contrary, this is a situation similar to that which is explained in Tanna D›vei Eliyahu and quoted in Chassidus, that every Jew, even a slave and handmaiden, can attain the inspiration of the Divine Spirit.
“[Similarly,] each and every Jew is obligated to say, ‘When will my actions equal those of my forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov?’
“At the same time we should not delude ourselves. We must know that we should ‘not stand in the place of the greats,’ and that the merit of the seventh of a series consists of his being seventh to the first. In other words, he is capable of doing the Divine service and fulfilling the mission of the first: ‘Do not read “he proclaimed,” but “he made others proclaim.’”
“This, then, is why the seventh is so cherished: it is he who draws down the Sh’china; in fact, the essence of the Sh’china. Moreover, he draws it down into this lowly world.
“It is this that is demanded of each and every one of us of the seventh generation, and «all those that are seventh are cherished:» [Although the fact that we are in the seventh generation is not the result of our own choosing and our own service, and indeed in certain ways perhaps contrary to our will, nevertheless «all those who are seventh are cherished.»]
“We are now very near the approaching footsteps of Moshiach, indeed, we are at the conclusion of this period, and our spiritual task is to complete the process of drawing down the Sh’china – moreover, the essence of the Sh’china – specifically within our lowly world.”
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.