The way to Moshiach is only through achdus-unity, since the cause for the exile is the lack thereof. Does that mean we need to forgo our views for the sake of unity? Definitely not! * What is the central point with which every Chassid, and especially a shliach, needs to focus on every day? * A farbrengen with Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Wilschansky, rosh yeshivas Chassidei Chabad Lubavitch in Tzfas, about the proper way to live and operate.
UNITY WILL BRING US TO MOSHIACH
Ahavas Yisroel is important and what Hashem wants more than anything. He wants us to love one another; love between brothers gives nachas to their father. Ahavas Yisroel is one of the fundamental things that hastens the Geula. The Rebbe says that Ahavas Yisroel needs to come from the feeling that the root source of all of us together is one, since that is the reality from the perspective of Moshiach.
As the Rebbe quotes the Tzemach Tzedek, Ahavas Yisroel is what will strengthen the Chassidim until the coming of Moshiach. The brotherhood will empower them so that they can complete their role. The Tzemach Tzedek is saying that if we unite to do what needs to be done, we will attain Moshiach. That is an amazing thing.
In other sichos, the Rebbe emphasizes that when we unite, success is assured. We need to think about this point of unity and especially on the main issue: Moshiach.
After the major split in the religious world in the elections of 5749 in Eretz Yisroel, the Rebbe kept urging a united religious front. How do you make one front out of several parties, each one of which thinks and operates differently? The Rebbe explained that it is accomplished by looking for that which unifies. When there is a unifying point, then you unite and then it’s possible to succeed.
That’s the approach the Rebbe provided us: How do you succeed? By uniting to take action. The problem is, how do you unite when there are differences in views and approaches? People do not think alike!
Sometimes there are those who purposely take an opposing stance, but the truth is, these people also have value, for thanks to the people who are contrarians by nature, it is possible to achieve greater clarity of a given matter. This is because when we sit and consider and wrack our brains, if someone shows up with a completely different view, it helps you get to the truth of the matter.
Moshiach is the main thing the Rebbe wants of us. Moshiach is the central point in everything we do; Moshiach is the cornerstone of all of shlichus and avodas Hashem. It’s the primary purpose of the world. In everything we do, there must be this central point.
In order to carry this out, we need to join forces and unite so that our activities are done collaboratively.
MAKING CONCESSIONS IS NOT THE WAY
There is a lot of talk about unity and the need for love but in order for it to happen, we have to find that which unifies us.
What should we do in cases where there is no meeting of the minds? What happens when we have clear differences of opinion so that one cannot accept the view of the other?
We are often told that when we have differences of opinion, we need to set them aside. What does that mean? Should we, for the lofty sake of unity, forgo some of our views? Should we, in order to be able to sit in shul and farbreng together, put the subject of Moshiach aside because there is no consensus of opinion?
We understand that this is not acceptable. Getting back to the example of the united political front, did that mean all the political groups had to change their views? Obviously not! It is preposterous to suggest that the Rebbe wants us to drop some things for the purpose of unity!
Often, the Rebbe demands that we go out to the street and draw Jews close to Torah, but G-d forbid, not to bend the Torah to them or concede some parts of Torah. Then what does it mean?
When you convince someone to do mitzvos, you don’t tell him to do all the mitzvos now. You speak to him about one mitzva. That does not mean, observe this mitzva and not others; on the contrary, you say, do this mitzva even though you don’t yet do other mitzvos.
When we are told to find the things that unite us, it does not mean putting aside important things that we believe. At the same time, we also don’t have to convince others to think like us. Still, that does not mean we agree with them.
The Shulzinger brothers printed many s’farim of Kehot in the United States. They both arrived in America after World War II and upon the Rebbe’s advice, they opened a print shop and were successful. They were nationalist-religious, ardent Zionists, but very close to the Rebbe both before he became Rebbe and after.
One of the brothers asked the Rebbe, at the end of the 50’s, various questions about Zionism. He wanted the Rebbe to agree that Zionism at least provided some salvation for the Jewish people. However, the Rebbe spoke very sharply against Zionism. When he left the Rebbe’s room, he said: It is hard to believe, but he is more zealous than the Satmar Rebbe!
And despite the Rebbe’s zealousness against Zionism, he demanded that we draw every Jew close.
KNOW WHAT TO SAY
Let’s go back to the subject of Moshiach. We cannot veer from the truth. We cannot concede and change views. But if we still want to operate in a unifying manner, how do we go about it?
First and foremost, we need to remember that there are things about which we were given explicit instructions and that is what we need to do. At the same time, we were told to look for ways to say things so that they will be accepted. We were told explicitly to tell everyone about Moshiach; we were also told explicitly to publicize to all that there is a prophet. That won’t change, because the Torah does not change.
However, when we translate that into action, it is important to remember some principles to work with, that will allow us to operate in any sphere that we find ourselves in; as principals, clerks, teachers, students, maggidei shiur, in any role.
WHEN THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
I got a call from someone who introduced himself and said, “I was given your phone number because I need to speak at a conference of principals. My name is Aryeh Fishbein. I wanted to ask you some questions.” Since he reached me while I was in the middle of shopping for Shabbos, we arranged to speak later. When we began to talk, it turned out that he does not identify as a religious Jew but he has a son who is a baal t’shuva. He wanted to hear from me about Chabad, saying that what I tell him is every important.
At a certain point he asked me, “Tell me, I know you say he is chai v’kayam, but there was Gimmel Tammuz … So how is it that his power is still alive, in that all the Chassidim operate from his power and everyone feels it?”
I told him, you said the question along with the answer, because he is chai v’kayam. You see for yourself that his power is fully alive and this is because he is chai v’kayam.
“Fine, I get that,” he said, “but how do you understand Gimmel Tammuz?”
I told him I don’t know, but you don’t always have to interpret the facts when the facts speak for themselves.
I later heard that in the lecture he gave at the conference of principals, he mentioned my response, because when you say something forthrightly, the person gets it.
We operate with the Rebbe’s power, and at least from that perspective we see the Rebbe is chai v’kayam.
I heard a story about a shliach in London who was waiting for his wife who had gone to the airport to meet their daughter. After some time went by in which he thought they should have returned, he heard the doorbell ring. He was on the second floor and since he was sure it was them, he pressed the button and the door opened downstairs. He waited to hear their greeting but didn’t hear anything.
After a minute or two in which he heard nothing, he rushed down to see who had come in. Near the open door stood a young woman sobbing. He went over to her and she said her father had died when she was young and she grew up alone with her mother. A few years before, when she was 16, her mother had also died and she was left alone in the world. There was nobody she could turn to.
Someone who lived in the area observed the situation and became very devoted to her. He helped her with everything without asking for anything in exchange. He was her anchor.
Years passed and since she was alone, he proposed to her. “I think we can make a good couple,” he said. She had never considered that but once he suggested it, she was ready to accept.
The night before she gave her consent, she dreamed that her mother came to her and said: The step you are about to take is out of the question. We are Jews and he is not Jewish and a Jew cannot marry a non-Jew.
In her dream, she answered her mother: What do you mean? He is a good man!
Her mother insisted: But we cannot marry non-Jews.
Then the girl cried out: But you never told me that and I am about to tell him yes. He thinks I’m going to say yes!
Her mother said: It’s not possible.
But he is so good to me!
No.
The girl woke up. The dream bothered her but she wasn’t planning on changing her mind. She had nothing to do with Judaism; she had never known about it.
Her mother came to her in a dream again and said: It is not suitable and you have to drop it. It’s not happening.
Again, the daughter disagreed.
She woke up firm in her position, but it still bothered her.
Again, her mother came to her and said: Do you remember the day I was taken from you? You should know that if you marry him, you will be making it as though I died again.
This time it was too severe even for her: But Mother, he is so good to me, he takes care of me and will be a good husband!
The mother showed her a picture and said: He will take care of you.
The girl asked: Where is he? What do I need to do?
“Go home.”
The girl awoke. She did not know what “go home” meant, as she was at home, sleeping in her bed. Then she remembered that when she was younger, she lived somewhere else and she thought that maybe her mother meant she should go to that house. She went to her childhood home, which is now the house of the shliach, and knocked at the door. When the door opened, she saw a big picture of the Rebbe on the wall, the picture her mother had shown her in the dream and said, “He will take care of you.”
WHAT IS A SHLIACH?
This is an amazing story, but we do not need such dreams to know that the Rebbe is the one who takes care of everything. As Chabad Chassidim, we start our day, every day, knowing that there is someone who is looking out for us.
Once, one of the shluchim wrote to the Rebbe that he operates all the time with miracles, and he is unable and not capable of functioning that way, needing new miracles every day. The Rebbe answered him, “Is he the one that is making the miracles?”
We as Chassidim are going on the shlichus of the Rebbe, and for us the Rebbe is alive. That is, ultimately, our message and the message that we have to internalize for ourselves: the Rebbe is alive regardless of where we are holding. We start the morning – with the Rebbe. As the Rebbe once told a shliach, “Every morning, whether before the morning blessings or after the morning blessings, you must picture the image of the Rebbe to yourself and know, I am his.” I belong to the Rebbe, and it is with that knowledge that I go forth, and that is what provides all the strength.
We are all shluchim of the Rebbe and we are all operating as shluchim. That is not because we happen to be into shlichus, it is because we were sent on a mission by the meshaleiach. We have a meshaleiach! We are not just those “nice Chabadniks” who are doing good works; we are not just members of Chabad; we are not people who work under the auspices of “Lubavitch International.”
If all that is true, then how do we operate? Because we are shluchim of the Rebbe, and we are working in the name of the Rebbe, and in every issue the Rebbe is first and foremost to us. For us, the Rebbe is always chai v’kayam! That is our strength, and that is what we need to visualize for ourselves, every step of the way.
What is the meaning of the word “shliach?” Shel-chai (through interposing the letters, meaning: of he who is alive)! There are those who enjoy debating the legal intricacies of a case where the sender is no longer, whether the shlichus continues or not. But what is a real shliach? Shel-chai. Sure there are those who are active, they are very nice people who were sent to work by the movement. However, we are shluchim of the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach – alive and well. This is a point that affects us deeply and which we need to internalize, and it is with that knowledge that we sally forth.